Happy Halloween!

Scrappy and Lady waiting with goodies for our lil' visitors this year :)

Its one of my favorite days of the year.  Creepy decorations, scary ghouls around the corner.  The cool crisp air and all the kids dress as their favorite characters going door to door saying "Trick or Treat" for some yummy candy. 

Unlike most years, decorations were not hung around the house but I'm staying in the Halloween spirit just the same with some classic horror movies (my favorite genra):  It, The Shining and others since this weekend.

Happy Halloween everyone!

My 3 stooges

Ava, Scrappy, Lady

Scrappy has joined us now for almost 2 weeks and adapting just fine to his new home. I think he is fitting right in with his new "sisters". They are inseparable and too adorable for words!

Taking a walk...

Decided to enjoy the beautiful day with my pups Lady and Ava. Here is what lady thinks of our walks and does this every time-its sad its not even a block from the house...and she wonders why I don't take her out first!

Time Flies!!!

WOW! I can't believe its already December, and that my last blog was in the middle of August--sorry about that!

I have been busy and I wish it was more scrapping stuff than regular life. Some updates to share with pictures:

on the animal front:
*RIP Bosco--our oldest little fuzzie passed away september 16--he lived a long life and I am glad Pat and I were there to happily extend his years and make the last couple some great ones for him. The other fuzzies are doing great and playful as ever!

Bosco with his favorite crab hiding spot--it kept him warm and cozy :)

*Also in September we "adopted" a chocolate lab and named her Avalon "Ava" for short. One of Pats coworkers had her and no longer could keep her so we took her into our home. She has adjusted well and gets along with the other dogs.

Ava in the grass & meeting her new family

*The beardies are doing great and love their new larger home :)



* The Koi are doing great in their outdoor home--although I think the crazy weather is starting to confuse them --its been warm this past weekend and last week. They have already started to hibernate but then are also coming up for food in the warmer days...hopefully the weather makes up its mind soon! Here are a couple of pictures of the fish/pond from earlier this year:




Scrapping Updates:
*Completed one set of the wedding invitation sets I was working on for a Nov. wedding along with programs and place cards (still need to be uploaded from the camera!):



*Focusing on another wedding invitation set due at the end of January--pictures will be posted by April 2010.

*My new scrapbook room is fully painted and moved in. I'm using my craftshow tables as my desk/work area and will break them down when I do shows. I have my peg board up and working on getting the second ready to hang. Also I'll be adding a floor to ceiling stamp/inkpad shelf in the next couple of weeks--I'm very excited about this--thanks Dad! :)

*I'll be updating my etsy shop with some christmas goodies soon...just have to take better pictures and upload them.

* I will not be hosting a table at this years xmas craft show in Kankakee--I didn't have enough time to build up my inventory--hopes to getting things together for next years show!

I promise to log onto here more often and definitly start adding pictures to my naked blog here!! please be patient --thank you :)

Happy Scrapping :)

R.I.P Lance (March 31 2006 - July 12 2009)

I am new to this blog thing but I wanted to share this, our 3 yr old rottie Lance passed away last night around 8pm. Unfortunately I wasn't home when this happened but Pat was. His death has been very hard to deal with --I know a lot of people think no biggie he was just a dog--but he was so much more and he will be dearly missed and never forgotten.

We took him to the vet this morning and they did a necropsy (dog autopsy) on him. The Dr.'s are just as shocked and confused by his untimely death. Pat and I originally thought it was heart disease based on the symptoms online, but the Dr. said his heart was fine and not abnormal in any way. No heartworms either...His lymph nodes were enlarged, his lungs had hemmoraged and his spleen/liver looked a little off. That was all nothing else was wrong with him. He was not around any medicine or chemicals/poisons that we know of or can see--we don't keep anything dangerous at doggie level in the house.

Last week he was very needy around me but I figured he was depressed since I wasnt really around since I was busy with the craft show. That weekend he started dry hacking without any vomit--I wasn't too concerned since he was still active and eating normally. By the start of the week he was getting finicky with eating--but I didn't think anything since we were in the process of changing out their food so I figured he was ok. The unproductive hacking was on and off last week and I was going to take him in this week to get his check up and ask the Dr. about his hacking. He started only eating 1 meal a day but still eating. Saturday morning was his last meal. He did not eat saturday night and did not eat sunday morning before I left. I had then made up my mind to take him in this week since he didn't eat at all for 2 meals in a row...well he never got that chance... the vet says that he didn't show any serious signs and that this is just weird/shocking and that makes me feel better --knowing that I did everything that I could do, that it wasn't something I neglected or missed.

I'd like to think he went peacefully without much of a struggle--I just wish I was there in his final moments and that has been the hardest part for me to deal with--that I was not there, but I am glad that Pat was there and spent some final moments with him before he passed in his own little spot in the yard where Pat later found him. ( I am planning on planting a flower garden in the area that he chose as his final resting place--a project for me to work on--Thanks little man for choosing a great spot for my flower garden)

The vet will be taking additional samples and going to the vet school at UofI and I hope that they can give us a definitive answer in about a week. Since Gwen is a litter mate Pat and I were concerned that if Lance had some sort of genetic thing that Gwen may have it too. I took her to the vet this afternoon and they did a blood panel and xray of her chest. The xrays came back normal and we are now waiting for the blood work to come back from the lab. But she is not showing any signs or change of routine--shes still active, eating her 2 meals and keeping up with Lady. So we shall see and I hope her blood work comes back normal.

It hurts me to see Gwen look like she is looking for Lance--she has not ventured to the other side of the yard much today and has stayed at my side. At least we all have eachother and Gwen still has Lady.

I will keep you all updated when more information from the vet becomes available. Thank you for all of your concern and thoughts--it helps to see how many lives Little Man has touched and I'm glad he had a chance to meet most of you...

R.I.P Lancelot "Lance"

Our Little Man Forever

March 31 2006- July 12 2009

We love you and miss you with all of our hearts...