Back in the camping saddle again

Here we are in a new month, OK half way through, and I haven't blogged yet!  I swear I will do better!  LOL  We took off May 4th for our first, maybe only, camping trip of the year.  We love to go over Mothers day week-end, weather is always mild then.  Hubby took a weeks vacation and off we went!  We started the trip with our heater at night, and ended it running the air : )  Every night was better than the one before it, sigh, so hard to return home.  We staked out our usual spot up in Carthage, at Defeated Creek.

Here is a shot of our site, right on the lake.

Each day hubby would lay a blanket out on the grass and take an afternoon nap.

Here twin dd has nabbed the blanket for herself and is having a snack 'picnic'.

Everyone except oldest son came along, he had to work.  Actually we had to two other church families join us as well.  Many children, friends and good times.  Son was able to take care of his ever growing menagerie, but I had to bring Howard the handicapped doxin with me.   

Here is Howard in his play pen, enjoying the lake view and breeze, while I knitted : )  We also brought the twins old stroller, and pushed him around the camp site.  He can walk in very small amounts, and gets tired quickly when pulling his wheel chair. 

This is Howard after a hard day of doing nothing.   This pic kind of says's it all!

We had a safe trip and are glad to be back with our friends and family once again.
Blessings, Beth Ann

Fooling around

Here I am back in the saddle again.  Took a small break and a long holiday week-end, camping with friends.  We had more fun than should be legal : )  Any who . . . When we got back I received an early b-day gift from hubby.  Yea, he was surprised too - LOL  I got this nifty little camera from my Avon lady.

So I have been playing around with it and seeing if I liked it better than my other one (notice red color - me like red).  I do believe the picture quality is better, what do you think?

Here is our old cat Pumpkin and my old doxie, Howard, sharing the sun on the sofa.

I wasn't going to include this pic, just seems indecent, but I thought Mary Pearl (one of the two pups we have left - hey 2 out of 9 ain't bad) just looked adorable and Levi is sleeping behind her.

Here is a better shot of Howard snoozing in the sun.

And a closer look at Pumpkin Kitty.  So what do you think?  Clearer pix's?  I think so too.  I will probably end up keeping the camera, even though I am still getting the hang of the soft wear and all that jazz.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Pet pic's

Wanted to share a few pic's of our pets today.  We have so many of them, pets, someone is always doing something terribly cute and or clever : )

This one is for Grandma Sandy!  Right before they moved to Vegas, we got this recliner from her and I don't know when we acquired the afghan, but am told by Z it also  came from Grandma Sandy.  So here is Howie in the Grandma Sandy chair (that is what we still call it) with the Grandma Sandy afghan (that is what we still call it)!

Here is Levi, looking inquisitive.  You can't tell by looking at him, that the dog is a mess - LOL

Here is a new pic of the puppies.  Sorry it is so dark.  They have a perfectly great create to sleep in, but seem to prefer to pile - up in this kitchen corner where I keep my dish towels!

I can't remember if I posted this one before, but here is the sling I made Howard to carry him in.  There is a fleece lining and he seems to really enjoy it.

Thanks for indulging me.  Blessings, Beth Ann

Catching up

I know I have been pretty hit and miss about blogging recently. Teaching high school in the morning and Kindergarten in the afternoon, is a bit time consuming : )

Just wanted to give an update on my miniature daschund, Howard. Last Sunday after church, we returned to find him dragging his legs - again. Three years ago he ruptured 3 of his disks in his back, leaving him semi-paralyzed and with no deep pain feeling in his hind section. Since then he has managed to over come this by figuring out a way to prop himself up on his legs, and do s funny hop-run around the house and yard (sometimes). He still needs to be crated sometimes (bed rest) to allow the swelling to go down. Occasionally he puts his back out (still can't feel anything) and this was the case Sunday. Nothing to do for it except get him some good drugs (anti-inflammatory) and bed rest. As of yesterday he was trying to stand again and the swelling seems to be going down as his hind legs were spasming most the afternoon. All I can say is good thing he can't feel that, I have been there, done that - ouch! Also when this happens we have to go back to expressing his bladder for him, as he can't empty it all on his own. Which leads me to the next issue. We also now have a cat with a broken back and she too needs to be expressed. The vet asked us to take her since no one wanted her or had experience expressing (lucky us, lucky Bubbles). Well, when I took Howard in for drugs, Doc mentioned that they now have a puppy in the same condition -hint, hint. Do I have sucker printed on my forehead? He is a five week old American bull dog puppy that was accidentally thrown down a flight of stairs. The owners brought him in to be put down, but apparently Doc is a bigger sucker than I am! His assistant told me that we were the first people they thought of for the little guy since he will hard to find a home for. Ok, my house is already full of a ton of kids (mostly mine) and a bunch of animals (unfortunately all mine) and now two pack and plays with semi and fully paralyzed animals in them. What am I to do about this news? Help! Well I have time to think about it anyway, they aren't ready to release him yet.

On more adventurous news, hubby took the kids over to East Tennessee bright and early this morning for a white water rafting trip with our church youth group. So just the twins and I knocking around here today. Hubby is worried he isn't as young as he used to be, and will be feeling "it" tomorrow at work - LOL Pastor already said no one is allowed to miss church due to much "week-end". Funny thing though, pastor didn't go! LOL Guess I will make some soup and get the heating pads ready for their return tonight.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Just checking in

Thought I would come up for air and drop a line to let everyone know we are still kicking here in middle TN. Been a crazy past week or so, always something going on. I guess the most consuming issue has been my little miniature daschund, Howard. We noticed last week he just wasn't right, and was regressing in the progress he has made towards walking. We took him in and Doc said that he had blown another disk in his back. That was so alarming to me. How many more can he go before he is 100% paralyzed instead of the 50% he is now? When will I have to put him down. He is only 8 and has been battling this for almost two years now. Sigh. The good news is the Doc seemed hopeful and gave him some good pain pills and an anti-inflammatory pill. He seemed better for a couple days, but then seemed to slip again. We took him back in on my son's next day to work, such a blessing having a child who works with your local vet. I guess I was just panicking. Doc seemed to think Howard was doing fine with his med's and just needed more time. He reminded me how long it took last time for the swelling to go down. We are hoping he will regain the limited range of motion he had regained prior to this injury. Doc called him an amazing dog and said he hadn't seen many who even tried to walk again. He may be amazing (yes I am a proud dog mama) but personally I believe he just doesn't "get" that he can't anymore. Does that make sense? Not once, even after the original injury, has he stopped or tried to do anything differently. He will drag his legs behind him until they bleed, because he just keeps walking/running/chasing cats! Our vet is one of the dog vets at the Iditarod every year, and he has given Howie a pair of the little booties the sled dogs wear to protect their feet, so he won't rub soars on his knees. So that is what I have been up to, fussing over an nine pound dog! LOL Well that and other things, like shopping and the never ending laundry pile (who's cloths are those?).

I always shop on Friday, for the upcoming week. So today I shopped and finished out my first month on the $75 a week budget I set. Well, after tax, pet food and toilet paper it is more like $45, but anyway . . . I am amazed at how well it went and how we were able to do it! Yes I did get some help from a friend who volunteers at a local distribution center that deals in bread (like the discount bread stores), and miscellaneous other food and other items. She even had items such as brand new unopened deodorants to give me and my daughter. Every dollar counts! I am so blessed to know her. She is helping a couple other families in our church as well. I guess I feel that what ever help I received from her means I don't have to go to our local food pantry for help, and someone else can benefit from that. Any bread I receive from her means that the flour I have can go toward something else, such as pancakes or rolls. You get the point. I have watched this lady become a born again Christian in our church and her growth in the word has been exponential, as has her bread ministry. It started out as a crusade for the local jail and has grown with her helping two different churches and a several individual families! What a blessing!

Something that I have noticed in my budget shopping is the mark down meat phenomenon. When I first started purchasing mark down meat, I found it at only a couple of locations and there was a limited amount. There were actually people waiting/pushing to get this meat. The early bird and all that. But for about the last month or so I have noticed that almost all stores have not only marked down meat, but an abundance of it. Today at the Wal-Mart (early) their entire meat counter was full of mark down. Usually it is only one or two items and very seldom. This tells me two things. One, people are not buying meat or cutting back on how much they buy, and two, they can't even afford to buy the mark down meat either! There are some tough times ahead. I feel blessed that my DH job seems secure for now and that we are making it, even if it is week to week sometimes. We plan to stock up on meat with a small amount of our tax return, keep up with our $75 budget and work hard on our garden this spring. I think we will be OK.

Remember, our economic future is not dependent on a new President but on God. He knows His plans for us and will provide for us (Jeremiah and Matthew).

Blessings, Beth Ann

Whats up Wednesday

Nothing! LOL Blessedly it has been a couple of pretty boring weeks around here. Even Grandma Sandy called today to ask what was up. Guess she was bored too. I told her that it looked like the dog days of summer were upon us. So here is a picture of what my dog is doing with his days! LOL

Howard with his new friend, during nap time.

We went back to the Discovery Center last week, and ds Z went right upstairs to the building center. He wanted to finish building his train from two weeks ago. Here is the water tower he added.

Here is ds with the finished train engine and car on it's tracks. Cool huh?

Whats up at your house?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Pet Parade

Thought I would share some pictures of our four legged friends with you. We have a new edition, a barn cat. Yes I know we don't have a barn, but what else do you call a stray cat that stays on your porch all day and night? Usually it does get off long enough to cross the road and potty underneath the neighbors bush, but last night... We were working in the garden, despite 90 degree weather and 100% humidity. I was spreading this organic fertilizer/plant food that smelled exactly like what it is, dehydrated and crumbled poo. Anyway the cat, Espresso Joe, comes running over and starts rolling in it. DH and I are like, aw that's cute; when all of a sudden he jumps up and takes a dump on one of my baby cucumber plants!!! AHG!!! I was horrified and yelling at DH to get the hoe and get rid of it! I should have turned the hose on that cat if I had been thinking or if the water had been turned on. So . . . that's our new cat.

Do you see the cat in this picture? That's our new cat, Espresso Joe or just Joe for short. He is one of those rare black cats that you almost never see ~ LOL

Here is middle daughter with her cat, Pumpkin.

This is our blue tick heeler, Hershey.

This is Howard, my miniature Dachshund. Here he is in his playpen. He spends about half his time in there due to a back injury last year. He has made miraculous progress and can walk some now and has bladder control back. The crate rest helps to keep the swelling down on his spine.

Here is Howard with his wheels. He only needs his wheels for long distances and rough terrain. Mostly for camping. He also uses his sweater mostly for camping. LOL

Howard and Hershey together. Hershey is totally submissive to Howard even after his injury. Howard is older and tougher ~ LOL

Hairdresser Update: Went to a new lady today that was recommended to me by my old girl, they used to word together. She did a great job, is only two blocks from my house and charged half the price! Woo-Hoo!!! I must be living right today! Since she did such a good job on me DH and DS will both take a chance on her. Good since both of them are starting to look shaggy and I don't mean that in a good Scobby Doo kind of way! LOL


Blessing, Beth Ann

"I'm gonna be a star!"

This is my mini doxin, Howard. He has big news. Really big news. Ginormous news, for a mini doxin! He is going to be on TV! Well at least at Joe's Place here in Cannon Co. I guess they run local advertisments on a loop there. Dr. Tate, whom treated Howie when he hurt himself, and who my oldest ds now works for, asked if Howard and his wheels could be in thier TV ad. I am still sketchy on the details, but my ds might also be on the comercial as well. Impressive.

Howard is a celebrity already at the animal clinic. They even ask my ds to bring him down occasionaly for "playdates". When ever we board him, he spends more time in laps than in the kennel. It's like the old TV show Cheers, when they all yelled, "Hey Norm", when that charecter walked in. They are all impressed that he has over come so many odds that many mini doxies never do after hurting their backs. I could go on and on about the little guy. He was my baby before I had the twins, when I thought I was done having babies. I guess he is a true testament to what you can achieve when you don't realize you aren't supposed to!

Blessings, Beth Ann