The First Snow Cookies of the Year

It snowed yesterday and we were treated to the first fresh snow cookies of the year. The best thing about snow cookies is Mom doesn't care how many we eat. We can run around the yard and scoop up as much as we want and she doesn't seem to worry about it ruining our dinner. That's what she says when we want to many of our other snacks.

We are still having wet weather, but it is more sleet than snow at this point.

This is our friend Mrs. Pumpkin. She has been on our porch for a while now. She had a brief trip indoors during the hurricane, but moved outside afterwards as we missed having her out there. Mom and Dad seem to think she will be traveling some time before Thanksgiving. We will miss her as we have spent hours sunning ourselves next to her.

So Much Going On

We survived the Sandy without a loss of power. Mama kept rubbing her magic emergency lantern every time the power dimmed and the lights came back on. We are praying for all those who are still without power and recovering from all the damage.

Bailey came up with a new idea for trick or treat. He got a head pat for every treat given out. Katy came closer to the door and was spying at the trick or treaters from a cave she created. She might not have wanted to get close, but our girl is getting braver and refused to miss out on the action.

Katy has also discovered the joy of leaves. Last year Katy was terrified of the sound made as people and dogs pushed through piles of leaves left on the streets. This year as we've been walking more frequently, she has become very curious about the smells and the texture of the leaf piles.

What really drew us out was the card swap. It has been a tough summer and fall for Mama and she hasn't been doing much blogging. She preposted a bunch of stuff for her education blog last winter that has continued, but everything else has been dragging. However, she has been scanning blog postings and when she realized she almost missed the sign up for the Christmas cards she not only signed us up, but she wanted to let people know we were still out here.

We Love Fall

Summer has many benefits, but there is nothing like the cool fall weather for outdoor fun.

Mama melts like an ice cream cone so she comes out more when the weather cools down. We get more walks. There are so many interesting smells. The back porch is warm, but lacks that sauna effect of midsummer.

When Mama and Papa clean out the gardens, we have even more room to play. Truly, there are no down sides to fall in New England for a Sheltie.

Fall Has Arrived

We took some time off from blogging. As we mentioned in our last blog one of Mom's relatives was very sick and finally passed away. Mom has not felt much like working on the computer.

Mom and Dad have been walking more and Katy has finally taken up reading pee mail although she rarely responds. Up to this point, walking has been about walking and occasionally meeting other dogs on our walks. However, in the last few days she has finally developed an interest in the environment, stopping to smell the grass along the way.

Football season has arrived and we have our bed positioned right in front of the tv for maximum viewing pleasure. Sometimes we even get to share the couch with Dad. We like watching both college and professional football. Dad has been much calmer since the ref situation has been resolved.

We hope to catch up on all your blogs soon.

Monday's News

We can't believe the Olympics is over. Mama wanted to be more active, but there has been lots of family stuff going on.

We celebrated our Grandpa's birthday not to long ago. He's visiting from Florida for the summer and we are so glad to spend time with him. For someone who hasn't spent much time with dogs, he truly has taken to his doggy grandkids. Mom and Dad are often surprised that we have charmed them so much.

On a sadder note, we went to visit one of our favorite relatives at the hospice center. Katy has never been to a nursing facitity before and she was so brave. All of you would have been so proud of her. She even let two older ladies pet her as she was leaving. She spent most of the time at the end of the bed guarding against intrustions. She really couldn't grasp the purpose for the visit. Bailey has had nursing home experience. He spent a good bit of time visiting my grandmother when she was staying in one. However, he is much closer to the person who is there now and you could tell it was troubling him when he realized who it was and where she was and he hopped up on the bed and snuggled with her for most of the visit. It was hard not to cry when you realized how much he understood. Bailey slept most of the afternoon away when he got home.

We thank everyone for raising our spirits during the Olympics. We enjoyed all the events.

Squirrel Hurdles

Welcome to the Blogville Squirrel Hurdles Event. Our athletes have been screened by the Olympic Commitee for bugs and are prepared for the event. While many would prefer to increase the odds of catching squirrels by having a nice clear approach to the squirrel most know their are obstacles and often hurdles that must be cleared to reach the elusive squirrel. Thus squirrel hurdles was born.

Our first participant is Corbin of Oh Corbin

Next up is Dante of All About Lacocoon Dante

Our next canidate is Goose of Gospel of Goose

Next to compete Lassiter and Benjamin of Lassiter Chase

Up next will be Lily Belle and Muffin of Lovable Lily

In the next round will be Molly of Molly The Wally

Our next athlete will be Nina of Bird Brains and Dog Tales

Appearing next will be Posie of Posie Dog

Ready to make the next round is Roo of Roo's Doins

Up next is Roxy of Downunder Daisy

Appearing next will be Sarge of Sarge Speaks Out

Next on the field is Storm of Charlene and Storm

Our final contestant for the 2012 Squirrel Hurdles Olympic event will be Tavish of Big Bubba and Baby Sister Blogger

We thank all the athletes for their participation and hard work in training for this event. Please pick up your medal and display it proudly on your blog.

Don't forget to visit DRAW your Peeple and the Snack Sack Race to cheer on the athletes as they have all worked so hard in their events.

The Blogville Olympics Continues

We are having so much fun participating in events and visiting the other venues when we aren't competing in events. Today we participated in stick jumping which you can see the wonderful video of the event at Bert's here. We both participated in the event and really enjoyed this event.

We went and visited the Stick event over at Goose's and you can view the video here. The event features both singles and doubles events. It is well worth the time to visit. Tomorrow is Marathon Chewing and Digging. Looking at the list of events, we are hosting Squirrel Hurdles and it looks like our only remaining athletic event is the Tennis Ball one. We will be heading over to cheer on all the athletes at the events, though.