Rupert and the milk jug

We don't have a separate bin in our house for recycleables so they get set on the floor next to the trash can until it all gets taken out. One of rupert's favorite thing to do is to grab a milk carton and run all over the house playing keep-away from Ted. It's pretty funny/adorable.

Ted and Rupert

Ever since Cale and I got married, we've wanted our own dog. While it's easy to choose a dog you like- they're all pretty likeable- reason is what stopped us from getting a dog. When we first got married we were both in school and working and pretty much never at the apartment. Not only would the poor thing be alone all day, but it would also be trapped in a tiny one bedroom apartment. When we got a house, the yard was dry and dirt. Not that it's much better now, it's still an overgrown mess, but there is green in the yard and it is a nice spot for a puppy to explore. An added bonus to not doing much to the back yard yet is that there can be no real casualities as far as puppy damage.

Anyways, One of my favorite things to do after church is to go to barkworks or petsmart and look at pets that you can adopt. A couple months ago, at petsmart we saw these two black pomeranian looking furrballs. We fall in love with them Cale gives me the go ahead to fill out papers to adopt one (YES), and the lady says "which one do you want" and then proceeds to tell us that they are the last two out of a litter of 8. The thought of leaving one behind as the last one- the one nobody wanted, the last one with no siblings to play with or curl up to sleep with- broke my heart and I ask Cale if we can get both, expecting for him to say no. I am reminded once again how much this man loves me when he says yes. So we get all the necessary things for them- food, collars, leashes, toys, and a pin and take them home with us.

When we got them they were only 2 months old and now they are coming up on about 5 months (poor guys got 'altered' yesterday) they grow rediculously fast. They were about 5lbs when we got them and 30lbs now. In my opinion, they are really good for puppies, yes they chew and dig(this drives me the most crazy) but they are almost fully potty trained, they sleep in the kitchen and don't go potty all night long. While I think Cale only wanted one, I am glad we got both because I think they keep eachother busy when we're not paying attention to them. There is a constant wrestle mania match going on with the puppies.

Without further ado, meet Ted and Rupert.

(this is the first day we got them)

Ted is very calm and well behaved for a puppy, he is Cale's favorite. He is also a big cuddle bug he will let you pick him up and hold him and scratch his belly.

Rupert is my favorite, he is much more spirited and crazy, and he gets in a lot more trouble than ted. We named him rupert so that when he gets in trouble, we say Ruuuuuuperrrrrt and he hangs his head in shame. We actually worry that he may think his name is NO. When we tell him no, he runs over to us and wags his tail. He makes us laugh because when we pick him up he can't hold still for two seconds so he just wiggles and grunts the whole time.

And this is more recent:

It is a little unfortunate that I love to take pictures of our critters because: 1. they are all black, and black animals are hard to take pictures of, and 2. I'm not a very good photographer in general (I really wish I were).

Letting go

I knew the day would come when I would have to let it go but I've been coming up with excuses to delay it. As I write this post I'm pretty bummed out because I know it is the last thing I will do before it happens. The christmas tree comes down today. I love love love the smell when there's a fresh christmas tree in the house, and I love how perfectly it fills the void in the corner. But I have to accept the reality that it is dried out and dead. To be perfectly honest, I won't even plug it in anymore for fear it will catch fire, and a slight breeze can make hundreds of needles fall off. If it weren't for having a house warming party on Sunday, I would leave the tree up, but I don't want to have to defend myself. Cale said if it's still there he will not take the blame for it. I didn't realize that having a Christmas tree up this late was weird, until upon surveying people I've realized that I'm quite possibly the only one on the planet with a real tree still standing in our living room. On the same note, the outdoor lights have been taken down, but with great pride. I was so excited when I realized that upon driving home late at night that we were the only house on the street with our lights still on, though the other houses had them up, but they were just not turned on. The next day Cale took them down, with the pride of knowing that we have the most Christmas spirit for keeping them on, but we weren't those lazy neighbors who still have them up. *sigh* I love the holidays...