Finally!

After 7 "snow" days this school year, we FINALLY got some snow!

This is our backyard. We got around 6 inches. It's nowhere near Syracuse standards (I hear they'll get about 14 inches from this storm) but it's a big downfall for this part of the country and we'll take it!

The kids had a ball sledding and playing in the snow...until they got bone cold frozen!

Even at the end of the day, Elise wanted to go out one last time.

And poor Trixie was confined to the backyard while the kids were playing in the front yard. She soooo wanted to join them. (Note that there is no picture of our beagle...who spent as little time as possible outside in the cold snow today! Trixie, on the other hand, lived outside today!)

Now that we've blown every possible snow day (the district only builds in 5 so who knows how of if they'll deal with the last 2), I'd say IT'S TIME TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL!!! For everyone's sanity....

Urine Sample

How's that for a glamorous title!?!


I was asked to provide a urine sample yesterday. Not for me. Not for my children. But, for my dog.


Yeah...think about that for a moment. How would you collect such a sample!?

Trixie's been showing signs that she might have UTI and we wanted to get that checked out so off to the vet we went (without the urine sample...I just laughed and told them I had NO IDEA how to obtain that...they assured me they could help collect one when we arrived.)

They put us in the same room where Sneakers fell asleep for the last time. It was a bit emotional. I kept remembering the heartbreaking sobs that overwhelmed Carson and I on that day. (Sneaks...you are still greatly missed, sweet puppy!)

Several shots and tests later, Trixie was given a clean bill of health. No UTI but she does have a case of separation anxiety. Why should my dog be any different from my children?!?

And, they proclaimed that Trixie has beautiful pee. Isn't that special?!?

Sigh...the things dog lovers have to brag about!

(And for the record...it really takes 2 people to collect a sample...one follows behind the dog with an upside down frisbee....see what useful tips you know now after visiting me today?!?)

One lost doggie

Our attempts at finding Trixie's family aren't going so well. We've left a description of her with all the vets in town, all the shelters, animal control. We keep checking the lost board at our local pet stores and newspapers. We've posted an ad on Petfinder.com. No luck. :(

Someone has to be missing this beautiful and sweet natured dog.

Mollie wasn't too happy about Trixie's appearance last weekend, but they've become quick buddies. While it looks like they are in fightin' mode, they are really just playing. All of our dogs have always played this way and they end up covered in each other's slobber in the end (gross!)

And lest you think Trixie has an upper hand because of her size, Mollie's does her share of instigating and keeps running back to her own little hideouts. Mollie would torment Sneakers in her desire to play when we first brought Mollie home.

Trixie is quickly becoming a member of our family. I don't know how long to hold out hope that her orginial family might show up and claim her. If we don't hear anything by next weekend (she'd have been running loose for 3 weeks at that point), we'll get her to the vet to start the official process of making her ours (registered in our county, microchip, vacinations, etc.)

Lots of people have speculated on what might have happened. We live in a college town and some folks wonder if she was dumped by college students. I truly believe she was a family dog, not a college kid dog. She's too good with kids to not have had some exposure to them. Others have heard stories of people in foreclosure having to dump family dogs. That might make more sense. Our subdivision is off the beaten path, nice houses, lots of dogs, big yards. Maybe someone thought a family in our subdivision would be more likely to take her in.

We're all quickly falling in love with this dog. I would never deny her the opportunity to go back with a family who is missing her, but as time goes on, I would also love to her stay with our family.