This last one with the flower bouquet prop cracks me up. Like, "Here, let's toss some flowers on her lap!" Of course I'll be placing an order -- how can I not?!!
When we got home, I figured it was time to practice on our ponies. Giddyup!
Tankee LOVES Samantha and she's really starting to interact with him, laughing and smiling at his big giant head. Today they spent some time hanging out in the yard enjoying the sunshine.
It's a good thing the dogs didn't scare the Easter Bunny away today since it was Samantha's first! She LOVED the crinkly plastic wrapping around the basket and seemed to enjoy her little lamb as well as the bunny from Nana. 
Of course no photo opportunity would be complete without Tankee barging into the scene. After all, like the lamb, his fleece is white as snow!
After spending a year in hibernation, the blog is back! Of course, our life has been anything but a dormant state since the last post! In fact, it was just this time last year (April 16, if my memory serves correctly) that we found out we were pregnant, and now here we are with our beautiful Samantha! She hit the 16 week mark this past Friday and if I don't get my act together documenting what's doing, I'm going to regret it. So thank you, Shauna, Charline and Shelby, for getting me back on the blog. I can only imagine how different things will be a year from now!
(*this photo isn't officially a 4-month photo -- I think it was a 3-monther...)
Happy birthday Oliver! Today is his 12th birthday! I know, I know, last year I had a party for him with a carrot cake and everything, but this year was just too crazy with us having to be out of the house with the floors getting redone, and Gary in Israel and all... But I did stop by today and gave him and his buddies some snacks. I would have made him wear a party hat for the occasion, but I learned from past experiences that he's not a fan of costumes.
When I arrived at the barn, Chris had left this nice sign for all to read.
Here's Pilot, his BFF.
And here's Katie, the little pony. Note how Oliver's ears are pinned back in a nasty, squirrley face as I was handing out the apples and carrots. I know he was thinking he shouldn't have to share on his special day.
Happy birthday, Tootsie!
Toot toot -- that's me and my horn....! At long last I've found a way to bring together my writing and animals. I'll be writing for the Boston-version of "Tails" magazine (Beantown Tails to be exact.) It's not financially huge so that I can quit anything else, but it should be a great experience and a monthly gig. I'll be responsible for reporting on all the Boston events and news. Yay pets!
Here's my latest fun find. It's a little collage maker thru google that's terribly addictive. Click here and enter in any keyword: basset, cupcake, banana, daisy... whatever you want -- and then hit "create montage." It will give you a nifty tiled screen of all sorts of images based on your keyword. (It's actually easier to do than to explain it.) So try it. It's a good fiddly fart thing to do when you're on the phone, when you're procrastinating... when you just want to look at a whole bunch of images of cupcakes artfully displayed.....
This Christmas I sent a big box of gifts out to the Wisconsin crew. Inside was a jokey little thing -- a snowman making kit. I wasn't sure if they'd ever put it to use but seeing as they have so much snow, I figured the fake carrot nose and the felt hat could come in handy. Well, who knew it would be such a hit!
Here, Marley (l) and Dane (r) and a helping friend pose with their jolly friend. 
Here you can see where X marks the spot. 
And here, after lots and lots of drugs and some graham crackers, I'm ready to go in my "bulky dressing" as my surgeon calls it. All I can think of is creamy dressing... ranch dressing... thousand island dressing.... ok. i'm not supposed to be typing. so there you have it!
Last night Gary and I donned our cowboy boots and headed to the DCU center for some professional bull riding!
Today was Tankee's big day at WGBH, shooting some footage during the auditions for the next season of PBS's Fetch!, the show that Riot had starred in. I was super nervous that he would be a bit of a wild man, but he really pulled through and was a total ham! Everyone loved him.
They had him wear a cute little t-shirt from the show, which fit perfectly (once we cut the sleeves and bottom off.)
We filmed some scenes of him pulling a wagon and running down the hallway. (He'll do anything for hotdogs!)
We had to sneak him in the building but once we got him there, we had him sit while the kids (about 200 of the expected 2000 that would come thru during the day) were waiting in line for their auditions. He was great. Just sat there with his big face.
Here, he sits while the kids say hello to him.
While I was in line with my treats one little girl said, "Oh, is that the new Murray?" (For those of you who don't know, "Murray" was Riot's name on the show.) So I had to explain that yes, this was the new Murray, because Murray is no longer with us... :( But I told her that his 'brother' was taking his place in the show and his name is Tank! I think it's great that they're going to keep his name on the show. All in all it was a great day and I'm very proud of my star!
I had pictured a giant carcass thing, but so you know, the whole contraption is quite small as you can see here. 
Here, Gary is pretending to be a wild 20-something (like our hosts!) by shooting some Crown Royal down his trap as a turducken appetizer. After dinner we played Cranium, which is always a good laugh. Horray for the girls who won (even if it was by the slimmest of margins...!)
I guess it's a good thing that it's back to work tomorrow. Then again, my new schedule kicks in tomorrow and I'm only in the office on Wednesdays and Fridays... (maybe there are some strengthening exercises I can do....)
