Stylin'

We girls went and had our hair cut to update our style.

Then I found these kids in my tree!

Puppy Stuff

I love how this reinforcement stuff works. We brought the pause table into the living room (everyone does, right?).  I have yet to actually do a formal training session on it with Brynley, but I frequently give him a treat for getting on it, just a charlie bear from my pocket.  I've progressed already to holding out for a down.  He gets on it all the time, just to check if he might get something!  Meanwhile, all the dogs like to play on it, and Brynley has decided it's a pretty good place for a nap, if only Mom wouldn't disturb him by taking pictures!

Here's a couple of pics of the growing boy at 15 weeks old, on Monday.  He's a little oversize, but I can hope, can't I?

Cycling

I'm dedicating this post to my brother.  Today, we headed out on our first family bike ride of the year.  We made it 5 miles.  Both kids just moved up to bigger bikes.  Son is now riding a small adult bike!  Eastern Nebraska and western Iowa are great areas for bike riding (weather permitting).  We have literally hundreds of miles of bike paths.  The only issue is that being in the plains, the wind always blows.  Head winds, cross winds, both together.  I want to point out that the prairie is not even close to flat.  This is the only place I've ridden where somehow you can be going uphill, into a head wind, both coming and going.  Seriously!  Ride it and you'll believe me.  The weather today was so perfect, it seemed like everyone was out on bikes. We saw people and bikes of all shapes and sizes.  Families, kids with training wheels, serious roadies, and even a couple on a recumbent tandem.  I wish I could manage to take pictures while I'm riding, but I'm not that good!

Here's Duane and the kids on the bike trail not far from our house.
Moving up to bigger bikes.
Daughter loves to ride her bike.  She is so thrilled to have inherited Brother's last bike.

Spring

We are enjoying some very nice, springlike weather today.  I dusted off my bicycle and went for a short (very!) ride.  I also took dogs for a walk.  Brynley has had a major growth spurt this week.  I took the camera outside and followed him around for a while.  All my pics looked like this! He seems to think he is a goat rather than a puppy.

Casey enjoyed the warmth, and is feeling much better.
Brynley has learned how to lay down and relax and take a nap without being confined to a crate, hooray!
Maverick was checking out the view.

Troublesome Toy

This is what happens when dogs eat things they shouldn't. Two weeks ago, Casey got sick and was vomiting blood.  We took him to vet emergency, where he spent the night and had a series of x-rays.  The vet thought she saw a foreign object. The next morning, we transferred him to our regular vet, who was less sure it was a foreign object and thought he might have a tumor.  The condensed version is, that they got him feeling better, and he came home.  Fast forward to this past Monday.  Casey again threw up, and I took him straight in for an x-ray.  The apparent foreign object had not moved.  Tuesday, he had exploratory surgery.  The object was located and milked out of his colon.  Casey came home, and has been feeling very sorry for himself.  He has slowly been recovering this week, and seems to begin to be in less pain.

A 10 inch incision, no wonder he came home in a lot of pain.
The source of the problem, a little helmet from a Star Wars stormtrooper, no bigger than a penny.  It is only slightly squashed and discolored after a trip through Casey's digestive system.
Not a happy dog.  He is feeling better today. 

Brynley's Busy Day

Friday I flew to New Jersey to pick up Brynley.  I was only a couple of hours late getting out, due to the snow storm.  I had a wonderful visit with his breeder and met his sire and dam.  I particularly fell for Brynley's sire, Gnat.  Yesterday, Brynley and I flew home.  Fortunately, the weather cooperated, and we travelled without incident.  He was a very good puppy the whole way!  Today was his first day at home, and he had many chores to do...

The jackets had to be put away
Teddy needed looking after
"Uncle" Casey needed visiting with
And he had to practice searching for avalanche survivors

It was a very busy first day in his new home. My new boy is here, and I think he is the perfect dog for me!

Stunned

We got the report on Son's dyslexia testing last week.  Although we knew he was dyslexic before reading the report, it still left me stunned.  I spent several days reading and rereading and absorbing all the information it had about my son.  Suddenly, all the years of his struggles in school made perfect sense. The details were mind blowing even to me, as familiar as I've been with his struggles.  His diagnosis is moderate to severe dyslexia and severe disgraphia (that's the difficulties with handwriting that usually accompanies dyslexia).  I'm trying to move past the guilt of allowing my child to be tortured in school for so many years, when I knew something wasn't right.  The good news is, now that we have a diagnosis, there is much that can be done to help him.  I will begin tutoring him with the Barton system just as soon as our materials arrive.  We now know which accommodations, such as books on tapes and a scribe, to provide in school to allow him to effectively demonstrate his learning.  We will also begin diligently working with him to have him learn to touch type.  We spent over $1000 to get the private testing and find these answers. I thank God that we finally did it.

On another note, here is the latest picture of Brynley.  He's the grubby guy on the right.  I go to New Jersey on Friday to bring him home.  I so excited, I can hardly stand it!