Guess Who Got A Bath!

GUESS.... :)

And now he is worthy of hugs and kisses. :)

Dogs and Cats and Kids

 Alli loves playing dressup, and today was Guess's turn to be her dress up vicitm. He took it in good humor and even posed for a lovely picture! :)

This is Mr. Spoiled Cat.... note the closed eyes as he eats CHICKEN! LIKE A HUGE CAN OF CHICKEN!  Anna asked if she could give him some tuna because we were out of cat food.
I said yes...... The next thing I know is she says he is enjoying his tuna!   Then I see my  3 dollar can of Chicken being devoured!  Hope you like it Mr. Kitty....because that won't happen again! I promise!
I made sure Anna saw what the difference was between the two cans. LOL  It is always a good idea to read labels! :)

Anna and Guess

Anna is teaching Guess how to catch a ball..... he does pretty good as long as he isn't distracted by chickens. :)

Erika and Guess

Enjoying a swing on the porch. :)

Anna and Guess

I really love this picture of Anna. :)  She is so thrilled to have a dog.  She has been working with Guess especially and he is like putty in her hands. :)  She was so proud to just look at him and see him sit for a treat. :) 
She has also been walking Guess and Stetson in the goat yard getting them ready for animals. Guess has been really great with the animals .....Stetson wants to chase them still, so he will be a little more work.

We also need them to get used to the dogs next door. We have a chain link fence between our properties, and the dog next door is feeling that his territory is being invaded..... :)  So he was barking and growling....  I hope they can make good friends and that they get used to each other.
I'm sure that will happen. He seems to be a pretty nice dog, but is used to having that fence all to himself.
Ahhh more life changes. :)

The "Self Control" Tool

Alli and Guess early in the A.M.

We have had such a great almost month!  One of the first things we did at the hotel pool was to have a talk about our "tool box".... The tool box is used to store tools to help us with our emotions.

One of the tools we put in our tool box at the hotel was "Self Control".  I explained to Alli that how we feel at any given moment isn't right or wrong, it is what we DO with how we feel.  There is nothing wrong with feeling frustrated.... all of us feel frustrated sometimes, it is what we DO when we are frustrated.
Teaching our children to give their frustration to the Lord is so important.  He is the bearer of our burdens and does such a great job bearing our burdens when we let Him! But when we try to take things into our own hands, and bear them ourselves, that is when we get muddled in our thinking and things don't go so well....
Alli and I discussed this a few times before we came home, and I prepared her that she would need to be ready to use her tool box.
Well, the night before last, we started to build a dog house for the dogs.  Daddy is actually building more like a caddilac dog hotel! It is REALLY cool. I'll take a picture when it is finished. :)
Alli had it in her mind that we were going to paint it right away.  We explained that we cannot paint it until it is finished.
She began to hyper focus on the painting and wasn't enjoying the building and then.... she got frustrated... "What are we going to do if we don't paint it! Where are the dogs going to sleep if it isn't finished! and so on".....
We realized that she was starting to get upset, it was suggested that she use her tools.... "Open your tool box quick! Which tool should you use?"   :)
She quickly said, "My self control tool?"  YES! That is right!
So we took some deep breaths and   stayed in rhyhm with each other.... after about 10 breaths, she was calm, and then we talked about what was going to happen with the dog house and the painting. She was able to express her disappointment about not painting right then, but understood why and accepted it and even helped....
These are HUGE strides for a little one with such a trauma background. :)  We are celebrating each success!