Stay Golden

Our sweet Maggie was born January 24, 2007 and died November 6, 2007. She was truly the best dog and companion, and we miss her greatly! She was our first baby! We got 7 month old Maggie on August 10, 2007 (which happened to be our anniversary!). She brought lots of love and smiles into our lives. She was a true Golden: desiring to be near us, obedient to us, and loyal to us above all else. She spoiled us with her easy going nature and sweet, docile demeanor. Maggie was the dog we always wanted, and we are so thankful she was ours! Below are some  memories of our sweet girl (our Mags, Magalicious, Mag Pie, Magnavox).

So wise...or is that sleepy?

Our first baby was a bit spoiled....ummm, how did she get up there?

This is her in full fluff mode-she had crinkled hair behind her ears when it got wet.

Maggie went with us everywhere if the weather was good. She loved to ride and would just sit patiently in the car for us while we ran errands, etc. Before we got this vehicle, she would ride in the backseat of the Camry, and when she was still puppy-like, we left her and came back to chewed up seat belt buckles!!

She was a TRUE water dog...loved to swim so much....and we have great memories of taking her to our family cabin in Gadsden.

This was one of her favorite spots in the old house-on the landing of the stairs. I think she felt safe and yet like a watchdog at the same time. Maggie was not a barker. It was RARE to hear that low woof, and when we did, we knew it was a scared sound rather than anything else.

To be a retrieving breed, Maggie wasn't too much of a retriever. She would play in the safety of our home or backyard, but wasn't really interested if we were any place unfamiliar. She did love to tug; that was more her game of choice.

This is often how she would position herself while we ate dinner at the old house. And there are no pictures of this, but when Steven and I would hug, she would literally wedge herself between us just to get in on some of the love.

Maggie was awesome at balancing stuff on her nose and head. She would always hold really still for us! We got the biggest kick out of this!

This is an early picture-new collar!

Snuggles on the sofa were rare indeed, but we let her up occasionally. She always waited for the invitation, then was quick on the draw when we patted the sofa to invite her.

She would stay up with us as long as she could, but would always get so hot and start to pant. Her panting would literally shake the entire sofa or bed, so we had to get her down!

She knew quite a few tricks: shake, wait/come, sit, lay down, roll over, crawl, treat on the nose/then flip in the air. We did several obedience and agility classes with her at HOTC.

Always looking for a cozy/safe spot. I think this was 4th of July actually. Never loved those firework noises.

The nose flip trick in action! She was really good at it.

She was in her crate while we were away from the house for the first year or so we had her til she could be trusted. This was one of her preferred sleep positions. Ha!

A jolly old elf!

Our Christmas card pic one year! I mean-doesn't she look good??!!

First Christmas with her.

Diana made her this bed and she loved it.

Helping with the Christmas tree her first year-she was so nosy and into it!

We took her camping quite a bit-she loved it and especially the water! She was a filthy, stinky mess by the time it was all over, but it was worth it.

Umm... we had a little more time on our hands to do things like dress up our dog before we had kids! Ha!

More first Christmas pics!

She always did this-when we would pour new dog food into her holder, she would chow down on the fresh stuff!

In her element-waterfall at the cabin.

Jumping off the dock at the cabin. We loved watching her do this! She would soar in the air and looked like a pro going after a stick. It was like it was what she was made to do.

When we first got Maggie we still had Fern, our Holland Lop. Maggie was always VERY interested in Fern. She would paw at his cage and when we got him out she would nuzzle him and lick him. Not like she wanted to attack him, but just that she wanted to play with him....in a very frisky way!! Fern was not interested.

More tricks!

Oh, how many times we had to to this! She would loose a toy under this TV cabinet or the sofa, and would paw and paw at it. Finally she would give up and would just stare at us with longing eyes until we would get up to help her.

Getting some air on a drive! She loved to sniff out the window, and her nose would run the whole time!

These few are of our first baby getting to know our actual baby...Maggie was awesome with the kids and never showed jealousy or aggression toward them. She would just move if they ever bothered her. By the time kids came along, she was 5 and very lazy! We gave her so much attention the first half of her life that I think she was secure enough, sweet enough, and tired enough not to care that she was not longer the baby of the family!

 

You were loved, Mag Pie!

This was her 10th birthday "party".

She was always gentle and tolerant with the  kids...even the 3rd kid!

Her last Christmas-she got so gray!

She always had her eye on the prize (any dropped food!)

Last photo with our sweet pup. We knew it was time to say goodbye, and I tried to document us as a family of 6 one last time!

1st Christmas in new house.

What a good sport.

 

Ruby is 4.5

 Ruby turned four and a half in January. It's hard to believe! She is such a sweet, easy going kid, and it seems like she's growing up too fast. We realized she was 4.5 the day after, and she was SO excited. She told everyone and is STILL reporting this info to people who may not know.:) Below is a bit about her over the past 6 months.

-I think the main characteristic to note about Ruby right now it how much she loves art. She will color and draw ALL DAY LONG. She makes cards and drawings for all of us and is so proud to give them. She uses pens, markers, sharpies and is so responsible with it all. She likes to block off a part and color it in perfectly. She is very intentional and never scribbles. She loves to take her art and tape it to the wall, so much so that we gave her her own tape and a dispenser for Christmas! Oh, and she is a confirmed lefty now! No doubt about it! 

-Along with this, she loves to write on her art and wants to spell everything herself. She will ask us to "do dots" and will trace it. She knows all her letters and can spell all of our names. She's written them so much she's got them memorized. She loves to write! She will bring us stuff and say-is this how you spell Dad?? Is this how you spell mom?? She will also randomly say stuff like-milk starts with m! 

-She's also always counting and went through a phase of always counting to 100. She would get stuck and need our help-"MOM!! What comes after _____? MOM????"

-She likes tomatoes like me-she's proud that we are the only ones in the family and that we have that in common. She is also a big dip/sauce lover-the main one in our family-and will take spicy mustard, white sauce, bbq, comeback, ranch, ketchup, marinara, garlic, anything she can dip!! It is funny. She is a decent eater except there are a few things she struggles to get down (like chicken casserole) and she will just cry and cry about it. If we threaten to set a timer, she looses it! She would much rather be fed than feed herself. She went to grandpa and Peggy's this month for a couple nights and when they asked what she wanted to have there to eat, she said-pancakes, biscuits, waffles, pizza, bread, and cheese. Oh, and cupcakes and cookies! (haha poor girl-she's a carb lover like me!) She can spot a Domino's building from afar and always yells out DOMINO'S!! She's a creature of habit like Steven and would prefer a peanut butter sandwich to most things. 

-She's funny about getting hurt and is not dramatic at all like someone else in the family. She loves the bandaging part and even when she's hurt and upset will get a smirk on her face when I ask if she needs a bandaid. She gets funny about the attention it brings. Ruby is a careful, cautions 4 year old and not at all a dare devil-which is so nice for a 3rd child! That's why when she got hurt 2 days in a row recently, the kids were all concerned for her and prayed that she wouldn't get hurt anymore! (Once when a Target cart fell over onto her, the other when she didn't see a curb and stepped off and fell in a parking lot!)

-Ruby goes to PreK at school 3 days a week and loves it. She has good buddies, but her best is Reid. They are hilarious together and always talking about having play dates and doing things on a farm together like lassoing Goldie and riding bulls. They give each other big hugs at the end of the day, then yell over and over goodbyes as we load our vans and drive away. It is quite a process;) She is awesome to go to school-looks forward to it and always receives a good report (she's so artistic! she's such a sweet girl! great day as usual!-stuff like that:)) On our 2 homeschooling days, Ruby is a sweetie to hang out, do her art, play with the dog, and basically self-play while we work. She is quite content.

Here are some random phrases and things to note:

-"Is this later?" (doesn't quite grasp time). "How many sleeps??" (when she is counting down and several days have to pass before an event)

-"This foot is buzzing" (when her foot falls asleep)

-She wants her name to be Andrew. She names all of her stuffed animals and babies Andrew.:)

-"Do you know what my favorite thing about Christmas is besides God? PRESENTS!!"

-"My 2 best boyfriends are Reid and Clayton."

-"La La Loooooo!" (she loves the show TOTS and I think it comes from that?)

-Will play eye spy in the car or count to 100 or draw while kids listen to audio books (she hates them and covers her ears-mostly because they are not on her level and she can't understand them). 

-"Knew it!"

-Light saver (will watch Star Wars with Steven and the big kids and it's so funny. She's tuned in.)

-She randomly volunteered-"These are the things I like: Cracker Barrel, splash pad, and Dizz-uh-knee World! Oh, AND the beach!"

-So into counting down for things and making paper chains (for xmas, valentines, birthdays)

-She goes through phases of talking in first person-Ruby's hungry! Ruby wins! Ruby's a tiger! (stuff like that)

-Ruby HATES bugs, especially ones that fly near her. She is generally such a chill child that it is almost comical how hysterical she is about them. She has had dreams and woken up to tell us there were bugs all over her blanket and in her bed. She's also woken up over a dream that there was fuzz in her hair (and she wanted it off her!!).