Jennifer's Junky Life ~

Links to News and Video Coverage of the Fire

Here are a few (relatively) updated news links and videos about the fire:

Videos -

7000+ Acres Burned

Aerial footage

More Than 50 Structures Destroyed

Photos -

Photo Gallery

Local Newspaper Article with Stats

MNICS - Scroll down for photos and/or at the top, click on "Green Valley Perimeter Map" to see a digital/aerial map showing the size of the fire. The main highway out here is shown in green directly in the middle of the area. (The fire jumped the main highway during the afternoon on Tuesday, May 14.)

We're safe and the fire is mostly contained. Although, there are plenty of hot spots with potentials for flare-ups so there are still those in high risk areas who need to remain cautious at this point.

I took more photos of the damage today when I brought the kids out to the park this afternoon as we drove by the area of the fire's path. But I'm extremely tired tonight. I was up until 5:00 a.m. last night (Tuesday to Wednesday) because I was so anxious about the fire. I'll try to post those photos soon.

It was eerie to see the damage. The ground is completely black and charred and there were spots where we could see smoke still today but we had expected to see all of the trees completely burned and just the black trunks standing. But the only part that was completely burned in the areas we could see from the main highway was the ground/brush. The trees remained standing. The pine trees still had their green needles and the buds on the rest of the trees still remained green. It was quite bizarre to see, and completely unexpected for the sheer size of the fire. I'm not sure if it's like that everywhere but it was for as far as we could see in the areas along the highway.

They're expected to have all roads opened up again by Thursday (last I heard) so we're hoping to do some more driving around at that point. It's quite the solemn feeling to see it all and think about... And it's a miracle that there were no injuries or casualties for such a massive blaze.

Continued thoughts and prayers are with all of those who have lost their homes, outbuildings and businesses.

We're so grateful and thankful for all of the firefighters and rescue personnel and volunteers who worked, and are continueing to work, to keep everyone safe!

Latest stats: 7100 acres burned. And one of my friends mentioned on Facebook: 12 residencies lost, 2 commercial properties and about 41 outbuildings.

The Woods and Fields (and Houses) Are On Fire

If you were asked to evacuate your home because of a fire... what would you take with you?

{View of smoke clouds from our driveway.}

{View as we drove down our road.}

That's the very question so many locals had to ask themselves this beautiful, clear and sunny evening as they were asked to evacuate their homes in the path of a raging fire stretching approximately 10 miles long and covering (at last estimate) between 4000-5000 acres out here in north/central Minnesota. (I'll be interested to see if that's acurate once more official reports are out...)

Many of our neighbors received this very call. {We didn't get a call but only because we don't have/use a land line and only use our cell phones.} We didn't evacuate and the last we heard on the radio, we no longer needed to if we were south of a particular line, which we are. But it really made us stop and think. And it's a good reminder to be ready in case of any emergency, which we realized we weren't... And it also made me realize how little material things mattered. That's not to say that I wouldn't be beside myself and have plenty of panic attacks if we were to lose everything (because just the thought of it this evening gave me plenty of anxiety and fear) - but it just really made me think how little 'things' matter when compared to human life.

And, if you're wondering, we decided we would grab all of our boxes of photos, our laptop and PC (which both have photos on them) and our folder of important documents (social security cards, etc.). And then any other little things that we had time for but our photos are irreplaceable. Everything else can be replaced.

{Smoke plumes as we headed toward town.}

{Smoke over our little town. Excuse the windshield in all these photos - I was just snapping photos as Mark was driving.}

The combination of extremely gusty winds and super dry weather were the perfect recipe for disaster as the wildfire raged out of control for hours, and continues to burn. Thankfully, the wind has greatly diminished at this point (well after midnight) and the fire isn't spreading as quickly as it had been. We're hoping and praying it continues to stay that way. And our prayers are also going out to all of our fire fighters, police officers, emergency personnel, and the numerous volunteers who are working around the clock to do everything they can to be sure that everyone is safe. Our prayers are also with all of those who have been devastated by the loss of their homes, of which we've heard there have been quite a few at this point, and with all of those who are affected by the fire.

As of right now, there have been no reports of injuries. Hoping and praying that stays that way as well! I'm anxious for some more up-to-date reports on the acreage and homes lost... (And hoping it doesn't continue to increase...) And I'm anxious to hear how it started as there have only been speculations going about.

{My camera isn't capable of zooming in enough to get a good picture. These flames were about a mile north of where I was standing - but you get the idea here... This shows the fire leaping high above the tree tops (the dark line just at the top of the field here). This is the furthest east point of the fire, at the time of the photos. These flames are out near the Twin Lakes/Stocking Lake area. They were taken from Stocking Lake Rd.}

{You can just make out the pine trees if you look closely - that's the darker area across the middle of the photo(s) - and the flames are high above the trees where you can see them.}

Mark and I ran out at supper time to check out the fire after seeing it mentioned on Facebook and seeing large smoke clouds northeast of us. As we drove through town, they were evacuating the nursing home residents via local school buses. There were emergency vehicles going in every direction. Sirens, lights flashing and traffic like you wouldn't believe from people evacuating and the curious, like ourselves.

There are no words to describe what it was like to drive out there and see flames stretching and leaping in a path about a mile long, about a mile/mile and a half north of the field we stopped at, which was only about six miles or so from our home. It took my breath away to see it. Unreal. I'd never seen anything like it before. (Although, I'd seen woods on fire once before in my life on a road trip.) It was beyond devastating to see.

We sat there for awhile watching in complete awe and dismay. After a time, we decided to go home to get the kids so they could see and ended up back out for another two or three hours, at which point things began to look like they were dying down or at least look like they were slowing down. And we got word that we could sleep safely (for the most part) tonight so we went back home.

{These photos (above) were taken while the sun was still bright and shining in the sky - just like the first photos you see here. The smoke coverage was unreal - it looked like a cloudy day near the fire. That area that is really bright, above, we believe was a building on fire. It was the only part of this area that was still burning really bright when we came back an hour later with the kids... I get a ball in the pit of my stomach from being there and seeing all of this, and again looking at these photos. It's absolutely awful...}

Thinking of all of our friends/family who have homes closer to the fire than ours. Praying you (and we) are all kept safe!

P.S. I've been meaning to start blogging about my diagnosis, because I finally got one a while back. I'm dealing with Mycoplasma and Lyme Disease, both tick born infections. I still plan to because I want to keep record of it for myself. I've been really sick these past four months but I just recently began to feel better.

Little Climber

I've never had to deal with these before...

...and the boys (and I) thought their Legos were safe from tiny hands and an even tinier mouth when they put them up on the steps!

Luckily, she doesn't remember them every day. Yet.

When my other kids were babies, we were always living in one rental or another and none of them ever had stairs. So, it's a whole new world dealing with a climbing eleven month old!

Mark's planning to build a gate to go across the steps here. We just didn't think we'd need it so soon!

She pulls herself standing on everything these days and giving her a bath requires a course in Wrestling 101. Just this week, she discovered that she can pull herself standing in the tub, as well! It's a constant battle trying to get her to sit or lie down during tubby time because standing in a slippery tub is so much more fun than getting cleaned up.

She's at a fun age, soaking up more and more things every day. She says 'boo' when playing peek-a-boo. Mama, Dada, Dah (Nikayda), bah (for balloon. We still have helium balloons floating around from Valentine's Day), buh-buh (buh-bye), and I'm sure a couple of other things but my mind's drawing a blank at this late hour.

She points at everything all the time with her tiny little finger and waves at everything, as well, from strangers at the grocery store to the fan on our ceiling. She loves to wave her little hand.

She hasn't figured out that I like to be as discreet as possible (with four kids in tow) while we're out grocery shopping or thrifting, yet. She waves at every single person she sees whether they walk by her or at the end of an aisle. And, of course, so many people will come up and start talking to her because of it.

We haven't been out much this winter but I sure have enjoyed our outings lately on the days when I've been feeling better. We still have a ton of snow but I'm getting excited for spring. It'll be here before you know it and all the snow will be gone so for now I'm continuing to enjoy the beauty of it! Nothing prettier than a freshly fallen snow on the pines out here in the woods.

{As an aside, the treads are on and the stairs skirt is up! We're planning to do a bunch of painting in here this spring. - Freshen up the walls on the first floor and at the same time, paint the stairs. On Aria: Shirt, Old Navy, thrifted. Pop Color Skinny Pants from Old Navy. Moccasins, Kaboogie.}

Working on Changes

I went to set up my Etsy shop today with a new shop name...the second step in changing my shop and blog name. {The first, being setting up an email account, which I did prior to that.} However, when I set up the Etsy account, although I'd previously searched for the name and it hadn't shown up, I was notified that it was already being used as someones user i.d.

Darn.
Double darn.

I've had this name on my mind for a long time. And because it was either someones old shop name (a shop that has since closed) or it is someones current user i.d. (but not their shop name), I'm not able to use it.

So I cancelled the email account and I'm back to square one.

Square one kind of bites... I'm so determined to stick to and work through some of my New Year's goals this year and one of my mini goals, that I made only last week, was to have a new shop name picked out by this weekend so I can begin working toward switching my blog name/url.

I'm trying to find something like 'whimsical' because I want something eclectic, different, and feminine sounding. Carter threw out, "Pink Fire", tonight and although it doesn't fit, that's the general idea.

Something completely random. An adjective and a noun. An adjective and an element. Two things that clash but match. Something that no one else will have and that will be somewhat catchy. Two random things that don't even go together. Because I like things like that.

I might have to extend my deadline on a name now. A minor setback. Hardly a setback. Just a personal goal but I know how well I stick to personal goals if I don't do them right away. (I don't.)

In other news... We got the treads for our stairs this week. We've been in this house waiting for them for 5 years, five months, 17 days and 3 hours.

No.

I have absolutely no idea how long I've been waiting for them but it's been over 5 years (and five months) because we moved in here in August 2007 and I'm really looking forward to having our steps finished off. It gets so dusty under there (on the sheetrock) and is such a pain to vacuum and the kids are always dropping/leaving stuff in the space under the bottom step. And now that we have a little mover, she loves to dig under there to find all sorts of random things to put into her mouth.

It'll be awhile before we get the treads on. Tonight, he took the old ones off just to make room for the stairs skirt. (And put them back on for now.) Small steps. But it's progress.

I can't wait to have 'normal' steps. Right now, we're planning to either paint or stain the treads white (they'll be white, just haven't settled on paint or stain yet) and add vintage wallpaper to every other riser going up.

{Source unknown. The link on Pinterest didn't go to the photo.}

I've always known I wanted something colorful on the risers. I've often thought of painting them, putting patterns on them, adding wallpaper, etc. But after seeing a picture (above) on Pinterest this week, I knew I was going to do every other step with pretty vintage wallpaper. More than likely... which leads to my next decision, to use the same paper on those every other steps or use a bunch of different ones. I'll have to go through my stash to see what I have.

Reality

Lest anyone have any misperceptions around here... My house is a mess. It's always a mess. It drives me crazy because it's so messy. We have clutter and crap everywhere. And we have 'construction' mess by means of drywall mud on the walls and half-primed bathroom walls (below), untrimmed windows, no baseboards, no flooring in a few rooms, and unpainted trim everywhere.

{That little piece of paper I taped to the mirror says:
"Exercise ...your right to be healthy." It's my little motivation.}

It's easy to crop out messes so I can post positive, fun photos on here. But the reality is very different. My house isn't like that. I dream of it being like that and if I had it, I'd pay good money to have a professional organizer come in and put it together for me. But I don't so I just chip away at it little by little and hope someday I'll figure out how to 'get it together'!

Sometimes I lose focus and get all negative about it. Like my loft for instance, I've been chipping away at the boxes and clutter up there for years (it's been our 'storage area') and I get so frustrated that it's not done yet. I finally made great progress last year but I still have a bunch of stuff around the edges that I need to go through and haven't had time lately with homeschool and a baby to contend with.

{Ladder for drywall mudding. A chair in front of the stove with something thawing (our preferred method of thawing in the wintertime since we don't have/use a microwave). Clean laundry on the couch. Couch cushions falling off. There is almost always laundry on the couch. Can't tell as much here, but we might as well add 'dirty windows' to the list.}

I'm a collector and I have the junk shop so I have a lot of stuff in boxes for that as well as the things that I love around here. I like stuff. I love to collect things but I struggle to keep it all organized when we don't have closets (intentionally) and I still don't have enough cupboards, hutches, and dressers around here. And I'm a perfectionist so it especially drives me crazy sometimes.

{Clean rugs drying on chairs, uncleared table that also needs to be wiped down. Sheetrock mud on the walls. Unpainted trim.}

So, anyway, there you have it. A little peek at the reality around here. And that's just the 'tame' mess. I didn't even get pictures of the toys all over and the unmade beds and the dirty dishes in the sink and on the counter and... well, everything else. I don't want anyone to mistakenly believe that our house is neat and put together because it's usually sailing!

Actually, when I look at these pictures, I wish my entire house was 'this messy' - because it would be pretty clean compared to how it really is.

Chasing the Sun

So many people are hit with seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.) this time of year, especially here in the north where the sun hides away so often during these cold months.

I've dealt with bouts of mild depression and not-so-mild bouts of anxiety off and on over the years. (And of course, PPD after two of my births.) But to my recollection, I haven't ever dealt with S.A.D. before... at least that I've been aware of. I love winter! It's been one of my favorite seasons for years.

This year is a little different. I've had a mild case of the blues for a couple of months now. Nothing over the top or anything. But just enough to pretty much feel like 'meh' a lot. So, in other words, it's not affecting my daily abilities to function and look forward to things or to work on my goals in life so much as it's just making me feel more crabby and irritable. More 'meh'.

{This is the back of our house when looking from 'out back yonder' as the kids call it - where the goats roam. Mark finished putting up the siding on our house last year. And now I'm feeling more optimistic that our house will get painted someday! That little building is our sauna. Someday that will have siding, too.}

The winter blues is one of the biggest reasons I started blogging again. I've missed this. And blogging helps me to focus on the positive. That, and the fact that month after month I was paying for an empty blog... I figured it was high time to put this space to use again!

{Redneckville: This was formerly Mark's sawmill shed 'out back yonder', until he sold his sawmill. It doesn't have walls/sides yet. It's basically just the structure, with a roof with shingles on it. And it's where we store all sorts of junk such as loads of salvaged building supplies and things scavenged at the local dump.}

One afternoon, last week, I ran outside with camera in hand only to realize it was absolutely freeeezing cold and I didn't last long. But it still felt good to get out for those 15 minutes even if I came back in with numb and frozen fingers.

Where we live, here in Minnesota, we tend to be fortunate in that we see a lot of the sun in the winter time. But this winter it seems like we've had many more cloudy/overcast days than usual - or just partly sunny days with a lot of cloud coverage. And the sun greatly affects my mood, as many of you can relate. I thrive on that sunshine! When it's sunny, I feel like cleaning and doing projects and working on art. But when it's cloudy I just feel all 'blah' and unmotivated.

{Our coop, made from giant shipping crates, which will be fully sided and have more windows someday, too.}

Last year, I couldn't wait for spring because we were anticipating Aria's arrival. This year, I've had spring fever again because I'm anticipating the arrival of more sunshine! Can't wait for that and warmer weather.

{Mark made a little ice rink near his sauna for the kids this year. They love it! We've neve had one before. It's nothing fancy, no tarp/plastic or anything. But he said if he'd realized how much work it was going to be to make it straight on the ground without plastic, he'd never have done it! Now if the weather would warm up a little, they'd be spending their time out there again... My thermometer doesn't work, but the program on my laptop says it's -4° F and 'feels like -15°'.}

I can't wait to not garden this year. After many years of attempting to garden, I finally came to the conclusion that it's just not my thing. I plan to just stick with potted herbs that I'll put up on our (new) back deck which is just off the kitchen. And maybe I'll try some flowers this year since I haven't done too much with those in the past. But I'm giving up on growing produce. And I'm okay with that. We have plenty of sources for good healthy produce, including our new local organic grocery store, farmers' markets, CSA's, and Azure Standard, that it makes it easier for me to just let go of something that wasn't working, that didn't feel like my thing. Sometimes letting go is a good thing!

Restless

I'm convinced I was born with wanderlust in my veins.

We have moved countless times in our lifetime but we have lived in this house for six years and this place for seven now. And I'm restless.

{Alba the Argosy patiently waiting for spring and her renovations to continue.}

I've been restless other times over the years living here. It's the longest, by far, that we've ever lived in one place, in one house since we were married well over 11 years ago. So it stands to reason if I have wanderlust in me that I would get restless. But this winter it's really getting to me. It has off and on over the years and eventually it subsides for a time but I just feel more restless than usual this winter. And I can't seem to shake it.

{Source.}

I love moving. I love the thrill of living in a new area with new places to explore. A new house. New surroundings. But I hate the job of moving. We've always packed and moved everything ourselves and it's just way too much work to think about doing it again. And it won't happen again until we've majorly downsized. (Another one of my 'lifetime projects': purging.)

{Source.}

I feel like we're pretty 'settled' where we are on this land. In this house. And who knows maybe some day down the road we'll move again. But if we did, it probably wouldn't be far. We would stay in this area. We kind of like it up here in the north woods of Minnesota.

{Source.}

I've been doing a lot of thinking and contemplating about it all lately and I think the biggest solution to this problem is to start traveling. Here is hoping we'll get Alba the Argosy up and running this year... and a new (old) vehicle to pull her with so we can start exploring! I'm more than ready.

Creativity and Homeschool

I love art in its many forms. Admittedly, though, I haven't focused very much on a formal art and music study when it comes to our homeschool. Mostly it's because I've always been more concerned about the main subjects that the kids needed to learn about, and as a beginner to homeschooling I didn't want them to get behind on those things, so it felt somewhat distracting to me to incorporate extras into our day. So art and music took a bit of a backseat these past few years.

{Mark's work shirts make the perfect painting smocks for the kids.}

{You can catch a glimpse of our new back deck here, made completely from salvaged lumber (salvaged = free) - and the old door Mark rescued from a job that was destined for the trash that he sanded down and added a couple of new sections of wood to in order to make it work here. We still need to add trim and paint both the door and the deck but that probably won't happen for awhile.}

Art and music are all around us as a more informal part of our lives but we haven't done any sort of structured learning with them. The kids are always doing their own art projects and stuff but I haven't actually done lessons with them until recently.

In many ways, though, I think that takes away from the fun of learning for the kids when I don't incorporate those things more often and I feel like I'm letting that part of me, a huge part of me, go to the wayside. So much of what pertains to creativity can be utilized when it comes to educating kids and I've made it a priority, this year, to really delve into that aspect of education. And we're already beginning to reap the rewards.

The kids absolutely love school this year. Not just 'liking' it, they're loving it, and actually asking to do the things they need to do... with the exception of math for my one child who doesn't like math - and vocabulary. But we're working on that, too! Making it better and trying different approaches.

We're using Wordly Wise 3000 this year for vocabulary and I like it because my kids find it challenging. I remind them that they need to be challenged in order to learn when they try to whine, "It's too hard!" It's not. It just challenges them and I love that. (We have the workbooks - but I'm planning to incorporate some of the on-line resources on the site that are available as we progress through the year.)

No child is going to love every subject. No doubt. But it's a tremendous reward after doing this for four years to have my kids finally tell me they love most of them. Every year has gotten better and better as we learn about and try different materials and approaches to learning. And I hope to share some of the resources we really like as I find the time.

There's no sugar coating it, homeschooling is a lot of work, and you have to enjoy doing it in order for it to be successful. It's not for everyone but I love doing this! I love all the research that goes into each of the subjects. I love the time I get to spend with my kids each and every day. Of course, we have days where the kids are bickering and I'm ready to pull my hair out and in those cases, they get shipped outside and we all take a break to regroup. But I really enjoy and treasure this time with my kids. And, in all honesty, those moments are relatively few and far between. I love seeing them get excited about different topics. And I even love the planning that goes into each week. Each year. It's so rewarding. And I recommend it for anyone who is thinking about doing it.

We came about homeschooling quite by accident... I never considered it before Carter was diagnosed with severe peanut allergy. And, in fact, I always said I'd never do it. I wasn't interested. But since beginning it four years ago, we've come to consider it one of the greatest blessings in our life. It's such a wonderful and rewarding experience. And it's little wonder why so many families choose this path. It may have been an accidental thing for us, but I'm so thankful for it now!

New Flooring

Mark put in our pine floors for the kitchen and living room while we were out of town. We wanted to get the kids out of there while he stained and varnished them so they wouldn't be exposed to all of the strong fumes from the stain. {The varnish was low-VOC and had little to no smell but the stain was strong.} He salvaged the wallboards from a cabin on one of the nearby lakes that was built in the 1930's that they tore down and and rebuilt within the last year.

This is what it looks like to live in construction. Admittedly, I don't handle it very well. In fact, I pretty much hate it - but it's the way it has to be as we slowly finish our house over the years. And I always tell myself that 'someday it'll be done'. Or at least it'll look like it! P.S. Please excuse the mess, including the laundry to be folded on the couch.

Before we headed out of town on our two plus week vacation, I gave the kids a bunch of permanent markers in different colors and let them go to town on the subfloors that Mark was working on covering. They loved it and it was really fun to see all the things they colored and wrote on them.

{Nikayda working on one of her little works of art, below.}

{I suspect she was a little influenced by someone else...}

I couldn't resist joining in on the fun of coloring on the floors. I also wrote a little love note to the kids and one for Mark to thank him for all he does to make this house my dream home (above, not shown, it's off to the side there). For all that I hate living in a 'construction' zone, I really appreciate all the hard work and time he puts into this home each year as we build it with love and as much salvaged materials as possible.

{Such a serious expression. She almost looks worried.}

Our floors are a white stain so you can still see the grains and I love them! I'm looking forward to watching them get banged up and worn in. They've already got a few dings and marks on them. Some of which may or may not have happened before the kids and I even arrived home. I love that they'll have character and I won't have to worry about having 'fussy' floors. We're planning to work on the sitting room (which is adjacent to the living room) and Nikayda's room next - hopefully, sometime later this summer.

He also installed the white (1-inch) hexagon tiles (not shown) in the main/first floor bathroom which is off the entry way. We went with a grey grout in there and I'm really happy with the results! He also stained the bathroom beadboard tub surround a solid white. I'm so happy to have a white tub surround again! It was white originally until Mark pulled out the temporary surround and put in this beadboard which was salvaged from another house he worked on. It was originally a dark brown stain but he just didn't have a chance to stain it white until now.

He also started framing in our back deck using salvaged boards from one of his jobs, as well. I suspect that that is all that it will be for awhile! I don't imagine he'll have much time to work on it again anytime soon. But it's a start.

{Danish Modern Baumritter Lounge Chair.}

My 'new' favorite chair. Mark got it *free* from the cabin he's working on. He was able to go through all of the stuff they were getting rid of before bringing it to our local salvage store. I was one happy girl when he surprised me with this one! I've blogged so seldom in the past year, I can't remember if I mentoined that we're changing out all of our decor for more of a Mid-Century Modern style. I'm going for junk/retro instead of the junk/country style it was.

It was so fun to come home to all of these changes around here. (It's already been about a month!) But mostly I just love that we're back home with him again. It was fun - but also so strange to go on vacation without him since we never had before. I'd do again, though.

{Above, she's 'blowing raspberries'. She learned to do that a couple of weeks ago and we get such a kick out of it and the expressions she makes when she does it.}

Naturally, he sometimes gets a little bored if we stay at my family's house for much more than a week - so that part was really relaxing for me (not worrying about if he was or not). And he said he didn't get a chance to get too lonesome for us either since he was working such long days on the house. I was more worried about him than us when I'd left (especially since Aria was with us - I knew he'd really miss her) so I was glad to hear it went well for him, too. Although, luckily for us, he was ready for us to come home when we did! ;)

House Update :: Laundry Room

Mark began work on the laundry room this week. I'm really looking forward to being able to use it.

There are no windows in it yet - and it'll be awhile. But we're planning to have a lot of them in there, as well as a window or two between the wall of the laundry room/kitchen to let more light into the kitchen as that west wall has only one window in the kitchen.

I haven't finished filling up my retro mid-century hutch that I have in the kitchen but it's getting there. I hope to have it finished up today and then I'll get a picture up. It's just one of those things that makes me so happy. A dust-free place for all of my vintage dishes!

Our dogs had puppies this winter. Our male Aussie, River, and our female Siberian Husky, Willow. Unfortunately, they were born on the coldest night of the year and in spite of being in one of our little outbuildings with heat, three of them didn't make it.

(Yes, that's the top of a pineapple! Our compost is just to the left of this photo.)

We had originally thought there were only four but in the morning, we found a fifth one that we didn't know about. We were lucky to get Willow, the female, into the building in time for her to give birth. She put up a huge fight being put in there. The dogs use that building for shelter but she didn't like being closed in when it came time to have her puppies. She tore the place apart! I mean, like a wild dog. But we knew it was for her and the puppies own good that they were in a warm place when the time came - and she is not house trained so it wasn't an option to have her in here.

I always knew I wanted at least two dogs, so they would have companionship - but somehow or another we now have three! For now anyway...

Her name is Meadow and she's so cute. She's a good mix of her parents, light colored and has blue-grey eyes.

We had hoped when we went to get Willow and River, respectively, that they each would have had blue eyes but they didn't. There were no blue eyed Huskies and the blue eyed Aussie puppies were already spoken for.

The little male (the brown one) is being picked up tonight and going to a good home. I'm so happy with the family we found for him - I know he'll be in good hands.

I always say I'm not an animal person... and I'm not totally (okay, maybe a little) but I care about all of our animals more than I ever thought I would and I was really worried about sending little puppies out into the world. We wanted to have one litter and now we'll get our dogs fixed this spring/summer.

I can't believe it's Friday already. Another week has flown by. I'm 35 weeks along in my pregnancy. It's really starting to feel like it's getting down to the wire!