Am I in the Dog House?

Hi all!  I know I have been MIA the last couple weeks.  Am I in the dog house?  Sorry... *insert puppy dog eyes here*.  I was VERY well intentioned... hopeful... and I missed you all... REALLY I did!

I am constantly on a mission to win "Mother of the Year".  You know... the silent award that goes to Moms who go above and beyond the call of duty.  The type of mother who sits in a NOISY place for hours so her kids can have fun with friends... the one who drives their kids all over the place and does so with a smile.  Sometimes you "lose" Mother of the Year for the day.  Maybe on a day when your patience is wearing thin and you lose your temper for a moment.  No worries though... you get up the next day and move onward toward that award... Mother of the Year.  The Mother we ALL strive to be, right?

That leads me to my "excuse" for being MIA for the past 2 weeks.  Over the Christmas holiday, my family and I spent a couple days with my Mother in Law and SHE had won Mother of the Year that day month by buying her teen daughter a Shih Tzu puppy.  It was ADORABLE.  I am not really a "pet person".  I didn't have pets growing up, so the concept was pretty foreign to me, but I couldn't help but scoop up the puppy and kiss her.  Soooo cute (insert high-pitched, baby-cooing voice here).  My kids all LOVED the puppy too.  So much so, that over the next several weeks my daughters googled til they were blue in the face looking at Shih Tzu puppies on the web.  They found them for sale all over the place and we enjoyed fantasizing over getting one of our own one day.  Of course I want my kids to be happy and I had warmed up to the idea so much that I started looking for a Shih Tzu puppy!  LOL  Then, one day... 2 weeks ago... my hubby found a puppy for sale only an hour and a half away.  The thought of my kid's smiling faces and the joy a puppy would bring to our family motivated me to jump in the car with my hubby and go see the puppy.  And that was all it took.  I scooped her up and was ready to go.  Mother of the Year, here I come.    

Let me introduce you to Puffle:

She is a Shih Tzu puppy, born into this world on November 28th, 2009.  She is now a member of our family. :)  I sat her in my light box to photograph her.  LOL

She sat still for this ONE picture.  LOL  It's hard for me to capture her adorable face because of her markings on her face, but let me assure you, she is C-U-T-E and has an awesome personality.  Here is what the majority of the photos from the photo shoot looked like:

Puppy on the move!  LOL

Being a new puppy-Mommy is like having a newborn in the house.  I know you pet owners are nodding in agreement.  ;)  Being a FIRST-TIME puppy-Mommy, I have been a tad overwhelmed (under-statement).  I should have read a book... or made a "plan" first, but I didn't... so I have been winging it... and wishing the Dog Whisperer would come pay me a visit and train ME.  LOL  Thank goodness for my friends, who helped me through it.

Oh, and for anyone who is curious about her name, Puffle, she is named after a "pet" from a game that my daughters play called Club Penguin.  Want to see a Club Penguin Puffle?

After many nights of little sleep and feeling like a zombie... I adjusted enough to STAMP.  YAY!  :)

I used my MFT Chick Flick stamp set for this card.  I ADORE this image!  SO "me".  I LOVE watching movies. 

I used a Sakura clear Glaze Pen to make my popcorn bowl shiny.

I even finished the inside off!  (LOVE doing that)

Here is one more card I made:

Stamps: MFT Chick Flick
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: White, Black, My Mind's Eye Love Me Do
Accessories: May Arts ruffled ribbon, silver brads, Copic markers, Janome sew mini, Sakura clear Glaze Pen, Prima burlap flower, SU brad, word window punch, paper piercer