Classroom Pet

I'm using the curriculum Heart of Dakota: Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory with Little Man.

Recently for our read aloud, we read Pagoo by: Holling Clancy Holling as our "non-fiction"genre book.  How interesting this book was for both Little Man & myself.  We just loved following this young hermit crab and learning about what life is like in "Tide-pool Town".

We focused on the character trait of obedience while reading Pagoo.  I have to admit, I wasn't really sure how a hermit crab was going to be an  example of obedience, but surprisingly he was.  He had a friend who was always with him, Old Pal Instinct.  When he obeyed Old Pal, he remained safe in his dangerous underwater world and when he ignored him it almost cost him his life.

 

"Teach me, O Lord, the way of your stautes, and I will observe it to the end.  Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart." Psalm 119:  33-34

 

The book even inspired us to adopt four hermit crabs of our own:  Pagoo, Herman, Luke, and Peeta.

 

Our Summer Part 3: Nature Hikes

We went on a few hikes this summer.  I am hoping as the weather begins to cool we can go on a few more-taking my camera;)

If you are interested in hiking this beautiful and historic trail click here to download a map.



Dad and Little Man

Sweet Girl and Silly Guy



The Susan River



We stopped to rest and my camera couldn't resist the daisies

Foxtails-very dangerous(especially for dogs) but beautiful colors

To find out more about foxtails and the danger pose on dogs visit this website.  Our dog had one imbedded in her ear and  it was extremely painful for her.  We had to take her to the vet in order for it to be removed.  I was shocked when I found out they can even be fatal.



Our Summer Part 2: Camping

 We went on a camping trip this summer to Eagle Lake.  It is located in the northeastern corner of California at the juncture of four major geologic provinces:  the Sierra Nevada, Cascades, Great Basin, and volcanic Modoc Plateau.  
It was a serene, peaceful area.  We enjoyed nature hikes, relaxing on the beach, and some much needed family time away from everything. 

In this picture the kids were giving swim lessons to our puppy Boomer.  He's not a  proficient swimmer which gave us a lot of entertainment.

 

 If there is a tree, there my boys will be...

When we came home this little guy was resting above our front door. He must have enjoyed the quiet while we were gone but that night he took off never to be seen again.  We were a little disappointed it would've been neat to observe him for a few days but I guess our front door was a little too busy for his taste:) 



Our Summer Part 1

 I haven't blogged in quite some time. I am hoping to come back now that we've started the new school year.  I thought I'd catch up a bit:). 

We finished our school year around the end of June. All in all I am very happy with our school year.  Then we enjoyed the summer by getting caught up on things around the house, some reading, an art class, gardening, planning for the school year, and I even was able to read a few books other than curriculum ;). 

Silly Guy finished baseball season in June. This was his first season playing baseball and loved it. However, he did break his hand and was out for about 5 weeks. He healed and came back strong, ready to play.

Little Man turned 4 years old!! He is such a fun little guy and is growing so fast.

 We have had some visitors to the neighborhood this summer. A couple of wild herds have been hanging around the house. They are beautiful and we've enjoyed watching them. They were gone from early spring until August. It is the same herd we observed over the winter plus a few foals and new members too.  

 

We experienced our first wild fire which was on Fourth of July weekend. It was a bit scary. This photo was taken from our neighborhood. It was a bit too close for me but was reassured by neighbors whom have experienced this before that it was far enough away from the houses. What a blessing that the wind was only about 3 mph that evening.

Fourth of July is the biggest event of the year in our new town.  They had a huge parade down Main Street.  Little Man, Dad and I watched from the curb while Silly Guy and Sweet Girl participated in the parade.  After the parade there was a huge festival with activities planned for the entire day.  At the end of the day there was an enormous display of fireworks.   
 

 

Sweet Girl entered in the 4H dog competition at the county fair.  She did very well for her first year.

 She entered Roxy in the Rally, Showmanship, and Obedience categories.  They were supposed to have an agility trial but couldn't get the equipment there on time for the show. She was disappointed because agility is where Roxy shines. They did place 1st in Rally and 2nd in Showmanship.  It wasn't their year for Obedience.  She knows now what they have to work on.

Joining 4H Clubs

Shortly after we moved here I signed Sweet Girl and Silly Guy up for the 4H club in our county.  They both picked out a few clubs they wanted to be involved in.  Sweet Girl chose the dog club and the skiing/snowboarding club.  Silly Guy chose the skiing/snowboarding club, shooting club, and rocketry club. This has been our first experience with 4H and so far it has been wonderful!  They have been making new friends, learning new things and getting involved in the community.

Silly Guy

The skiing/snowboarding club has been a great time.  I have enjoyed watching them learn and grow to love this sport.  They still have a couple more times this season to hit the slopes:)

Sweet girl

The shooting sports club hasn't started yet but I am told it starts when snowboarding club is over.  Silly Guy can't wait!
Sweet Girl is in her element with the dog club.  So far along with"business" meetings, they've been to a clinic which involved a  veterinarian talking to them about dog nutrition.  They went to a veterinary clinic and watched a dog under anesthesia have a few teeth extracted and cleaned.  This week they will be having another clinic about vaccination.

Roxy-Sweet Girl's project dog

The club is also organizing a dog show that will take place in our town this May.  Sweet Girl volunteered to take on the project of advertising.  She has chosen Roxy to be her project dog.  When we live in Hawaii she trained Roxy to do an agility course,basic obedience and a few tricks. However in the past six months or so, Roxy seems to have forgotten some of her training and is giving Sweet Girl a challenge.  Such a loveable girl though:)

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...Critter Sitters is off

A while back I wrote about Sweet girl starting her own dog walking/pet sitting business.  Well, this summer it has taken off.  Since starting she has had four customers.  It may not sound like a lot but it was.  I am so happy she had this opportunity!  She has learned so much from running her own business. How to manage money, proffesionalism, customer service, responsibilty, interview process, etc.
She has been so proffesional and responsible!!  Recently, she let her customers know she would be leaving.  They told her, "What will the neighborhood do without you!" What a compliment!!

Pictures of Sweet girls "clients".  Photos taken by SG

Mimi- long time and loyal customer.  She walks her Monday-Friday and has pet sat for the family a few times.  Mimi is the cutest thing.  Sweet girl always brings her up the house to say hi to me(and get treats of course).  She is always so happy.

Marley- Sweet girl pet sat for her family. Marley's owner recommended Sweet girl

to her next customer.  Marley was ADORABLE and sweet!! Lap dog all the way.

Teddy- She pet sat Teddy and Buddy for 3 1/2 weeks.  It was A LOT of work. 

Teddy was a sweetheart, very loveable dog.

Buddy-  Buddy was  a sweetheart too but was scared of everything.  Bless his heart. 

I am so proud of her!!

Traveling with Pets

Our move date is coming up fast.  It is a BIG move from Hawaii to Nevada.  There are so many things to schedule and co-ordinate:  pack dates, plane tickets, check outs, check ins, hotels, shipping two vehicles, finding housing, getting rid of things, etc. Just when I think I have it all figured out something changes. 
It is a bit stressful and exhausting.
We are also bringing our pooches along with us.  This seems to be adding to the stress. Finding a hotels that will take dogs, vet appointments for health certificates, flight regulations, etc.  I thought I would share a couple of websites I have found useful for traveling with pets. 
One is Petswelcome.com .  On this website you can find information about all types of travel with pets.  You can also find hotels all over the country that accept our furry friends.  It has great information!  Another is Petsonthego.com .  This website also includes a lot of useful information.  You can also download the Air Travel Consumer Report which has all of the incident/accident reports for each airline.

I am praying this transition will be not to stressful for Wally and Roxy.

Our furry loved ones...

Wally- Reading up on his breed history. 

Roxy- She always strikes a pose for the camera.  Such a beautiful girl!