Whew. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I am exhausted. In a good way. But still, completely exhausted. The culprit is not who you probably think it is. It's not the grandkids. It's the grand-dog.
Sunny and Thunder spent the week at our house. They're gone tonight and tomorrow night to spend time with a family friend. Then it's back to our house for two more nights.
It's actually gone much better than I could have imagined. We have managed to keep busy. We haven't gotten bored yet. Sunny is not completely homesick as I worried she would be. Tia Jessica and Tio Adam came over one night for dinner. Gigi and Papa came over the next night for dinner. So, the kids have had some variety in grownups to play with.
The reason I'm exhausted is Buster. Don't get me wrong, he's the sweetest little dog. He's a very good boy. But, he's a puppy. He is driving Duke insane. When he bothers Rascal, Rascal growls and snaps at him and he backs off. When Duke growls and snaps at him, he just keeps going.
The problem is at night. Katie said Buster is used to sleeping in his crate all night. Great! The first night we put him in the crate and after whining for several minutes, he settled down and slept all night. We were thrilled.
The second night we put him in his crate and he whined. He howled. He barked. He work the kids up at 1:30 and I had to lay on the couch with him the rest of the night. I got no sleep.
The third night we put him in the crate. He whined. He howled. He barked. Dan finally got up and went to lay on the couch with him. Buster fell asleep. Dan, not being comfortable on the couch, decided to leave Buster out on the couch and came back to bed. Sunny woke up to go potty at 4:30 am. As I stumbled down the hall in the dark... well you're probably way ahead of me... I stepped in a puddle. Dan's comment was "I thought it would be easier to clean up a mess than to get no sleep." My question "easier for who?" After mopping the entire hallway and all the paw prints in the living room, I couldn't go back to sleep.
The fourth night. We tried a different approach. We put his crate in the laundry room and closed the door hoping he wouldn't wake the kids up if he howled. He was quiet. Hallelujah! He was quiet until 12:05 am when Duke needed to go out which woke Buster up and the howling, barking, whining began. Of course, he woke Thunder up. Great. After taking care of Thunder and getting him back down, I was up and down the rest of the night determined to NOT take him out of his crate. I'm exhausted.
Since the kids are gone the next two nights, I'm going to put his crate in the playroom at the front of the house, close the door, and put on the Veggies Tales Toddler Tunes tape in continuous mode all night. Hope it works.
Here's some photos of the fun we've had so far this week:
Fun at the park
Buster and Thunder
Look who's standing!
Cookie time
Tia Jessica dropped by to see the sun visors Sunny and I made
