This Week in Yays and Boos

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

Hawks win the Orange Bowl!


What a great way to end the season.

Design*Sponge has been doing a really fun series called Living In. The Julie & Julia one is absolutely delightful.




Fun way to display jewelry.


I forgot how much I LOVE Archer Farm organic fruit strips. A little burst of fruit flavor in your mouth. Raspberry is my favorite. Yum.


This is Micky’s favorite winter toy. Playing fetch in the snow with tennis balls is a sure fire way to lose them, so I ordered this LED lightup ball for playing at night.


BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Neighborhood thief steals dog toys and Christmas gifts.

In the past month we have had not one or two, but three UPS deliveries stolen from our front steps. I’m so mad! I hope the rotten thief is enjoying the fake mustaches and buster cube.

Micky's First Christmas

All he wanted for Christmas was to:

Swim and explore with his cousins.

Play fetch.





Have a sleepover.

Relax at home with his new toy.

Christmas Gifts!

Here's a handful of our Christmas gifts. Can you match the gift to the person in our family?



Gap boucle jacket, Beatles Rockband, J Jill sundown sweater jacket, Cuisinart multiclad sauce pans, Olive Kitteridge (Jan. book club pick), Kong air squeaker ring and Under the Dome.

Holiday Gift Idea #13

For Labrador retriever owners who are ever so slightly obsessed with their pooch. See: all Labrador retriever owners.
Labra doorstop from Sundance

Sit and stay pillows from Sundance

Stephen Huneck prints




And rug

Also see:

• Art for Pet Peeps
• New Vintage Animal Prints
• The Art of Racing in the Rain
• UP!
• Sculptural Labrador

A Tail is a Gift That Keeps on Giving

All Micky wants for Christmas is a tail to chew on. Luckily, he seems to forget every day that he has one. It is the gift that keeps on giving.


If you have issues viewing, click through to Picasa and hit refresh.

How to Decorate for the Holidays with a Puppy

First you elevate the tree on a side table from Ikea.

Then you place anything that resembles a ball up above curious pups.


Then you let said curious puppy sniff the lights.

Proceed with decorating (albeit a little sad and sparse without half the ornaments) and cover the table with holiday table clothes.

Would You Like a Drink?

Just Call the Rug Inspector

I wasn't fast enough to capture the seven other positions he had in less than a minute. New rug inspection: passed with flying colors. This is the rug from World Market if you are interested.

Sleepy D-O-G

A weekend of beautiful 70 degree weather, playing at the park and hanging out with Gordito totally wiped Micky out this weekend. He was so tired on Sunday night.

Daylight Savings is Hard for Dogs

Sculptural Labrador

So cute! From Pottery Barn.

Detritus and the Dog

So, I knew there was a reason Micky doesn't have any stuffed animals (I don't buy them for him), but I didn't realize he could rip one apart in .5 seconds.

Our pal Gordito came to stay with us this weekend. It was a dog slumber party.

Micky's First Snow

Go ahead and pretend this wasn't a week and a half ago.

Micky LOVED the snow. Loved pushing his ball around the deck. Loved tromping through the yard. Loved playing fetch in the snow.


If you have trouble with the video, try hitting refresh after you follow the link to Picasa.

Mr. Micky

Mr. Good Sitter

Mr. Helper

Mr. Cute

Mr. Model

Dogs are the New Babies

Colds are the new swine flu. Dogs are the new babies. At least that's how I feel as a dog owner:)

Kris, a friend from college, and his fiancee, Jessica, have a Swiss Mountain dog named Juli. Its fun watching her grow and hearing about their experience with being puppy parents, something we are just a few months ahead of them on.

This Week in Yays and Boos

This is a handy option for when we are (AGAIN!) having computer issues at home.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy!

• Canned pumpkin found!
• These beyond adorable boots. Do you die? I die for the green suede ones.
• Micky turns 6 months today. He celebrated yesterday by staying in his kennel all day while we were at work (We've been going home at lunch to let him out since June)
• Easy and tasty brownie treasures
• Sartorialist's shots of rugby at Trinity College. Fall perfection, crisp and clean

Boooooo!

40 degrees, all week. AH, where is fall?

Micky's First Pumpkin

Pretty sure he thought it was a ball. He has one of these and I think he thought it was a new, orange one. PS, its a video.

Soccer Games and Birthday Cake

Sunday was our nephew Andrew's birthday. Here's the birthday boy and Micky.

We enjoyed soccer games, a Hawkeye football cake and good times with our in-town niece and nephews.

The Who Me? Look

Micky will be six months old in a little over a week. Do you know what happens when puppies (Labrador ones especially) reach this age? They test boundaries. They have gotten the hang of certain day-to-day activities and commands, so they start to push a little bit.

But by and large, they are still pretty sweet. You know, charming you with their ability to lay down and do their commands. This is Micky after he slid from a sit into a down with no command, then straight into his model puppy pose. He's ready for his closeup.

Contently playing with their toys for hours at a time.

Seriously, if Micky has a real chew fest happening, he will sit in one spot for 45 minutes going to town on a nylabone. This kong only has one treat left; he'd already gotten two out. He can't quite figure out what to do since the others came out when he vigorously jawed on them.

But back to the testing boundaries. This has been a long week for Micky Sweetface. A week ago today he got neutered. And instead of an Elizabethan collar (yes, that is what the vet calls it), he has internal sutures. Which means no running, jumping, playing fetch, aggressive play, stairs or walks in the neighborhood. Have you ever tried to keep a puppy from running when they see the cat next door (leash is a must) or jumping when the plumber comes over (puppy bear hug, with one hand reaching to open the door)?

To compound this misery, it rained yesterday. Mick is not a fan of bathroom duties in the rain. Yet, I think the rain makes him feel sort of cooped up.

So that's my attempt to explain to myself why he jumped up on the couch and chair several times yesterday. Stealthily and quietly he just hopped up on the furniture. Oh, and used the chair to jump real quick-like onto the top of his kennel and pull down the stuffed soccer ball on top of it. And then after I removed the soccer ball, he did it again in search of treats. There were a lot of very strong nos in our house yesterday.

Who me? Why I'd never do that!

Several months ago my Grandpa Mike, who has owned and trained many a dog in his time, e-mailed me that Micky already had a sweet, "why, I would never do that" face. I think most labs are just born with it. The ability to melt your heart while doing or after doing something extremely naughty. After Micky jumped on the chair for the second time (I only actually saw him do it twice), my very loud NO! scared him so much he was a sweet and lovey as he could possibly be. To the maximum. All sweetface and cuddling up, trying to give kisses when we wouldn't relent.

He knew he'd done something wrong, he didn't want to disappoint us, but darn it, there was a treat up there! An apple flavored one at that!