Outtakes

Puppy Picture Monday was of course - full of adorable puppy pictures. What you didn't get to see were the outtakes.  All the pictures I took TRYING to get a good group photo. 996 pictures later and not one single picture of all the puppies smiling at the same time.

Okay Pups!  Let's get together for a group picture!

Everybody line up

Like this?????

I want to be in front.  No wait - Let ME get in front

But we don't want to smile at the camera!

Hey!  Did you see that leaf?!!!

I guess it is just down to the two of us to do the group pose 

Why do they always sit on me?

Ummmm Ms. Green Waves is playing leap frog!!!!!

Pbbbbt! That's what I think of picture taking!

Heh Heh Heh - I am going to stick my tongue out when she takes the picture!

Picture Taking! HA!

Hey buddy, we know it is you with the photo bombing nonsense

WHAT! I've been caught?!  Drats!

I'll be good.....

CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey - Who Took My Hour?

I would just like to say - I would like my hour back. I know it is only one teeny little hour but I want it back! When my alarm went off yesterday morning, I wanted to go right back to sleep.  That feeling didn't leave me all day and this morning - I still wanted my hour of sleep back! The puppies however, weren't fazed at all. They were happy to see their play day extended by one full hour of sunshine. More play time for them! Yay!

Ummm...I don't like stepping in mud! 

We don't care!!!!

Let's play tag!!!

We didn't say FREEZE tag!

Come on! Follow me!

Whew!  All this running around has me tuckered out.

Leaf Plow!!!!

Ha Ha Ha! You are it!

Birdie's goldendoodle babies are now one week old

Aren't they so adorable?

Awwww. Snuggle Buddies!

Happy Monday!

4 Year Blogiversary

Today marks my 4 year anniversary of writing my blog.  In the past four years, I have never missed a blog posting. Neither rain nor sleet ... in sickness and in health...I write my blog. Why am I so devoted to the daily blog writings? The answer is simple -  Because I said I would and I always follow through on my word. Four years ago it occurred to me that it is pretty hard to really know someone based on just a few brief emails and website photos.  I am asking families to trust me in raising their new furry four-legged family member and this is something I take very seriously.  There is nothing like the love of a doggie and I want people to know that I feel that love and that responsibility down to my very core. I thought, maybe if I write a little blurb each day about life here at Yesteryear Acres, it would provide insight into how much we care.  We could share how devoted we are to our furry best friends and for our love of life. And so on March 9, 2010 I wrote my first blog post. Since that day, my blog that kind of started as a peek into our doodle doggies blossomed into a kind of open diary of our life here. I have really enjoyed writing each day and I love getting feedback on my posts.  I have received so many nice emails and comments - and I have to say that is really my favorite part.  I love that my writings make people smile and laugh and sometimes even cry.  Because that is what life is.  A mixture of happiness and sorrow.  Things that go right and things that don't. The never-changing and always present constant is the thread of love that weaves through each and every day.  I hope that not only have I provided a glimpse into our daily life here at Yesteryear Acres but also shared how devoted we are to our doggies.  We are the kind of family that puts our doggies first, we are loyal, honest and work very hard and through it all, we love each other and our doggies with all our hearts. We feel blessed each and every day and are grateful for our beautiful life here at Yesteryear Acres. Thank you for allowing me to share our beautiful doggie-filled life with you.

Work before Play

I am 100% the kind of person that always does work before play.  You can't just go out and have fun when there is work to do.  Work always has to come first.  If and only If -  all the work gets done --- THEN it can be time to play. My son wanted to go walking early this morning and my to-do list was a mile long.  There was just absolutely no way I could go.  I rattled off about a dozen things on my to-do list to which my son countered with about a dozen excellent reasons why I should join him. His number one argument was that the weather was only going to get worse and at that moment, the ground was semi-frozen and it would soon turn to a giant mud pit. He did have very insightful points, but I was still sticking to my guns.  That is when he pulled out the argument that won.  He said he would help me the rest of the day to get my stuff done.  I told him that I had the entire house to clean. I had to vacuum and dust and do laundry and clean the bathrooms and clean the puppy bedding. He still agreed! I have to say that is probably his least favorite job in the world and the fact he agreed to help me do one of my least favorite jobs made my day! Yea!!!  My cleaning time was instantly cut in half!  AND I got to go on a fun walk with some of our doodle doggies

The doggies were REALLY excited that we went for the early morning hike

They said my son always has the best ideas

The weather was perfect for a doodle hike

My son is the master of the "invisible" leash

The doodle doggies can run for miles and with one small call from my son

They all come running back with happiness.

My son is good that way - spreading happiness cause....

I got to go on a long walk

and

my house is super clean!

Play before work???? Sometimes that is the best idea of all!

Not EXACTLY what I was thinking

This afternoon Mr. Yesteryear Acres came upstairs to check on me.  I looked like this

Notice the hair pulling.  Notice the deep dark circles under the eyes.  Notice the crazed look. Notice the MASS amount of papers!  The poor trees!  I am killing trees and more trees just to get my tax paperwork completed. As I was bemoaning the killing of innocent trees, Mr. Yesteryear Acres said I HAD to go outside.  I was needed.  My son was waiting for me by the pond and I needed to get out there.  OH!  A surprise!  A break for me in the sunshine!  How thoughtful!  I couldn't wait to see my surprise of happiness! So I put on my mud boots and my coat and made my way out the door.

This is what awaited me

Cutting back the cattails around the pond.  Ummmm what?  That is the big surprise?!  Mr. Yesteryear Acres said that the pond is still frozen and it won't be that way for long so today is a GREAT day to cut the cattails. We can stand ON the pond and cut them with ease.  Sooooo not EXACTLY what I was thinking when I thought of the "fun" break from taxes. 

Here's my son proving the pond is completely frozen and safe for all the "fun" cattail removal activities. 

OH BOY! 

I am pretty much making you jealous right now.  I know.  The amount of fun is almost too much to bear.

Evidently....cattails are delicious

Notice my son's attire.  Short sleeved T-shirt.  And yes - that is snow on the ground.

I have on a winter coat AND gloves! It is clearly NOT spring yet!

Even though it is trying hard!

All I can say is that if Mr. Yesteryear Acres calls me to the sink, I am running the other way.  He can't trick me twice in one day. OOOH do you want to wash a couple of muddy doggies????  I think I will pass on that one!

Still Exiled

Day two of isolation......HELP!  The walls are closing in!  Who does this kind of work day after day? So many numbers!  So many receipts! I miss the sunshine.  I miss the fresh air.  I miss walking outside.  The doodle doggies have been sooooooo nice to me.  I am literally surrounded by a sea of doodle doggies at my feet.  Every now and then they look up at me and give me the "I am here for you" look.  I then take a momentary petting cuddle break and then I am right back to crunching numbers.  Oh taxes.....how I loathe thee. Yesterday, I had 2 friends suggest that I need cookies.  I have to agree!  I looked everywhere today and....no cookies!  Clearly that is the thing I am missing in order to be at my optimum performance level.  Maybe tomorrow cookies will appear and help boost my number crunching ability.  Or maybe tomorrow I will take a break and do something incredibly fun like CLEAN THE HOUSE.  That's right.  I am missing my weekly "Clean the House Thursday" routine and I am actually sad about it!  I would much rather clean than do taxes. Alas.... I must go back upstairs as I am still exiled.  I am making progress - little by little.  I will get this done!

Locked in Solitaire

Sigh. It is THAT time of the year again. The dreaded time of the year.  The time where I must lock myself up in the office and get ready for tax season. It takes me forever to do our taxes.  It is really hard for me and requires all my concentration and all my mental abilities.  I cannot multitask or come up for air or even think about anything else.  It is probably the hardest job I face each year.  It is just an arduous task that takes a level of painstaking attention to detail AND it is no fun.  I mean NO fun.  There is not one thing I enjoy about doing taxes. I have however learned to start my taxes about a month early, which is why I began my UNfun job today.  That way, no matter what, I will get them all done on time with minimal stress.  I spend about one week solid on our business tax preparation and then another whole week on personal taxes.  Today, I began.  I went upstairs early and I just came down the stairs with my hair all pulled out and my eyes all fatigued and hardly a single step of exercise for the entire day. When I walked into the kitchen to start dinner......what did I see?
Mr. Yesteryear Acres already making dinner AND.......

a bouquet of flowers!!!! Awwwwww.  What a nice surprise!!! Gosh - even on the  dreaded start the taxes day, happiness abounds! This gives me just the motivation I need to go back upstairs and get my job done.  Taxes - I am ready.

Who Doesn't Love Company?

I have been so busy with the new puppies and catching up from my fun drive.....and then of course my fun drive right back home again that sadly my kitchen sink was a bit overflowing with dishes.  I have been just piling them up which is contrary to my usual practices.  Everything else the past 2 days has been way more important than the dishes and so...the dishes sat.  And multiplied.  And sat some more.  And then it became a kind of towering mass of dishes that looked way too overwhelming to start washing and so they sat again.  Tonight I realized that the tower must be tackled and so I began.  I was kind of feeling like UGH SO MANY DISHES but then my son came in the kitchen to keep me company.  I felt so happy to have someone to talk to and then Mr. Yesteryear Acres came in the kitchen to keep me company too! Other than having them actually wash the dishes, this was great! They had both been working really hard so they were super happy to just sit down and relax.  They both kept me laughing and smiling and before I knew it - all the dishes were done. I didn't plan on having dish washing night be such an enjoyable event - but it really was.  I love finding joy in unexpected places.....like a sink full of dirty dishes. If you look hard enough - joy can be found just about anywhere!

New Goldendoodle Babies

Get ready for some "oooohs" and "awwwwwws" because we have new goldendoodle babies!!! Our beautiful golden Birdie

is the mommy of our new little baby goldendoodle puppies.

We have 4 girls and 3 boys

Aren't they adorable?

AND of course we don't want to leave out Ms. Eloise's Double Doodle babies

This week they start solid foods

and will really start to grow

This my favorite part of Puppy Picture Mondays

All the love that goes into every picture. This week my son was the puppy picture helper.  I quickly took this picture when he wasn't paying attention to me.  Moments like these melt my heart.  I am so lucky to be surrounded by doodle doggies and puppies and so much love.  Happy Monday!

Because it's Sunday

I made it home safe and sound late last night and while I certainly did not wake up to the predicted snowmaggedon.....we did get a beautiful snowfall.  I am glad I didn't have to drive through the snow even though the storm was certainly less than predicted. Yesterday morning I woke up to this -

My daughter's one last snuggle with her Blossom Doodle

Please don't take my Blossom Doodle away!

It broke my heart to do that!

 This morning when I woke up I was feeling a little blue and then......

my son brought me this! He made me sunny-side up eggs, toast and fresh squeezed orange juice. I immediately had tears in my eyes and gave him a look that said, "why did you do this for me?"  He could tell what I was thinking and said, "Because it's Sunday! We always have a breakfast feast on Sunday.  Did you forget it was Sunday?"  He gave me the biggest smile and believe me I know why he did that.  My heart is still smiling.  It is nice to be so loved.

After breakfast my son and I took some doodle doggies for a snow romp

The doggies said this is a GREAT idea!

Guess who won the race up the hill?

They are really fast!

I did my best to keep up 

We got a little over 3 miles in

Before we turned around and headed back home.

I love Sundays.

The Saddest Goodbye

Sigh. Double Sigh.  After a mere 2 hour visit with my daughter, I have to turn around and drive all the way back home.  Winter Storm Titan is not going to wait.  We have up to a foot of snow and severe ice storm headed our way and it will make driving home tomorrow way too dangerous so I need to drive back today. Not only am I sad as I barely had time to see my daughter but I am so sad because I have to take her doodle doggie Blossom back home.  I am usually SO good at saying goodbye.  I do everything possible to be upbeat and to NOT cry. I mean I am the mom of a marine and it is my duty to hold it together.  I think of everything under the sun in order to keep my tears at bay.  I always wait until I am out of sight before I allow the tears to fall.  This is not easy for me because I will cry during a Hallmark Movie.  I will cry during a coffee commercial.  I definitely will cry when I watch the doggie commercial where the soldier comes home to greet her doggie that missed her so much.  I mean come on!  I can only have so much strength! My daughter is usually very good with the quick non-teary goodbye but this time - the goodbye is just too much.  Saying goodbye to her bestest buddy Blossom is unspeakably difficult.  So now, here I am, in the car, with a doodle doggie's nose pressed against the back window crying for my daughter, and my daughter standing in the driveway with the tears falling down her face crying for her doggie......as I slowly drive away.  I only hope I will be able to see the road through all these tears. My heart breaks for them both.