Bexy

Well, I've been slacking in the blog arena since our trip to Arizona. Life has gotten busy! Damon is playing spring soccer and also started baseball. Between practices and games, I am running him somewhere nearly every day (sometimes twice a day). And spring in Orem is not exactly the best time for outdoor activities. It is often cold, wet and windy. We all can't wait until it gets a little warmer!

With that said, there have been some really nice days in April. We went to the park yesterday for the first time in ages and it was fabulous. I can't wait to spend a lot of time there in the weeks/months to come, because my kids are all finally able to play (somewhat) independently and I can actually sit on the bench and watch. So nice!

I found this cute pic of Carter and McKay playing on the trampoline with Bex. The kids sure love having a dog. Jeff and I do too, some of the time.

We had an "invisible fence" installed all the way around the yard. Basically, it's an underground wire that runs the perimeter of the yard. Bex wears a collar that gives her a little "correction" (read: shock) when she crosses the perimeter. We also have a separate box that sits on the stairs, so she can't go up. We thought it was working great (and the one on the stairs does work great--she doesn't even try to go up anymore). But after some trial and error, we found that she was getting out. And it wasn't because she didn't understand her boundaries. She understands them just fine, she just chooses to break out of them. She'll gear herself up, jump through quickly, and take the shock. Then she's free to do as she pleases. We are now experimenting with different settings (increasing the range so that she gets a shock a greater distance from the wire) in hopes that she can figure it out. Jeff is losing patience with her quickly.

We also recently had her groomed for the first time since she was a puppy. I have some pics on my phone, I will post soon. She looks so much different! It's like getting a new dog. Her "chewing" habits are getting a little better, but she still has many puppy traits that we'd like to remove from her. Things such as taking diapers out of the trash and ripping them apart in the backyard. That's one of our least favorite. And just when we thought she was potty trained, and we no longer needed to take her out several times a day, we randomly find poop in the basement. WTH? We're not ready to give up on her yet, but things haven't been smooth sailing.