A Bichon Wrestling Match

Happy Monday! On Saturday I decided I really needed to get some pics of Hunter playing with Lily, but every time I got down on their level they included me in their wrestling match or would attack me with kisses. So most of these are looking down on them; if you have a pup that won't leave you alone if you are on their level and have tips, I'd love them.

You can spot Lily because of her pink bows and also she is a bit bigger than Hunter.  He has all that puppy energy while Lily is a mature four years old.

Here Lily is shaking her head and reminds me of the Lion head Bichons are known for.

They had so much fun together but I think Hunter wore Lily out. 

I have learned, this weekend, that one of Hunter's behaviors has a specific name-when he goes crazy and runs around the house like a madman, it is called a Bichon Blitz.  It really is helpful to know this it a behavior of Bichons and not just our crazy puppy.  When Lily went home, I think Hunter crashed, he was one tired puppy. 
Have a day filled with fun.
Noreen & Hunter

Beach Time

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! Last Thursday our oldest daughter and her family went camping so on Friday, hubby and I took a drive to check out the campground they were at. One draw is the lake and it had a wonderful beach and swimming area.

Mr. B and Miss A building sandcastles.

A little football with hubby and grandson J.

The kiddos told us the water was o.k.
They all had a fun time using their tent trailer; in fact Friday night it rained and they were quite dry, so unlike those in tents.
Hunter had a great time with their dog, Lily.  I do think Hunter's energy level was quite a bit higher than Lily's.  Our monsoon season is upon us, today is cloudy and cool and I imagine we will have lots of rain this afternoon.  Our grass certainly needs it!  I am so thankful that Hunter doesn't react negatively to the thunder, because heaven knows we get so much. 
Happy Day,
Noreen & Hunter

Best Buds

Happy Friday Friends~Yesterday our oldest daughter, Carrie, and her family went camping; when we got Hunter the plan was to trade dog sitting and so Lily is here with us for two days.  Let me tell you that they may be small, but when you get two little fluff balls chasing each other, size doesn't matter-it's just a lot of fun.
I think Hunter & Lily played for a solid two plus hours yesterday and I finally had to give Hunter a rest time in his crate.  Throughout the evening they would go outside and play tag, doing circle after circle.  It was fun but I had no idea how bedtime would go.  At home, Lily sleeps with her peeps too; my concern was that our Hunter would want to play all night.  Lily did give him a couple of "knock if off"growls but they settled and slept all night.  I am so refreshed after a good nights sleep.  I'm taking them for a walk in a minute or too and then later today they will have some quiet time while hubby and I go check out the camp site that the family are at.  Thankfully, it is only an hour away, makes a nice drive.
On another note, do you all remember back in January when our youngest granddaughter sported a purple cast?  It wasn't that she broke her arm but that her wrist was extremely weak; well come Saturday she will be sporting a cast for real-she has a buckle fracture that is very common in young children.  Hopefully, her bones will strengthen and there won't be any more troubles after this.
We are now off to the lake; hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Hugs, Noreen & Hunter

Thursday Tidbits

Happy Thursday friends~I hope you had a delightful and quiet 4th. We did, more about that in a minute. You may all remember how I've described myself as very visual when it comes to food; well on Monday, we ate our first "Missy" steaks and I wasn't bothered at all. In fact, the meat was so tender and flavorful I knew I needed to get a photo for you all.

The beans were farm fresh last summer and frozen; the flavor just as good as fresh.  I think we are going to really enjoy this meat.

As you know we had a sleepover Wednesday night with 7 out of 9 grands. Here is the tent hubby put up for them; what you can't see is the t.v. in front of them.  We had such fun, watched "Dolphin Tail" and loved it; they had all seen it before but hubby and I hadn't, it was well worth it!  The evening and night went really well except that my Peanut needed to cuddle with her nana all night-so we slept upstairs.  When the grands are here, I am a very light sleeper-anytime I hear a noise I jump up and check on them.  Yesterday morning we were awakened at 5:30 so we had an early breakfast too, chocolate chip pancakes.  We all went to the parade and that was fun.  In the evening hubby and I went to Carrie's house for their annual 4th party; we had dinner there and then went to our local, annual 4th town concert and fireworks.  Today I am very tired!
I think this weekend will be just as busy; we will be dogsitting Lily while Carrie & family go camping.  They recently got a  tent trailer and her kiddos have been so anxious to try it out.  I think we are planning on driving to the lake they'll be at(an hour away)and take the two dogs with us.  We will just have lunch and then head home.  I think I may just close my eyes a bit right now. 
Have a wonderful afternoon and evening.
Noreen & Hunter

Happy Fourth of July

To all our friends, near and far, we wish you a blessed and safe Fourth of July.
Today I will be scurrying around, getting things all set for the grands sleepover tonight.  There are tents to make,furniture to re-arrange and snacks to buy.  Having seven of them here is a huge deal for them;  I do want to have each group over several more times but tonight will be a big party.  It will be interesting to see what Hunter thinks about it all; I'm planning on having each them give him training treats throughout the time, so hopefully he will feel more relaxed with them.  We were over at one of the homes yesterday and he played like there was no tomorrow with Lily, maybe I should have her come along too. 
Our monsoon season started last night and I can tell you it was so nice to go outside and feel the mist.  The lawn even felt softer-if that is possible. 
One of the interesting things I've found with  having a small dog, even heard it is more a small dog trait(that may not be totally true)is that you can leave their food down and they just nibble on it throughout the day instead of wolfing it down, like all the big dogs we've ever had have done.  Hunter and I had a talk last night about accidents and although I do understand when you've got to go, you've got to go, but he was informed if he had one more at night Momma was going to buy another crate for our bedroom.  I know it was a big mistake not to have one in there from the get go, but hubby really didn't want one in our bedroom; however I don't want carpet ruined.  He had been doing so well and to be honest, I know that I just wasn't waking up and recognizing his signals, so I truly feel like this issue has been my fault.  I'm thinking that I really need to sign him up for a beginner training class as well, so that he gets more socialized and used to lots of different sights and sounds. 
We will be going to our daughter's party tomorrow afternoon and then go to our annual town concert and fireworks show. That is if I can stay awake for it after tonight.
What are your plans for tomorrow?  Have a great day today. 
Hugs and blessings,  Noreen & Hunter

From my bookshelf

It always surprises me that during the spring and early summer, I don't read too much; it surprises me because I love to read, especially at night.  I guess with the nice weather, I am much more active and thus tired by the evenings.  I did get this book this week and wasn't disappointed by Shelley's writing; again I find her an excellent author.  The Search is her second book in the series, The Secrets of Crittenden County.  This series is set in Marion, Kentucky(one of my all time favorite states) and is a suspenseful story about a murder of a young Amish man and the detective who is sent in to investigate it.  I especially appreciate the honesty behind the authors stories and the portrayal of the pull that the Amish face with outsiders.  It was a great book and I will be looking for the third in the series, Found.  I would recommend that you put this book on your reading  list.
Happy Monday to you. 
Noreen & Hunter

Happy July dear friends! It is hard to believe it is already here and that we celebrate the 4th this week. With so many wildfires all over our state and in many other states, I know that fireworks will be pretty small this year, if at all.  Our grands are asking for those little "snakes" that you put on the ground and they grow.
I am so happy that the High Park fire is almost contained; what a relief for those firefighters and also for the folks living in this area.  I'm hoping that the rain we have had this weekend, although light, helped the Waldo fire; I also think many of the firefighters from High Park will be going south.  I am thankful for the men and women who have worked tirelessly through all the fires here and in other states.  We salute you all.  I'm thankful for groups like the Red Cross who give aid and for the countless volunteers who have stepped forward.
Our weekend has been good; yesterday morning we spent time at our oldest daughter's house, hubby worked on the grands fort while the rest of the adults divided up the meat we just got back from the slaughterhouse.  Two racks in our freezer are now full of steaks and ground beef and the other 2/3 of our share is at daughter's house in their freezer.  We are going to bbq some steaks tonight. I just hope I can eat the meat without visualizing the cow. The children are all doing fine with the entire process and are even calling the steaks by the cows name.  It will be interesting to see if they are as good as friends who've raised beef cattle, tell us it is. This afternoon I am going to a baby shower for the daughter of one of my close friends.  It should be fun!
This week, we are having 7 of the grands over to spend the night.  We will build a big tent in the family room and it should be such fun!  The next day is the 4th and there is always a parade in our development, so we will take the kids to see it.  Our oldest and her hubby always host a pot-luck celebration for their church, so we will go to that as well.  I'm sure we will call it an early night, after all we will have had a full day with grands.  The good thing about no fireworks is that the dogs who are so fearful of the noise will not be scared this year.  In the past, all of our dogs were terrified of both fireworks and thunder; thankfully Hunter isn't fearful of thunder.  Although he will be 7 mos this week, he remains very shy and somewhat timid. He is getting socialized with both furfriends and people; I am hoping this helps him grow more secure and friendly as he gets older. 
I hope that your weather is cooling off and that you are staying safe.  I have heard that many blogging buddies have been dealing with fires and some dealing with flooding.  Stay Safe.
Blessings to you today, Noreen & Hunter
Happy Glory Day, Dee. It's hard to believe it's been seven years since you left us; we miss you every day!