Ollie's Bargain Yard

I called Lowe's looking for sod and they had half a pallet they needed to get rid of for $15. I threw the kids in the monster truck and we grabbed it. It looks just horrible here. The nice thing was that is was dried up and not heavy so the kids were able to lay out most of it. Anything is better than rocks and sticker burrs. We just need to score about 5 more of those deals and we'll have Ollie's yard complete.

After a month of watering and mild weather it's not looking so bad now.

Oliver

Poor sad lonely puppy. So what exactly does Ollie do all day while the kids are away at school? Spoiled rotten!

Workin' on the Dog Yard

Scott taught Clay how to use the cordless drill and they worked hard putting up the wooden part of the fence. Clay operated the drill and Scott gave it some force. They were a good team and finished quickly. Olliver was excited before he knew what they were really up to.

The Tooth Fairy Will be Busy Tonight!

Emmie lost her 2ND tooth tonight with a little of Scott's help. It was just laying there sideways and Scott sort of bumped into it with his finger. I noticed Ollie's tooth in the same spot was loose and dangling too. So I yanked it. Another day and they both would have been lost like Em's last one. Emmie has 2 teeth to put under her pillow tonight. Since Ollie doesn't have a pillow she is putting his with hers. For a dog with a deadly puppy bite his teeth sure are tiny. I guess piranha have tiny teeth too. The teeth are next to a dime to show just how teensy weensy they really are.

More Poor Puppy Manners

I wish there was some way to measure how tall Oliver is getting. Oh wait, here we go! Looks like he reaches right level with the door handle.

Building Oliver's Dog Run

This little dog will gain 120 pounds and grow a couple of feet taller in the coming months. He cannot live inside forever.
Time to build the dog run. Everyone is getting involved with this big job.
Clay's handling the jackhammer like a pro. It's a bit loud!
Emmie loves the bounciness.
Emmie's on the tractor making sure the auger is lined up to dig the holes.
Scott is letting Clay use the jackhammer all by himself. "Look Clay, no hands!"
Clay is adding water to help Scott mix the cement.

The kids and Oliver take their maiden voyage in the back of the pickup. The kids liked the ride a whole lot more than the dog did. They took the tools down to the shed to put them away. After the ride Emmie helped Oliver out of the truck.
Time to call it a day. The posts were in just before the rain started

Fur and Teeth

Here are just a few things Oliver has destroyed. He chewed through the cords of the telephone charger and the kids' Smart Cycle. He grabbed my favorite slipper and before I could even catch up to him it was shredded from the inside out. My fault for leaving it on the floor. We have several pairs of shoes on the kitchen counter. Blech! This is the 4th time he has knocked over this potted plant. I keep re-potting it and putting it back in the window. It's obviously my own fault, again. He's all fur and teeth right now. I'm sure this is just the beginning of the destructive force of this 12 week old puppy.

Bath Time with Oliver

Oliver loves the water but mostly he wants to be where the kids are. He was begging to get in the tub with them. He was so jealous. It won't be long before he can just hop in with them if he wants.

Ollie Paws

Who has the bigger paws?
Imagine this all over the house. We love Oliver and his big feet. I can't wait for the rain to stop however and for everything to dry out. Oliver is so fluffy he is like a giant sponge. After he's been out to play or drinks from his bowl everything inside is wet. We have to wear shoes all the time to keep from getting our feet wet. Blech! I am not going to mop the floors until Ollie moves out to his yard.

Oliver Jenkins

"Look mom. He's so tiny I can even carry him around!" said his best girl Emmie.Check out these paws. Even though he is fairly light he sounds like an elephant stomping around the house. He runs from us when we try to get him to come back in the house. He loves it outside! It's all about the teeth recently.

This is his favorite boy and his favorite chew toy rabbit.

We have been tossing around the idea of getting a dog for awhile. We need to finish the fencing and make a dog run. There are so many things to do before we do anything else. I decided I was tired of waiting and looked at the online pictures of the dogs up for adoption in Placerville. While I was looking at them, one I liked was adopted and disappeared so I asked the kids if they wanted to look at the dogs and of course they were excited. We flew out the door to the pound. It's a really nice place. You don't have to get permission to take the dogs out and you can walk them and play with them out back. We might start doing this as a family service project. It could be really risky though. We are definitely not ready for a second dog. I was looking at an older dog and the kids fell in love with a puppy named Oliver. They saw someone else looking at him and they started crying. So I impulsively went and signed the contract. He was such a calm laid back pup. On his description it read that he was lovable and lazy. That's perfect for a puppy. It also said he was a New Foundland German Shepard. I knew the shepard part so I expected he would be sort of big. Holy cow, I didn't know how big the Newfie part was. They are humongous. Bigger than St. Bernards! They are great swimmers and have webbed toes. They swim with the breaststroke not the doggie paddle. I can't wait to see that. I can't even imagine what that might look like. They're water rescue dogs and one actually pulled a boat with 20 people in it to shore. We are hoping to train Ollie to pull the kids in a sled up in the snow next year. Right now his is 9 weeks old. He's mostly fur, teeth and paws. He's afraid of the dark and being alone. He's learning to ignore the cats quickly. He likes them but he knows he's not allowed to bark at them. He tolerates being hugged and dragged. His favorite things are going outside to play, peeing on the carpet and sleeping every chance he can get away from the kids. The pound named him Oliver. Emmie liked it but not Clay. Clay has been wanting to name a brother Jenkins for some reason. So we decided to compromise and name him Oliver Jenkins. It seems strangely appropriate. He's been a lot of fun and a great new challenge.