Happyness is... giving a well received gift

Make sure your sound is on for this video.

A little websurfing on the Internet gave me the idea for a homemade dog toy for my new pup, Sandy.  I wound up stitching up several of these toys using sewing machine, thread, fleece fabric, Velcro (hook and loop tape), and a "secret ingredient".  I have lots of friends with dogs so the extras will be gifts.

Initially this toy scared Sandy a bit, but she warmed up to it quickly.  It's a potentially noisy toy.  If one of her humans makes the toy "be noisy", she's not too pleased with that; if Sandy makes the toy "be noisy", it's all good.  As you watch the video, make sure your sound is on and try to guess the "secret ingredient" inside the toy.

As you can see, this dog toy is "Sandy Approved".  Did you guess the "secret ingredient" inside the fabric?

Give up?

It's a empty plastic water bottle with the lid removed.

If you are interested, here's a link for a tutorial on how to make these toys: Crackling Pillow Dog Toy

Happyness is giving a homemade gift which is VERY well received.

Happyness is... a roll in cool, damp grass

After a long, long car ride to bring Sandy home from the breeder, Sandy got to check out the big shady backyard.  The sprinklers were running when we got home.  We are pretty sure Sandy had not yet experienced a grassy lawn like this.

Happyness is a roll in cool, damp grass especially after a long car drive on a hot summer day.

Happyness is... bittersweet

Tiny handknit hat displayed on a brown egg.

About a year ago, I made and mailed this hat to an organization called "Calvin's Hats".

Calvin's Hats is a non-profit organization that distributes the tiniest of hats to families who have had little ones leave much too soon.  Their hats to go to hospitals across the United States

 and to individual families all over the world.

Today, I was so surprised to stumble across the same little hat when I was looking at Facebook. 

This is what I found:

This is a picture of Calvin's Hats that we received last year. The white hat on the left is for our daughter Seraphina Rose, her heart stopped beating at 14 weeks on Feb 23, 2012. The pink one in the middle is for our daughter Levitia Jane, we miscarried at 7 weeks with her on May 5, 2012. The hat on the right was warn by our daughter Edith Loranne when she was born still on Sept. 19, 2012 due to a cord accident at 20 weeks, the hand prints above are Edith's perfect hands we got to hold in ours. Our two older daughters here on earth looks at these hats everyday and pray to their little sisters. Thank you Calvin's Hats for all you do.


Happyness is learning that you provided a small amount of comfort to a family who has struggled so much.  

Happyness is... finding a friend in the fridge

 

On her first morning at her new home, Sandy was alarmed to find another puppy in the house!

She found "the other puppy" in the kitchen when she was exploring the area in front of the shiny black refrigerator.

 

Wouldn't you know, that same puppy is there every single morning?

 

I know I shouldn't encourage this barking, but this is just too cute.

Happyness is a playful puppy.

Happyness is... a Warm Puppy! Meet Sandy.

Meet Sandy.  The newest addition to our family!
Sandy is our new puppy (born April 21, 2013).  She's an Australian Labradoodle.
We brought her home on Monday, June 23, 2013.

Sleeping during the car ride.

 

 

This video was taken when we met with the breeder to pick up Sandy in Granby, Colorado.

Happyness is a Warm Puppy!