**Special Edition** Puppy News

After six years of working as a Home Visitor with children ages 0-3, this is what I know to be true of the similarities between toddlers and puppies: 

Potty training is messy. 

They know nothing about personal space.

It doesn’t matter that they have the same food as someone else, the other person’s or dog’s tastes better.

They will put anything in their mouth.

They always want what they can’t have.

Selective hearing develops early. 

If it’s dirty, they will touch it and then touch something else. 

You repeat yourself constantly and it’s not from dementia. 

If you have more than one, you will call them by the wrong name. 

They don’t watch where they’re walking.

I went to get my hair trimmed yesterday and the girl cutting my hair was trying to make small talk with me (you know, one of my favorite things to do 🙄). I know that it’s probably awkward for them to be silent but I’m okay with it. Anyway, we started talking about Sophie and she was telling me that her son wants a dog but she rents and isn’t allowed to have one right now. She went on to say that she would maybe like to get a dog when she buys her own place but she wouldn’t want a big dog, and she would want one that is already potty trained, and she wouldn’t want one that sheds 🙄. She said she had one before and he was just too hyper. So I’m thinking she probably shouldn’t get a dog.  Maybe a hairless cat would be more her style. Once they’re litter trained you don’t have to teach them anything, they don’t shed, they don’t get super big, and many cats outgrow the urge to run around like a chicken with its head cut off in the middle of the night. We had cats when I was growing up (not hairless ones, those are weird. I’ve petted one before and I won’t tell you what part of the male anatomy it reminded me of……) and I loved them very much. I’m just more of a dog person these days. I love all animals though, honestly. Living with dogs is different. They’re interactive and fun and love to cuddle; what could be better? Although, I will say that having a puppy is on a different level than a grown dog. You still get the fun, playfulness and cuddles with the added bonus of asking rhetorical questions, like:

“What are you eating?”

“Where is my shoe?”

“Why is your paw/the floor/my foot wet?”

“Do you have to poop?”

“When did you pee on the floor?! We just went outside two minutes ago!”

“How did you get that boot up on the couch?! It’s bigger than you!

You also hone your investigative skills as you potty train. The secret to potty training a puppy successfully lies in you becoming a potty detective. Did she disappear after just running around and romping with her big sister? She’s probably looking for a place to poop on the floor. Did she drink a bunch of water five minutes ago? She probably needs to pee now. Is she sniffing all over the carpet? Better get her outside quick. We were doing really well for the first four days. She had no accidents in the house. We were starting to think that we got the smartest puppy ever. On Tuesday her guard came down, she let out her true self and pooped on the floor. She’s been averaging about two accidents in the house per day, which really isn’t all that bad. Yesterday she peed on the rug, right in front of the door, which we interpreted as a good sign. If she is going to the door to pee, even if she doesn’t make it outside, that’s progress. Also, the rug can go in the washer and is much easier to clean than shampooing the big area rug so I’m for it. I would prefer for all potty accidents to happen in the kitchen, on the tile, but she won’t take my advice 🙄.  All in all, she’s been a wonderful addition to the family. Sansa may have a different opinion some days, but they’re mostly getting along. I think she likes having another dog to wrestle with, she just also wants her toys to herself and maybe a couple of inches between them when she lays down.

Sophie is like a little white shadow to Sansa. She tries so hard to keep up and be by her side that they run into each other all the time. We’ve coined the term “Bumper Dogs” because that’s what it looks like they’re playing. Sansa is so much bigger than she realizes and Sophie just bounces right off of her. It doesn’t phase her though, she’ll be right back at it. And you know how I said above that puppies don’t know about personal space? Not only does she lay on your head while you’re sleeping, she stuck her face in Sansa’s pee stream. How’s that for curiosity? I swear, I have no idea how I’m going to keep this white dog clean! 

Between that crazy pup, working at the gym in the morning and then filling in a couple of evenings, doing my other job, and doing a couple of yoga gigs, I’ve had no time for crafting, organizing, or any other hobby. Everything is temporary though so I know this puppy phase will be gone before I know it and my schedule will either calm down or I’ll adjust to it. Until then, if anyone would like to come clean my house, the offer is open 😉. 

Passion for Repurpose

I have lots of great stuff to share with you this week! Most importantly, as most of you know, we added a new family member! This is Sophie Lynn (because all of our dogs have the same middle name). 

I can relate to those parents who talk about how their children as babies were completely different. The first...oh..4 months with Sansa were totally overwhelming. We had never had a puppy before (our other girls were older when we got them) so it was a big adjustment! I was prepared for the worst when bringing Sophie home. Within the first five minutes of the drive home she pooped in the Jeep, which didn’t give me great confidence for happiness in the days ahead (although, it could’ve been worse. Philip and I took my cat, Kitty (original name, I know), to the vet back when I still lived at home and he got really upset on the way home, screeching and crying. He ended up pooping ON MY LAP 😡😡. It was the grossest thing to ever happen to me to date). Despite that incident, she has been wonderful and not pottied in the house at all. She and Sansa are getting along, however, I do feel like Sansa is feeling a bit like the teenager with a five year old sister. Sophie is Sansa’s shadow right now and I think she’s beginning to wonder whose idea it was to get a puppy 😂.  They started out playing separately, Sansa with the white bone, Sophie with the snake. 

Sansa dropped her bone onto the floor and came down there to chew it. Sophie tried to take it so Sansa got up and moved away from her. 

Sophie stared longingly at Sansa’s bone. She inched closer a couple of times and Sansa put her paw on Sophie’s face 😂. 

She just couldn’t help herself and had to try to sneak in again. Sansa ended up moving to another part of the room to escape her 😂. 

Five minutes later, she was out. That’s the one good thing about puppies: they sleep a lot. So just when you’re like, “Okay, I need a break” from the constant nibbling and checking on her to make sure she isn’t electrocuting herself by chewing through a power cord, she gets tired and has to nap. And you know what they say to new moms...you should sleep when the baby sleeps. I’m for it! 😉😂

Alright, well now that you have been introduced to the pup, it’s time to get to my actual intended subject. Marsha found this awesome idea for bottle cap flowers and tagged me on FB. I had an abundance of bottle caps so this was the perfect way to use them: 

These will make a great addition to my fairy garden once I get all the stems glued on. 

The next creation is a Creative Kimpire original. I see so many great ideas on Pinterest that I feel extra cool when I create one on my own 🤣😜. I needed a place to hang the necklaces I make while I’m working on them and that don’t get finished in one sitting. I used an extra large paint stir stick that we didn’t use with the stain for our deck and cut up pieces of dowel rods. I stuck the dowel pieces to the stick with some wood glue, cut off the handle, added some spray paint, and tacked it to the wall. Sorry the pic isn’t great. We have terrible lighting in this house. Maybe that will be a project one day 🤔. 

I used to buy so many candles from Bath and Body Works. Every time they went on sale I bought some. Eventually those candles wear down and have you ever noticed that they come in nice jars? If you stick them in the freezer when the wax gets down low, it makes it easier to pop the wax out. They clean up easily.  I have several in both sizes but I use the little ones in my bathroom to store cotton balls and Q-tips. They’re the perfect size for the small shelf above my sink. 

The last project was a Pinterest copycat. We keep salt and pepper grinders by the stove and they make a mess when you sit them down after using them. We used to have a plate to sit them on but it took up too much space. I used an old loaf pan that my dad gave me and I bought a cheap pack of cabinet knobs to use as legs. I drilled a hole in the bottom of each corner, attached the knobs, and here ya go: 

I think it makes a cute little caddy. I bought the rubber spatula holder (aka letter holder) at Goodwill. Did you know they have brand new items from Target marked down to ridiculously low prices?! 

In the future, my nightly closing will have to be amended now that there’s a second dog to say goodnight. However, you saw tons of pics of the pup already and this one is a keeper of just Sansa. 

See you next week! 

Hobby Happenings..with a little Oh My Garden!

Today is March 4 and do you know what that means?! My garden season has officially begun! I’ve been waiting for this all winter and I don’t care what that groundhog said, spring has sprung! My Easter lillies agree with me and that cold wind can go suck an egg somewhere else! Today I started my early tomato crop. I learned last year that you don’t have to plant every seed in the pack so I only did 8 this time. We have no intentions of having a tomato jungle again this year! Even though it took about 45 seconds to fill my seed pods and pop a seed into them, it felt so good to have my hands back in dirt! I’ll start the peppers next weekend. We also have to get the boxes filled and fertilized because spinach will be sown outdoors at the end of the month. Ahhh! I’ve so missed my garden!! If you’re interested in gardening you should def grab a garden calendar from the WVU Extension office!

In other news, my friend, Michelle, was here visiting us last weekend and that’s why I allowed myself to miss posting. She got a taste of our active life with a dog walk, yoga session, and bike ride. I’m pretty sure she won’t come back 😂😉 Just kidding. I also showed her how to make necklaces and she got her first painting lesson. It was quite an eventful weekend. We haven’t seen each other in two years so it was nice to finally spend some time together! I know most of you saw our paintings on FB but I’m posting them again for those who didn’t. 

The lotus flower symbolizes personal growth. Its roots grow in muddy water and the plant rises up above the surface to produce a beautiful bloom. 

A necklace I made. 

I see my nieces and nephews once a week and I always take a craft or activity with me to do with them (side effect of my job lol). A couple of weeks ago I thought they would enjoy making dragon eggs. You start with a ball of aluminum foil and cover it in air dry clay, which you can color with food coloring. What is not a good idea to do is to use your bare hands to rub that food coloring on the clay. Doing so will result in stubbornly stained hands, especially if you use a red based color, such as purple, like I did. For your learning pleasure I tried every google suggested way to remove food coloring stain from your hands. Let’s play a little game. I’ll tell you all the methods I tried and you try to guess which one(s) worked. Ready?

Vinegar and salt paste

Baking soda and vinegar

Fingernail polish remover

Bleach

Toothpaste

Rubbing alcohol

**************

If you guessed anything except bleach, you were wrong. Pictured below is my hand after each treatment (I forgot to take a “before” but it didn’t matter because nothing even remotely worked before the bleach). To be fair, the rubbing alcohol could’ve maybe taken a better shot had it not expired in 2016 🤷🏻‍♀️. Guess we’ll never know now. I experimented with the materials before I tried it with the kids so I took gloves for them to use (and I was genuinely surprised that Kate’s hands didn’t “accidentally” get stained anyway. Messy is that kid’s middle name). They enjoyed making the dragon eggs and Kate, of course, had to make three 🙄😉. 

Sansa is very excited that my hobbies have now started to include her. I recently took her to the vet because she is prone to skin infections and licked her belly for two straight days (driving us NUTS!) and I noticed a red patchy area starting to form. Just like at the people doctor she got weighed as soon as we went in. To no one’s surprise, she is overweight. And she’s sensitive about it so don’t mention it when you see her. 

She’s going on a diet and as part of such, Ive started making her homemade treats to replace her Milk Bones. All they are made from is equal parts peanut butter and coconut oil with a little bit of cinnamon. You melt it all together, pour it into molds (small ones because we learned this dog rarely chews and the first batch I poured into a mini muffin pan, making them just the right choking hazard size 🙄). They go into the freezer to set up and after you pop them out they should continue to live in the freezer. Otherwise they will be a melty mess. 

She loves these treats. She loves anything coconut scented, actually. I have a hand lotion that must taste good (to a dog) because she always tries to lick it off when I wear it.  I tried exposing to her that defeats the point of me putting it on but she can’t be reasoned with 🙄. I also tell her she doesn’t need to take a toy outside when she goes to pee but she never listens. And parents of toddlers, I can relate; my two year old doesn’t like to clean up her toys either. She takes them out and leaves them in the yard. I sometimes try to pick them up and she gets rowdy and takes them from me and drops them again so now they just live in the yard. That is until she comes across one that she hasn’t chewed on in a while and decides to bring it in. So if you’re ever driving by my house you will see plastic, gnawed on Nylabones littered across the yard. I had a supervisor when I worked for Head Start who told me to never get into a power struggle with a toddler so she can leave her toys in the yard but it’s only hurting her, since you can’t play with them. Until mowing season anyway.  

That’s all for now. I have a fun Passion for Repurpose coming soon! 😊