Happy Easter

Happy Easter!!!!!!!  I hope everyone is having a lovely family-filled Easter full of love and happiness.  This is our very FIRST Easter with NO EASTER CANDY! ACK!  How will we live?  How will we survive?  Traditionally our Easter Baskets are overflowing with candy goodness.  The Easter bunny brings very delicious chocolate candy.  The Easter Bunny brings very delicious Jelly Beans.  The Easter Bunny brings very delicious English Toffee and Turtles and Jelly Rabbits and Chocolate Bunny Lollipops and chocolate eggs and more chocolate eggs and even more chocolate eggs. It is a cornucopia of Easter Candy goodness!  OH how I LOVE Easter Candy!  Mr. Yesteryear Acres loves Easter Candy.  The kids love Easter Candy.  This year, the Easter Bunny is bringing us healthy things.  The Easter Bunny is bringing us fresh valencia oranges.  I REALLY love fresh squeezed orange juice so I am very thankful for Mr. Healthy Easter Bunny.  The Easter Bunny is also bringing the little step counting device that I wear to Mr. Yesteryear Acres and to my son and to my older daughter so that we can all have friendly battles of the daily step total.  Mr. Healthy Easter Bunny cares about our physical fitness and our health - so Mr. Healthy Easter Bunny is saving all the Easter Candy for other very lucky families.  Oh wise Easter Bunny - I will think of you with love every morning when I drink my fresh squeezed orange juice.  I am sure I won't even think about the chocolate lollipops.  Or the chocolate eggs.  Or the Jelly Rabbits.  Nope.  Not. At. All. 

We Miss You!

Sadly tomorrow will be the first Easter that Mr. Yesteryear Acres Mommy will miss.  She is still in the hospital and still is not doing too well.  It has been almost 3 weeks with no liquids and no food and her intestinal tract is still no better.  She will have to have major surgery next week and we all hope that this will finally get her feeling better.  I know she just wants to come home and have a real cup of coffee (probably in her very favorite pajamas!) and eat some real food and sleep in her own very comfy bed.  I just can't wait for that day too!  We all miss her and we have all been so worried about her.  I think we will need to take videos of the traditional Easter egg hunt for her and take that to the hospital.  Perhaps we can arrange a virtual Easter celebration for her.  She LOVES the Easter egg hunt and I know she will be so sad to miss it.  I will have to figure out a way to bring Easter to her. Every day I wake up and think,  I hope today will be the day she feels better.   I just hope the surgery goes well and she is back on the road to better health soon.  Life is too sad without her smiling face!!!!  FEEL BETTER SOON! 

Puppy Visits

As much as I love having puppy lovers at our home, meeting their new puppies for the first time or picking up their new furry babies, I can't say I love it when people just drop by without making an appointment. I know puppies are totally irresistible.  That is why I spend my days raising our sweet puppies.  I love them.  I know other people love them too. BUT - I also love staying in my pajamas until after I have had my morning coffee.  I also love eating breakfast in my pajamas and answering my morning emails in my pajamas.  One of the best things about raising puppies is that you CAN stay in your pajamas!  I don't have to get dressed first thing in the morning.  My puppies love me with the same happiness and eagerness whether I am in my PJs or whether I am fully dressed.  They have no fashion sense.  I love my pajamas and if perhaps you decide to come to my house at 9:00 in the morning just because you want to play with our puppies.......there is a very good chance that I will be IN my pajamas with no intention of having company at that moment.  Please don't be offended by my lack of enthusiasm.  We have a strict visitation policy here.  First - we are not a pet shop with an open door policy. We are also not a petting zoo. I know we have awesome doodle doggies and puppies and horses and a big garden but Yesteryear Acres is our home and we live here and do family things and sometimes our house isn't vacuumed and ready for company first thing in the morning.  And sometimes......we wear pajamas and have coffee in the morning which is one of my favorite things. We do ask that you make an appointment to see our puppies.  In addition, we don't do any puppy visits until the puppies are old enough to have company.  The puppies  have to be mature enough to be up and romping around and the puppies have to be mature enough to be happy to be separated from their mommies.  When puppies are really little, they don't want to leave their mommy.  The mommy doggie doesn't really want you to pet her babies either.  Once the puppies are on solid food - the mommy dog is glad to let you have a turn playing with her babies and that is a great time to visit. If the puppies are all spoken for by the time they are old enough for company, the only visitors allowed are the new puppy families.  We really don't have time to honor every request for visits.  I receive at least 20 requests every week from people asking to just come out and play with the puppies at our house. Can you imagine getting ready for company every single day?  I have had families stop by on Easter Sunday or ask if they can come on Thanksgiving Day. I have people stay for hours when I am trying to get my daughter ready for her first Prom or right when I am in the middle of making dinner or processing tomatoes from the garden. I receive visit requests every day. It takes some of the joy out of PAJAMA time and family time. We just can't do that and still have time to care for our sweet furry babies.  I am sorry for all those who feel disappointed by our visitation policy, but it makes life here at Yesteryear Acres much nicer for us AND for our doodle doggies AND for our puppies.  I know that I am much happier.  I can walk around at 9:00amsipping my coffee, wearing my soft comfy pajamas and not have to worry about the doorbell ringing with company waiting.  My puppies are happier.  They get to stay safe and happy and healthy. The puppies aren't introduced to viruses and they aren't stressed by having strangers hold them before they have entered their social period of growth.  The mommy doggies are happier because they don't have to worry about the safety of their puppies and they just get to relax with their tails wagging taking care of their sweet babies.  The other doggies are happier too.  They don't have to be on alert for YOU HAVE COMPANY YOU HAVE COMPANY YOU HAVE COMPANY!  The visitation policy really is what is best for everyone here at Yesteryear Acres - both two-legged and four.  Happy people equal happy puppies equal happy new puppy families!

Weaknesses

I have a few serious weaknesses in life. Weaknesses in which I have no willpower and must totally succumb to the awesome power that lies before me.  What is so powerful? What is so magnificent and overwhelming that I am left with no resolve whatsoever? Cookies. Yes Cookies call to me so loudly that I can never leave one behind.  Wait make that -  Cookies and Chocolate.  How could I ever resist a delicious chocolate morsel? Wait - I forgot one - make that - Cookies and Chocolate and Ice Cream.  There.  That is my complete list.  I love ice cream.  We make homemade ice cream all the time here at Yesteryear Acres.  Who can say no to a homemade batch of Coffee Toffee Brickle or Maraschino Cherry Chocolate Chunk?  I mean really - that is one powerful calling!!!!  I can't think of anything else.......except ......maybe ONE more thing.....Cookies and Chocolate and Ice Cream and Potato Chips. Yes. I TOTALLY love chips.  You know the saying, "Betcha can't eat just one"? They are right!  Who eats just one chip and leaves their chip friends behind all alone in the bag? It just isn't nice to abandon a helpless bag of chips. Today - I was given a bag of  chips.  GIVEN.  I did the only heroic selfless thing I could think of...... I ate them.  Every last one.  Oh my. The only thing I can think of now is NOT how bad I feel for eating a bag of unhealthy chips. The only thing I can think of now is NOT how carrots are a much better choice.  The only thing I can think of now is....you know what really finishes off a nice bag of salty chips? CHOCOLATE! Well I did say I was powerless!!!

Gotta Keep Walking!

I may have mentioned once or twice that I have a slight competitive streak. Well my sister is really pushing me into the land of unreasonableness.  We both have this device that measures our daily steps and although our goal for each day is 10,000 steps, we are surpassing that goal by the thousands.  She can see my steps online and I can see hers and every time one of us gets close to the other, it is a full out walk-a-thon.  The other night at 9:45pm, I realized how close she was to beating me for the day.  Could I let this happen? NO WAY! What was I to do?  She was ahead by almost 2,000 steps!  It was DARK outside.  It was NIGHT TIME. Did this stop me?  Of course not.  I sweet talked Mr. Yesteryear Acres into taking a night time hike with me.  I am rather afraid of the dark and I just can't go out walking by myself at night.  I have poor night vision and honestly - every noise makes me jump. I just don't like being in the dark at all.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres knows this about me so of course he offered to go with me.  It was a nice walk and was the best part.......being with Mr. Yesteryear Acres? Ummmmmmmmmm. Nope.  The best part was I WON FOR THE DAY!  YES!  My sister is out for revenge.  She is going to WALK all the way to town and then she is going to go out DANCING for the night.  Oh no!!!!  I better start walking!

Better Every Day

I just wanted to thank everyone that has been so kind as to check on my son's recovery since his head injury.  Thankfully he is much better.  He is back to joking and laughing and cracking me up on a daily basis.  He started running again and is doing really well.  I think our long walks together might be coming to an end.  The other day we walked 5 miles together and I looked like this:

GASP GASP GASP WATER!!!

My son looked like this:

Have we started walking yet?

He literally looked as if he were walking at a snail's pace.  He didn't even break a sweat.  He was just leisurely strolling along while I was walking/trotting/running to keep up with him. He has the longest stride and I felt as if I would never catch him.  Of course my pathetic attempt to keep up with him, just cracked him up.  That's when I knew he was better.  It was once again safe to make fun of good ole mom!  Ahhhh how I missed that!!!! It is nice to see that big smile on his face every day.  His headaches are all but gone and his neck is getting better every day. Now we can all focus on getting Mr. Yesteryear Acres Mommy feeling better.  She still is in the hospital and I just cannot wait until she is healthy and happily back at home where she belongs.  

Mr. Yesteryear Acres Takes the Lead

Poor Mr. Yesteryear Acres. Looks like he wanted to outdo me in the who can break a bone department and is now in the lead.  Granted this is not a game I would advise other people play but here at Yesteryear Acres - it is just the way it goes.  When you live on a farm and you spend your days working outside......things happen. I knew we were in trouble when Mr. Yesteryear Acres said grab some paper towels and the first aid kit.  That is never a good sign.  Sure enough, his glove was filled with blood and it looks like he broke his first finger in several places. Luckily, I am quick with first aid repair and I had his finger bandaged in no time. I think we just may have the most impressive first aid kit anywhere.  Whatever the ailment, we have it covered! Finger splint - check! Butterfly strips - check! Gauze, bandages, and wrap - check, check and check!  I made sure to pick out a lovely sky blue color bandage for Mr. Yesteryear Acres.  I wanted to be sure he looked awesome in his new fancy splint.  I have to make sure he is up-to-date with all the newest fashionable colors for spring!  Feel better Mr. Yesteryear Acres.  

Mr. Groundhog?

Lately I have seen some pretty funny pictures with Good Ole Mr. Groundhog wearing a sign that says, "I lied".  I have to say - HE DID!  What in the world is with this winter weather? My visions of SPRING are of spring flowers.  When I think of March, I have the idealistic picture of kids flying kites in a nice warm breeze with blue skies up above and a bright happy shining sun.  I do not imagine my March to be filled with blizzard type conditions,  frigid temperatures and parkas!  Guess I will have to work on a new definition of "Spring" because so far - this Spring looks remarkably like WINTER.  In fact I have not seen any discernible differences between our March weather and our December weather.  I have winter boots on. I have winter gloves on.  I have a winter parka on.  My doodle doggies look at me like, "AGAIN WITH THE SNOW?"  I have to agree.  How many more times this "Spring" shall I use the car scraper to find my poor snow-covered car? How many more times this "Spring" will Mr. Yesteryear Acres have to shovel the walk? I know, I know, in the midst of August it will be dreadfully hot and I will think back on this cold day with fond memories but for now.......WHERE ARE YOU SPRING?

Weekend Puppy Picture Smiles

I won't be able to do my weekly Monday Puppy Picture update this coming Monday, so I took all new pictures of the puppies today for Weekend Puppy Picture Smiles! The puppies all looked so cute this morning, I couldn't resist getting the camera out and taking some new adorable photos.

Nutmeg's Chocolate Girls are just so sweet!

Nutmeg's Red Caramel Boy - his coloring is amazing!

Snuggly Goodness of Chocolate and Caramel Delight

Ariel's new Double Doodle babies are big butterballs! 

Mr. "Pillow" Doodle is as big as Birdie's 2 week old babies.

Birdie's Goldendoodle puppies are so soft.  

You can't help but to pet them all day long.

They are pretty good at giving sweet puppy kisses!

Happy Weekend!

Now that's what I call hiking

My son and I have been walking together almost every day after school.  He loves to take the dogs with us and we have been putting in some serious miles. We are up to taking 3 doodle dogs at once and they are doing really great walking in the big group.  We usually go to the Arboretum and walk there.  I love the Arboretum because there are several trails and no matter what the weather, you can find a nice trail to walk on.  When it is really muddy, we walk the auto tour road and never get wet. Awesome! Well today, it was so busy here, we really didn't have time to go to the Arboretum. I was sad to miss our walk and my son suggested we walk at home.  Yesteryear Acres backs up to another farm which has over 100 acres and we have permission to walk there any time we would like so between our acreage and theirs, we have some nice walking trails.  We decided we would go all the way up to the top of the hill and hike for about 45 minutes. UGH. My son LOVED it!  The Doodle Doggies LOVED it! Me.......not so much.  It was really muddy and it was the kind of mud that tries to suck the shoes right off of your feet.  Did this bother my son? Noooooo. Did this bother the doodle doggies? Noooooo. Did this bother me? YES!  My shoes kept getting heavier and heavier.  I kept slipping and sliding. I was thinking, "Dear ankles....please don't break!"  Meanwhile my son had the biggest smile on his face. "OH BOY! MUD! MUD AND DOODLE DOGGIE FUN!" The doodle doggies had the biggest smiles on their faces.  "OH BOY!  NO LEASH!  WE CAN RUN RUN RUN EVERYWHERE and SPLASH MUD!"  I did make it the entire walk.  Of course my shoes will never be the same but my son said that was the BEST WALK EVER so I guess it was a success.  Time for a major bath for me........and the doodle doggies!

Date - Yesteryear Acres Style

Oh my.  Today, Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I had a DATE day.............well WE called it a date day but some might strongly disagree to the term "date". First we left the house early this morning to take two puppies to the airport! OOOH  AHHHH!  Romantic Yes!? We left with plenty of time to spare but then got stuck in traffic due to a bad accident and I pretty much panicked the rest of the drive to the airport.  My biggest fear was that we would cause the person waiting for us to miss his flight.  Luckily we made it and puppy number one was happily on its way to warm sunny Arizona! Then Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I waited 90 minutes for the second puppy family's flight to arrive. I have to say - it actually felt like a date.  We had 90 uninterrupted minutes to play with our puppy and talk and catch up on everything.  Even though we see each other every day - we are usually so busy that all we have time to talk about is puppy things and doodle doggie things.  I told Mr. Yesteryear Acres about my snowy driving adventures and we planned out what we needed to get done during the month of April.  It was time well spent. Puppy number two finally got to meet her new owner and it was definitely love at first sight. I love that! After we left the airport we got a new watch battery for Mr. Yesteryear Acres' watch AND then we got my phone replaced because my bluetooth had a permanent failure. Man - do we know how to do Date Day or what!?! After our fun errands we both went to the hospital and spent the day with Mr. Yesteryear Acres Mommy.  She still isn't better. I wish she would start improving! I did manage to get a smile on her face. Both my daughters made videos for their grandma hoping that would help her feel better.  She got to see both videos and that put a big smile on her face.  I took a video of her and of Mr. Yesteryear Acres Dad and sent that back to my girls.  I think that helped make the distance seem not so insurmountable. It was a virtual visit and a much needed virtual hug. Visiting Mr. Yesteryear Acres Mommy together was the perfect end to our date day. Who knows what the next date day will bring.....grocery shopping? Dog food shopping? Diesel Fuel fill-up? Oh the possibilities are endless!

Mid-Week Puppy Smiles

Well it isn't exactly Monday - but Wednesday is pretty close right?!?! As much as I wanted to have Puppy Picture Monday - somehow being trapped by the snowstorm made the puppy picture update pretty much impossible. Never fear though! First thing this morning, I got out my trusty camera and the puppy picture-a-thon began! Look how adorable our doodle babies are!

Nutmeg's Red Caramel Baby

And her sweet Chocolate Babies

They are the sweetest little chocolate bundles of love

Birdie's Goldendoodle Puppies are just starting to open their eyes

They are getting their first glimpse of their sweet mommy

So snuggly!

AND Our Double Doodle Babies are finally here!!!!

We have 5 new Double Doodle puppies to love!

I say today is one happy Spring Day of Puppy Doodle Cuteness!

Happy First Day of Spring!

I MADE IT BACK!

What started out as a simple puppy delivery turned into a battle of the winter storm! As I was driving home, the ice and snow just got worse and worse until finally I had to give up.

The roads weren't exactly clear!

Thank goodness I listened to Mr. Yesteryear Acres and brought my winter coat!

The view from my front windshield. This made me think that continuing to drive was not in my best interest. 

I decided that I might as well enjoy the weather! What's more fun than walking in a mountain winter wonderland?

My hood kept filling up with snow

The woods were so peaceful and beautiful as giant snowflakes continued to fall from the sky

Safe and WARM in my room for the night!

The early morning view from my room. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was! You couldn't even see the mountains yesterday!

The drive home today was MUCH better. Despite the fierce wind, the driving was easy and......I AM FINALLY HOME! YAY! Oh home...how I missed you!

Winter Storm

I definitely thought I would be home by now. I definitely thought the worst of the winter weather was finally behind us.  I mean it IS mid-March! Well it looks like the snowstorm and ice storm in the mountains has different plans for me.  The winter snowy ice-filled storm in the mountains is keeping me from getting home to my sweet Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my son and seeing Mr. Yesteryear Acres Mommy (and Dad too).  When my older daughter was at the Naval Academy there was a horrible blizzard that really hit the mountain pass hard.  I ignored all the storm warnings.  I ignored all the blizzard warnings.  I drove about 25mph as my top speed through a blinding snowstorm and vowed never to do that again.  It took me over 15 hours to get home and I passed so many overturned cars and trucks.  It was the scariest drive of my life.  And so I read the freezing rain, ice and snowstorm warnings and unlike last time - I believed them! I will have to wait it out until the storm passes before tackling the mountain route. When they say "winter storm" here, they mean it!

Puppy Love Found!

Olive's sweet puppies looked at me with blinky sleep-filled eyes when I turned on the lights at 5am this morning. I felt the same way! It was way too early to be awake! Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I loaded the puppy mobile with a few of Olive's precious baby and off I went.  The drive today was long as I was very worried about Mr. Yesteryear Acres Mommy.  She isn't doing so well and it literally breaks my heart to see her in such pain.  I just hope she starts feeling better soon!  The puppies were FANTASTIC travelers though!  They all get gold stars for the day! It was such fun to meet the new puppy families. Mr. Orange Collar boy even got to meet his new family! After I posted his pictures on my blog, he was chosen right away by a super nice family. When I pulled into the puppy meeting place,  one boy was eagerly waiting for me with his leash and collar in hand.  He was so full of pure joy, it just made my day.  He was the picture of complete happiness. The puppy felt the same way too! It was so adorable! The other puppy families were equally as happy and it was a great puppy time!

Looking for Love

This morning will be my son's first outing since his concussion.  Yesterday afternoon, he finally started feeling much better. I was so happy to see his smiling joking happy self! He even went on a walk with me.  He was so glad to be outdoors and the doodle doggies went crazy because they got to go on a walk with him.  They have been waiting forever! It was literally the best walk ever. Me and my smiling happy not-in-pain son! This morning my son is still feeling great so we are heading out the door to go visit Mr. Yesteryear Acres Mommy in the hospital.  She is really not feeling well.  We are bringing movies with us so when we are not with her, she has something to do.  My son and I are both really looking forward to spending the day with her! Tomorrow I will be driving ALL DAY LONG. I have to deliver some sweet doodle puppies.  Sadly, we did just have a last minute cancellation on a puppy.  He is ready for his new home starting tomorrow and is looking for love!  I can deliver him tomorrow if anyone is interested. He is a happy-go-lucky sweet puppy who just loves everyone!

Mr. Orange Collar Boy 

Has an awesome coat

Loves to play

Can give High Fives

Is great at fetch

Comes when he is called

Even from far away

And is great at going potty OUTSIDE.  He is a sweetie!

Puppy Pack Time

Today I am getting all of Olive's puppies ready for their big weekend. It is time for them to meet their new families!  Olive's puppies are getting baths and nails trimmed and the whole spa treatment! It is beauty spa day!  I also am getting the Yesteryear Acres Favorite Things Puppy Care Packages ready.  I have food and blankies and toys and brushes plus other adorable puppy things that go into each care package. My living room floor looks like a Pet Store! I have a pile of blankets, I have a pile of collars, I have a pile of leashes, etc.  I suppose it is good exercise! I have to walk from puppy pile to puppy pile picking up one item and putting it into the care bag.  I always have to count out loud to make sure I don't miss anything.  I mean you can't send a puppy home without a snuggle toy! The only hard part about putting together the puppy packages is keeping the doodle doggies out of the living room while I am doing it.  They LOVE to "HELP" me.  "OH BOY! A FRISBEE! I WILL GO PLAY WITH THIS FOR YOU!"  It is all I can do to get all the puppy toys into their care packages before one of my doodle doggies runs off with one of their favorites.  It never fails.....I always seem to turn around and a rag bone or orange bunny is clearly MIA. Doodle Doggies COME BACK!  Those are for the PUPPIES!

No food at ALL????

Poor Mr. Yesteryear Acres Mommy!  She is back in the hospital.  She had to go to the emergency room last night and was admitted.  She will be there for at least a week! I feel so sad for her.  She really isn't feeling well and there isn't anything I can think of to make her feel better.  She is not allowed to have ANY food or ANY water. Not even ice chips! She is not allowed to eat a thing and it will be like that for days and days. What can I do?  I am the "I will make you a loaf of fresh baked bread" person. I am the "I made you chicken soup with homemade noodles or chicken and dumplings or fresh baked chicken pot pie" person.  I don't have any ideas on what to do for her except tell her that I love her and that she is SO important to me and no matter what she needs, big or small, she just has to ask and I will do it! Feel better soon.  We miss you!

It's On

To say I am a little competitive would be a gross understatement.  I love to win.  I mean I LOVE to win.  In any competition between my sister and I - it is ON.  Full on blitz!  Since the beginning of this year I have been sporting a pedometer of sorts.  It is an AWESOME little gizmo that calculates how many steps I have taken in a day, the distance traveled, how much of my day was active, how much of my day was me sitting on my chair barely moving and how many flights of stairs I have gone up. The goal of every day is 10,000 steps and 10 flights of stairs.  Whenever I go way over my goal, I get an email that says, WAY TO GO OVERACHIEVER" and I LOVE that.  My younger daughter has the same device and we are linked together online so that I can see how she is doing and she can see my progress as well.  She has SERIOUSLY been beating me while she is in Europe.  I will feel fantastic and reach 15,000 steps in a single day, log on to our account, and she has walked 24,000 steps and 16+ miles.  Yes she is REALLY beating me.  So far it has been a contest between my daughter and me......until today!  My sister now has one! YES!  Now it is really on!  My sister and I have been obsessively checking each other's stats all day long.  I can tell when she is on her 18th flight of stairs and I have to JUMP up out of my chair and run up the steps for good measure.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres asked me if the goal was always to out walk my sister. Ummmmmm?...... YES! It. Is. On!

Midnight Snack

Oh my goodness.  How can I resist? How can I find the willpower?  How can I find the strength to ward off the deliciousness that awaits me in my kitchen?  Sitting on my counter, in my kitchen, are mouth-watering delights of goodness.  My mom had a long, long, long, drive and late last night at 11:30pm, she dropped off some goodies on her way home. What goodies you ask?

Caramel Covered Marshmallows
Caramel Covered Rice Krispy Treats
Homemade Caramels
and
Mr. Yesteryear Acres favorite.....Milk Chocolate Bear Claws

Oh no!  They are so goooooooooooood! They are so yummy!  They call to me all day long!  I can hear the marshmallows saying, "I am so lonely. Come and taste how yummy!"  Last night there was simply no will power to stop.  There Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I sat, at midnight, with our box of heavenly goodness, and we ate.  And smiled.  And ate some more.  AND to make it even more perfect, Mr. Yesteryear Acres sat with me as I watched the season finale of a ridiculous show that I love. It was a THREE HOUR finale.  I didn't even get to sit down to start watching it until 10:45pm!  And we saw the whole thing.  True love?  I think so!  And as luck would have it.....we have just enough goodness left for round two tonight! Midnight snack?  Yes please!

Every Monday is Full of Puppy Smiles

Olive's puppies will be going home this weekend.  They are SO sweet and SO adorable!  We just love them!

Playing out in the warm sunshine is always fun!

We can tell stories

And play fetch with Mr. Yesteryear Acres

He has the best toys

My name is going to be "Sully"

  

I'm going to fly on a plane to Arizona!

Smile!

We have brand new chocolate and red caramel puppies to love.

They look like a box of chocolate and caramel delight!

So many beautiful colors!

And our sweet golden Birdie delivered the most beautiful goldendoodle babies!

Happy Monday!

One Hour LESS? ACK!

Oh my gosh! Who ordered one hour less sleep today? I could REALLY use that hour.   I miss it so!!!!  Let's see....here at Yesteryear Acres we have....

Cared for our recuperating son

Cared for Mr. Yesteryear Acres Mommy

Said goodbye to some of our adorable double doodle babies as they left for their new homes

Said hello to some new doodle babies that were born....in the middle of the night

And made lots of food and care packages to take over to Mr. Yesteryear Acres parents' house. Mr. Yesteryear Acres went over this evening as his Mommy just got home from the hospital!  YAY!  We had homemade breads and rolls and dinners and side dishes and more dinners.  I am pretty sure they are set for the week!

All with one less hour to the day! Man. I am tired! And for everyone that can't wait for tomorrow......
Introducing our sweet Birdie!  She is McGyver's daughter and our newest Mommy!

She is the sweetest girl

With a heart of gold

She loves everyone

And will follow you wherever you go

She is a faithful, stay-by-your-side, doggie

AND here are her new Goldendoodle babies!

Awwww....so little

AND because we had one LESS hour......

Nutmeg had her Red Caramel and Chocolate Babies too!

She totally didn't want to be left out of the fun!

I wonder what I would do with that extra hour?

Hmmmm.... I think.......SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!

THREE Year Blogiversary

Today marks my third year anniversary of writing my daily blog. This will be my 1,109th consecutive post - as I have not missed one single day of writing since I started writing my blog on March 9th, 2010. Some days writing my blog is SO easy! I have a million things that are "blog-worthy" and I can't wait to write my blog of the day.  Other days, all that has happened is that I cleaned up puppy poop, I cleaned up the house, I cleaned up puppy poop, I washed dishes and then I cleaned up puppy poop again. It is a little harder to be creative on those days.  Everyone here at Yesteryear Acres is VERY conditioned to know that if something remarkable happens - either good or bad - I will write about it.  Sometimes my son will say, "OH NO!  This will be in your blog won't it!?!?"  My response? "YOU BET!"  It is all fair game here! In reading my blogs, I think you get a good sense of our life here at Yesteryear Acres.  The good.  The bad.  The happy. The sad.  You know.....LIFE!  Life is definitely a mixture of all of that.  The hard days make you even more grateful for the easy days.  The sad days make you more grateful for all the happy days.  I can say that I am grateful for every day. I am grateful for every day I get to spend with my loving family. I am grateful for every day I get to spend with my sweet doodle doggies and sweet doodle puppies. I am grateful for every day I get to write my blog and share our life here at Yesteryear Acres with you. A grateful life is a happy life and I know for sure - I am one lucky happy blog writing, family loving, doodle puppy lover! Happy Three Year Blogiversary to me!

Heading Home

Tomorrow Eloise's sweet Double Doodle puppies start heading to their new homes.  Our first puppy leaves here at 9am and our last puppy heads home late tomorrow afternoon.  It will be puppyful puppyfun puppytastic all day long.  Today I got all the puppies groomed, puppy nails trimmed, puppy food ready, puppy care packages ready and still had time for the puppies to have some nice recess breaks outside.  The sun was shining and although it wasn't warm, it was still a good day for puppy play.  The puppies have been SO good about going to the bathroom OUTside and are such loves! They come running when they are called and are just the sweetest bunch. I am excited for them to meet all their new puppy families!  I know it will be love at first sight! Puppyriffic!

Laughter and Good Friends

I am so thankful for the many emails, posts and texts asking how my son is doing.  I really appreciate all the love!!!!!  I have to say - they are definitely the highlight of my day.  Today I received the FUNNIEST email from an awesome  friend of mine.  She said, "This will be you in 40 years" I opened up my email and it was a video of a very elderly lady dancing.  I mean she was breaking it down!!!!  It was AWESOME!  At the end of the video she said, "I could dance all @%*&!@ DAY!"  Oh my gosh!  I cracked up out loud!  I had just finished vacuuming the upstairs and of course I had my music on and of COURSE I was dancing while I was vacuuming. I literally had just been thinking about how much I love to dance.  It was great timing and an awesome video and so awesome she thought of me!  I laughed all day long every time I thought of it.  Another good friend of mine asked me how my son was doing.....followed by asking me how my son was doing. She has the short term memory situation down!  She totally summarized my day with that! I love my friends!  THANK YOU!

Video Chat

This morning my older daughter was lucky enough to get a real bona fide snow day! The Marine Corps Base was under Code Red and she didn't have to report to duty. She was so excited. She thought her snow days were long behind her.  The timing was great as she just got back from being out in the field since last week and hadn't slept for days.  She had the whole day to catch up on sleep and get some much needed food and she was able to finally warm up. This afternoon she had time to video chat with me and that was AWESOME! I haven't talked to her in a long time and I loved seeing her sweet face.  She got to talk to me, she got to talk to Mr. Yesteryear Acres, she got to check up on her brother AND she got to talk to the doodle doggies and doodle puppies. Guess who she was MOST excited about seeing on the video chat? Was it me, her sweet Mom who loves her so dearly? Nope.  Was it sweet Mr. Yesteryear Acres who loves her so dearly? Nope. Was it her brother who is still at home recovering from his head trauma? Nope. WAS IT THE DOODLE DOGGIES?!  Of course it was.  She had the BIGGEST smile on her face when the doggies came on the camera.  She talked to all of them.  She talked to every puppy. The doodle doggies were SO excited to see her.  The second they heard her voice they all came running.  The puppies were pretty happy with all the extra attention as well.   I love snow days.  To me, they always bring extra special family time and snow filled happy memories.

The Orange Juice is Beautiful

The past few days have been exhausting to say the least.  I have been super busy with the puppies and taking care of my son and making some extra meals for my mother-in-law.  She hasn't been feeling too well and needs surgery this Friday.  She will be in the hospital for a few days so I wanted to be sure to get enough meals made to take care of Mr. Yesteryear Acres parents.  I finally sat down last night at 12:15am and was going to relax and watch some TV but instead just went to bed and collapsed.  I was still tired this morning when the alarm went off but Mr. Yesteryear Acres had my coffee all ready as soon as my feet hit the floor. It was so good that it wasn't too long before I was back in action. I have been busy crossing things off my list all day. I have a couple of roaster chickens in the oven, roasted potatoes and carrots. I figure that will make a few nice meals.  Everyone loves slow-roasted chicken when they don't feel well.  Remarkably my son REMEMBERED what was for dinner tonight!  He told me twice that we were having chicken!  This is huge progress! Yesterday he could not remember the word bicycle no matter how hard he tried. When I brought him a glass of Orange Juice - he took a sip and said, "The orange juice is beautiful".  Now I know the color orange IS beautiful but what he meant to say was delicious. Yes, we still have some progress to make BUT he does know we are having chicken for dinner! I think we are on the way to feeling better! Hurray!

Puppy Break

Today I really enjoyed my puppy break. The SUN was shining when we went outside! It felt like a miracle! It snowed all day yesterday and tomorrow we are supposed to get a big snowstorm so I thought it was particularly kind of Mother Nature to bring out the sun for Puppy Picture Monday.  The puppies loved it too!

We are coming Mr. Yesteryear Acres!!!!

Three Chocolate cuties!

We are perfectly in sync!

Our Double Doodle puppies are almost ready to go home

They are complete snuggle bears!

Here they are trying to make a Greeting Card cover

Is this how you do it?

How about this one?

We are so adorable!

Happy Monday!!!!