Crazy Sofia

Just a few random pics of Fia...

Check out those raccoon eyes - must be swim season!

Silly Face

Always happy when Maxx plays Bionicles with her!

Chocolate Face!

Cheese!

Exhaustion!

Little Ninja Graduation!

In June 2011 Sofia graduated from the Little Ninja program and joined the official White Belt class.

Miss Pozon awarding her her new Hi-White Belt.

Standing at Attention

Yay, Sofia!  We are so proud of you!  A Black Belt is a White Belt who never gave up!  You're on your way.

Family Party

On her actual birthday, Sofia had cupcakes and opened presents with the family.

Her very own Legos!

Love that sweet face!

Her unprepared mom forgot to buy candles!

 We love you Sofia and are so glad you came to our family 5 yrs. ago.

Sofia turns 5!

For Sofia's 5th birthday, she had her first friend party!  Being that it is June in Arizona, it had to include water.

Sporting her new swimsuit!

All decked out - googles and all!

Slip N Slide!

Gotta cool off the buns!

Pool!

The man in charge

 Our Fearless Life Guard!

She was very good to just sit there and take it, until...

We told her she could fight back!

Gavin

Marri

 Cupcakes & Ice Cream

Animal Cupcakes

Birthday Girl

Opening Presents

Conditional Black Belt

I guess I need to back up almost a year and recap the events...

In June 2011, Maxx earned his conditional black belt!

He had to do a 5k run and a Qualifier work-out!

All the testing Black Belts at the 5k

Then the TEST!  

My camera never takes good pictures from the bleachers - even when I don't get the wall in the pic.

Marco, Maxx, Vladi, & Jacob

 

 

These four boys have been together for years working toward their black belt!  They are just beaming with happiness.  They PASSED!

The Extravaganza!

With Master Preston

Sporting the new belt

We are so proud of Maxx and the hard work that went into getting his conditional Black Belt!

Daisy

It's funny how the heart works - with your mind - and with your emotions.  It's crazy how a few innocent pictures - happy pics at that - can cause turmoil and cause you to abandon something you enjoyed before.  I haven't always been up-to-date with my blog.  I can go a few months without posting, but it's been almost a year now.  A wise friend told me recently, that I needed to start back up, that she knew the reason I hadn't posted, and that it was time to get back to it.  That was over a month ago - possibly longer.  I avoided even looking at our blog, and it still hurts to see it.  My last post introduced new family members and how amazing our "old" family member was welcoming them into our home.  I look back on it now and see how naive and ignorant I was.  I knew Daisy was a one-dog household type dog - the one and only Alpha dog.  We had tried before to welcome another dog.  Daisy tolerated it for awhile, but ultimately we had to find a new home for her.  We had resigned ourselves to having only Daisy.  We were good with that.  Well, I started thinking it would be good for Maxx to have a dog of his own.  One he could raise that would help him in multiple ways.  When I was young, my brother's dog was that for me.  She was my confidant and friend when I needed it.  I wanted Maxx to have the same.  It would be good for him.  And it would have, if it would have been good for Daisy.  Daisy was amazing.  You saw my previous post.  She was such the maternal figure.  She took in the cat and Sage and taught them, but even her maternal instincts could not suppress her alpha dog nature.  Looking back (hindsight is always better) I could see Daisy's tolerance lowering.  She loved us, so she loved them, and she tried so hard.  I know she did, but her family couldn't see it.  I didn't want to see it.  I didn't want to devastate my only son who loved his dog by finding it a new home.  I thought Daisy could handle it.  Well, one day in October (Sage's birthday - my brother Greg's birthday) she decided it wasn't working anymore.  She got into with Sage - started a fight.  Well, this fight wasn't going to end.  Abby had left just before to walk Sofia to a friend's house - which I am forever grateful for.  Maxx was out back on the swing with the dogs.  We don't know if Daisy felt there was a threat to Maxx (She was ALWAYS looking out for the kids.), or if Sage did something that made Daisy feel threatened, but a fight was started.  Maxx came running in to tell me.  My yelling at Daisy and Sage didn't work.  I told Maxx to get Juan on the phone - Daisy ALWAYS listens to Juan.  He tried yelling, whistling, everything, but she wouldn't respond.  Sage was still "new" to us - still learning.  She was such a timid, docile thing, but she fought back.  At that point Juan told me to get Maxx out of there - he was on his way home, and he didn't want Maxx witnessing the fight.  I called a close friend to see if he could go there.  Of course he could was her response, and she sent her police officer husband over to help.  By the time he got there they had been going at it for 40 minutes.  There was a lot of blood, and they were starting to get tired.  Thankfully he was able to distract and separate them.  Juan came home soon after and cleaned them up what he could and called my brother, Greg - our veterinarian of choice.  He said to bring them in - on his birthday no less.  I don't know, if I've ever apologized to him for bringing sadness to his birthday.  Before he left with the dogs, Juan and I discussed what we should do.  Daisy was getting older - her tolerance was diminishing and from the days events becoming unpredictable.  Sage - we didn't know what this fight would cause her to become.  She was "new" and hadn't developed the trust as much.  We knew we couldn't live with ourselves, if the kids got into the middle of a dog fight, or if someone else or some other dog was hurt.  We decided to put them down.  It was not an easy decision, but we knew in our hearts it had to be done.  Juan took them to Greg and stayed with them til the end.  Daisy was one of ours - is one of ours.  She will always be a part of us.  I know she was "just a dog", but her passing has been so hard.  I blame myself still - I know I shouldn't, but I also know I should've known and seen it coming.  I was one of those "bad owners" of the sweetest pit bull ever.  She blessed our family so much, and would have continued to do so had I let myself see what was happening.  She was doing her best in a situation she could not control.  Part of the reason I haven't said much about all this is the reputation pit bulls have.  If you knew Daisy or even most any other pit, you would know their sweetness and loyalty.  It takes a special owner - one who will be responsible and train them and respect their power - one who will not push them beyond their capabilities.  I am determined to be that owner.  I have learned so much, I just wish I hadn't learned it this way.  I don't know exactly what happens in Heaven with dogs, animals, etc.  But I do hope she will be with us - a part of our eternal family.

Newest Family Members

Call us crazy....

Within a months time we went from having one dog to having two dogs, one kitten, and a fish.

One morning Abby woke up saying she heard a cat outside her window.  As our neighborhood is full of cats, we didn't think anything of it.  Later in the afternoon (on our way to piano lessons), we heard it again.  After investigating (and being late for piano in the process), we found a little kitty stuck inside a garbage can on the side of the house.  We attempted to find a good home for him, but fell in love in the process.  Tobi is now a part of the Lopez household.

A couple weeks later (Father's Day), Juan came home with Sage, an 8 month old pitbull.  A co-worker could no longer care for her.  Of course, we all fell in love with her and her very cute, expressive ears.

We decided that Maxx should raise Sage as his own.  The crate is in his room, he's in charge of scooping and walking, etc.  We gave Tobi to Abby, as she is the cat whisperer in the family.  Sofia felt left out and luckily agreed a fish would be an awesome pet.  I tried to convince her how wonderful a betta fish would be.  She, of course, had other plans that included Goldie, the goldfish.  Well, Goldie passed on to fishy heaven within 24 hrs.  I am unsure whether she was flushed or just thrown away, since Fia took in upon herself to take care of it.  We now have a betta named Gooey.

How is Daisy with all of this you might ask?  Awesome!  You couldn't ask for a better dog.  For those of you that know her...she has 7 cats under her collar.  Juan introduced them and informed Daisy that Tobi was a friend.  At first Daisy wanted nothing to do with the enemy.

Pic taken on Juan's phone - sorry it's blurry.

Then Daisy became curious.  Now they are friends.  Tobi even eats/drinks out of the dog bowls.  When Sage came into the picture, Daisy put her in her place.  I never, ever thought I would see the day when my cat killing pitbull would defend a kitten from another dog.  Even Sage and Tobi can been seen playing together.  Of course, every time I try to get a pic of it my camera is missing, or they stop when I try.  Hopefully soon, I can post "proof" of the amiability.  Sage is a more submissive dog.  Daisy had to teach her how to play.  Crazy!  Sage is even mellower than Daisy.  They fit really well together.  There is no Alpha-dog battles between them like there were with Fergie.  

Now the question is "What do we do with them all when we go out of town???"