The Best Spot

The last several nights we have had a battle of sorts in the bed. For many months now, Lucy has been very content to let Duke sleep at the top of the bed next to me. For whatever reason, she's just not content with that anymore. Maybe she's decided it's her turn, and he needs to retire to the end of the bed and give her a shot at snuggling with her mom, but he has no intention of doing that.

Last night started out like every other night. Duke jumped up into the bed and got comfy; the top half of his body on my chest, a paw on either side of my head and his head resting dead center on my chest. Within minutes, he was snoring. Lucy had curled up on the other side of me by my hips. She kept looking up at Duke and I, and she would sigh! I knew it was only a matter of time before she decided to correct the problem.

Somehow I managed to wiggle part of Duke's body off of my chest, which is no small task with an 80 pound boxer I can assure you. I had just settled in and started to get comfortable when I noticed that Lucy had gotten up and was making her way slowly up to the top of the bed and my pillow, with her little bottom wiggling the whole way. She knew exactly what she was doing, and didn't much care what Duke thought about what she was going to do.

It took her only a minute, she circled a couple of times, still wiggling, and settled down right next to me with her head on the pillow, and this time when she sighed, I knew it was a contented sigh and not a frustrated one.

At 4:00 AM, I was awakened by the fact that the room was so hot that I could barely stand it. I got up and turned the space heater off and made a trip to the bathroom. By that time, both kids had gotten up to and figured if I got to make a pit stop, so did they. I let them both out for a quick tinkle, and then we all climbed back into bed. This time Lucy jumped into bed and got first pick of the best spot, right next to my head while Duke had to settle for snuggling in at my hip!

The "Best Spot" in our bed is very clearly next to mama's head!

Moving On...

The stolen porterhouse steaks of a week ago are still a very sore subject in our house. Not so sore that Lucy & Duke's Daddy didn't think of them when he was standing at the butcher's counter ordering a bunch of thick cut porterhouse steaks last evening because those steaks had awesome bones on them!

Rob and I were more than happy to share our bones with the kids, after they sat and waited patiently, of course....

Poor Lucy still doesn't get why Daddy and I are saying funny things to Duke about "The Circle of Trust!"

Be Careful What You Tell A Boxer....

...Because they just might hold you to it! And if they can't make you comply, they're probably going to take matters into their own paws. Let me tell you the story so you can relate to what happened...

You remember that Duke was at work with me on Sunday, and he was such a good boy all day long, greeting customers, making new friends and making people fall in love with him. At the end of the day, I told him that he was being so good that he deserved a steak!

That night on our way home, Rob and I stopped at the grocery store and bought a bunch of steak with the intention of cooking it for dinner. It was a nice thought, but there was something wrong with the grill. And while Rob messed around with the grill and tried to get it to work, I pounded out (2) very thick porterhouse steaks. He came back into the house, and was in the kitchen getting something to drink. The steaks were on the counter, and I had to pee. I figured since my husband was in the kitchen, it was probably safe to go to the bathroom, but what I didn't take into consideration (silly me!) was that there was a football game on in the living room and my darling husband wasn't paying any more attention to what our sweet counter surfing boxer was doing than the fact that I had left the room.

When I came back to kitchen, the steaks weren't on the counter.
Me: "You got the grill fixed?" "No, why would you say that?"
Rob: "No, what made you think that?"
Me: "The steaks are gone!"

I immediately turned around to see my sweet Duke chowing down on the remainder of the porterhouse steak, and poor Lucy trying to get a bite of it for herself! Needless to say that Duke's amazing performance at work with me on Sunday was usurped by his stealing 3 pounds of porterhouse steak from our kitchen counter...

Our Perfect Picture...Almost

This picture of my kids was almost the perfect picture! If only Duke had been looking at the camera like Lucy was! I guess it's proof that this isn't a perfect world that we are living in.

I snapped this one, and then Lucy (who has a harder time sitting still than Duke does) jumped up to come say hello to her mama! And there wasn't any treat that would lure her back up there beside Duke. She was probably thinking that her mama has enough pictures!

Sometimes I wish I had more of these perfect pictures. I guess we just need to keep practicing and hope for the best. In the meantime, I do really love this picture of the kids. I should tell you that this is one of the kids favorite spots in the house to hang out. I wonder what it is about this spot?

Duke's Take... On The Job With My Human

Hey, guys! It's me Duke, again. I'm on the job with my Mama today. Lucy went with Daddy, and I'm gonna help mama out today. Here's how a day on the job looks...

This is me standing guard at the front door. I have to protect my human from any unsavory characters because my Dad isn't around... Sure hope that I don't have to throw anybody out of here today!

I must be doing the job right because my human has dried lamb treats in her hand. I always sit and wait patiently for her to give them to me. Sometimes a paw on her leg speeds up the process. These humans can be slow sometimes...

Gotta chill out for a little while, you know, take a load off and get ready for all of those unsavory characters.

A boxers work is never done!