Meet Cookie, a "little penguin" at the Cincinnati Zoo & the mascot of the zoo's Bird House. How else could possibly make a cuter mascot?! Listen to those cute little squeals, watch that funny little penguin walk! Hmm, I wonder what Layla & Lucius would do if I brought him home as a new pet :) ♥ Happy Friday, everyone!
Okay, I don't share videos very often at all, but this one really made me smile so I just had to share it with you all! I hope that it makes you smile too! What an adorable dog this is, singing loud & proud for all to hear! I think you could say he's belting it out :) Tonight, he has inspired me to turn the music up loud & sing too!! ♥ Happy Sunday!!
It is a beautiful day! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, & thanks to our nice walk this morning, Layla & Lucius are passed OUT! Here's to an already productive day.
You know! L & L. Layla & Lucius. Our two adopted Great Danes! A combined total of 240 pounds of fun! :) Here are some pictures {& a video!} that I took during our walk this morning. They are so good for me when we go on walks, & they love to be let off their leashes so that they can run & play! We live in a wonderful location with plenty of walking trails & open fields nearby, making it a great place to live if you own dogs! Or, if you like to take nice walks! Some people run back there, but not I. Maybe a jog on a good day :)
Lucius usually just stares at Layla while she does her crazy woman running, then he braces himself as she makes her approach! He used to stay at my feet all the time when we were out, but now he's becoming more adventurous! Layla is still much faster than he is, but he's catching up! They're definitely best pals!
This is one of our favorite fields to walk to. Nice & open, no distractions from the road or walking trails. Perfect for us!
Layla sure is movin'!
Watch out, Lushie! Here she comes!
Handsome Lucius showing off his Dane drool.
Are we going home now? I'm exhausted!
...And so, back to the house we went. We were out for an hour, a beautiful sunny playful hour!
H ere's a video for you of L & L playing with a rope in the snow in the backyard. I threw it out there with them hoping they'd run with it {literally!} so that they'd get out their energy & I wouldn't have to bundle up to walk them! It was a great success!
We're supposed to get about 6 inches of snow by the end of the day, & my fingers are crossed that Don won't have to go to work tomorrow! {Hopeful!} It's more likely, however, that he'll just have a "late call" & won't have to be at work until 9am. But that wouldn't be too bad :)
I'm getting good things done around the house today, playing with furniture & wall decorations to try & finish our upstairs rooms. They've been very halfheartedly put together up until now. It hit me the other day that we've been in Germany for NINE MONTHS! Holy cow! That's longer than we lived in Lawton!
Hope that you all are having a fantastic week! Anything you're curious about? Leave me a comment!
Here's a fun little video for you all! I took this today while doing some training with Layla & Lucius. Layla's been able to catch for a while now, but Lucius has only recently learned. Cute to watch them catch at the same time!
A quick video to show you all the playfulness that I get to watch every time I take the dogs out for their walk! Lucius doesn't crazily run around like Layla quite yet, but oh boy when he is bigger & running at full speed... Watch out! Layla won't be the big dog anymore! Aren't they cute? :) {This video was taken over the weekend.}
No, no. Not that :) We adopted another Great Dane! Can you believe it?!!
I received a phone call last Saturday afternoon from the lovely German lady who watches Layla for us while we travel. She said to me, "Amanda, I have a problem!" I was at first concerned because I thought she meant that she wouldn't be able to take Layla for Christmas as we'd previously planned! But no, that wasn't it at all!!! She went on to tell me that she had been contacted by a woman with a 4 month old boy Great Dane who was in desperate need of finding him a good new home. The owners of this little boy were so distraught about having to give him away, but they are both in the military, both deploying this Spring, the husband is away training a lot, & the wife leaves in less than a week for the State for schooling! After telling me all of this, our boarder told me that she had offered to help this woman find her boy a new home, & she told her that she had the perfect couple in mind: us! She must have known we're suckers ;)
We were stunned! We'd thrown around the idea of getting another Great Dane, but pictured that happening years from now! We needed more information...
We met Jenny & her sweet boy that night to see what he was like & to get more information about him. Wow, what a doggie! He was born in the Netherlands this past summer, his breeder has been breeding & showing Great Danes for over 30 years, he has had personal training, is already house trained & know most of his commands, he can be let off the leash on walks & will return when called.... Wow! And he was not cheap. Plus, his owners had already purchased everything that he needs! Elevated food & water bowls, two kennels, 4 beds, multiple toys & health products, treats, 3 bags of food. And he doesn't need to go back o the vet until August 2010! And to top it off, the owners were willing to give him to us for free, knowing that on such short notice it was more important to find him a good loving home than to try to make back some of the money they had spent.
And so, after much thought, many prayers, & quite a few "Are we crazy to even consider getting another Great Dane?!!", we decided to take him!
We figured this would be good for Layla, too! If you've been following our blog for a while, you'll remember that we are Layla's 3rd owners. Poor girl has been handed from Military Family to Military Family. And so, as you can imagine, she has some anxiety problems whenever we leave her. Taking this little boy would probably be quite good for Layla too, we thought!
We picked him up last night & brought him home to a very excited girl! The two of them have been playing ever since, or so it seems. They are like two peas in a pod, like they are each other's shadow! They couldn't possibly be getting along any better!
And oh, his name is Lucius. Layla & Lucius. How perfect is that :)
To see more photos from my LaYLa & lUCiUs Facebook Album, click here! You can view this album even if you do not have a Facebook account. And I'll be updating with all new photos!
I have one very tired, very medicated Great Dane girl here with me in the living room! Layla was spayed today, & she is handling it so well! She has a good 5-6 inch incision on her tummy, but she isn't bothering with it at all, which means she doesn't have to wear the "lampshade" :)
She was quite a sight when I got her home, though. Poor sweetie even fell over while going potty outside! Those anesthetics got her good! She's doing a lot of crying, especially when I leave the room, but really, she's a trooper!! What a good girl!
The vet told me that Layla's recovery time will be between 10 & 14 days! After 5 days, though, Layla should be feeling back to her normal self, but she still needs to stay pretty low key. Don has a 4-day this weekend (WAHOO!) & we considered going somewhere, but we have decided instead to stay around the house & take care of Pony. It's worth it! And four days together, whether at home or out exploring, is always wonderful!
Hope that you all are having a truly fabulous week so far! It sure feels like fall here, & I love it! Many of the trees have beautiful leaves in shades of red, orange, & yellow now. The nights are getting quite chilly (you can see I have brought in my bougainvillea!), the days have been overcast & rainy, & you can feel winter on its way! Soon, I'll be in Uggs & coats! It makes me wonder...
Will Layla need one of these?!!
Now, please know that I am most definitely not the type to dress up my dog! But I really have heard that because Great Danes have such short hair, they get cold veeery veeeeeery easily! And so, maybe Layla will need a sweater! Although, I can't seem to find one... I'll keep looking. If there's anywhere cold enough for her to need to bundle up, I know Germany will be it! ♥ And...it is kinda cute!
So, German radio is quite interesting. They play a TON of what we listen to in the States, mixed with an interesting variety of old American music ranging from the 50's to the 80's (they LOVE the 80's!), & more. But then.....then, there is the music I've never heard of that they love here. These songs I'm posting are on the radio all the time & they crack me up! But sadly...I hear them so often that now I'm beginning to sing along! Ah! See what you think!
Jungle Drum by Emiliana Torrini
Stadt by Cassandra Steen, featuring Adel Tawil
(I actually like this song!)
We're Golden by Mika
(This is ridiculous! On the radio ALL THE TIME!)
And the classic...
Hooked on a Feeling by David Hasselhoff!!
(This explains German music videos perfectly!!)
Ah! I can't find the one song that I really wanted to post! I will keep looking. But this is just a glimpse into what we hear around here other than American music! Interesting, huh?!
Found this video on You Tube that shows perfectly just how sweet Layla is, even when she's trying to sleep! Watch this kitten snuggle around the Great Dane, chew on her ears, paw at her face, & the Great Dane does nothing! What sweeties they are :)
In other news, sorry that I haven't updated recently! Don's parents are here still, & we are having such a nice visit! Our travels have been so lovely, & our time together has been wonderful! I will post more about it all when I get the chance!
Long before we got Layla, I stumbled upon a blog called "The Adventures of Kaya and Luna" created by an Austrailian woman who is a pet phographer. She & her husband have (well, one passed away recently...) two Great Danes that are basically the focus of the blog, & I love seeing them! Now that Don & I have a Dane of our own, it will be fun to see what good pictures we come up with!
Recently, there was a video on the blog showing the training of their current Dane, Luna. So cute! After watching it, Layla & I did some training of our own! Practice makes perfect! She's very good at sitting, laying down, & shaking, as well as going to her bed! We're really practicing "Stay" right now, though! She's getting better!
Here's the video! Maybe I just like it because we have a Dane girl of our own now, but I thought some of you might get a kick out of it! I'll post a video of our own someday soon, I bet!
So, the dishwasher in our house hasn't worked since the day we moved in. It doesn't properly rinse the dishes, so it just steams on the soap! No good. And it doesn't drain either, so there is always standing water in the bottom of the dishwasher. Well, after a visit from the Housemaster & numerous test runs to try to figure out what needs fixed, it was determined that we were going to get a new dishwasher! YES! Sounds good to me! ...This was about 2 weeks ago.
Finally, I was contacted about the date when our new dishwasher would be delivered & installed. Today! Hooray! So happy to say goodbye to washing everything by hand! The Housemaster arrived & attempted to speak to me in German, which didn't work so well. I asked if he spoke English, & he just grinned & shook his head. Uh oh! He worked on the dishwasher for a while, testing & removing parts. I asked if we were getting our new dishwasher, he said no! What?! Between my little German & his little English, I believe that we need a new pump, I'll be called to schedule an appointment for install, & that because of what he did today, our dishwasher now works "so so". I'm doing my own test run now :)
Looks like I need to learn the German phrases for "Does it work?", "Is it fixed?", & "When?" because "Sprechen sie Englisch?!" doesn't always work!
Hopefully, after the next appointment, we have a working dishwasher :)
And for your amusement, here is a video I just took of big Layla in our little yard, doing her crazy run! So cute!
I took this video yesterday because Layla & Don just looked to cute playing together in the yard! She's always so excited when he gets home from work (me too!), & it's good to see that she is really feeling comfortable with us & feeling like this is her home now :)
I decided yesterday that I would take Layla for a walk! A friend of mine on our street had the cutest baby boy last month & we'd talked about walking together, so I went to her place to ask if they'd join but the timing wasn't right. Wishing that I had someone to walk with, I started down the street holding Layla's leash, pulling her back to me once in a while & trying to settle her down from her excitement about our first walk! Then, another lady on the block who also has a Great Dane (a boy named Tiny!) came out into her yard & asked if she could walk her Dane with me! Of course! Well, Layla was so excited, pulling me with all of her 100 pounds, that Tiny & his owner went on ahead & Layla & I stayed back for a bit. I had my fingers crossed that she'd calm down, but no! So excited! Another Great Dane! Out walking! Her favorite!! Ah! What should have been a 5 minute walk to the park turned into at least a 10 minute walk, with me pulling, commanding (in my serious voice...), wrapping the leash around my had for a better grip, etc. Finally, we met up with Tiny & let the Danes off their leashes for what turned out to be the cutest dog date I've seen! haha The two of them, so huge & playful, chased each other & played in the ponds for at least an hour & a half! I wish that I'd had my camera! Layla loved the water & even laid down in it to cool off! She was wonderful about coming back to me so that I could put the leash on her! And the walk back was much less of a struggle :)
Went back to my friend's who has the little baby boy & ended up walking with her for an hour! When Layla & I got back home, I couldn't believe we'd been out for 3 hours! We were so tired, & I was a bit sunburned. Needless to say, we relaxed the rest of the day until Don got home.
When he gets home today, we're planning to go to the park again! This time, Don gets the leash :)
Layla has been in the yard all morning, playing with her toys, watching the birds...and periodically coming into the living room to invite me out to play with her (or just to make sure I'm still here!) She is so big, but still such a curious puppy! It's fun to watch her. Right now, she is staring at a bird feeder in the next yard, fascinated!
She was really good last night about going to bed, although it took a couple tries to get her to stay, which got more than one laugh out of Don & me! First, we tried letting her sleep on her bed in the hallway by our room. That didn't work -- she just followed us into the bedroom! Then, we tried putting her in the kennel but not latching the door. We'd say goodnight to her, thn go to our room, and time after time, she'd be right beside us before we knew it! It was to cute! We ended up havin her in her kennel with the door latched, & she wimpered a bit, but not bad. She is such a good girl!
**Updated 6 May 2009 to include all Ranger Grad videos**
Here are most of the videos that I took during the Ranger Demonstration & Don's Ranger Graduation the morning of May 1st at Fort Benning, Georgia! One of the videos that I cannot post is of the beginning of Don's Graduation, the speaker's message, etc. It came out to be almost 20 minutes, so I'm having trouble finding a place to upload it! Hopefully I figure it out soon :) The rest of these are really cool, though, so enjoy them!
That's all for now! We're keeping busy these last few days before we leave, spending time with family & taking care of what needs done! Sadly...I somehow caught Strep Throat while in Georgia, so I haven't been much fun... But Don's taking good care of me & I now have antibiotics! Hopefully, I'll be feeling much better by Thursday!! *fingers crossed* ♥
As if there were any way for me to be more proud of my amazing husband, Don has been offered, and has accepted, a slot for Army Ranger School! This is such an accomplishment, and he has worked very hard to qualify!
Ever since we arrived here at Fort Sill, Don has been doing Ranger PT (Physical Training) every morning of the week instead of the regular Army PT. And let me tell you, it does not sound easy at all! Last week, he had a 5 mile run, then a 12 mile ruck march the next day (starting at 3 am!). He sometimes runs up hills while carrying a guy on his back! I don't know how he does it! And you'd think that by now I might be used to how amazing he is, but no! I'm constantly impressed by him. So, a big congratulations to Don for all his hard work :)
Ranger School is incredibly rigorous training, comprised of three phases. During this training, Don will only have two 8 hour breaks! It's going to be very tough and trying, but if there's anyone I know who can do it, it's Don! If you want to see more about Ranger School, here is a great website: The Ranger Training Brigade
Also, Don's BOLC III graduation is in less than a week, on February 3rd! He has worked tremendously hard in this training too, mastering all there is to know about Field Artillery! He's done so well, in fact, that he is currently holding the 2nd place position in his class! Woohoo! I guess you could say that he's pretty smart, but I do hold a slightly biased opinion ;)
Here's a video of Field Artillery here at Fort Sill for you to watch if you are interested!
Don's will start Ranger School on the 1st of March, delaying our move to Germany by about 2 months. I will move back to Colorado to live with my parents while Don completes the course. It will be the longest we've been apart in quite some time, but it will be worth it! Don's training there will mean a lot to him personally and also for his Army career, and going to Ranger School is something that most soldier's aren't able to do. So the two months apart will be difficult, but for such a great reason!
We have set packing and shipment dates for all of our belongings to go to Germany! The 23rd and 24th of February will be busy for us for that reason, then moving out of the apartment! We will stay in Army lodging here at Fort Sill for roughly 5 days afterwards, and then Don will head to Georgia and I will head to Colorado.
Quite the update today! And I'll sign off by saying...
I'm an Army Wife living a very blessed life with my incredible husband & our two adopted Great Danes! I blog about our experiences, our travels, & anything else that inspires me! I hope it inspires you too ♥
No, no. Not that :) We adopted another Great Dane! Can you believe it?!!
We met Jenny & her sweet boy that night to see what he was like & to get more information about him. Wow, what a doggie! He was born in the Netherlands this past summer, his breeder has been breeding & showing Great Danes for over 30 years, he has had personal training, is already house trained & know most of his commands, he can be let off the leash on walks & will return when called.... Wow! And he was not cheap. Plus, his owners had already purchased everything that he needs! Elevated food & water bowls, two kennels, 4 beds, multiple toys & health products, treats, 3 bags of food. And he doesn't need to go back o the vet until August 2010! And to top it off, the owners were willing to give him to us for free, knowing that on such short notice it was more important to find him a good loving home than to try to make back some of the money they had spent.
We figured this would be good for Layla, too! If you've been following our blog for a while, you'll remember that we are Layla's 3rd owners. Poor girl has been handed from Military Family to Military Family. And so, as you can imagine, she has some anxiety problems whenever we leave her. Taking this little boy would probably be quite good for Layla too, we thought!
I have one very tired, very medicated Great Dane girl here with me in the living room! Layla was spayed today, & she is handling it so well! She has a good 5-6 inch incision on her tummy, but she isn't bothering with it at all, which means she doesn't have to wear the "lampshade" :)
The vet told me that Layla's recovery time will be between 10 & 14 days! After 5 days, though, Layla should be feeling back to her normal self, but she still needs to stay pretty low key. Don has a 4-day this weekend (WAHOO!) & we considered going somewhere, but we have decided instead to stay around the house & take care of Pony. It's worth it! And four days together, whether at home or out exploring, is always wonderful! 
As if there were any way for me to be more proud of my amazing husband, Don has been offered, and has accepted, a slot for Army Ranger School! This is such an accomplishment, and he has worked very hard to qualify!
Also, Don's BOLC III graduation is in less than a week, on February 3rd! He has worked tremendously hard in this training too, mastering all there is to know about Field Artillery! He's done so well, in fact, that he is currently holding the 2nd place position in his class! Woohoo! I guess you could say that he's pretty smart, but I do hold a slightly biased opinion ;)
