I know, I know...I've been MIA...

It feels that way to me too when it comes to the blog....this has been me...for the last 2 weeks....

I got it bad...you know, the Twilight saga!! My goodness...by the time you read this, I will have finished the 4th book, Breaking Dawn. I started the first book while in Disney & I really, really liked it. Finished it the day after we got home & that night (at 9pm mind you) I HAD to go get the 2nd book & so on & so on & so on...

I haven't read like this in years...so sorry it's not normal for me to ignore the blog, but it's quite nice to have such good books to read...and I do anticipate back to normal blog posts in the upcoming days when I'm going through my Twilight (ok, let's be honest) my Edward withdrawl. It's gonna be painful, but I know that I can always just start all over again!

Happy 2nd Birthday Howard!!!

Ahhh my baby boy turns 2 today! 2!! 2!!! 2!!!! Yay Howie!! It's been such a fun, crazy & educational 2 years! I still remember getting the email from Sandy saying, "I have a boy for you!" Then a few weeks later, going to see "Howie"...not knowing which of the two boys Howie would be! It was love at first site for us of course!

Now, here we are 2 years later...with 3 bulldogs!! Ahh how things change, but I couldn't imagine any different!

I know 2 isn't that large of a number, but it means so much to us because we never got to celebrate Ollie's 2nd birthday...so while I didn't dwell on it the last few months, it was in the back of my head. I'm so grateful for my Howie, he really has helped heal my heart.

Howie had a super fun birthday dinner! Notice it's one-half of a McDonald's hamburger this time! We learned with Doc's birthday dinner in July that well...McDonald's doesn't sit well w/my bullies...so I figured we could keep the same tradition, but incorporate their food & green beans too!Of course they absolutely LOVED the new concept of birthday dinner! Howie was very excited to see what was on the menu tonight!
After dinner meant PRESENTS!! Howie got some stuffed balls & a stuffed monkey, along with some nylabone chewy keys...I believe they were his favorite toy as a puppy...let's face it, he'll always be my puppy & he still likes to chew so I'm sure they'll be a big hit!

"Oooh yummy!! Momma got Howie 3 bones...I sure hope he shares....1 for Howie, 1 for Doc, & 1 for Vivi!! I can hardly wait!!"

"Doc take a look at the HAUL Howie made for his birthday! I bet he'll share all this stuff with us! He's nice like that!"

"Happy birthday to our favvvvvvvorite brother!! Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuu!"

"Check 'em out from this angle Doc!! They're awesome toys!"

"All I really want is this bone...right here...."

"Oooh Momma & Daddy! You gots me so much stuff! I must have been a good boy! Thank you so much! I think I WILL share with Doc & Vivi!!"

Bully Carnival

How fun it was on Saturday!! All 3 bullies came to (finally) get micro chipped & then Vivi stayed with me as the model for the "Pamper your Pooch" booth that I was manning. It was just a both of human items you can use on your dog for grooming. I wasn't doing any grooming of course, but just showing the products.

I haven't heard the official numbers, but it looked like we had quite a good turnout with both bullies & non-bullies. It was a beautiful day for a bully carnival that's for sure!!

Vivi met one of her half-brothers, Kingston. Isn't he cute? He's a Hemi baby too! He turned 9 months on Saturday & he's much bigger than Vivi already. He's going to be quite a handsome & big bully I think!They played for quite some time & had so much fun! He was such a sweetie!

Between playing with Kingston & being my model, Vivi was very tired!! Poor bully!!

I will post more photos of the carnival on the photos section of the site later this week!

Our trip

I know this is a bit off topic, as it's not quite bully related, but hey, it's my blog, I can blog what I want to right? We stayed at Disney's Polynesian resort this trip. It was Steve's dream resort & I surprised him with it about 2 weeks before we left...he knew we were going, he just thought we were staying at another resort we've stayed at before. It's kinda my tradition to surprise him with things on our Disney trips...heck, last fall I surprised him with an entire weekend trip...got him time off work & everything! Do I rock or what? :0)

We were magically upgraded from garden view to castle view!! Color me surprised! It was quite the site to see! The photo below is from our balcony & while the little photo here doesn't do it justice, know that it was indeed magical! The castle is to the left of the palm tree & Space Mountain is the white building to the right. Oh & in case you were wondering...they do indeed keep the castle lit all night!! Ok, at least until 3am...which was the latest I stayed up one night.

On our first day of vacay, I actually went to a bulldog specialty show! It was called the Strawbully Cluster put on by the Tampa Bay Bulldog Club. It was fun to see bullies on my Disney vacation...ones that aren't made of Legos I mean (isn't he cute though?).

I even got to meet in person, a fellow bulldogger that I meant on Bulldogs World! Here we are: "Jen in FL" & "Jen Howie, Doc & Vivian's Momma" on BDW. We had a lot of fun watching the show & looking over the bully items for purchase! What's even funnier is that we both had little gifts for each other...maybe it's just in the name, maybe it's for the love of bulldog?! Ok, ok,...it's really cuz we're both just nice people.

It wasn't just Steve & me on our trip. Steve's mom, his sister & her family were also there. Her kids are 6 & 7 & soooo funny! My lord do they make me laugh!

I did take a lot of photos around our resort & also the resort next to ours, the Grand Floridian. Here is a photo of the new marble floor they just installed...do you see Peter Pan, Wendy & the two boys (sorry, don't know their names)? This was just beautiful for a floor I mean...

We went to the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. My goal...photos with the characters in costumes! GOAL MET!! Woo hoo!!

I really liked how this photo turned out. It was during the HalloWishes fireworks the night of the party. It's not the best photo I know, but I like how the fireworks are lighting up the castle.

One thing Steve & I have mastered during our trips are self portraits!! I won't bore you with all of those that we took, but here is one of my favorites from our balcony before we checked out.
Well thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed your very brief trip to Disney World!

Have a magical day!

I can't be the ONLY one, right?

I'm the first to admit I'm a bit...errr...detailed when it comes to things. Sure, sometimes my emails turn into novels, but hey, sometimes things get misinterpreted in emails..wouldn't want that now would we? Anyway, as I'm sure you've already guessed, when it comes to my bullies I am VERY detailed in general, but let me go on a 10 day vacay & watch the details GROW!!

Last year was the first time we needed bullysitters for more than one bully. At that time I put together what I called the "Dog Bible"...it listed our flight info, our cell numbers, my neighbors' names & numbers, my bully contacts nearby, vet info, etc. But then I realized well, my bullies are special & they can't do a lot of things...you know they can't wrestle on the couch, they can't have grapes, they can't have chocolate, it seemed they couldn't do a lot.

Well I think I scared my poor mom (first bullysitter) with all the "can'ts"...but then the information kept coming...like how you give them their pills & what food to give them & when & the treats & don't forget the walks & their individual bathroom quirks...the one page information sheet quickly turned into 4 pages! Poor kitties got a quick 3 line blurb too....hey, they're easy!

This year was no different, except I got to update the Dog Bible to include 3 bullies & added info on the house & area...like what places deliver, how to use the washer/dryer, etc. I like to think it helped my cousin in some way! So come on...admit it...I'm not the only one who does this right??

We're baaaack!!

Ok, let me just say, I truly did have every good intention to keep up with the blog, but the mouse got the better of me! Mickey Mouse that is. Yep! Returned on Wednesday from 10 magical days at Disney World & while I did have internet access & I tried to update the photo of the day on the site, it was a bit difficult at times. But now, we're slowly getting back to reality (ugg...work on Monday!!) & will be back on track for more blog & site updates.

Our laptop's monitor decided to die the day before we were leaving on our trip....not a big deal really, however, it did cause some issues when wanting to update the ipods & check-in online. I did get creative & connected the old PC monitor we still had to the laptop & VIOLA!! It works! However, it's quite comical to be sitting w/a laptop & using a huge old monitor...but again, it works. I actually kinda forgot about the dead laptop until yesterday so I have been dreading downloading all the (700+) photos I took because I knew it wasn't going to be as easy as it once was...you know, sitting in the living room, while the TV is on, w/the bullies next to me...instead, I cleared off the kitchen table & lugged the old monitor upstairs & am now listening to the bullies snore in the next room while downloading my photos!! Ha!!

Bullies did great while we were gone. Trip was magical of course. Have unpacked, & most of the laundry is done. Oh & went to the Bully Carnival today. Lots going on, but all is well. More details on the bullies & what we did to prep for the trip (re: the bullies) later this week!

Happy Birthday Vivi!!

Vivi was a year old yesterday!! One year ago today I got up early, made the 3 hour trek to Sandy's house to help with the puppies; stayed for a few hours & then turned around to be home by 9pm!! It was fun & quite the learning experience. I got to help the puppies latch on to Jazz, clean their bums, burp them & take their photos.

At the time, we had hoped one of the boys would be our next bully, but alas it wasn't meant to be. Instead, little miss Vivian came into our lives. She's been nothing but pure joy. She is so funny...tonight she farted while she was laying down & she turned around really quick like "what was that?" When it happened again, she got up & started sniffing like it couldn't have possibly come out of her!!

She's also very snuggly & just has the best personality. She's the best of both worlds...she CAN be mellow like Doc & she CAN be crazy like Howie....she's a happy medium of both. We're very fortunate that all of our bullies get along so well because they all truly do complement each other.

Happy Birthday Miss Vivian & all her littermates!! (Man are they cute!!)

Finally! Proof!

I finally have proof that the 10 min morning walk I do with Vivi is working on her "boredom" (aka eating anything in her kennel habit). Yesterday, I had to be at work rather early, so I didn't have time to walk her. I mentioned it to Steve & he said, "oh she'll be fine, she has the bone in there (kennel) to keep her busy."

Cut to 630pm when I got home (note that she had only been kenneled for about 3.5 hours) & sure enough...corner of her kennel pad eaten...not just gnawed on, but eaten. She hasn't done that in WEEKS. So while yes, being on poop watch once again isn't fun, at least I know that the walks ARE working.

Speaking of walks...this morning I was noticing something & thought it was funny. When my bullies go on walks, they tend to like to walk on concrete (curb, sidewalk, etc) more than the asphalt. I'm guessing it's more comfortable to walk on, but I just think it's funny...all 3 are like that...such picky walkers.

Wow! Where did the summer go?

It's almost Labor Day! That's crazy! How come when the weather is nice & taking the bullies out to empty isn't that awful it has to go fast??!! Looking back, I know we did a lot ...4 different show weekends for Vivi, ACL surgery & recovery for Howie, diet for Doc, swimming for all the bullies...and let's not forget our first heat cycle experience!!

It's been a great summer with the bullies! It's funny to think how much & how fast our lives have changed. It was only a little over a year ago that Doc came into our lives & Vivi has only been with us 8 months, but our routine & our lives have been surprisingly smooth! I guess it helps that all 3 dogs get along well & their personalities offset each other....most of the time of anyway.

I'm excited to see what the (GASP!) fall/winter will bring for us! A few more shows, 2 more bully birthdays, perhaps an obedience class or two. Hopefully keeping busy with my bullies, will make the cold weather go away as fast as the warm weather did this summer!

I'm so thankful everyday for my bullies...even when they're acting crazy. I just remember how awful it was when Ollie was no longer here & that still just brings me to tears. So I thank Steve often for bringing the love of bulldog into my life & I thank Ollie for bringing Howie, Doc & Vivi to me. He would have been a great big brother & I'm pretty sure he does visit each of the bullies in their dreams & plays with them!