Goodbye Summer; Hello School

After our New York and South Carolina trips we spent the rest of the summer traveling back and forth between Little Rock and Monticello where we spent time with Natalie's Arkansas grandparents.  Below is a picture of Natalie touching the tooth of an alligator at a Monticello bank.  It was her idea to pose like this.

We also made a visit to Natalie's old school where she enjoyed seeing some of her old friends.

Sissy came for a visit and the three of us drove to Louisville Arkansas to visit my 96 year old grandmother.  It was a very wonderful, special time.

We also made a visit to the zoo where Natalie got to see her very favorite "animal” - an owl. 

We enjoyed riding on the new zoo train.

...and the carousel 

Since we were traveling for 90% of the summer, Katie and Louie had been staying at Newfoundland Doggie Camp.  Natalie was so excited to have them home (so was I :-). She was especially thrilled to be reunited with her best buddy Louie.

Soon it was time for orientation night at Natalie's new school.  We were both happy to find out that four of her best friends from her old school were in her class. 

Dinner with more wonderful friends, Donna and Mitch

Natalie was nervous, but brave when I dropped her off for her first day at her new school.  The little fashionista wasn't thrilled about having to wear a uniform, but she was rockin' it anyway. I stayed for a bit and watched through an observation window. The students sat on a carpet on their assigned seats (Natalie was lucky enough to be between two classmates from her old school.) As the introduction to the class was going on one of Natalie's classmates mentioned her grandparent recently died. Natalie raised her hands next and then told the group that her Daddy died. She was very matter of fact about it. We still talk about Gary almost every day and regularly watch videos of him and Natalie together. Even though death is a complicated subject Natalie seems to grasp the fact that her Daddy's love lives on. There is a children's book about this called "Always By My Side" that Natalie frequently asks to read.

Natalie's new school is absolutely fantastic.  Natalie has been going for almost 3 weeks now and she is very happy there.  Her teachers are wonderful!  

Natalie was recently tested for both Physical and Occupational Therapy. She still qualifies for both so she will continue to receive PT and OT for another year. Natalie barely qualified in PT, so I am certain that this is her last year of that. She started back in swimming lessons recently and will start dance class next Monday. She is going to a new dance school and will learn ballet, tap and jazz (all in a one hour class). I predict that the combination of PT, swimming and dance will help Natalie's gross motor skills catch up to age appropriate levels very soon. OT is going to take more time and a lot more work. Natalie's fine motor skills are still severely delayed. However, both of her therapists are amazed by the progress she has made. She is great about paying attention and working hard. I am very proud of her. Next on Natalie's agenda: Dancing With the Stars. She asks me every day how many more days until her favorite show starts.

A Holiday Card From the Happy Haus

A Few of My Favorite Things

Every day when I get home from school I say, "Hello Kitty Dress please Mama!", "Bow shoes please", "Hello Kitty socks please".


And everywhere I go I must have one of my three favorite soft cloth dollies with me.




This is me with my favorite Teddy Newf


Books are another of my favorite things.  I like to drag mine all out and have them surrounding me for easy access.  As always I have my Hello Kitty dress on and one of my favorite dollies by my side.  This particular dolly was the exact one my Daddy gave me when I first met him and Mommy in China.  Thanks Papa for picking out this great dolly.


Speaking of China, I am a big fan of the Nickelodeon show "Ni Hao KaiLan!"  I now use two Mandarin phrases on a regular basis:  Ni Hao (hello) and Xie Xie (thank you).

One of my favorite episodes is when KaiLan and her friends go on an airplane to China.  I have lots of pictures of myself when I was a baby in China and I've decided I'm ready to go back for a visit.  Mama says she will take me when I get older, and since I am a little older everyday I make sure to mention at least 10 times a day so she doesn't forget... "Mama, I want to go China.  Mama and Natalie fly on airplane in the sky, ok?"

[Note From Mama:  She calls China "Natalie's China"  and says "No you China, Daddy/Mommy; Natalie's China!"  I want to take her on a heritage trip in about 10 years.]

Coffee with a Canine

Do you want to find out the answers to intriguing questions such as:  "If Hollywood made a movie in which Katie and Louie could talk, who should do their voices?" and "If Katie and Louie could change one thing about you, what would it be?"?  If so, check out my interview by Marshal Zeringue at his Coffee with a Canine blog where he sounds out humans while they take their canine friends on coffee dates.  It's a very cool blog...lots of fun!  It's also a great distraction while we wait for China to match us with our daughter.

Socialization Newfie Style

Louie and Katie recently volunteered their services as puppy socialization trainers extraordinaire. Eleven week old Eko the Dobie pup needed to practice his socialization skills with some safe adult dogs. You can't find much safer dogs for a puppy than Katie and Louie. They both are the most tolerant dogs I have ever known. Pups can jump on their heads, bite them on the necks or grab hold of their tails and they never complain. Little Eko was afraid of Katie and Louie for the first few minutes of our visit, but being the smart pup that he is, he quickly figured out that they were no threat. He got so comfortable with them that he darted out the door as we were leaving, ready to spend some more time with what he seemed to see as his new doggie pack. When he realized he wasn't going with them he was just as content to stay with his new human pack which he is already loving very much.

Eko is a wonderful puppy. Since his parents are doing such a great job of socializing him Eko may very well end up being the world's sweetest Dobie.

Louie with one of his new friends.

I Love New York in June...

On a recent trip that my Mother and I made to NY to visit my sister, I fell completely under the spell of the City. From the pigeons perched on lovely old buildings, to phenomenal music in the subway station, to the multi-cultural crush of humanity, it all held charm for me.

It's amazing that there is such a strong feeling of community on the small island of Manhattan that contains over 27,000 people per square mile. The compassion and kindness that resulted after the tragic events of 9/11 still seem to be prevalent.

All of the sidewalks (and even some of the stores) are populated by an abundance of dogs. This of course made me miss Katie and Louie. I kept wishing I could magically zap Gary and the Newfs to New York. I think we would have so much fun there although it would be difficult for us to ever get any exercise since we would likely be stopped every two feet by the Newf Paparazzi.

We stayed very busy during our visit. We went to the Lenox Lounge in Harlem to hear some old style jazz music, did a lot of shopping, toured the Museum of Natural History, went to a street fair, and took my sister's dog for several walks in Riverside Park. But my favorite two things were getting to spend time with my Mom and Sister...

And, getting to see my dear friend, her sweet husband and their two precious daughters who were adopted from China. We spent a lovely afternoon together and before the day was over I ended up with both girls in my lap. Spending time with them really made me happy and somehow made me feel closer to Natalie.

I'm looking forward to the day we have a reunion and Natalie is here to play with these girls. After talking with my friend about the status of our adoption I am actually allowing myself to think that we might get a referral within the next 12 months. After over 5 years of waiting I am more than ready for our daughter to come home.

When I returned to the Happy Haus I had a wonderful reunion with Gary, Katie and Louie. The Newfs were super excited to see me and their grandma walk through the back gate. It's always good to come Home.

By the way, Katie and Louie say Hi/Woof and wanted you to know we will back to our regular blogging soon.

Winter Newfieland

Finally, a little bit of winter came to Little Rock, Arkansas. Katie and Louie love everything about this weather: the way it tastes, the way it crunches under their feet and the way it keeps them nice and cool. We had a fun walk in the park and even practiced a little obedience work - check our video below the pictures. Snow and ice make everything more fun.

Christmas Flood of 2009

On Christmas Day, Gary, Leah, Katie, Louie, myself, our luggage, dog gear and our wrapped Christmas presents all crammed into my Toyota RAV4 to make the trek to my Mom and Stepfather's house. Katie managed to lie down in a tiny space between the luggage and the wall of the vehicle, but Louie couldn't find a place to settle down. He ended up sitting on top of Katie almost the entire trip. Thankfully, she didn't seem to mind at all :-)

Along the way we saw the results of the 5 inches of rain we received right before Christmas.

2009 has turned out to be the wettest year EVER on record for the state of Arkansas!

When we were 10 miles away from our destination we found that the road was completely flooded. It was also officially closed although some people were still trying to cross it. We saw a minivan that had been swept off the road into even deeper water, and we felt it would be wisest to turn around and take an alternate route. It took us an extra half hour, but we were glad to arrive safely and just in time for Christmas dinner.

Clean Freaks Beware

Someone recently sent me an email asking, "[I] was wondering if you could tell me just how much shedding they really do. Is vacuuming once a day sufficient?" I applaud this self proclaimed clean freak for asking me this because so many people don't do their research before bringing a dog of any breed into their home which is one big reason why our animal shelters are so full and so many dogs and cats end up being euthanized.


I have never been the best housekeeper in the world, but since the Newfs entered our lives I have become even more relaxed about our home's level of cleanliness. When trying to decide whether to spend my time playing/caring/working with Katie and Louie or cleaning the house which one do you think wins most of the time?

Here was my response...
If you vacuum your floors and brush your Newf for 10 minutes daily your floors should be 99.9% free of Newf hair. However, you will still likely find a bit of hair in the dishwasher, refrigerator, bathtub and any number of unlikely places. One good thing about Newf hair is that it does not stick to many fabrics. I rarely have to use a tape roller on my clothes. It does stick to eyeballs quite thoroughly, so I would try to avoid that unpleasant scenario.

I feel I would be remiss if I didn't tell you this: in all honesty, the hair is the least part of the mess caused by a Newfoundland dog. In my opinion, hair is the second runner up. The first runner up is dirt. Newfs like to play outside (except for when they play inside and offer you suggestions on better ways to arrange the furniture). The dirt, pine needles and leaves that get stuck to their coat are of course tracked into the house. Pine needles and leaves are easily vacuumed up, so no big deal there. The dirt however will cling to their coat until they lean against a cabinet, refrigerator, door, wall, etc. where they will leave a thin coating of dirt behind. Some people blow their Newfs off with giant dryers like the one we have every time they come in the house to remove most of this, but I don't feel like doing that 6 times a day.


The winner of the anti-clean prize is the Newfie drool. It's worse than dirt because it's slimy, sticks to objects, dries into a hard crust and can be easily slung 10 feet through the air. So, it's possible, although rare in our home, for it to land on the ceiling. The drool is truly quite gross, but Newf owners seem to become immune to it very quickly. We almost forget about its existence and wipe the Newfs' mouths off many times a day with little conscious thought. When visitors come it's good to offer them a drool towel of their own. Drool does get on our clothes frequently, but a damp cloth easily removes it if the drool is fresh.


If all of this sounds unbearable then don't get a Newf. They are a high maintenance breed for more reasons than the fact that they are messy. Personally, I love the idea of a pristine home, but I love our Newfs SO much more. They are not for everyone, but they are the only breed we will ever have from now on. Louie and Katie bring us more joy and love than I thought possible. They are true gentle giants and share their love with us, each other and the world so freely. After watching the face of an almost completely paralyzed child light up as I helped her to pet Katie, hearing a dying Hospice patient tell me the kisses she received from Louie were the best in her life, seeing children's faces filled with joy while riding in a wagon pulled by Katie, hearing a class of second graders pronounce Louie the best visitor they'd ever had, and many other wonderful experiences I am AWED by these wonderful creatures. Their intelligence, compassion and soulfulness shines out of their eyes and into the hearts of those who meet them. I feel grateful for all that Katie and Louie have taught me and I feel lucky to be able to clean up their messes.