Chihuahua Mama

My family and friends have referred to me as the Chihuahua Mama for quite a while now. I prefer that title much better than the Crazy Chihuahua Lady. Regretfully, I have been called that one also.

I guess I do look that part at times when I am holding all three girls. I haven't quite got enough room to hold the girls and Cooper. My arms just aren't big enough to hold them comfortably.

So, it seemed appropriate that I should get this vinyl decal for the french door that leads into my studio:

I will always be proud to be known as the Chihuahua Mama. My little four-footed kids are the love of my life.

Dog Food Drawers

I'm not really sure why, but I get requests often to show how I organize things for my dogs. Perhaps it is that we have 4 dogs and some people think that we must be bursting at the seams with doggie paraphernalia. Or perhaps they know that I am some what of an organizing geek and they are sure I have some cool new ideas for everyone. Yeah, I am going with that one.

So, to satisfy the requests, today I am showing you our doggie drawers, located in the kitchen.

They are located behind this door. This area of our kitchen was once a built-in desk, with open space underneath. I wish I had a before picture to show you, but I do not :( And yes, that is more evidence of Cooper's chewing that you can see on the left.

Shawn, the wonder-guy built this cabinet, as well as located our trash compactor in this space and it is much better used. Boy, we love that guy.

There are three drawers inside. They are built of double-sided melamine, which makes them super easy to wipe down and keep clean. The top one holds potatoes, onions, etc. I didn't bother to show that one.

The second drawer holds the large bag of dogfood that we buy. I purchase the large size, for even with the small amount they eat at each meal (please observe the tiny measuring cup), there are 4 of them eating twice a day, so we go through it fast enough that I don't worry about it going stale or spoiling.

The bottom drawer is divided into two sections. In the front is where I keep the dog treats and Cocotherapy coconut chips. In the back is where I keep other small items that I often need for the dogs, such as their vitamins, their toothbrushes, tooth spray, etc. I just purchased some small baskets to organize them in a neater fashion.

There, you have it. I used to have the food in the bottom drawer, as I had something else in the middle drawer. The problem was that Cooper would literally climb into the drawer as I was filling the dog bowls and rapidly scarf down as much as he could get. The girls would looked horrified at such boyish behavior, but in reality you could tell they were just jealous that they hadn't thought of it themselves.

This system works much better at keeping the little chow hound out of the drawer.

Disclaimer note: Shawn the wonder-guy is rather perturbed with me for taking the photos and posting this before he had the chance to finish all the drawers with the white edge banding that you see on the bottom drawer. I figured it might just give him the motivation to hurry up and do it. Hehehe. Such evilness.

One other note: if any of you bloggers know how I can fix the problem with the wide gaps between my paragraphs, I would greatly appreciate you sharing that with me. It will not show up that way in the preview, but as soon as I publish, this is how it ends up. I have looked everywhere for a solution and am getting a little exasperated!

Our Little Weapon of Mass Destruction

Take a look at that face above. So sweet. So adorable. One would never know that he is, in fact, our own personal little weapon of mass destruction.

We have raised many puppies through the chewing stage. We had a Collie puppy who almost ate the entire back deck in the yard. We were looking into buying Bitter Apple by the gallon. While Cooper's chewing is on a smaller scale by comparison, it is still destructive in it's own right.

Let me show you.

This is the food bowl holder for his sisters. All four corners look like this.

He isn't prejudice, he has done it to his own holder also.


The antique secretary continues to take a huge hit from the sharp little teeth.

Almost every lower kitchen cabinet looks like these. While we do appreciate the somewhat rustic, cottage-style, shabby chic look that he is implementing, it wasn't exactly the look we were going for.


The furniture has not been spared either, as you can see from the chair leg above and the table leg below.

He only works on this one table leg, leaving the other three completely unscathed.

Admire the nice line up of crates, complete with new metal doors, as he devoured the plastic tabs/handles off the fronts of the ones that came with the crates. It was getting very difficult to try to grab hold of a tiny chewed stub to latch them.

You may be wondering how he can do all of this while remaining undetected. He is deathly quiet, much like a covert Navy Seal. You can never catch him doing the deed, but you certainly see the results of his handywork afterwards.

The face remains so innocent, but if you look down at his sisters, you will see them all pointing their little toes up at him as the culprit.

Except for Breezy. She is doing the 'L' shaped loser sign to her forehead. And laughing all the way to the food bowl.