Saying Good-Bye

So, as you know, our household sees lots of puppies (Faithful Doodles) come 'n go and usually I have mixed feelings about them leaving.  They're SO darn cute..... and sweet and fun.....and I'm so thankful I'm able to do something from home and give my kids a neat experience..... but right around the 7 week mark, they start to get a bit more obnoxious (or maybe I'm just burnt out!), so I'm usually ready for the break.  Even though it's sad to see them leave, I've been totally blessed to have great, wonderful families take them and keep in touch with me.  I wave good bye, shut the door kinda sad and give a sigh of relief at the same time.  

But this last litter has been a bit different.  My kids love to play with the puppies.  They're still young and need to be watched, but Maddy can pretty much play with them by herself and I

 don't fear too much of her doing anything wrong.  This last litter she spent the most time she ever has playing with them.  Up to this point, it hasn't been hard for her to say goodbye to them either and I often joke that she has her Daddy's emotions more than mine.  In fact, when 2 of the pups almost died at birth, she matter-of-factly told her brother that they were going to die & went off to play, while I was crying over them.  lol....  But as we said our good-byes to them this past week, Maddy has cried harder and longer than I ever imagined her doing, especially over the 2 girls, Hope (the one that almost died) and Yellow Girl....whom she named Ashlynn (Summer!).  When Hope left, she literally cried for 3 hours and every day since Yellow girl left, she has either cried about missing her or whined over wanting her back.  So sad!  It was almost easier when she didn't care, but I totally relate to how she feels.  I hope she doesn't have to go through this each time we have a litter!  She has asked me to make her a little photo album of some of the puppies for her to remember they by and look at when she is sad.  She also drew a picture of one of them "so she would never, ever forget him and will keep it forever and ever."  

 

What We've Been Up To

The Amgen Tour of California always has a stop in Santa Clarita and John, being the cyclist that he is, is sooo excited for it's arrival.  He and some friends went and watched the Tour pass through Solvang (actually, I think they were having time trials there), then we watched them head out of Santa Clarita and drove to Pasadena to watch the finish.  Before they headed out of SCV, we had a great spot and were able to see most the guys up really close.  I know their names, just don't know which name goes with what body.  :)  Oh.....except we all know that guy covered in yellow and "livestrong" and "hope rides again"....2nd picture.... you know.....Lance Armstrong?  If I know who he is, everyone else must too.  :)

This weekend we headed up to Hume with our annual trip with some friends!  Kids had a great time playing in the snow....except Emma.  Miss Emma didn't like the snow and cried most of the time she was in it.  :)