Tricia – Page 22 – House of Horne

May 1, 2008

Happy Endings

It is my delight to show you the newest dog to make the Happy Ending’s Page on Lone Star Lab’s website!!

Sweet baby Lulu has been adopted, and not just by any family, but a great family whom we happen to know and love! And whom we never anticipated would have any interest in a tiny lab puppy. But…we are completely thrilled at how this all turned out. My children, who had a hard time saying goodbye to Lulu, are so excited for their friends who now have a dog of their own to love. And they are more than a little happy that now they will get to watch Lulu as she grows up.

Me? I am happy for all that and more: we are back to just one crazy puppy at the Horne house, and for now, that is quite enough for us!

April 27, 2008

Brothers

Our neighbors who live behind us bequeathed to us this lovely little rocker that is perfect for our deck. Since it was just their size, the little boys had to try it out right away, and they looked so cute that I grabbed my camera and quickly snapped a couple of pics. Rarely do I take two out of two great shots, especially when wiggly little boys are the subjects, but here they are.

April 25, 2008

Big News

Yesterday I received my very own copy of what I am affectionately referring to as My Educational Bible in the mail. I’ve already read and re-read the library’s copy, but it is nice to have my own finally. And it will certainly be an indispensable part of our home schooling adventure this coming year. Yes, you read that right: The Hornes are going to home school next year!

After feeling conflicted about next year’s schooling plan for quite some time, it is a glorious thing to have finally made a decision. We are in no way pulling out of Covenant for lack of love – we are still crazy about our school. It is an amazing place, and we hope to be back there in the near future, but a set of complex circumstances as well as a huge change of heart as regards home schooling have led us here, and we are very excited about next year.

If I didn’t admit to being somewhat nervous about how it all happens I would be lying. But in the past several months I have discovered such a vast array of amazing resources in the Dallas area available to families who home school. The truth of the matter is that we will have to carefully pick and choose enrichment and other extras so that we actually have some down time here at home to get the basics done!!

I will certainly write more on this topic in the weeks and months to come. Those of you who have known me for some time and hear that we’ve decided to home school for a year may well think I’ve lost my marbles. So be it. I am looking at it as a way to savor some of the precious time with my children while they are still relatively young, and as an opportunity to try out some things we haven’t had time or resources to put toward in the past. We are looking forward to the journey!

April 22, 2008

Name that Doggie Contest!

As of today, we are the proud adoptive family of one sweet little yellow lab. Her name has been Dixie, which we like ok, but we are trying to determine if we can come up with a name we like better, that fits her perfectly, and that everyone in this family can agree on. Probably not on that last count, but it’s worth a try.

So…..all of our wonderful readers: will you please help?? Submit your best pick for a name for our new dog, and the lucky winner will receive…..um…..well….the SATISFACTION of knowing you helped the Hornes find the perfect name for Dixie, also known now as, “What’s-her-name”?? In addition, “What’s-her-name” will send you a letter expressing her personal thanks, signed by her very own self.

Dixie is, and probably at full-size will remain a rather petite-ish lab, topping out at probably 55-60 pounds. She’s a very pale yellow lab, “blonde” in color with brown eyes and a nose. She is loving and sweet, and can catch a frisbee like no dog we’ve ever been around before. For seven months old she is pretty well-behaved. She loves car rides, practicing her obedience training moves, catching frisbees from Jay, and pretending she is a lap dog.

If it is any help, here are some names that were put forth by various people around here as good possibilities. My personal favorite is Lucy, chosen because it was the name of the littlest girl in one of our favorite stories: CS Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, but Jay feels uncomfortable with that name because his paternal grandmother was named Lucille. Ah well….

Other possibilities which we cannot get unanimous agreement on include:

Maisie, Trixie, Tansy, Rosie, Sweet Pea, Pixie, Myrtle, Chloe, Charlotte, and Shiloh.

So come one, everyone, send in names!!! Little Miss “What’s-Her-Name” patiently awaits your wonderful suggestions!

April 17, 2008

Yet Another Addition

Is there anything cuter than a fat, roly-poly puppy with big paws, a sweet face, floppy ears and soft, soft fur?

I saw this little face (the dog’s, not Josiah’s!) on a shelter website early in the week. Lone Star Labs told us they would love to pull her from the shelter but only if a foster home was available. Most people aren’t too enthusiastic about fostering a puppy; sure they are cute, but they are also a mess! But we said yes, why not? Hmmmmm.

Yesterday, Marsha of LSL arrived with a second crate, bag of puppy food, puppy biscuits, and some chew toys for the newest foster to play with. Today the two little boys and I picked up Lulu from the vet’s office and took her through afternoon carpool to the delight of all the schoolchildren!

Well, she IS a really cute puppy. And the children are having a ball with her. Dixie is not so sure about the little encroacher, and we have had to closely monitor the two girls when they are together. But we have no doubt Lulu will find herself a loving home VERY quickly. Till then, we are soaking us up some puppy love! Updated to add: Check out who made the Lone Star Adoptable Pets Page!!

Oh, and by the way, the only thing cuter than a little roly puppy, is the man of your dreams holding that puppy!

April 15, 2008

Watchful Puppy

Today Josiah awoke with a bad stomach virus, and spent the day on an air mattress in the living room, alternately getting sick, crying because he felt so miserable, and falling asleep with the exhaustion of it all. We have had several sick wards in the living room already this year, but this was one was a little different, because today, in the middle of it all, was Dixie the pup, who lay near Josiah’s side through much of the day. And who even several times attempted to lie almost on top of Josiah on his air mattress, perhaps in an effort to help him know she really, really wanted to be as close to him as possible, and comfort him in his distress. Sweet doggie.

April 13, 2008

Helping Daddy With The Job Search

April 10, 2008

Well Now, Look Who’s Back!!

I know, Gentle Readers: this has become a dog blog. Bear with us please, if you will. Bwahahahah!

Remember that cute puppy we fostered over the weekend? The one whom another family with four children had already committed to adopting? Well, in a very surprising turn of events, they decided not to keep her after all. Tuesday while I was at the dentist, I got a call from one of the Lone Star workers who knew we’d really enjoyed Dixie while she was here. They asked if we might like to have Dixie back, since we knew her better than any other volunteers in the program right now, assuming Gordon found other foster arrangements. (Nothing against sweet Gordon – we think he is a gem, and as soon as he fattens up he will be busy with his calendar-modeling career!). We said yes, we’d love to foster Dixie again, so on Tuesday night another nice volunteer picked up big Gordon, and yesterday we brought Miss Dixie back to our house.

She initially displayed that boundless puppy energy just like the previous time she was dropped off to stay at House of Horne. It tapered off significantly within a day’s time, which it has again today. For a seven month-old lab, Dixie is surprisingly docile and calm; she can play really hard, and then come inside and flop down for a nap. She is super-gentle with our children and will eat a tiny piece of “kibble” from Josiah’s little clenched fingers without so much as nicking him. This afternoon, he sat on her and pretended he was a cowboy and she was a horse. And she never even moved to get up, just politely pretended along with him that she was the best 43 pound horse ever. What a sweet girl.

Sadly, Dixie has a bad little cough she needs to get over. So we will be keeping her at least until she can get healthy again, and then we will see….for now, we are so happy to have her back.

April 8, 2008

Welcome, Gordon!

Gordon joined our household last night as our newest foster doggie. He is a big boy, with a block head that is too large right now for his somewhat skinny body. We are working on helping him gain back the weight he needs to be a healthy size for his large frame. He is really a beautiful dog, but doesn’t photograph well at all, in my honest opinion.

Late last week, I saw Gordon’s picture on a local shelter’s website; he and another dog Skye (she is the pretty yellow lab second from the top of the page) were both scheduled for euthanization due to their “time being up”, and no one having claimed or adopted them, and the facility being too full. I called and spoke with one of the shelter workers who confirmed these were both wonderful dogs who would likely make great family pets, and she hated to see them put down. I called some of the Lone Star volunteers and they were able to pick up both Gordon and Skye and give them another chance at finding homes.

Perhaps he still has some anesthesia in his system from his recent “snip” surgery, but Gordon is about as mellow as they come. He is very calm inside, and quite gentle with the children. After walking peacefully around the house, investigating each corner, he seems content to lay nearby and watch the goings-on of our household. If you call him, he plods over to plunk his head in your lap and get his ears scratched. This is one sweet dog, and we are glad to be able to help care for him as he looks for a new family. Here is Nicolas offering Gordon a treat: the dog waited patiently while Nicolas said “Stay” about a million times before putting the treat on the ground in front of him, and even then didn’t pounce on it until he was given the “ok!”. Good Gordon!