And for my mom and other poodle people here are pictures of the newly shaved and bathed Montana and Jake. Montana had the red kerchief on. Both were plenty embarrassed at first but who knew they were so black under all that dust and dirt??!!

Just for Rori, Kris and Family. DaVinci is doing fine and getting fat.

And apparently they do not mind the kids helping out. Check out the new floor and the big ol' closet in one of the new bedrooms.

Finishing touches being done - floor being put in along with doors and light fixtures. This is mostly done today - Tuesday.

All the painting - inside and out - being done. My house on the outside looks like a brand new house.

Since everyone was clamoring for a house update - here is what it looked like just last week. I could not get a lot of pictures because it was dark when I left and dark when I got home.

I have heat!! Just in time for the cold snap. Yay for the contractors! They got my furnace up and running today. Tomorrow they finish the insulation so that the temp will regulate better. After a month of space heater heat it was great to walk into a house that was all toasty warm from top to bottom. And since it is supposed to be a high of 19 and a low of about 5-6 on Friday I am sooooo happy about this.

I took these pictures of house progress over the weekend. I could not do anything last week. Too dark morning and night to take the pictures. I think this week they are moving to get the inside stuff done - wiring, furnace, remainder of plumbing.

New Siding is up and roof looks great!

Back side looks good. The dogs approve.

View of the interior. I am standing in a bedroom and looking towards the bathroom and what will become my new closet. That is my old window that use to look outside that you see there. I believe that will become my closet door.

The most important thing - my new air conditioning unit. We never had AC before. You would think we would all have died now what with having 104-110 degree temps in the summer.

Poodles are smart. Poodles are very smart. Yessiree very intelligent members of the canine family. Unless, of course, you are adding on to your house. See the human members of the family- we all get excited to see things like interior framing and plumbing going in. We are fascinated by the dark hole that appeared in Sarita's soon to be bedroom. Now we definitely know where the access panel to under the house is. Everyone took a look then trooped inside. I had to go feed horses.

At some point in the feeding of the horses the kids let the dogs out. They very excitedly ran around barking, smelling , peeing and just generally happy to check out where all that noise comes from every day. I gather them all up and put them back in the house. I don't do an actual head count but I am sure that Molly (soon to be 3yo blond dog to Sarita) is still out. So I keep an eye out for here as I finish the chores outside. Now at this point in time it is about 6:30 pm and dark. no lights out back. They have all been disconnected while working on the house. I never see Molly. Figure I missed her going into the house.

Then as I walk past the new addition I hear this strange howl that echoes. At first I think Buster is at my bedroom window and howling out into the addition. But, no, sounds too close and more like a dog IN the addition. So in I go. "Molly, Molly??" Woof woof. There is a little blonde head and front paws peeking out of the crawlspace. She got in but just did not have the jumping ability to get back out. So I go sit down next to the hole and drag her out. Much doggy happiness ensues.

I make dinner, everyone eats and about an hour later I am handing out some scraps to the dogs. One for Jake, Montana, Cordy, Spike, Buster, Molly, and Midge. Midge? Smidge Midge? Where are you? Hmmmm - not here. Where could she be? Back out into the darkness I go. This time I take a flashlight because Midge is jet black. Into the addition - Midge? Woof?scramble scramble. I shine the flashlight toward the crawlspace and in the exact same spot that I had seen Molly there is a little black face and front paws. I pull her out. She goes in the house and alternates between sulking and insisting on sitting on my lap for the next hour. Yes, she is 45 lbs (and one of my smallest dogs at that).

I feel bad cuz who knew she was probably standing right behind Molly when I pulled Molly out but I never saw her. Well it was dark and I mean dark and as a defense for my missing her - she did not make any noise either. I just wonder what she thought when I pulled the cute blonde dog out and then left her all by her lonesome for another hour in the dark :(.

But the main thing we all learned is that Poodles are smart. Yep so smart that they follow their noses into that neat smelling place and then figure out they cannot get back out. So smart they can get into trouble but cannot figure out how to get out of it. Hmmm - sounds a lot like my horses.

On the plus side - I admit to being happy that only two of my dogs can clear a 4 foot fence. Those two would never get stuck in the crawlspace. Wait a minute. Montana was doing chores with me. Could she have possiby led the two girls into trouble and then left them there?? Noooo.