Goodbye, puppies

There were lots of tears this afternoon. Tears of sadness because we're going to miss the dogs that have consumed so much of our time and attention these last couple of months, and tears of happiness because we are so thankful that they are headed toward happy homes.

Today was the big day, the day the volunteers from the Humane Society came to pick up Blue and all but one of the puppies for their transport to a Chicago area rescue. We knew the day would come when we'd have to say goodbye, but we had no idea how much we'd fall in love with the dogs in such a short time.

From practically the moment Blue showed up in December, our lives were changed. Fostering a pregnant stray and her puppies was hard work and expensive, but they needed a safe home and the experience was memorable and amazing in so many ways.

They'll never be this little again

Ever since the puppies were born, right after Christmas, time has seemed to fly by more quickly than ever. Those wriggly little creatures have grown from pocket-sized pups to the size of bowling balls in just a matter of six weeks, and in another two weeks they'll be off to new homes, hopefully with families who will love them forever.

One of the lessons my kids are learning through this experience is to savor every moment, because the wonderful times of our lives always go by more quickly than we'd like.

I learned that lesson when my twins were born. Although they grew considerably slower than puppies, the days still zoomed by, leaving me crying melancholy tears as I packed away clothes they'd outgrown each season.

Year after year, as they grew from infants to toddlers, to preschoolers, to big kids and now teenagers, the same thought has tortured my heart: They'll never be this little again.

My 13-year-old son is millimeters away from outgrowing me,

his twin sister can steal my sweaters and my shoes,

and my youngest, born so tiny just seven years ago, will be big enough to ride even the tallest slides at the water park this year!

My babies, like the puppies, are growing up too fast. But we've taken time this month to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather together, and to build some incredible new memories.

Let our unplanned adventures with the puppies inspire you to slow down and relish life with your own kids. Don't get so wrapped up in the day to day grind that you forget how precious these moments are. Enjoy your kids, and snatch up every chance you get to enjoy them while they're however big they are today.

Puppy update - 4 1/2 weeks and 5 pounds!

The puppies are growing so fast, I can't even believe it. It's so much fun to watch them develop. Since the last update, they've gone from just barely toddling around to running all over the yard and climbing anything they can reach with their strong front paws.

It's hard to get six active puppies in one photograph!

At four and a half weeks old, they weighed in at around five pounds each, give or take a few ounces. The kids got to practice a little bit of math as they stepped on and off the scale, with and without a puppy in hand, to find out how much they weighed. It's very tricky to get a puppy to stand still on a bathroom scale all by itself, you know!

I thought I would share some photos with you and tell you about how the puppies' personalities are developing. Of course, those evolve daily, too.

Here they are, from smallest to biggest...

Puppy update - three weeks old today

I don't have much to say today. I'll let the pictures do the talking...

It's about 60 degrees in Oklahoma, and we're playing outside with the puppies. 

They turned 3 weeks old today. 

Blue, the lucky little Australian cattle dog, seems very content to let us love on her puppies while she enjoys some time out in the sunshine. I think she's a happy girl!

Another unplanned learning adventure - PUPPIES!

When a sweet, but very timid young dog showed up at my folks' place a couple of weeks before Christmas, we didn't know what an amazing adventure would soon follow. This beautiful Australian cattle dog, or blue heeler, showed up in the field, hungry and cold but scared to approach the house. Eventually she was convinced that the people living there were kind.

Dogs are routinely taken out and dumped near rural farmhouses and on lonely country roads around here. It wasn't the first time a stray had stopped a while in the fields, but for whatever reason, it was the first time my parents decided, "This one's special."

But just days after they made their minds up that she could stay, it became very apparent that Blue was pregnant. Within another week and a half, the puppies arrived.