Our birthday cookies

For our birthday last week, we each got giant Happy Hearts cookies. They were very delicious. Steve got his first because he can't sit still for pictures if I already have a cookie.

Next it was my turn to have a cookies. I was nice to Mom so I sat pretty so she could get a good picture of the cookie. Wilbur had jumped on the cookie earlier and broke the corner.

After Mom got her picture, I gently took the cookie.

We got to eat the cookies on the bed, but don't worry about the crumbs. We are very good vacuum cleaners.

Kat

We're Three!

Today is our third birthday! We're pretty excited. Tonight Mom is going to let us have our birthday Happy Hearts cookies and Dad is going to pick us each up McDonalds ice cream cones on his way home from work. Mom says we even have some presents!

Speaking of presents, the first birthday present we received was from two of our bestest buds, Phantom and Thunder. They sent us this really cute card, which is one of Jack's mom's cards. It's pretty perfect for us as the puppy on the front looks sort of like Kat!

Phantom and Thunder also sent us a gift certificate for Happy Hearts cookies! Isn't that just the most perfect present? As you can see in this picture, Steve has laid claim to the gift certificate. If paw placement is any indication, Steve will be eating all of the cookies and Kat will be lucky to get a small portion. (We hope the Happy Hearts team will accept a wrinkly gift certificate. We were supposed to sit and keep our paws off of it, but Steve couldn't help himself.)

Thanks so much Phantom and Thunder! (Kat says especially you, Thunder.) We are really honored that you thought of us on our birthday. Hey Thunder, how's life being three? Any tips?

Steve and Kat

PS. Happy Birthday to our Missouri grandpa too! Isn't it cool that we share a birthday with our grandpa?

A friendly wager

During the first college football game of this season, Kat and Mom's Oklahoma State University Cowboys were playing Sitka and Cornelia Marie's University of Georgia Bulldogs. After studying the legality of sports betting, we determined that dogs are allowed to bet on sporting events, so we made a wager with Sitka and Cornelia Marie that if the Cowboys won, they would buy us an order of Happy Hearts and if the Bulldogs won, we would buy an order for them.

During the first part of the game, things were not looking that great for the Cowboys. Kat was pretty depressed. At half-time, Kat barked a lot at the TV and apparently the Cowboys received the message because they came out strong in the second half and won the game. Kat was so excited for her team and I was so excited for some Happy Hearts!

Our cookies arrived recently and boy, was I glad!

We ordered some of the new summer flavors. Watermelon and ginger. I have to say I give them both a big paws up.

Mom tried to get some good pictures of me eating, but you can see how well that worked.

She did get a good picture of Kat eating one of the squirrels.

I should also mention that with this order, I have become an official Happy Hearts taste tester. I am really excited to be able to be recognized in an official capacity for my favorite hobby -- eating!

So I have to give a big thanks to Sitka and Cornelia Marie for the cookies, Happy Hearts for the cookies too, the Cowboys for winning the game, and to Kat for being a fan of the Cowboys. It is handy to have a sister who's a fan of a good football team. Dad and I are in for a depressing season, I'm afraid.
Steve

Face Plant

The other day, I came inside looking like this.

Dad thought I had been digging, but my paws were clean. What really happened is that it had been raining, Steve's paws were muddy, and we started wrestling. I took a paw to the face and that's what happened.

Want a closer look? Just stare into my eyes.

Kat

Dr. Steve's latest

First I want to say that we are thinking about our friend, Jack, and his family as they mourn the loss of the lovely Star. Star's brother Sherman was the one of the first blogging dogs we knew who passed away and we remember Mom shedding tears over him and how his mom described the situtation. We feel so fortunate to be part of the Dogs with Blogs community and that you all share your stories with us and we can get to know you all, in happy and sad times. Good-bye Star, we hope you and Sherman are playing zoomies once again.

Stella wrote to me recently, on behalf of the Texas Happy Heelers. Here's what the Happy Heelers had told Stella's feline sis, Ali Z:

That Dr. Steve must really be good if he can fix the pest.. She is always biting at our heels and doing fly-byes.. She just doesn't listen to Mom, you think it might have something to do with her being deaf? She doesn't watch the signs.. We are hoping she will grow out of this pest-ism..

Big Sloppy KissesGus, Louie and Callie

Well, Gus, Louie, and Callie, I really am good. However, I don't think there is anything wrong with Callie. She sounds totally Siberian to me. Now, I understand that she's not actually a Siberian, but I have checked the Dogs Rule Book and I don't see anything in there about dogs not being able to act like other breeds. So I think Callie should continue her Siberian ways. In fact, she should be rewarded for them since she's having to try so hard to imitate a breed she is not. Way to go, Callie!

I must apologize for our lack of blogging lately. Mom and Dad are finally done with all of the work in the backyard, so I'm hoping that we can get back on track with our blogging. We will also have to catch up with reading all of your blogs too!

Dr. Steve

Our new fence

Our new fence is complete now, so we can play off leash in the yard. As you can see in this picture, we took full advantage of it.

Check out Kat's moves here. She's on one leg!

Here's a picture showing more of our fence.

Mom and Dad are going to put some watersealant on the fence this weekend. It's always wet here in Seattle, so they want to protect the fence investment. Then they have to put down some mulch and our yard project will finally be done!

Steve

Mom's Pet Peeve = My New Bed

Dad does something that annoys Mom. When he has clothes that he's worn, but aren't dirty enough to be washed, instead of putting them away, he piles them on top of the chest-of-drawers. It drives Mom crazy. I have found that I can get pretty comfy on top of his clothes.

I hope he doesn't mind a little fur.

Meow,
Wilbur

Dirty Face

Over the weekend before the grass went in, Dad found me outside looking like this.

At first, he started to get mad because he thought I had been digging. Then he noticed my paws were all clean.

I had just been pushing my nose throught the dirt. The landscapers brought in some new dirt for Mom to plant flowers in and it wasn't packed down, so I thought maybe I could do some work of my own! I gave Dad an annoyed look to show that I wasn't happy about being wrongly accused.


Kat

Our new yard

We've shown you over the past few months how ugly and brown our yard was. That's right, WAS! We now have grass! It's very exciting and Kat and I were happy to check it out last week.

Kat thought the new grass smelled pretty good.

Here we are checking out the sprinkler and also saying good-bye to the old fence.

The day after these pictures were taken, the fence was torn down. The new fence is almost done, but not completely, so we have to go outside on leashes.

I'll share pictures of the new fence soon.
Steve

Our Photography Session

Back in June, we went to a real photographer to get our pictures taken. We've shared these pictures with several people already, but in case you haven't seen them, here's the slideshow. (Photographs by Alyssa Rose Photography.)

Mom loves all the pictures and could hardly decide what to order. We now have an entire wall devoted to us!

We're pretty sure this means she loves us more than Wilbur.
Steve and Kat

New Trick - Gimme 10!

Kat and I have learned a new trick. It's a variation of shake and high 5. Mom calls it "Gimme 10". We were nice enough to perform the trick for the camera the other day, but I think the first part of the video will show that I am a Siberian through-and-through and have some trick of my own up my paw.

Steve

Sprinkler System Tester

The new grass will be installed on Tuesday, so today Mom and Dad have been testing out the new "sprinkler system" to make sure that we'll have good coverage for watering the yard. I think the following video will demonstrate what a good helper I am.

Working dogs have to keep busy, right?

Steve

Heavy Lifting

Look what showed up in our front yard. (We wouldn't sit the right direction for the camera, but at least we're sitting, right?)

Mom and Dad wouldn't let us dig in this huge mound of dirt, which seems so wrong. Instead, this machine was allowed to carry the dirt from the front to the back and spread it around. The machine is called a Dingo and I'm pretty sure it's related to the machine that Huffle found in her garage a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, Huffle, the Dingo did not bring your parsley pot to our house.

We will keep you posted on the hard work that Mr. Dingo is doing in the yard.
Steve and Kat

I'm the King of the World!

Along with the destruction of the Siberian Clubhouse, Mom and Dad have been spending every free moment out in the backyard working, working, working. I seem them pushing the wheelbarrow all over, so that gave me an idea.

Hey, Mom, can you give me a ride here so I can pretend that I'm in the movie Titanic, at the front of the boat?

She said that she couldn't even push the wheelbarrow full of rocks, much less the addition of me on top of the rocks.

I tried looking cuter, but that still didn't get me anywhere.

I guess with humans, you have to do all the work yourself. Never stop pulling, my friends, otherwise the other end of the leash might not go anywhere!
Steve

What was under the clubhouse

Previously on Washington Woos:
Gasp! The Siberian Clubhouse was torn down and fed to an evil hungry buzzard. Readers were outraged. Amici, in particular said, "We thought the clubhouse was so cool. Did Kat and Steve just not use it enough??". What will happen? Why was the Clubhouse destroyed?

Now on Washington Woos:
Last month we showed you how we had been trying to dig under the clubhouse. The fact that we were intently trying to get under the clubhouse, combined with the fact that Mom found three dead baby mice in the yard, made Mom think that there was a mice nest under the clubhouse. Since the only time we ever went into the clubhouse was to chase Wilbur into a corner, Dad decided the clubhouse had to go.

What's interesting is that when Dad finished tearing out the entire clubhouse, guess what he found under it? A really cool Scooby Doo ball! Not a single mouse. So now Mom and Dad have no idea where the baby mice are coming from, but Mom says as long as they are just in the yard, she guesses she won't worry too much about it.

Now about that Scooby Doo ball. It's the most fun ever! It doesn't even squeak, but I love it to pieces. Mom and I played a little Scooby Ball in the yard.

It's just so fun to pounce on!

So there you have it, the story of the Siberian Clubhouse. To be honest, I haven't missed it. Now I have more room to get up some really fast zoomies along the back fence and I have a new Scooby Doo ball.
Kat

PS. Speaking of Amici, he's going to get his new human puppy today or tomorrow, so we want to wish him and his family the best! We're sure Amici will make the best big brother any human's ever had.

RIP Clubhouse

Remember our cool Siberian Clubhouse that we posted about when we first moved into our Seattle house? This is all that remains of it.

That's right, nothing! Here are all the bits and pieces of clubhouse that still are around, but they just don't have the same soul as when the pieces were in their former clubhouse shape.

Wondering what happened to the clubhouse? Well, this thing showed up and ate it.

Apparently the buzzard really was very hungry to eat an entire clubhouse. And you know what else? Mom and Dad fed it. That's right, they put pieces of the clubhouse into the buzzard and those pieces were never heard from again.

What should we do about it?
Steve and Kat

Sleeping habits

The other morning, Mom came into the bedroom to get dressed for work and here's what she discovered (excuse the unmade bed).

Kat, cuddling with her ball:

Me, doing my favorite legs hanging over the edge:

Wilbur, being whatever cats are:

That's right, we were all sleeping in harmony.

We better not let that happen again.
Steve

A prescription for Star and Jack

Star and Jack sent me a note yesterday asking for help:

Dear Dr. Steve,

Star & I are not feeling too well. Mom says our poo isn't right, & we're not eating & just kinda tired. She hauled me to the v-e-t. (I had to go for shots anyway). We think we should consult with woo about this, after all, who knows more about sibes than another sibe?

Woos & a-roos,
Star & Jack a-roo

Since they have already been to the vet, I decided to just let their vet handle the physical aspect of their ailments and I would handle the psychological aspects. As some of you know, Star's boyfriend and Jack's best friend, Moon, moved away to Pennsylvania and now can't come over to Star and Jack's house to play. In my Siberian opinion, their symptoms tell me that they are depressed and missing Moon lots and lots. So to help Star and Jack feel better, I recommend that their humans give them even more love and attention than they already do give them. I recommend that the humans share their snacks (I included examples of some of my current favorites), take them for lots of walks, and let them play with stuffies more (especially Jack-a-roo).

Star and Jack, I sure hope you start to feel better soon. It's no fun being lonely, but it is sweet that you loved Moon so much.

Until next time, stay healthy,

Dr. Steve

Birthday Cake

Last week when we posted about Mom's birthday, several of you left comments about whether or not we were going to get any cake. Mom's favorite cake is chocolate, so we didn't think things looked good for our cake chances. This is the cake that Dad bought for Mom:

Once we saw the cake, we were almost positive that we weren't going to get any. It was covered with chocolate!

Here's what the inside looked like:

Guess what though? We got some cake! Mom is so well trained that she cut a slice of cake for us, then removed all the chocolate parts!

Here we are waiting for our slices. (Excuse our eyes, the flash does that to us. We weren't really sleeping.)

After waiting nicely, Mom said we could dig in.

The cake was delicious! The only thing missing was some ice cream.

Steve and Kat

The Contest Results

Thanks to all you pups who voted for us in the Cutest Dog Contest! Steve was awarded Most Handsome and Kat was runner-up in the Cutest Purebred category. Mom picked up our prizes the other day and here's a video of us opening everything.

Note: This is the first time Dad used the video camera. He's a little zoom crazy!

Steve and Kat