Doggie Field Day

Today we treated the dogs to a field day! Here is one of the videos...more to come!

P.S. Gabe REALLY liked watching himself in the video...everytime I watch it on the computer he stands right next to me and watches it and whines. I love him :)

Busy Weekend!

I had an action-packed weekend and I am EXHAUSTED!

On Friday night two of my fav girls, Paige and Vennessa, and I ran in the Santa Scurry 5K. It was perfect running weather and it was fun to see all the Christmas lights and decorations.

Reindeer Paige, Elf Vennessa, Reindeer Erin

After the race we enjoyed a post-run pizza of course! Then my other fav girl, Kathleen, met us to go out for a ladies night out on the town. It turned into a very fun/interesting night!

On Saturday morning I met my sister at my parent's house because we have been planning on surprising my mom for her birthday. We took her and my dad for brunch and then my mom, sister and I went for lovely pedicures!

On Saturday night, Chris and I had a party to go to which turned out to be a lot of fun and I met some new, fun friends! All the guys talked about baseball all night and the ladies had great conversation and lots of wine to make it a great night!

On Sunday morning I had to wake up bright and early to pick up my sister and head to Dallas to cheer for my brother's girlfriend, Kristi, in her very first FULL MARATHON! She ran 26.2 miles...she's crazy!! This was also Kristi's first race with Team in Training and she fundraised $1500 to go towards the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Go Kristi! Go Team!

It was cold but I always enjoy watching people running endurance races, even if I don't know them. I always get so excited for them because it is something for them to be really proud of! I'm not going to lie...sometimes I even tear up because I'm so happy for them :)

Ashley, Ryan and I at the White Rock Marathon cheering on all the runners (Ryan is very confused about what college football team we cheer for)

The rest of the day was spent relaxing...I was so tired from all the action and the lack of sleep. Chris and I did manage to get in walks with ALL the dogs last night since I felt like I deprived them of my attention this weekend. 

Tomorrow morning I am starting my 12 week training for the Cowtown Half Marathon! Thanks for the inspiration Kristi!!!

Oh yeah... BOOMER!!!! I was so happy for OU to win the Big 12 game even though the first half was a little nerve wrecking. Now time for a Fiesta Bowl win! Go Sooners!!

Happy Friday!!

Here's a cute pic to finish off the week...this is Gabe watching the sonogram dvd of my sister's baby! He was very interested, especially when we got to listen to the baby's heartbeat. Ever since he saw the sonogram, his new favorite tv show to watch in the morning is "The Baby Story" on TLC.

Tonight I'm running the Santa Scurry 5K with a couple of my girlfriends...I'll have some pics to post this weekend so check back!

Happy Howlidays!

I can't believe it is December already! This year has flown by! Emma, Simba and Socks are coming up on their 3rd bday in a few weeks AND Chris and I will be celebrating our 2nd anniversary in January! There will be a lot of celebrating going on at the Semprun house!

To kick off December, here are some pics of our Christmas decorations!

I hung up the dog's stockings that I made last year. Maybe one day I can learn how to make the big stockings and sew their names on so I can fit more than a mini milkbone in them!



Chase and Dakota

Gabe and Emma

Jack, Socks, and Simba

Here is our little Christmas tree! We decided to get a table top tree because sometimes I get knocked over by the dogs...so I can only imagine how many times the tree would get knocked over!

I got these reindeer antlers for the dogs and when I pull them out, Socks is the only one to come right up to me, sit down, and let me put them on her and then she walks around with a big smile on her face and shows all the other dogs. When I try to put them on the other dogs, they either take them off right away or will go hide because they don't want to wear them. 

We have a really weird looking Santa decoration that my mom pawned off on me. I call it "Santa Egg" because it's this huge body and a tiny head that you can barely see. Anyways, I put it on our fireplace and some of the dogs are really interested in it. I was watching Simba the other day and she slowly creeped up to Santa Egg and sniffed it, jabbed it a couple times with her nose and even tried to take a bite of the tiny holly leaves that he's holding. She left it alone and walked away, but a couple hours later I walked by the fireplace and it was laying on the ground! Hmmm...I wonder who knocked Santa Egg on the ground?!

Tip of the Day From the Crazy Dog Lady

Do not wear Ugg boots when taking 2 oversized dogs for a walk...they do not offer support when you need it the most. For example, like when said dogs see a tiny dog and decide that they want to get closer. And closer. And closer. Until you are on your butt getting dragged across the grass and your pinky finger gets torn up. If only I would have worn my Asics.

The two main culprits...they look sweet and innocent but when they get in the zone it's a different story.

After the walk (which was cut short because I was so mad at them) Gabe went right back to watching MTV's "16 and Pregnant", like he didn't even do anything.

That's ok, because I couldn't stay mad at them for longer than 5 minutes anyways. But my finger still hurts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful that I got my best 5K time at the Turkey Trot this morning and for having 2 of the best running partners!

Dakota is thankful for having Chris to snuggle with.

Chase is thankful for a comfortable couch to lounge on.

Gabe is thankful for the leftover potroast I fed him right before I took this picture.

All the dogs and Chris are thankful for a king bed so our whole family can enjoy snuggle time.



Emma is thankful for having our bed all to herself.

All of the dogs are thankful for many, many Thanksgiving milkbone treats, just because I love spoiling them! (The next 3 pictures are of the dogs patiently waiting for their treats...it's hard to get them all in one)

 

I'm thankful for my husband and best friend!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Unrelaxing Bath Time

This is what happens when I try to take a relaxing bath and forget to close the door all the way...

My first two visitors are Socks and Gabe

Then Emma joins in

Socks tries to drink my bath water

Simba joins the crew

Gabe really wants to get in

Simba wishes she could take a hot bubble bath

Emma really likes the Philosophy bath bubbles that Kathleen got me!

They all hung around until I got out of the bath. So much for alone time!

Introducing: Dakota (The Guardian)

I'm saving the CRAZIEST for the last...I've been looking forward to this one since I started the doggie intros.

Dakota is our female rottweiler. She is a hot mess. She snorts ALL THE TIME, she gangs up on Socks in a big sister sort of way, she walks around with her snout in the air, she loves food and everyone else's food, she loves Chase, and she LOOOOVES Chris.

Puppy Dakota...she just looks like trouble

Dakota is "The Guardian" at our house. She likes to guard our house. If Dakota hears a noise that may sound suspicious to her she growls, barks, and heads straight for the front door. This is totally perfect for me because I don't like staying at home by myself, but sometimes it's a little annoying when the noise she hears comes from the tv or from one of the other dogs.

Dakota also likes to guard food. If any of the dogs come within 10 feet of her when she is eating she will growl. Sometimes she growls as she's eating, even if no one is around. Socks and Simba take their time eating. They eat a little and will go back for more as they want it. Sometimes they don't even finish until the next morning. But, if they don't finish their food by the end of the night, Dakota will lay by their bowl of food until they eat it. She won't eat it and she won't let any other dog eat it unless it is the rightful owner. She will lay down by the bowl and growl, very low, if any dog walks too close. Dakota will sleep all night by their food if she has to, just as long as no one eats it.

Whenever Chris brings in a new bag of dog food into the house and leaves it sitting in the kitchen, Dakota will lay by the bag of food and will keep all of the other dogs away. She does the same thing with Chris's food. When Chris is eating, she will stand right next to him and growl at the other dogs if they come too close to his food.

Dakota also likes to guard Chris. She really likes to snuggle with him, even when he doesn't feel like snuggling with her. She will literally force herself into his arms until she is right where she wants to be. If I try to interrupt her snuggle time with Chris, she will growl at me and block him from me. Also, if Chris and I are playing around or even hugging, she will get in between us and bark at me and jump on me to protect Chris. BUT, Dakota is my best friend whenever I'm giving out treats. Surprise. Surprise.

One of my favorite stories of Dakota and her guard dog nature is one night when we gave all the dogs a raw hide bone. Dakota usually doesn't finish her bone but she loves to guard it and she does not want anyone else coming close to her bone. This is a problem because Socks doesn't have much interest in her own bone, but she likes to go help all the other dogs eat their bones. So, this one night they were all eating their raw hides, except for Socks and Dakota. Socks walked over to Dakota and started bothering her like she always does and tried to lick Dakota's bone. Dakota growled and bore her teeth but Socks didn't back down. Well, I guess after all the growling Dakota was thirsty so she stood up and walked over to the water bowl...with her bone still in her mouth. Socks followed her and Dakota kept growling, and Socks still did not get the hint to back off. So, as soon as Dakota walked up to the water bowl, she dropped her bone in the water so Socks couldn't get it. Dakota drank the water and was growling at the same time so she was making a gurgling sound. When she drank as much as she wanted, she pulled the bone back out of the water bowl and laid down by the couch and continued to guard her bone as Socks continued to try to help her eat it. We don't even need a t.v. when we have all this entertainment!

Dakota with her best dog friend Chase

Another story about Dakota, one that made me very angry at the time, is of course another incident with food. Except, it was MY food. I had my family over to our house to watch an OU football game. I had made lots of food and I had just pulled the spinach and artichoke dip out of the oven. I was SO excited to chow down and eat it. I set it on the counter to cool down as I watched a little bit of the game. When I walked back into the kitchen Dakota's head was buried in the bowl of dip and after I yelled at her to stop, she turned around and looked at me, with her front paws still on the counter and a beard made of spinach and artichoke, and she smiled a mocking smile at me. I'm not going to lie, I may have cried a little because I was so excited about the dip, but shortly after that I couldn't help to laugh at the ridiculousness that is Dakota. I really wish I had a picture of her and her spinach and artichoke dip beard.

Dakota is a crazy, sassy,  food loving, and Chris loving dog. I think this is why I love her so much, because she reminds me of myself!

I have many, many crazy and funny stories about Dakota and the other 6 pups, so keep checking back for lots of laughs! There will be a total of 10 dogs at my house this weekend (our 7, my parent's dog Patch, and my neice and nephew dogs) so there will definately be a lot of stories to blog about after that!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Introducing: Emma!

It's been a while since I last posted! There are 2 dogs left that I need to introduce and then on to all of my funny and crazy stories about actually living with 7 dogs.

Emma is our 4th biggest dog. She looks a lot like Simba but she is taller and leaner. The funny thing is, when Emma was a puppy she was the fattest of them all. She looked like she would be a plumper forever but she grew into a lean body with long legs. However, she does still eat like there's no tomorrow. Emma is, without fail, the first of the dogs to finish her dinner every single night. When all the other dogs finish eating, Emma makes sure to lick their bowls clean for them just incase they left any crumbs.

Emma can jump really high. One of her favorite tricks is to run and jump as high as she can into Chris's arms. (I'll post a video of this soon)

I don't have many pictures of Emma to share because for some reason she is scared of the camera and the iphone. Chris and I have caught Emma in some perfect photo opps, but sure enough, as soon as the camera or the iphone comes out, she runs away. We aren't really sure what her deal is but it can get very frustrating!

Emma is probably our most laid back dog. She doesn't cause any problems, she doesn't bother the other dogs and she's pretty quiet most of the time. Whenever our bedroom door is open, we can always find her lounging on our bed, usually with her head on the pillow.



Introducing: Chase - aka "King of the Castle"

Chase is our male rottweiler/lab mix and the oldest out of all the dogs. He was one of the dogs that Chris already had whenever we met. Calling Chase "King of the Castle" is an understatement. Chase really thinks he is in charge of every dog and every person in the house. He can be found in two locations in the house - sprawling on our bed or laying on the couch.



Chase snuggling with Chris

Chase loves to snuggle with both of us. Sometimes he can be really sneaky about crawling his way into our laps and when he succeeds, all he wants to do is give us kisses...this is Chase's favorite place to be. He's also very sneaky about crawling into anyone else's lap that may be hanging out at our house. I'm not sure if Chase realizes how big he actually is, but it is nice to have him around when it's cold outside!

Chase getting comfy on Ashley's lap

One of the funniest things that Chase did was when my brother, Ryan, came over and let Chase sit on his lap...rather, Chase forced himself into Ryan's lap. After about 10 minutes Ryan told Chase to get up and gave him a little nudge to move and Chase turned around and growled in Ryan's face as if to say "I'm not going anywhere until I want to. Now, you sit still and leave me be."

My favorite thing about Chase is how he sits like a human. It's really weird. He sits on his butt, with his legs in front of him and he lounges back and relaxes. Sometimes, Chris and I will be sitting on either end of the couch and Chase will hop up into the middle section and sit down, just like a person, and hangs out with us.

Chase's favorite dog in the house is Dakota, our female rotty. He has known Dakota since she was a puppy when she forced her way into his heart. Chase loves playing with Dakota even though she obviously gets on his last nerves sometimes.



Chase and Dakota



Chase and Dakota

Chase is a very special dog...he can be grumpy with the other dogs sometimes, but for the most part he is a really good and patient older brother. He used to be the only child and now he has 4 sisters and 2 brothers, so it's okay to be grumpy and want some alone time every once in a while!  

Since Chris and I got married, I stuck to my daily routine of taking Gabe for walks every night but a couple months ago I started bringing Chase along too. They are both VERY strong dogs, made up entirely of muscle, so it can get tricky sometimes but I really enjoy it. Chase has made the walks more enjoyable and challenging, so needless to say, I look forward to my nightly walks with two of my favorite boys!



Gabe and Chase

Introducing: Jack

Jack was the last dog we acquired and probably the most affectionate out of the pack. Chris found him when the puppies were about 4 months old and Jack was a little puppy himself. We figured that Jack and the puppies were close to the same age because he was about the same size as they were at the time. He looked like a little polar bear cub and when I saw him for the first time I fell in love. I remember calling my sister and asking her if I should keep Jack or not and I clearly remember her answer - "You already have six dogs, what's one more?" And then there were seven.

Jack used to be really shy and quiet and would hangout by himself a lot of the time. He has slowly come out of his shell and loves to play with the other dogs. Jack is pretty passive aggressive...sometimes he doesn't mind when one of the other dog steals his bone but other times he will growl, bark and defend his territory.

Whenever I'm handing out treats, Jack is always the one sitting like a good dog and calmly waiting for his treat. I usually get bit atleast once during treat time but not once have I been bitten by Jack because he's so gentle. Jack gets along with all the dogs but whenever the girls start to gang up on Gabe, Jack always has his back.

Jack LOVES to be around Chris and I. Sometimes when we are watching t.v. he will come up to one of us and give us his paw and will just leave it there. It's like he just wants to hold hands and he is happy just doing that.

One of the funniest things about Jack is that when it's dinner time, he lays all the way down on his belly and buries his face in his food and he will stay that way until he finishes eating.




Jack hanging with the boys

 

Jack is such a sweet boy and we are so blessed that he came along to complete our family!