I'VE HAD A BABY!

Well, okay, I didn't exactly have a baby...
What I did have, what I do have is a new puppy!

Excuse me?
What??
I said that I would rescue any dog, but no more puppies??
No 'mam, not me, too old for a puppy, too much work, noppers.
Give me a house trained mutt that needs a home and I'm there.

Then God introduced me to one of my dearest friends, Pam Warden, a (licensed - woohoo!!) artist with an amazing gift and a heart unlike anyone I know.
So, her dogs, a Yorkie and a Cairn, get married and have puppies.
She sends me pictures, I fall in love and claim "that one!".

When I drive up to my mom's in Michigan after Christmas, I make a detour through Madison, Wisconsin, to meet Pam and John, her husband, and snag the newest member of our 'kennel'.

5 weeks old

We had a great evening and breakfast the next morning. They were in Madison for an art show and because they drove through blizzard-like weather to get down to Madison, we didn't have as much time to spend together. But, it being the first time that Pam and I had met in person (we had been emailing and talking on the phone for what seems like forever) it was a wonderful time! We noticed that we both tended to talk at the same time and I told her it was because neither of us stopped talking.

See that one sharp tooth?? She has FOUR of those - we call them razors.

When I picked her up she was this wee little thing and she couldn't have weighed more than two pounds. Cutest thing you ever saw 'ceptin' for my boys.

Beautiful little girl in pink (is there any other color??)

It's been amazing watching her change color since I picked her up. When I got her, she was pretty much a little black girl. Now, she's getting that Yorkie coloring on her legs, neck, face, and, well, okay, her behind. That means it always looks like she just took a poop and got it all over herself when I look at her from behind real quick. It makes my heart skip a beat thinking that she's had yet another accident. Then, I realize that it's just her coloring.

Well, sometimes it's not just her coloring. Sometimes I can smell that it's not just her coloring.

8 weeks old and I'm totally smitten!

Did I mention that just God and I knew about this new addition to our family at this point? Just wondering if I had mentioned that I was planning on surprising the Tank with our new puppy. No?? Well, that was the plan, so when it was time to leave for home with my mom in tow I also had mom's darling Maltese, Sophie, in tow, but also the new puppy for our very long trip home. I must say that the first hour and a half in the car with puppy in the kennel in the backseat of my convertible and me in the front seat wasn't very pleasant for anyone within hearing distance (and it wasn't me screaming - it was HER!) But, after that initial period she settled down and the rest of the trip was great.

I was really, really glad she got over her separation anxiety because I was NOT looking to have another appendage - my laptop's enough.

Finally home and finding peace in chewing on a throw-away box instead of mommmy's *bloody* hand.

She is settling into ranch life just like you would expect a puppy to.

She bugs Ben until he shows his teeth though he's now too old to growl (Ben's a dog).

She plays with Killer and Baxter which lasts about 5 seconds until they run for the couch *because she can't reach it*.

And, she is making Maytag, the cat that thinks she is a dog, neurotic. She will not leave her alone and the poor kitty doesn't have any claws in her front paws. (However, if I WAS Maytag, I'd swat the heck outta that puppy - I think it'd just take one time...)

Oh, and by the way, boys, this is your little sister. hahaha

As you can see, we are starting to look alike - both laughing a LOT!

I haven't told y'all her name, have I?

Her name is Sister.

Sister Mary Tina after my precious friend, Tina Wright.

Oh, and she's Catholic.

Blessings, y'all, from the kennel!    

I love you!!

Jan

     

                                                            

P.S. The Tank went to hug and kiss me when I walked in when we got home and I was holding a wiggling Sister behind my back and when he reached his arms around me for his hug he felt her.

His reaction?

"Uh, oh, I KNOW what that is!!" hahaha - he loves her and wasn't a bit surprised:)

AROUND THE RANCH...I JUST WANT TO SHOW YOU A FEW THINGS....

Before I start the short ranch tour, I really want to share with you an exciting new blog that a friend of mine has opened. It's called Pam Warden Art and my friend, Pam, is such a talented artist I would love for you to take a minute and check out her blog! She already has a give-a-way set up - just comment on her post to sign up. And while you're there, check out her precious art! This is the first commercial I've ever done on my blog so go on, go check it out - you'll see that I have great discernment!

The second thing I'm going to tell you before we go on the wee ranch tour is this:
I went to Santa Fe this weekend with my sorority sisters. Everything is stucco.
Everything is brown.
I thought I would lose my mind.
For some reason that just drove me crazy.
I did buy some amazing beads for the grunge necklaces I'm going to be making and that was fun but other than that, give me San Antonio any day. LOL

Okay, so we start the wee ranch tour and of course, all of the pictures are out of order. I still don't get it - how to load them in order - so just pretend that you're at the ranch and not seeing it for the first time....in pictures. First picture...................

hmmmm, I pushed a button and lost the picture of Clay playing B-ball. If you think I'm going to look for it or reload it, you're wrong. Very, very wrong. Use your imagination:)

Clay spends most of his time on our basketball court. I'm not kidding - he lives it - always has. And he's good. Really good. I'm so glad we put the 1/2 court in several years ago - a great investment as most of the kids end up at the Thomason's because of the court, the pasture and the swimming pool.
I've always loved knowing where my boys are!
You know, I feel badly, I really should know this precious baby's name but I don't.
This sweet baby has been hand fed since she was a wee babe and now she thinks that Frank the Tank is her mother.
Isn't that cute? We have some smaller barns, but this is the big barn.
It's really cool because it's been here since the late 1800's and it's just, well, cool.
Love to go into it. And when the kids were small, they loved to go up into the hay loft.
Frank the Tank and his brother, John, used to have to milk the cows when they were kids. To hear John tell it, it was more like corporal punishment.
Oh, my door wall along one of the pipe fences that runs along the pasture behind my old studio - you remember. The pink barn, two rains that flooded it in the spring of '07. Not a good thing for a paper artist! Anyway, I'm now cozy and all set up at the house in the breezeway. It's my own room - it's just a bit smaller! Anyway, this door wall stays put. I like it.
What you're seeing here (above) is the pool house to the far left and the ranch house as you drive up the lane. You don't really get any definition of the front of the house but that's for the best. The yard man is me and I'm not able to do yard work right now.
That's why my theme for our yard this year is "browns" - everything is in browns. (Get it???)
The barns as you drive up the lane. The pink one is the one in front.
Just kills the guys:)
The gate to the right of the entrance to the ranch. Do you love my pink bicycles?
The fence to the left of the entrance - more pink bicycles (you can't see one:).
Love it.

Oh, yeah, this is great.
Frank the Tank really wanted to build (do you build gardens??) a garden this year. So he took my now plagued chicken exercise yard and made it into his garden. One morning he came into the bedroom carrying one of his prize squash (no) and showed it to me and asked me, "Jan, did you know that squash is a fruit?"

"Why, no Frank, I didn't. You wanna tell me where you learned that??"

"I Googled it."

"You Googled it???" Crack me up! After I stopped giggling I asked him to please not google his okra. He's so funny!
Pretty cardinal in the tree next to the feeder.
An old metal gate leaning up against the house. It has *light blue* dryer lint in the 'brown' leaves for the birds to use to build their nests.
Old gate into the pasture behind our house.
Frank the Tank's tractor that I CAN DRIVE. Oh, yeah. I can drive this baby.

These next three pictures are of some of our hummers. The feeder hangs outside my bedroom window and I can watch these precious babies all day long if I want to! They're so sweet and it's looking like it's time to buy a second feeder! Isn't that great???

Thank you for joining me on this rather long post - but I wanted to give you a taste of what the ranch was like though we just touched on it! It's supposed to be just enough of a tease so that you, my friends (no stalkers)will decide that you just must visit the ranch so we can have some FUN!! woohoo!

xoxo,