Life With Lucy and Cyrus

We've got the sickies around here.  You can probably tell by the picture that L. doesn't feel very well.

M. has something going on that he'll need some test later in the week.  And then there's Cyrus...

I took him to the vet for his yearly check-up and found out he has heart worms!!  Bout broke my heart!!  She says there's a period that the dog can be infected that it doesn't show up on the test.  Considering his age, how long we've had him and that he's been on preventative meds since we got him, she thinks he was infected when we got him a year ago, but it was during that time that it didn't show.  Ugh!!  Poor baby has to take a bitter medicine twice a day.  Lucy doesn't mind - she gets the same cheese or ham treat minus the meds that Cyrus does. Our prayer is that this works because the other way would require that he be crated for two months!

He knows he's not supposed to be in my chair!!  Of course he knows he's not supposed to be on my bed too, but that doesn't stop him!!  Earlier in the week, I posted this link on FB that talks how dogs communicate with you.  I love it - we've experienced each one with both dogs!!  Mmm, the article doesn't address stubbornness though.  We need that one for Lucy!

Life with Lucy and Cyrus

 Blogging is something I always think about doing and never quite get to.  I have thoughts to write and don't do it.  I want to leave more of a record of family life than what is on facebook and pictures in my cell phone. So, three months later I work on my blog.  I change the template and totally mess up the background.  Ones I've used in the past aren't free anymore - I found something else that kind of matches the template I accidentally changed it to.  Not quite what I wanted, but it's purple and purple is always good.

A lot of things aren't quite what I wanted.  For instance...the day after these photos were taken, Hubby's brother lost his battle with cancer.  Not what we wanted, but we're happy he isn't in pain anymore.  Eternity with Christ is a great thing!  And our family (collectively) is sometimes okay and a lot of times struggling.

We went to Jazzy's Ridge to take these photos on the one year anniversary of losing Jazzy.  Of course Cyrus is looking adoringly to us - that's his personality. Then there's Lucy.  There's never a dull

moment with her!  The weather is quite cold now and in the mornings when it's time for me to leave for school she is hiding in M's bed as if to say don't put me out in the cold!  Even today, I took her to run at Dad's, but she couldn't be left because she won't stay in the yard and she won't listen/obey.  She only likes things her way!

Our poor Cyrus has heart worms.  The vet thinks since he is young and otherwise healthy that he can fight them off with the "slow-kill" method which is medicine.  Fast kill would require a lot of money and crating him for two months!  I hope the first way works, such an active dog who is part of our everyday life would be miserable crated that long!

Not matter what I say about them, I do look forward to our evenings with the dogs.  Lucy will be trying to get us to chase her around the living room and when that's done, she'll chew on her bone.  Cyrus will cuddle up with one of us in the recliner.  That's life with Lucy and Cyrus!

Life With Lucy and Cyrus

Well, we've had a lot of life between the last post and this one.  I've been trying to figure out why I haven't been posting and it's gone something like this...new computer, redoing Dad's house, everyone being gone for summer, school starting again, working on fundraising garage sale for M's Africa mission trip.

However, it's Fall Break!!  The tail end, but still Fall Break and it's always the point of the school year that I feel like I've got my feet under me and somewhat have a handle on work.  Though leading up to break I was at school until 7 or 8 each night. I'd I prefer not to repeat that for several weeks if ever!

It's been a good break catching up..sleep, paperwork, things that have been waiting for my time, and cleaning out the closet that I just knew I'd get to over the summer!  Friday, I was able to go out with L.  I probably enjoyed it more than him, but at least he was willing to be seen in public with his Mom!  Saturday was a really nice Saturday-break or not.  I took L. to a mowing job, went to a couple of garage sales, got a free pumpkin shake, bought movie tickets and went to Braums for milk (it's the absolute best tasting and best price so worth going out of my way for).  We saw Woodlawn as a family and then after our crockpot and bread maker meal, we played Sequence.  Five day weekends are definitely the way to go!

M got up at before 4:30 am to go pack the trailer for Africa!

I'm not a bleu cheese fan, but it's awesome on these chips!

M and L went to the youth pumpkin carving and bonfire.  Africa's on M's mind, I guess.  I rescued this from under M's back tire.  Someone left it there for him!

The recipe calls it Round Steak Casserole, but it turns out to be a yummy stew!

For Hubby and M, Saturday meant fixing the fallout of Life with Lucy and Cyrus.  Whenever someone mows or weed eats nearby Cyrus gets a bit excited and feels he must herd them (somewhat like he herds the vacuum cleaner).  He grabs the top part of the chain link fence in his mouth and pulls and shakes until he twists large holes all across the top.

Last weekend while Hubby and L were in Denver, we thought Lucy was getting out of the yard through the holes.  Turns out no, she was just pushing hard on the back gate and going out there.  I made a quick trip to Walmart before church and bought a bike lock.  She eats through the bungee cords! Fun, hu?  I didn't get pictures of the holes- just the repair work.

He's not supposed to be in the recliners - ever!

Good practice for upcoming mission trip!

There's not much he can't do...

There you have it - Life with Lucy and Cyrus!

Life With Lucy and Cyrus

We're so happy it's getting closer to Spring!!  Being cooped up inside is no fun for energetic doggies. It's a good thing they are so cute!  One day during bad weather Cyrus ended up in the boys' bathroom instead of ours because I didn't want to leave Lucy in M's room eating magazines... It was M's job to make sure everything was okay for him.  When I came home for lunch it was apparent that M. had missed a few things - there was a box of kleenexes in shreds all over the floor.  Cyrus did this in total darkness because M. forgot to leave the light on! Like I said, it's a good thing they're so cute!

The easiest way to get all the mud off them is carry them to the shower.  Well, that works great if Hubby is at home.  M. and I had to carry Cyrus in for a shower the other day - think lots of mud all over both bathrooms.  Poor Lucy - Hubby is the only one who can carry her so she got hosed off with her leash wrapped around the mailbox.  She was a good sport even though she was shivering!  I turned the fireplace on for them and they don't seem to have held grudges!

They both started obedience school.  They can "leave it" (even if leave it is a treat), sit, and lay down (although not always willingly).  I knew Cyrus would learn quickly, but I must say - Lucy is surprising me.  She is finally even learning to take treats gently.

We're still enjoying life with Lucy and Cyrus!

Lucy and Cyrus enjoy snuggling and napping with Daddy on a snowy afternoon.

Life with Lucy and Cyrus

Hubby and M were away for the week, so L and I were in charge of the dogs the. whole. time.  Mostly me - but L really was helpful!  In the evenings, Cyrus enjoyed chewing on Monkey Man.

At some point he has also enjoyed chewing on the footboard of M's bed!  I got him a nylabone to help with the chewing thing.  He won't touch it.  When Lucy was inside she was in M's her bed.  (And yes, I'm certain that it was Cyrus not Lucy that chewed on the wood.) I did wake up a couple of mornings with her in bed with me.  I guess she only likes sleeping alone so much. That dog!

I/we did manage to take walks every day.   Their favorite part is watching the ducks/geese.  I'm pretty sure Cyrus wishes he could fly!  The beginning of the week had wind chills below freezing, while the end of the week was in the 60s! I'm thankful for better walking weather - the next 10 days is forecasted for the 50s!

Today we were all (Hubby took 1/2 day) off for MLK day so we took the dogs (affectionately referred to as turkeys) to dad's to run.  It took absolutely no convincing to get them to explore, run, wrestle, and look for moles.  We'd love to do that more often - or maybe build a house there to give them the space????

I wish we could get the dogs to pose together for a picture.  Maybe when they're older? And slower/calmer? That's life with Lucy and Cyrus!

Life With Lucy and Cyrus

For the record, we're dog owners again. Just when we were used to having clean tile...we realized we wanted a dog - our family loves having one around. This was quickened along when one happened to find us.  We couldn't find her owners and no one claimed her so we're the proud owners of Lucy!

Lucy has helped us find every spot in our fence that needed securing!  I guess when the fence was first installed close to ten years ago, they took a lot of short cuts fastening the bottom.  Hubby however has gotten it all fixed now (we really appreciate all the time he took in such cold temps. to take care of this).  Hubby also decided Lucy needed a friend. So, we found Cyrus.

Qualifying to get him from the rescue was quite a process, but it has been so worth it!  We are loving getting to know both of their different personalities.  The dogs are getting along great too - when they are outside they spend the whole day wrestling and chasing - it's quite entertaining to watch!

As I write this, Lucy is in M's bed asleep - she's all about what's in it for her.  She's not much of a snuggler, but she'll give kisses and she will rub around our legs like a cat!  Cyrus is a snuggler and kisser!  Trust me, I've gotten woken up several times this way this week!  He lays his head across my neck - that must be a border collie trait because Jazzy used to do that too.  Right now, he's asleep right next to my chair.  Also, must be a border collie trait!

We're so thankful to have them both and look forward to many years of walks, ball playing and having them as part of our family.