Ellie--our foster

I have wanted to try fostering for quite some time now....With Biskit being gone almost 3 years now and Sage is approaching her 1 year mark next month, I thought I was ready...I look daily at the Humane Society and City of Animal Services FB page...They are in dire need of fosters...Constantly, my heart aches for all the dogs that are abandoned, turned over, dumped, lost and never looked for, etc....I saw this sweet face last week..."Meet 7-15"...Meaning she will be put to sleep on July 15th if no one claims her...On Friday, Kresee said I would like a girl dog and I want to name her Ellie...Again, this face popped in my head...So I casually mentioned her to Kerry...Then again on Saturday (July 14th) around 1:00 I mentioned her again...I knew Animal Control closed at 2:00...I looked back on FB and asked if she was still there...She was--no one had claimed her nor could the Humane Society pull her b/c they are completely full...Kerry could tell I was very concerned about the sweet dog and told me to call...I tried calling about 5 mins till 2 but no one answered the phone...So we talked about fostering her...He was willing to give it a try...I emailed the girl at the City since my sister is good friends with her...I explained that we would take her if they would hold her through Monday since she would be put down on either that Sunday or Monday...We saw my sister at dinner that night and she contacted the Executive Director out at the Humane Society and the girl from the City again so she knew what dog I was wanting them to pull for me on Monday...I was excited and nervous...Sunday was hard knowing she had to stay there one more whole day and one more night:(...I did go to PetSmart and get her a new collar with her own tag on Sunday

Monday came and they don't open till 11:00...I called the foster coordinator at the Humane Society and asked when they would be pulling her for me...She had to contact other people and those people had to go over there to do her heartworm test...So we planned on meeting at 3:00...So I had to wait several more extremely long hours...Thank goodness Kerry took off work b/c we had the plumber come that morning and the A/C people come that afternoon (more lightning stuff to fix)...

I got to the City of Animal Services/Reclaim Center right at 3...Went in and they happen to have a Foster Application from the Humane Society there and so I filled it out while I waited on the volunteer from the HS....She arrived and then the Animal Reclaim worker took my collar and leash went and got Ellie for me...She came right out and then got down on all fours and crawled to me on her little belly...I thought she looked for sure like a Beagle/Jack Russell mix...She let me love on her for about 5 minutes...They told me that HS people were not able to do the heartworm test...She wouldn't let them near her..Then we got to go to the car and head out to the Humane Society for shots....She didn't jump in the car, but got right in and sat down...Didn't budge the whole drive out to the HS...I think she was probably terrified and wondering what in the world was going on....

We got to the HS and walked in...The 2 people who had tried to do her heartworm testing were very surprised at how good she was with me and said she was very nasty/wanted to bite them...I can't imagine why...She had been at Animal Control for several days, locked up in a cage and scared out of her mind when 2 people were coming at her...But she didn't want to go with them...She did get her shots...They guesstimated she was between 2 and 3 year...We decided on 3 years old...We headed back home...This time she wanted in my lap and she didn't move...I told Kerry we were on our way...I said she looked good---no ticks that I saw...I said I did see one flea...So that meant there were a million more if there was one...
Kerry was waiting for me outside...We scrubbed her down for about 15 mins and got tons of fleas off her...I love that shampoo; it kills them instantly and they just fall off...After her bath, we brushed her which made her coat so smooth and shiny...She was like a brand new dog...

Then it was time to introduce her to the dogs...We were both pretty nervous about this...I thought she would be a little snippy...And Parker loves to growl and be rude...Hunter sometimes growls...I know both of my dogs have never bit nor ever try to bite...So I was worried about Ellie...We let Hunter come first....Kerry walked her around the cul-de-sac and I walked Hunter out..She growled several times at Hunter...Hunter didn't make a sound; he can't hear so he didn't even know it...We walked and walked them and let them do all their smelling...Then they were fine....

Since we had the brush out, we went ahead and brushed Hunter and let Ellie hang out...It was a hot day but we had a great breeze so it wasn't too bad...

Then it was rude dog's turn....I was really worried about them meeting...Ellie was so dog gone tired already, I think it helped...She growled a little...But we just walked and walked them by each other and then Kerry walked them together...I was surprised at how well it all went....

We let the dogs all chill out together outside in the garage together for a little bit while we waited on the kids...The first of many naps Ellie took that day....

We then, after several hours, of hanging and walking outside went inside with all the dogs still on leashes...That was a whole different story...We had to basically start over with re-introducing the dogs inside....My sister brought the kids home..When they walked in, it was the first time I saw Ellie wag her tail...She went right up to the kids and wanted to say hi to them and lick them...That made me feel great...We hung out in the living room floor all together...After about 20 mins, we let the dogs off their leashes...Ellie needed one good correction from my sister and then she was good...We went back outside and let them play in the backyard some....

She really liked the kids and was doing very well...Our dogs then decided they would do the growling and were starting to be rude, so we had to keep correcting them....

We went on another walk around the neighborhood with all 3 dogs...Leslie said to make sure we got them all good and tired...I think we did a good job...She does pretty well on the leash....

We went back home and back outside...She loves to rare up on Kohen and let him just pet/love on her...

Before long, she was resting under the swing...

Then she took another nap....

We went inside to feed everyone..She wouldn't eat anything...I wasn't too concerned...Back outside later that night...More loving from Kohen....

She slept in our room in Sage's old crate with no problems...She didn't whine or cry...Parker needed out at 1 am and she went out too...Then came back and slept in the crate all night...She did not eat breakfast again this morning, but is having a good day with us...She loves to snuggle and lay by you...She is a lazy little thing...I think we are going to enjoy her very much...

Tennis Lessons

Kohen started tennis lessons last week for the month of July...Really wasn't too bad at all...8 private lessons (him and 2 other boys), new tennis raquet and several new balls for only $65...He has really been enjoying it and is pretty good...Now if we can just get him to realize he doesn't need to knock the fire out of it like we tell him in baseball or soccer:)...

 Owen, Kohen and Noah

4th at PK

We headed back down to the lake on Friday...We took the boat to Hell's gate for a little while but Kohen and Jaxson couldn't wait to get back to eat dinner...Because after dinner, one of Jayson's coaches were coming to fish...Kohen was pumped...So all the boys loaded up--6 of them and went fisihing for the evening...Everyone caught a fish...Kohen was proud of this sand bass....He loved it....

 Saturday we loaded up and headed back out to Hell's gate to spend the day....In fact, I think we were out there around 6 hours and the kids were all troopers...The key was getting our huge raft out there...So we put it on top of the boat...The kids hung out under it until we got the pontoon unloaded...

We were able to get a great spot

And we hung out, ate, played, swam for hours and hours....

Kohen tends to get dehydrated at the lake and sometimes will start running a fever at night, so we were determined to keep him full of water and gatorade that day

They threw out lots of beach balls and the boys got them one:)

Kresee took her a nap in the boat in the middle of the day and then was back out in the water...

 We were glad we took one sea-doo b/c we had to take make two trips back to the lake house for some kiddos (Kohen and Kenzie) to use the restroom:)

Then we knew it was time to load up around 6 and get home to cook dinner...In a very short time frame, the clouds rolled in...The wind started blowing like crazy and before we knew it, we were getting rained on hard...Boats were getting un-anchored and just being pushed from the wind hitting other boats....We got everyone in the boat....Then the huge raft wanted to take flight...We got it on the boat, the kids underneath it...Shellie got on the seadoo so it didnt get smashed by another boat...I got on top of the raft while Kerry tried to maneuver the boat so Jayson could get us un-anchored...I couldnt hold the raft...I thought I was going to go flying off with it at least 3 times...So I made poor scared Jaxson get on top of it with me...It was raining so hard I couldn't even see...I was fah-reeezing!...Then some goofball right as we were getting ready to leave drives around us with his anchor still in the water and gets his rope all tied up around our boat...It was a huge mess and made us sit out there in this huge mess another good 15-20 minutes!!...We were all pretty annoyed and stressed out...But we survived and by the time we got back to the dock, it was no longer raining...Oh my word...It was an experience with 5 kiddos!

We got back to the house and Shellie couldn't stop laughing at my Medusa hair do...It was a huge mess sticking straight up all over the place from the wind, rain and humidity...haha...

4TH of July

We had a great 4th of July...Since it was on a Wednesday, we weren't at the lake for the first time in a few years...We headed over to the Thomases to swim at their get together...Kresee couldn't wait to wear her "Merica swimsuit"...She loves "Merica Flags" so this was a wonderful holiday for her:)

 Sweet friends

 They had a great time swimming together

 

Then we headed out to my Nana and Papa's house for their annual cookout and homemade ice cream...After dinner, we rode the golf cart down to the firwork stand and got the kids plenty of fireworks...They were super excited....

 Aunt TT helping sort out the day ones that they could do right then....

 Justin helping Kohen light his....

Kresee was brave with the smoke balls...Kohen got brave too lighting them while he held onto them and then he would throw them high in the air so the smoke would be in the sky

It was super hot out so here they are taking a water break:)

 Baby Cayden did pretty well until it got dark and her daddy started shooting off the big booming one...

 Kresee found out she loved the sparklers especially the ones that were super long so she felt safe holding them

 Kohen had a complete blast...He did really well and wasn't scared...He burned his finger a little on one of the tanks but he had a great time:)

PK Lake

We went to the lake this weekend to spend some time on the water before the 4th of July crowd next weekend....

Here the kids are hanging out before breakfast...Kohen has his lovely wrestling belt on:)

Kresee was very excited to get out on the boat....We were going tubing....

Driving with papa

The kids watching Jaxson tube....

Kohen loves it...He went a million times:)

Kresee wanted to give it a go...She was good, then cried a little when they got started, then was fine after that...Pretty proud of her for trying...Kerry rode on it with her...