80 reasons to smile!

Today is Mr. Yesteryear Acres Mommy's 80th Birthday!  I asked her if she was excited for her birthday today and she said she would be a lot more excited if her birthdays went down in age instead of up.  She doesn't like getting older every year.  Come to think of it - does anyone over the age of let's say 25 like getting older every year?  When you are four years old, waiting until you turn five seems like an eternity.  The year passes so quickly.  Reaching the ripe old age of five years old seems like it will never happen. When you are 79, waiting until you turn 80 seems like an instant. Time passes so quickly and there is no stopping it.  When you are young, you never realize just how fast life flies by.  It is important to stop and treasure every moment.  Every day.  Every laugh and smile is a gift. Today we have at least 80 reasons to smile as we wish Mr. Yesteryear Acres Mommy a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  Thank you for bringing us love, smiles, warmth, compassion and so much more.  Your love makes our lives complete.  Happy 80th Birthday! We love you!

I am done! Let's go back in!

Housebreaking puppies in the winter isn't as arduous as people fear it will be. I have many families who want to wait until the weather is warmer before they take on the task of housebreaking a new puppy.  Warmer weather is indeed nicer for going outdoors.  No snow boots are necessary.  No snow parkas are necessary.  No hats, gloves, scarves - just a nice t-shirt, shorts and a pair of flipflops and you are good to go.  It feels so wonderful outside.  You could stay outside all day long.  The thing is.....so can the puppy.  Instead of quickly going out, the puppy thinks, "Oh Look!  A BUTTERFLY!  Hey look at that!  A flower!  What's over here?  What's over there?  Let's play in the grass!  Let's play ALL DAY LONG!"  Puppies LOVE warmer weather just as much as humans do!  Now in the cold dark dreary winter days, parkas may be necessary but the time outside is dramatically shortened.  Business is done and....back inside!!!!! Everyone loves a nice warm house!!!! Blossom and Maple's puppies are doing great with their housebreaking even with the ice storms, snow storms and super cold weather.  I took a few quick pictures with my phone this afternoon so they aren't the best pictures but you can see - the pups are loving our winter outings.

"Alright puppies!  Let's go potty!"

"Is this far enough?"

"Where did the grass go?"

"It isn't over here"

"Hey -  I am already done!"

"Me too!"

Ready to go back in!

Don't forget the toy!!!

Good thing the puppies are loving the winter weather because it looks like Sunday.....there will be lots more white stuff to love!!!!

If at first you don't succeed...

Thank you SO much for trying to vote for my daughter's picture yesterday! Evidently the link the internship provided wasn't that great.  The link routed people to their main page and not to the internship photo contest.  A sweet midmom friend of mine made a new link and....it works!!!!  Her son went to the Naval Academy with my daughter and we have been friends with other midmoms since our kids walked through the gates.  We are a very close group and I am so grateful for our friendship. I tested her new link out and I believe voting should be much easier.  So here is the new direct link:

http://contest-dlsf7u.xg1.li/?fb_ref=Default#entry/show/y5j0z6

Please Share and Thank you for voting. My daughter wanted me to be sure to send her THANK YOU too!! It would be so awesome if my daughter were able to get the interview for this position.  I bet she will have amazing pictures and stories to share!!!!  I will definitely keep everyone posted!
As for today - looks like it will be one wet icy day at Yesteryear Acres.  Icy rain has been steadily falling all morning and it is soooooo slippery outside.  Even the doodle doggies cannot walk without slipping.  It will be a bit treacherous here for a while.  I think I would take any other type of weather condition over icy rain.  I am not known for my graceful balance and walking (sliding, slipping, skidding, falling) on icy surfaces is definitely not my forte.  Looks like a day to put on the crampons.  I wonder if anyone makes doodle doggie crampons?  I think they would like to wear a pair too!!!!  Happy skating!

Please Share! Birthday Wishes can come True!

22 years ago today, a sweet, caring, thoughtful, compassionate, honest, appreciative, loving, kind, beautiful inside and out little girl was born.  I have been so lucky she is my daughter and I have treasured every single moment since the day she was born. She cares about people. She cares about animals. She cares about the environment.  She cares about all creatures great and small.  My daughter will be graduating this May with a degree in Psychology and Nutrition and is looking forward to new exciting adventures as she embarks on a new career. She recently applied for an internship for the summer serving as a photo journalist while traveling to 14 different countries.  She will be responsible for daily blog entries, social media, photo submissions etc.  It is a dream internship position for her.  Along with the traditional resume/cover letter application process, the internship position is offering a guaranteed interview for the person who gets the most "likes" for their photo submission. My daughter submitted this photo that she took of the Dunvegan Castle in Scotland:

So far she has 9 likes.  If anyone wants to help make my daughter's birthday wish come true and like her photo - that would be AWESOME!  I would love for her to get the chance to interview for the internship. Please share the link and hopefully she will get a lot of Thumb's up!

Here is the direct link to the contest:

https://www.facebook.com/PhotoTourCroisiEurope?sk=app_138778399475757&app_data=entry/show/y5j0z6

Please click the thumb's up "like" button for her specific picture (not the page itself) in order for the vote to count.  Thanks for all who participate!!!!  I appreciate it so much and I know she will too!!!!  Happy Birthday my sweet daughter! I love you so much!

That wasn't on my agenda

Today was one of those days where things kept popping up that were definitely not on my To-Do list. First up was the 6:00am wake-up from my son who was feeling pretty poorly.  During the great flagpole raising - he was injured when the 3rd person helping dropped the pole on my son. He has been battling pretty severe pain for a week now and this morning the pain had radiated to his neck and chest. He was having a hard time breathing so needless to say, we were the very first patients when the doors opened at Urgent Care. The doctor was quite impressed with the fact my son had gone this long without medical intervention given his injuries.  He is now on several medications and hopefully will recover quickly.  The rest of the day my son was ordered to have strict bed rest so I became his nurse which wasn't exactly on my agenda.  Things kind of followed suit from there.  I had to hunt down the pharmacy with the available prescriptions, I had to go pick up the meds, I had to prepare a birthday meal and dessert which I totally forgot about, and I had about a dozen other things pop up that were not on my agenda.  The most frustrating item was when I realized that my Mac computer does not support the business tax software I need. This is tragic as I can't do my business taxes without that software so I spent most of the afternoon rebuilding an old windows machine that hasn't been turned on for over a year due to its dilapidated condition.  THAT was definitely not on my agenda.  Grrrrrrr.  I hope tomorrow is one of those - "Gee this is exactly what I had planned days!"  Well, it looks like my patient needs more water.  See?  Water girl - that wasn't on my agenda either! Only 2.5 hours to go until my non-agenda day is officially over.  Now that I think I can count on!

My How We Have Grown!

Blossom's Goldendoodle Puppies and Maple's Double Doodle puppies grew a lot this week.  They are getting really good at licking their bowls clean and have now started going outside for potty breaks.  They are the best little puppies!

See how much they have grown?!

They are all just adorable teddy bears!

Juneau's little babies have opened their eyes and are taking their first little peek at the world

They are little snuggle bears

We have a beautiful assortment of caramels!

I think Blossom's puppies changed the most this week

They really filled out and grew a lot bigger this week

Blossom's sweet girls

They are such gentle puppies 

I love the white socks!

Everyone loves the octopus toy the best

I am so lucky to have these cute Doodle puppies

To snuggle and play with every day

Happy Monday!!!!

Long May She Wave

Our Flagpole Project is officially completed! This has been a long process but we are finally done and our beautiful flag is proudly waving for all to see.

Here is one last picture of our original flagpole.  It has been a beautiful focal point for years.  You were a good flagpole! 

The beginning of the new flagpole base

Ready for the cement!

It took a ton of cement to fill in the base

Good thing we had a truck!

Almost done

Of course we needed a Doodle Doggie print to make it perfect for Yesteryear Acres!

Getting ready to install the new Flagpole

It was one tough job to get it hoisted into the air

The new flagpole is a LOT taller!  See the old one behind it? 

Raising our new flag

There she goes

You're the emblem of
The land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.
~George M. Cohan

The wind came at just the perfect time

O H I O

Home Sweet Home

Long May She Wave

Flux Capacitor

My son's truck is not running which of course is tragic for my son.  He loves his truck.  He worked and worked and worked and saved and saved and saved and bought his truck all by himself.  I don't think there is a day that goes by that he doesn't mention how much he loves his truck. After running a diagnostic test on the truck it appears it has something to do with the oil pressure valve thingamagig.  He gave me a long explanation but in my mind, all I can think of is the movie "Back to the Future" and the malfunctioning "Flux Capacitor".  Whenever anything mechanical breaks around here, I always say it must be the "Flux Capacitor".  I am fairly certain both Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my son deeply appreciate my mechanical knowledge.  Since my son's truck won't start, clearly the flux capacitor needs replaced which led to quite the conundrum of how to get the replacement parts when one's truck is dead.  Well today he got a special delivery as his grandma went all the way to a dealership on the other side of town to pick up my son's parts and then brought the needed parts out here.  How nice!!!  We were super busy and there was no way to get the parts until next weekend at the earliest so the delivery was much appreciated. My son is out in the garage replacing that oil pressure valve thingamagig part right now.  With any luck, I will hear his truck start up before too long.  Fingers Crossed.  We all know that if it is not in fact the Oil Pressure valve....I will have been right all along.  See?  It WAS the Flux Capacitor!

Doodle Hugs Of Course

This morning we started carrying down all of my daughter's things that were going back to college with her.  The doodle doggies all knew what was going on. Up the stairs. Down the Stairs.  Up the Stairs. Down the Stairs.  Sad, pathetic, longing faces with droopy ears and tears in their eyes.  With every step the doggies were saying, "Noooooooooo Don't Go!!!!!!" As we loaded the last of my daughter's things into her car, she was surrounded by her sad doodle committee and had to say her last goodbyes.  We were all sad.  We waved as she pulled down the road and then the house was quiet.  The doodle doggies all followed me back inside and I looked at them and said, "Now what?"  That is when they crawled into my lap and by my side and it was clear the answer was Doodle Hugs of Course! Nothing mends a broken heart faster than doodle hugs.  I think they needed a hug as much as I did.  Tonight Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I will have a little less room to sleep as my daughter's doodle doggies will be joining us.  Oh well - the more doodle doggies, the merrier! Who can say no to doodle hugs?!

Last Day

Today is my last day with my younger daughter as tomorrow she heads back for her very last semester at college.  I had a wonderful break with her and it was fun for me to have her to fill in as guest blogger and hear all about her amazing adventures winter quarter. Today we are doing normal last day things - packing, laundry, packing and more laundry.  I have homemade rolls rising in the oven and I am making goodies for her to bring back to school. We are even making homemade pasta together.

I am really going to miss her but at the same time, I am so grateful to have been able to spend this time with her.  My countdown to empty nest syndrome keeps spinning faster and faster.  I have to hold on to these last few months. No matter how much I prepare.......I am not ready.

Goldendoodle Book

I was asked to contribute to a book about Goldendoodles and so I have been spending some time working on this project. The book should be going to the publisher soon.  It looks to be a great book and today I went through some of our favorite Goldendoodle pictures and thought I would share some of them on today's blog.  Thank you to everyone who sent in some of these adorable Yesteryear Acres Goldendoodle photos!!!!! I just love doodles!!!

"I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"

"Is someone missing a diaper?"

"Ahhhh I love snow!!!"

"Time to Build a Snowman!"

"I am just a little snuggle buddy"

"Ummmm  I don't want to get my paws cold!"

"And in the morning....I am making Waffles!"

Goldendoodle Nap Time!

Goldendoodle Beauty

"Leaves are delicious!"

"I love my little blanky!"

Goldendoodle Puppy Trio

"Why Hello There!"

"You Mean Pose Like This?"

"High Five!"

"Ready for the Rain!"

 Hope you liked today's Goldendoodle Picture Book fun!!!!!  Doodle pictures are the best!!!!