Oscar the Grouch meets Mr. Roger's Neighborhood

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

I gotta say, most of the time things are pretty sweet around here. By sweet I don't mean like, "Dude,sweet!" but puppies and rainbows kind of sweet.  Wait, on second thought... with two teenage boys, sometimes it is more of the "Dude, sweet!" But, what I mean is, life with 3 kids and 2 dogs is 90% joy, 10% something less than joy.  Those are pretty good stats, I'd say.

Since Rooney came into our lives he has certainly only increased the joy.  Even with all of the trials of puppyhood, I feel as though we are riding out these days with patience and humor. How could moments like these not exponentially increase your happiness quota?

Please note: The Santa jammies and pink bicycle helmet are not necessarily relevant to this discussion, they merely increase the cuteness of this post.  I apologize for the indiscriminate and unabashed use of adorable children and puppies to manipulate the viewing audience.

And normally, even when the adorable scamp manages to slip out the backdoor with his blankie- that is supposed to remain in his crate- my reaction is to grab the camera rather than scold. (I am also even willing to overlook the fact that life with two dogs has left us with a backyard that will never be photographed for Home & Garden unless it is as a cautionary tale). 

But there are days... and here is where the discussion part comes in, because I'm hoping I'm not the only one...

Yes, there are days.. and yesterday was one of those days when this adorable pup, whom I love beyond all reason...

...had all of the behavior, mannerisms and personality of something more like this...

And I, someone who works very hard to maintain a sense of humor in the face of chaos.  Someone who fancies herself a bit of a modern day Mary Poppins, singing included, found herself spitting out words like, "What is wrong with you today!" and unintelligible sounds like, "Aaargh! Grrr! AAACK!" and nary a word about a Spoonful of Sugar or how Supercalafragilistic everything is.

In fact, rather than looking like a put together, slightly uptight, lovely Julie Andrews... I looked more like this:

Please... I know this site is full of true blue Doodle lovers...true blue dog lovers.... The level of dedication, time and affection I see poured out on this site is truly inspiring to me.  And on most days, I am right there with you.  Today, I am right there with you.  But, yesterday...I admit, I was a little grouchy with these furry members of my household.

Please tell me you have those days too. Or, could you at least fib a little and say you do?

P.S. If you could indulge me in one more photo... Reagan is getting really jealous about all the press Rooney receives.  I'm tired of hearing all the "chopped liver" comments and how he's "been around for 8 years and nobody ever wrote a blog about me..."  So, I give you the Old Man himself, our Reagan.

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

So misery loves company, huh?  I'll share - last weekend, we were "camping" in our RV.  My husband and I left Sedona in the coach while we went out for a quick dinner.  When we returned, I discovered a fairly sizable wet spot on the bed - either a LOT of slobber from chewing on a body part or a moderate bit of pee.  I'm hoping for the slobber, since Sedona hasn't peed in the house for well over a year.  I know the RV isn't the real house, but still...  My inner grouch moved in for awhile!!! 

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

I'm going with slobber... crossing my fingers for slobber...

[Doris, Knox & Flash]

Lori, your discussions and blogs always make me smile, and this one is no exception! Your daughter is 100% precious and I don't blame you one bit for using her to increase the "cute" factor, but there are some of us that just can't compete. At 22 and 20 years old, my DS and DD have put their foot down! No way will they be "used" in that manner, lol!

Our household cute-ness quotient is going down today as 'lil foster Carter will be leaving and going to his forever home :( Sad for me but thrilled for him and his new family. Their JOY ratio will increase immediately!

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

Oh, wow! Carter has found a forever home! I missed this somehow.  I am so thrilled for him (what a cuties he is) but I understand how it must be bittersweet for you. Have a wonderful life, little Carter!

And- you will note- there were no pictures of the teenage boys (ages 14 & 17).  I can't use them anymore either...Although, I do still find them quite cute in their own loud, messy, boyish way. :)

[cheryl & oliver]

Well, I read thru the your post, and I too couldn't figure out if it was just u having a bad day, or him? or maybe both of you.  But as I read further and read what he did, I fully understand why you wrote this.  Well Oliver has days most of them where he is quiet, sleeps, plays, a little, just not problems, except if someone is ringing the bell or maybe doing grass cutting, then he is barking and carrying on.  I think they are like people, every now and then they need to blow off some steam.  Oliver will race around the entire house inside, room thru room, like the Taz devil, and I just keep yelling stop before u break something , or hurt yourself...No response, he keeps going till he is finished, and then drops down and stares at me...What is that about????....He is not a counter surfer, but he will hide things like leaves etc in his mouth, and come in and go to his favorite spot and thinks that I won't know he is eating something he isn't supposed to.  He does that when DH walks him all the time...I think they are a lot like kids too, they have their naughty days...but I am sure that the good days outweigh the bad, right??...And I know that Reagan prob. has had his fill some days too with Rooney, Renny used to be like that too....What can ya do? Just grin and bear it, lol, just look at that face, awww, he is sooo cute....

[Adina P]

Oh so much cuteness!  Share the cuteness anytime!

[Stephanie and Jellybean]

Love the smiles on your dogs faces! They are happy pups! And your daughter is adorable too!