Christmas Bed

The girls had a marvelous Christmas, getting spoiled, probably getting too many snacks and treats, and much time snuggling with Mom, who actually spent time away from the sewing machine!

Christmas morning found a new house/bed for the girls near the Christmas tree, filled with their favorite treats: CocoTherapy Coconut chips, Bil-Jac's Peanut Butter-Banana treats, a couple boxes of Buddy Biscuits and three new antler chews (you can't see all of it inside the bed, but they are there!) The huge bag of bones next to the bed is, alas, not for them, but rather, for Carson. They did get a little excited when they thought they had a bone bigger than themselves to chew on!

The new bed was quite the hit. It found it's way into the sewing studio, where it was thoroughly checked out by everyone. The first day they played musical beds, with all three of them trying it out and even at one point all three of them were piled in it together.

But soon it became apparent that someone decided to take ownership. Can you guess who..???

Yep, Breezy is the one that usually runs right into it and is not too excited about sharing. I am trying to get her used to the sharing concept, but I can see it will take some effort.

This is the look she gets if Bonnie dares to get too close to the bed:

Sometimes she even curls that cute little lip. I am just waiting for the day Bonnie sticks her whole giant head in there, lifts it off the ground and runs around the room with it. THEN we will see how brave the tiny Breezy is, huh?

Stormie just gives me this look that clearly says, "You are going back to the store and getting another one of those beds for Shimmer and me, right?"

Really now girls, I didn't have this much post-Christmas problems when raising six kids!

And yes, Stormie, I probably will be going back to get another one. You can never have too many beds, right?

Merry Christmas to One and All

We would like to take this time to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. It is our favorite time of the year and lots has been going on. There are many packages under the tree with our names on them. Mom won't let us get close enough to sniff them, so that must mean they are filled with TREATS!!!!!!

We hope everyone has a blessed, Merry Christmas!!

New Mailbox!!

We have been searching for a larger mailbox for quite a while now. Our standard size mailbox just wasn't proving to be large enough to hold all the orders that we have going out. Often times I was having to cram as many as I could into the mailbox and then still take a stack to the big blue mailbox on the corner a few blocks away.

This last weekend we finally found one! Truth be told, all three girls could fit in this mailbox! I don't know if this is a great Christmas gift for me or for our long-suffering, very patient mail carrier. He is going to be pretty happy.



Breezy was happy to pose for a picture next to the new mailbox. I believe she is thinking that with such a nice big mailbox, she should be getting lots of BIG packages filled with new collars from Crazy for Collars, or treats, or toys, or anything else anyone would like to send her.

Or maybe she's worrying that Bonnie might stick her in a box and stuff her in the new mailbox and ship her off somewhere....

Christmas Collars

It is no big secret that we love Suzanne at Crazy for Collars. In fact, she and I have decided that we must be twin sisters separated at birth as we think so much alike. We can get some good, rousing conversations going, that's for sure!

When I saw that she had cute Reindeer collars for Christmas, I knew that I had to get some for the girls, to coordinate with their Reindeer tshirts that I had been selling.

They have been wearing the collars and tshirts for a few days now and look so cute.

New Winter Hats

We have been super busy around here this last week and have fallen behind on our blog. Many apologies to our readers!

I do want to share with you the adorable new winter hats that the girls received from Sara Sach of Posh Pooch Designs. These hats are incredible!

Stormie just loved hers, as I think she knew that she was incredibly adorable in it.

Sara makes each hat individually to fit the head size of your dog. They come with ear holes, which make them much more enjoyable for the dog to wear. With a plethora of yarn colors, you can get one in pretty much any color or color combination that you might desire.

I thought you would enjoy seeing this picture from the photo shoot. This is the position that Shimmer takes lately whenever we set them up for a photo. I guess she thinks this makes her look the cutest. I love Breezy's look. The hat was sort of pushing her hair forward and it gives her this funny look!

Please check out Posh Pooch Designs. The hats are only $7.00 and come in a wide variety. She even has some that look like a Sock Monkey, a panda, a frog, oh my goodness, the list goes on and on. Sara is a delight to work with and the delivery time is amazing!

Thank you Sara - you are a very talented lady!!!

Sock Monkey Toys

The girls love their sock monkey bed. There is usually one or more of them lounging in it at any given time of the day.

We are enjoying this new popularity of the sock monkey toy. They are cropping up in toys, bedding, clothing, etc., for both humans and pets.

We recently found at Walgreen's some sock monkey toys for the dogs! They are exact miniature version of the sock monkey toys that were so popular many years ago for kids.

The girls are really loving their new toys and drag them from bed to bed to cuddle with them. We got two that are in the brown color to match the bed and a purple striped one, too.

We got ours in the pet section at Walgreen's for $4.99. Sounds like a perfect Christmas gift, huh?

The Chihuahua Calendars Are Here!

We received our copies of the Chihuahua Connection magazine's 2011 calendar, which features the girls' picture on the cover. Yay!!!!

 

I got both Stormie and Breezy to pose next to it, but Shimmer was not in the least bit impressed and was not in the mood to be photographed. She was being a stinker and I have learned to not push the issue with them when they are not in the mood!

If you would like to order a copy of the calendar, you can get it here.

Start taking pictures of YOUR Chihuahua and they just might be featured in the calendar for 2012!!!

Chihuahua Christmas Tree

The Chihuahua Christmas tree is now decorated. I have it sitting by my sewing machines.

It is fun to look at all my cute ornaments as I work each day.

Now it has me wanting to collect a whole bunch more ornaments and have an even bigger tree next year!

Visit With Santa

We had such a super busy day on Saturday, but still managed to squeeze in a visit to Santa with the girls. We took them to our local PetSmart.

The Santa was actually a woman, but that didn't seem to matter to the girls. They were mostly put off by the smell of her gloves. She finally told me that she had been holding a Ferret just before they arrived. So now I know that they aren't too fond of Ferrets.

The pictures are taken pretty fast, and there isn't much posing. We had our camera and Shawn was able to capture this moment:

While Stormie and Shimmer weren't too terribly interested in chatting with Santa, it appeas Breezy had some schmoozing to do.

She must be trying to explain all those naughty tricks she plays on Bonnie.....

 

Revenge Is Sweet!!

I made a discovery the other day.

I have a sneaky, revenge-seeking little hoarder in the house.

I have previously mentioned how disgusted the girls get over Bonnie stealing their toys. Once their toy or chewie has "Bonnie slobber" on it, they will have nothing to do with it ever again.

Yes, they are snobs.

So, the other day was grooming/bath day. As part of that event, I go around and gather up all the blankets in the beds and crates and wash them also.

Imagine my surprise when I went to this bed. Innocent enough looking, right? Nice little bed, cute cuddly blanket to snuggle with. This is one of the beds in the office, it is usually tucked under a side chair. I brought it out from under the chair to take these photos.

When I picked up the blanket, I discovered Bonnie's Antler chews hidden underneath.

I hadn't noticed that she was missing them, but I am sure that Bonnie knew they were missing. Perhaps that was why she was completely emptying her toy basket lately. She was wanting her Deer antler chew and her Moose antler chew.

The girls are somewhat interchangeable in the beds, often playing musical beds as they move from one to another. However, it didn't take me long to observe who was most anxious to check out this bed once she had the chance.

Yep, you guessed it.

Breezy does have a diabolical side to her.

I admire that girl.

It's That Time of Year!

The girls came to me this week and expressed concern that we had not started working on their Christmas cards yet. I know that they have quite the list of friends that they want to send holiday greetings to, so I could understand their concern.

I agreed that we needed to get working on it.

So, the photo shoot is done (you are going to love the picture!) , the cards are being printed, and now I just have to teach the girls how to address envelopes, right?

If you would like to receive a Christmas card from us, please email your name and address to klcg@comcast.net.

Thanks For The Help, Hun!

Since most everyone thinks that the girls pose so perfectly for pictures, I thought I would let you know that it isn't always the case.





Some days they are more than willing to cooperated and things go quickly, with beautiful results.





Other days, not so much. The moodiness of females, I guess.





While trying to shoot the Thanksgiving portrait recently, we were definitely having an 'off' day. The girls wouldn't sit still, Stormie steadfastly refused to put her ears up, etc., etc., etc. I was getting frustrated, so we quit. The girls pick up on my mood very quickly, so I always quit before I get angry and make the whole experience unpleasant. The key to good pictures is to make it fun, fun, fun. And be willing to stop when it isn't going well.





We had a few pictures and Shawn decided to get a little creative with the Photoshop elements.





And this is what happens when your husbands helps edit photos for you:





This picture just cracks me up! While they look a little freaky, it is also pretty hysterical.

Thanks for the help, hun!

Happy Thanksgiving

There are many holidays that come our way each year, some big, some small. Thanksgiving is one of those big family gatherings that invoke scenes from Norman Rockwell paintings. Yummy smells start coming from the kitchen for several days as cooks scurry around, preparing masterpieces that are shared only on this most special day.

The day is set aside as one to give thanks for our many blessings, our families, our freedom, our country and to honor those brave men and women who traveled to this strange land to set up a new world where we could have all these things.

And to eat lots of food.

At least that is how the menfolk in our family look at it.

We hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving, spent with those you love - both the two-footed and four-footed variety. The girls will be helping me (they call it helping, I call it hovering around my feet) as I prepare the dinner for our family.

Christopher is cooking a turkey in the Traeger grill this year. He's getting pretty good at producing yummy meals with that thing.

However, just to be on the safe side....I am doing a back up turkey in the oven.

Call me unbelieving, call me nonsupporting. Or, if the Traeger turkey doesn't turn out so well, you can call me brilliant. Either way, we will have turkey.

Perhaps LOTS of it.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

Shimmer Shows Them How to Do It Right

After having watched both Stormie and Breezy's crazy antics in the snow boots, Shimmer decided to show us all how a pro does it.

Other than losing one that I obviously didn't tighten enough, she walked around pretty good in them.

It's always the quiet ones that come along and blow you away.

Keeping Your Dog Safe at Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. As we gather with family and friends, there are a few safety measures to remember for our furry friends.

The following recommendations come from DogChannel.com:

Keep Dogs Safe on Thanksgiving

Avoid an unplanned trip to the veterinarian over the holiday weekend by taking a few precautionary measures.

As many celebrate a long holiday weekend with turkeys roasting and friends and family visiting, holiday dangers lurk for dogs. To ensure it’s a safe and happy Thanksgiving for all, pet owners should take a few extra precautions on behalf of their dogs.

**Avoid feeding dogs table scraps. Sudden diet changes can cause upset stomachs, and feeding pets greasy foods and sweets can overwhelm their digestive systems causing vomiting and diarrhea. Cooked turkey bones can splinter, and if ingested, can cause serious injury to a pet’s intestinal tract.

**And while baking holiday breads, ensure the dough is kept away from dogs. When dough is ingested the pets’ body heat causes the dough to rise and expand, which can result in abdominal pain, bloat, vomiting, disorientation, and depression, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

**In addition to health risks, extra treats can add unhealthy pounds to a pet’s frame – keep dogs’ nutritional goals in mind to avoid holiday weight gain.

**Inform guests of pet’s house rules. Let visitors know the house rules for feeding dogs table scraps or treats and jumping on furniture in an effort to keep pets safe and on track with their normal routines.

**Take extra precautions with candles. Dogs who bump into furniture or swiftly run past a candle may knock it over and start a house fire. Keep candles in a location where pets cannot get near them.

**Secure trash bins. Pets may try to get into the trash and dig for holiday leftovers. Keep trash lids tightly closed and in locations where they can’t be tipped over.

**Keep tabs on pets’ whereabouts. With holiday visitors coming and going, dogs have ample opportunity to escape through the front door. In the event pets do get out, ensure all their identification tags and vaccinations are up-to-date.

**By implementing a few precautionary measures, Thanksgiving feasts and festivities can continue while emergency veterinary clinic visits are kept at bay.

Breezy's Turn

As if Stormie trying out her snow boots wasn't funny enough, we decided to let Breezy have her turn to try them out.

I have been giving them more practice in wearing them, and they are getting pretty comfortable with them.

Good thing. The weatherman is saying we have a chance of snow this weekend!

Chihuahua Nativity

I sort of have Christmas nativities on the brain these days as I am in charge of a huge Nativity event coming up at our church in a few weeks. We have over 400 nativities on display from all over the world, as well as musical performances and children's activities.

After having seen all the different types of nativities last year, both exquisite and whimsical, I went searching for a few new ones for myself.

I did add to my collection with a few beautiful new nativities. And I also ended up getting a Chihuahua nativity set. Yes, I said Chihuahua nativity.

It is adorable, I really love it. I found it on eBay and the seller has many other breeds, including Pugs, Schnauzer, Shih Tzu, Poodle, , and Dachshund, to name just a few. You can check it out HERE. The really great thing is that for the month of November, you can buy one, get one free! Do I hear Christmas gifts calling...???? Each set is $39.99, plus $14.35 shipping, so to get one for free really makes it quite the bargain.

Now, in case you think this sounds a little sacrilegious, I will say that the Baby Jesus is a child, but all the other characters, such as Wise Men, Shepherds, Mary and Joseph, are Chihuahuas dressed up in biblical clothing.

Our family finds it kind of fun to have such a whimsical nativity among the many elegant, classic ones that we have displayed around the house.

Plus, they are all just used to me being a little cuckoo over my Chihuahuas, right?

Christmas is Coming!!

We were so excited to get our package from Suzanne at Crazy for Collars the other day. We had placed our order for Christmas collars recently and are always so thrilled when they arrive. Her collars are so amazing and are even more stunning in person than in the pictures.

We got the Run, Run Rudolph ones to match the Reindeer tshirt that we have in our shop.

Then we also wanted the Snowflurrries Snowman collar to go with some new dresses that I have for the girls to wear for winter.

We must accessorize properly, right?

But we were super excited to see what else came with the collar order! Suzanne has recently started offering little pocket mirrors that can be personalized with your own picture. She had made us some with each of the girls' picture on it - modeling their Halloween collars, of course!

Aren't they great? And they come in adorable little padded fabric pockets so they don't get scratched while in your purse, etc. These would make fantastic little Christmas gifts!

We are feeling pretty lucky to have such a talented friend as Suzanne.

And now we can't wait for it to be time to start wearing our Christmas outfits.

Stormie's Birthday

Yesterday was Stormie's birthday and we had a little party. She was so excited about everything and such a wiggle bug, that it was hard to get any pictures that weren't blurry! But, here she is, posing on her new Princess blanket next to her gift bags. I think she could smell all the yummies in that big bag and just wanted to dive in.

Sure enough, she was right. That bag had all her favorite treats, especially her CocoTherapy Chips. She wanted to just eat them all right there!

Here is a much better picture of her, acting more polite, showing off all her treats. Personally, I think she is gloating over the fact that she is up on the table (a real no-no under most circumstances) and that her sisters are having to watch from the floor below.

She also received a cute little fleece scarf and some pink snow boots. We ended up without any pictures of her wearing the boots, but we have video of her walking in them - just wait. That will be coming soon!

Now that we are done with all the birthdays, it is time to start working on Christmas!

Happy Birthday Stormie

Today is Stormie's birthday. She is five years old.

Stormie has only been part of our family for three years, but what an impact she has made. She has turned us into unabashed doting, pampering little dog people, through and through!

We love you Stormie, and you will always be the perfect little Diva.

Acorn Danger

Wow, I received this information yesterday from the Dogster website. I was not aware of this danger, and wanted to pass it on to everyone else:

"Dogs have so much fun nosing about in the fallen leaves in autumn. But be watchful if those leaves are from an oak tree. While acorns are part of a healthy diet for pigs, bears and deer, they can cause renal failure in dogs.

Similarly, drinking water in which fallen oak leaves have been soaking can cause renal failure as well. While gastrointestinal trouble is the early warning for dogs and oak tree products, the best practice is to get out and rake it all up if your dog starts to forage like a pig, bear or deer in fall."

We have lots of trees around our house, plus the squirrels are always bringing walnuts, etc. into the yard. I don't know that I have ever seen acorns, but now I know I will need to be even more careful about what the girls are getting into!

Bath Time!!

I know my girls are spoiled. Way more pampered than I am.

I have one bottle of shampoo that I use on my hair every day.

Not the girls.

I decided that today was bath day. So, I go to the bath basket to choose a shampoo.

In reality, this is only a small portion of the shampoos that they have. There are others, but these are the most commonly used ones.

Is this a little exccessive..???

Anyway, it makes for nice smelling aromas coming from the grooming area, that's for sure.

The girls are all bathed and beautiful now. We went with the Nootie, Japanese Cherry Blossom scent this time. LOVE IT!!

Maybe I should go shopping for some new shampoos.....for ME!!!

Now We Have Shimmer and Breezy, Too!

Perhaps you remember me talking about the beautiful ornament we received from the Magic Sleigh, that looked just like Stormie:

I was so pleased with this little cutie, that I worked with the owner and designer of the shop, Pamela, to design two more that look like Shimmer and Breezy.

Working from pictures off my blog, Pamela was able to create these one-of-a-kind custom ornaments for me:

Here is sweet Shimmer.

And spunky little Breezy.

Pamela has many different breeds of dogs, cats, angels, and even dragons available in her Magic Sleigh shop on Etsy. She will also work with pictures to create custom ornaments. She can do different poses, too. The process does take a little bit of time, so if you are interested in ordering any as a gift for Christmas, I would be getting in contact with her right away.

I am gathering quite the collection of Chihuahua ornaments. I am getting pretty excited to put them all on my special tree in my studio this year!

Halloween 2010

The Great Pumpkin visited our house and left lots of goodies for the girls.

We figure he must have thought that the girls looked so cute in their cheerleader costumes from Pure Country Pet Boutique and their Halloween collars from Crazy for Collars, so he left them so many treats and toys.

We don't normally get that many trick or treaters at our house, but this year we had quite a few and even ran out of candy! Fortunately, Hannah had her own stash and donated some for the cause.

The girls didn't really like the constant door bell ringing, so we went downstairs and worked in the studio all evening.

At least I got to enjoy their cuteness!

Happy Halloween!!

We wish a very Happy Halloween to all of our friends - both the two-legged and the four-legged!

Keep it safe and have fun!

Yuck!

I love dogs, really I do. But sometimes, I just don't understand why they do yucky things. Like eat their poop. Or the cat poop.

Or drink out of the toilet. Okay, my girls aren't big enough to do that, but Carson the Collie does it sometimes.

Today I am thinking about the gross things they will roll in or on.

Now that the rains have returned, they have brought with them Stormie's one really gross vice that drives me crazy.

She likes to roll on worms.

How disgusting is that?!?!?

Look at that princess, how could she have such a vile little habit?!?!?!

I know the little diva is not going to be happy that I am divulging this dirty little secret, but there it is. Worms. Slimy, disgusting things. When it rains hard like it has been here the last several days, they seem to take refuge from the floods by coming out of the grass and hanging out at the edge of the patio. Right where we head out for potty breaks. If I don't watch her like a hawk and cut her off the moment it looks like she's found one, before I know it she is rolling on it. Then I am stuck with the job of cleaning her to get the yucky sliminess off of her.

I get lulled into a false sense of security over the summer when we don't see many worms out and about, and tend to forget about this nasty little habit of hers. But, now, with predictions of a long, wetter than average winter for our area, I think I am going to become a little bonkers trying to keep her away from worms.

Love ya, Stormie!

Time To Get Our Boo On!

We are not the biggest fans of all the gore of Halloween. We like the cute stuff, the children, and of course, the candy. Why is it that those bite-sized candy bars taste so much better than their full-sized counterparts?

But, just when I think I don't get to have much fun for the holiday until I have grandchildren, Stormie reminds me that she and her sisters know how to party, have a good time and get their 'boo' on.

Hope everyone is enjoying this week and getting ready for some TREATS!!

Aww! Now I know why Stormie likes this holiday so much!