Camp and a Boxer

This past week two of my girls headed off to Wilderness Christian camp for an awesome adventure of their own. 

They had so much fun and are already planning for next year. This was Princess #2 's first time without me. I was a little worried on how she would do, but she did great! Today we were talking about what some of her favorite things about the camp were..."Mom, their cookers totally make the best food EVER!! They had mac n cheese AND pizza!!" ...I got a kick out of that.

With two children away at camp, that left 3 days of one on one time with my youngest little Princess. A very rare thing. I had a few things planned for us to do together that I knew she would enjoy, but kept them a surprise until the girls were dropped off at camp. I sure didn't want one of them to hear about the things I had planned and then decide to not go to camp. That would be my luck for sure. 

To give you a little background on Princess #3. She has had a huge fascination with dogs from the moment she could express her thoughts. In fact, there have been times I was concerned she might be part dog. She went through that whole peeing on the carpet stage, chewed on things, and even crawled around panting and barking like a dog. Eventually I had to tell her to stop, for not ONLY did she do this at home, but wherever the mood struck her to do so. People stare enough at moms who have their kids at the store during school hours, I don't need more stares.

 One of the things I planned was a trip to the  pound to play with the dogs. NOT TO BUY ONE...just play. I know, we have our own. But they pretty much just eat and poop in the garage. Clover likes to follow me on walks or runs, but doesn't see the point in playing fetch, or any other games for that matter. 

She was so thrilled. First we visited the puppy room, and loved on all the delicious smelling pups.

Then we visited the kitten room and played with them. We both agreed that they weren't  as exciting as those adorable puppies. They wouldn't bring us a ball or anything. ;-) Next we headed into the adult dog area...where our hearts were completely broken. It was so hard to see all of those adult dogs shaking in fear, and not have someone to call their own. We stopped at each cage, chatted with each one, and loved on them for a bit. Yes, this took a long time...but we were in no hurry. I think we were there almost 3 hours!

 Princess #3 knew that we weren't getting one, and she was fine with that. She never even asked. But as a Mom who knows that her dream is to grow up and be an agility dog trainer, and then have a little 6 week old puppy actually playing fetch with her already at her young age, it got me thinking. What a wonderful project it would be for her, if she had a puppy that she could already train. A puppy that she could call her own. A puppy to follow her around the yard during morning chores, to tell secrets to, to share a popsicle and maybe even a comfy blanket with.

It takes a strong woman to say no to that. 

It takes a strong woman to walk away from so many homeless animals and not offer them the life of their dreams, a place to call home and a little girl to love. It also takes a woman with a good memory. Puppies are destructive. They can wreak total havoc on your carpet/possessions. 

I am neither one of those things. I stink at that whole strong woman stuff, and I can't remember what I have told the girls to do five minutes after the fact. It's normally clean their room though, so I will just spout that off periodically throughout the day just in case I have forgotten to do so when I planned on it.   So, after permission from Sweet Man and a trip to vet, we brought this little girl home.

Princess #3 named her Tootsie Roll. She is a boxer and  is extremely intelligent, at which the other dogs are a little nervous about, and has an overactive bladder! Who knew a dog so little could pee so much??

After we picked the other two girls up from camp, we let them tell us all about their adventures BEFORE Princess #3 was able to tell about her week. They were all so excited to share. It was a really neat time for us parents to just listen in the front seat.

We made a quick trip to the library and picked up puppy training books/videos, and books all about boxer puppies. We have all completely fallen in love with this new piece of fur on the farm. I think this was the perfect summer project, much better than video and computer games!

Sometimes I am so glad that I am not a strong woman. ;-)...And that I have such an amazing Sweet Man that allows us to have little "projects" like this.