Dogs, Dogs, Dogs

Meet the Kolp brothers:

Mark is the oldest and the biggest.  He loves his five dogs so much that he gives extra attention to them when they hurt themselves.  Mark sends us pictures of his "kids" and brags on them like any proud Dad would.  His eyes light up and voice softens at the mere mention of dogs.  Pete and he can spend hours sharing dog stories with one another.

Then there's Chris, the youngest.  Roxie and Ginger sit with him on the couch and watch TV.  Notice how he holds the dog's hand while the dog winks at the camera.  I'm surprised they're not all smoking cigars together!  Chris and Chelsea now have baby Jonathan, but Chris manages to squeeze in some time with the dogs.  The whole back part of their house is for the royalty, Roxie and Ginger.  Even though it has been gated off because of Chelsea's keen mother's instinct, those dogs have a pretty good life.  I mean, they can come and go as they please through their little doggie door.  They get treats daily.  And they get to watch TV all day.

Last, but not least, is my husband.  Now Pete, the middle child, doesn't fool around.  He gets down to the nitty-gritty, right on the floor with the dogs.  Partly because I won't let the dogs on the furniture, but mostly because he wants to.  Pete even cuddles with Snowy (the female).  She would sit in his lap all day if I let her.  I swear Pete can spend thirty minutes petting Jake and Snowy and then turn around and tell me his hands are too tired to massage my feet. 

?Sometimes I wonder what their connection with dogs really is?

Pete and his brothers are alike in many other ways. When I have the opportunity to spend time with them, I notice similar idiosyncrasies and mannerisms. Granted, they differ according to which brother it is, but they both have their own set of kindred connections with Pete.

My sister (in-law), Chelsea, and I have fun talking about things Pete and Chris do the same way, even though they haven't lived with each other in over 25 years.  One example in particular is how they deal with babies. A few weeks ago when they were visiting, Pete would pick up Jonathan and play with him the same way Chris does. I remember when my babies sometimes even mixed Chris up for Pete, they look so much alike.

I love the Kolp family - kids, dogs, and all.  Now there is a new generation of Kolp boys: Ricky, Chris' oldest, Andrew, Nicholas, and Jonathan.  I can't wait to see what comes next!

S is for Sadie

Sadie was our sweet yellow lab; we loved her dearly.  She was BS (before Snowy) so things were less, um, torn up in the backyard (ignore the fence in the background that was blown down in a hurricane and rigged by Pete). Sadie was great with the kids, and they loved playing with her in the kiddie pool when they were little. Sadie passed away a year-and-a-half ago, just months after Mary's death.  Sadie had a tumor in her head that was causing her to bleed through her nostrils.  Poor thing was so miserable, we had to make the difficult decision to put our beloved pet to sleep. We miss Sadie terribly, but have a nice stepping stone made with some of her ashes.  She will always be with us.

Off to Disney World

I feel like I am in the process of moving. You know, the adrenaline rush from the chaos of all that has to be done. Only we are not moving, simply getting ready for our trip to Disney World. To make matters worse, Pete had a manager's meeting that required him to be out of town for two days. So I had to play single parent while packing a family of five, getting two dogs to the vet for boarding and having a piano recital in the midst of it all. But I survived, Pete got home earlier than expected and now we are packed and ready to head out at 4:00 AM. The hardest part of all of this was leaving Jake and Snowy at the vet (as you can tell by the picture). We usually only go out of town for one or two nights, so our neighbors and my parents help take care of them here at home. But since our fence is still not fixed after Ike and we will be gone a little longer, we felt it would be best to board our sweet pups. You should have seen the kids and I trying to get them into the van and through the vet's front door. The overly excited canines were yanking me this way and that as I tried to hold onto both of their leashes with all my might. At one point, they had me trapped inside their complex maze of intertwined dog leashes. To the outsider, I probably looked hilarious, but I was actually very stressed. I could just imagine them pulling too hard and getting loose. That would have been a nightmare. Luckily Jake and Snowie made it into the hands of their caretaker for the next several days. Hopefully they won't be too mad when we pick them up. In the meantime, we're off to Disney World. Can't wait to share everything when we get back. I hope the next few days treat you well, too!

Mr. Turtle

This is a poem I wrote today for the PAD challenge, which ends this Thursday. Thanks to a wonderful gift from our neighbor, and our stupidity at placing a turtle in a shallow bowl, we now have a turtle loose in the house!

Mr. Turtle longs to be
outside by a pond where he
can bask in the early morning
sunlight or sleep in his portable
home under a big oak tree.
Instead, Mr. Turtle is being
held prisoner in a home of noisy,
unruly children and two ferocious
dogs, having escaped from a small
bowl and frantically searching for a
way outside to his family.

Oh, How I Love My Pets

I know it has been a while since I blogged, but my sweet, loving, adorable dogs that I love so much chewed through the internet cable. Yes~can you believe it? They have also ruined everything in our backyard. Beware if you come over~your foot might get tripped up from one of the many holes that they have dug. Yesterday, when I was fretting over Nicholas' cough, Snowy threw up on the living room carpet. This wasn't some small spit up, either. She really got after it. We all just stood there, frozen in disbelief, as we watched her upchuck everything in her tummy. And it was like a gold mine, all the different things I noticed as I was cleaning it up. I'll spare you the details, but who said pigs are the only ones who eat everything? The next time I misplace something, I will have to take a closer look at the poop before I scoop! Gotta go look for some gold...

The Family Feels Incomplete Without Pete

Wednesday morning, just as I was getting ready to leave the house, Pete pulled into the driveway, cell phone to his ear. It was only 10:00 A.M. He told me he had to go to Savannah RIGHT NOW. His plane was leaving from Houston at 1:00. Okay~I thought.
"The kids will be upset you didn't get to tell them goodbye," I said as he rushed out the door.
"I know- there's not enough time..they'll understand. I'll call you this evening."

Well, when I picked the children up from school, they were very sad- in fact Katie started crying (I think she is reaching that hormonal/emotional roller-coaster age, but that's a story for another time). So I have done my best to make this time without dad as fun as possible.
We've been going out to eat. The first night we went to Luby's and I was quite surprised at how much the kid's meals had gone down in price. The four of us ate there for $15.25! Last night we had Taco Bell for @$12.00. I was much too tired to cook after teaching preschool art all day. The funny thing is that I had gone to the store before Pete left and had been planning on making homemade lasagne as a surprise. I guess that will be his welcome home meal! Today is Friday, and I told the kids I would take them bowling after school. They are so excited. Since they have been bowling so much on the Wii, they want to see if they have improved in real life...we'll see.
Anyway, we are trying to pass the time without daddy quickly and haven't even felt the urge to get a new pet (the kids and I got Jake as a puppy when Pete was in Greece)...yet.