Do you remember last year when the cat with electric eyes had kittens? Well, they’ve all grown up and most of them are at their new ‘furever homes’; only Fonda Jr and Orange Ears still live here.

But a few months ago, we had a pretty little cat start eating with the other cats outside. She is a tuxedo cat and she’s very pretty- but when she first came here, she was in bad shape. Her back legs were bloody and scraped, and she was very thin. She wouldn’t let Dad or Mom pet her. The other cats helped take care of her and she finally got better.

Boy were we surprised when we saw she was pregnant- we thought she was a boy!  She had her kittens a few weeks ago and we finally saw them last week. They are so pretty! When Dad found them, they weren’t in a safe place so he moved them. When we saw them, Scout and I smelled of them really good, too. Tux didn’t seem to mind as long as we’re nice. And she finally lets us rub against her some instead of running.

When Tux first came, Ms Kimmie said she thought some dogs had hurt her, which is why she’s still a little afraid. But I’m glad she’s getting better and knows that we don’t want to hurt her. Even when we chase the other cats, we just want to play.

I don’t know why some animals are mean to other animals, and I really don’t understand why some people are mean to animals.  Dad says some people just don’t know that God loves animals too. I’m glad God loves us and wants us taken care of. Did you know the Bible talks about taking care of animals?

Proverbs 12:10 “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.”

Luke 12:6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.”

Dad says he knows Jesus loves little kids – there’s even some songs that say it. “Jesus Loves Me” and “Jesus Loves the Little Children” are both good songs….

Dad says one of the reasons God loves little kids is because they are real. I’m not sure, but I think he means that little kids don’t pretend to be something they’re not. When they’re sad, or happy, or mad, that’s just what they are.

Mom says that dogs like me and Scout are the same way.  When I get scared or nervous, I lay down close to the ground or floor and try to hide.  And when Scout thinks she’s done something wrong,  she crawls under our bed. The only way they can get her out  is for Dad to whistle or Mom to talk to me about something outside our room – then Ms Nosy Britches will come out to see what we’re talking about.

Mom says even so, it’s hard for her to remember that as little as I am, sometimes I know more than she does. Just this morning, I kept coming up to her, patting her leg, telling her I wanted to go out. She finally got up and took us out- and guess what? The guy was here to pick up his trailer! I knew it because I could hear him, even if Mom couldn’t.

I sure wish more folks would learn to be like little kids and pups – we don’t pretend to be stronger than we are. We know we have to trust Someone else to help take care of us.  It’s easy for us to trust Jesus, because we know He loves us and wants what’s best for us. Sometimes grownups think they know more, or think they can handle some stuff on their own.

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He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.  And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 18:2-4

Last week the folks at our church (Luverne First Assembly) made camp stew. On Friday the ladies peeled and chopped potatoes and onions, while the men cooked the meat.

Then they brought the meat in and put it in tubs to cool – and this is where the story turns GREAT.  They had to take the meat off the bones and pull it all apart – beef, chicken and pork.

And guess who got some of the bones? Yep, me and Scout. Mom brought us each a big pork bone home and we chewed on them the rest of the day.

It was YUMMY.

I wonder when they’re gonna make camp stew again?

Dad and Mom are getting everything set up for this year’s bike blessing.  It’s going to be right down the road from our house this time, and I want to go!   I didn’t remember what a bike blessing is, so Dad told me that lots of people bring their cars, trucks, bicycles and especially motorcycles. Then Dad and Mom and I, and some of our good friends, will pray over the rider and their vehicle.  We’re going to pray that they stay safe on the road and that God touches their lives.

It’s going to be on April 22 at the Shriner’s Building at 10 – where we start Spyder’s toy run.  Mom said to make sure I told everybody that we’ll have coffee and yummy donuts; it will be OK if you drop some, because I’ll be sure to pick it up.

Afterwards, the Crenshaw County Animal Society is going to have a poker run.  That’s going to be fun too- last year our friend Lily got adopted into her forever home, and our friends Ziggy and Ms Sharon and Mr John P came down and talked to everybody about how great it is to have a dog friend. Ziggy helps make sure Ms Sharon stays healthy, which is so cool! I don’t have an important job like that – I just keep Mom and Dad company while they work, and I make sure nobody comes off the road to get into our yard.  (Scout helps, too.)

Come out and see us! I promise you’ll have a good time, and you’ll be helping a good cause at the same time.

Ha! Scout thought she was smart, talking Mom into letting her say something last week; she needs to remember this is a Note from HOPE, not Scout.

So anyway… Mom took this picture of us the other day, while we were trying to ‘share’ the same stick. Mom likes to hold the stick up and see who can jump the highest – she says that Scout needs to build up her muscles, and I think she also likes it when we come inside and sleep a while.  She heard somebody say a tired dog is a good dog. I don’t know what that means but I think it means she likes to rest while we nap.

But if you’ll look at this picture really close, you’ll see that Scout and I were both trying to pull the stick from the same spot – Scout would back up a while, and then I would back up a while. Nobody was winning, we were just dragging each other around the yard.

Dad says that we are both smart dogs, and we’re both strong too. He says one of these days, when we both get a little older, that we’ll be a force to be reckoned with – I don’t know what that means either, but I think it means we’re going to work together and be better than when we work against each other.

I really do like playing with Scout,  even though sometimes it looks like we’re mad at each other when we’re playing. We’re both growling and showing our teeth and Scout’s hackles are up; we try to throw each other down; we take toys away from each other, and tease each other with them.  We even chew on each other – but we would never really try to hurt each other.  If we didn’t have each other, we could chase the kittens around the yard, or run after the tennis balls, or eat out of each other’s bowl…. what fun would that be?

Dad says that we’re learning what this means:

Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
 If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
 Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.  Ecc. 4:9-12

I told Mom I thought it was only fair that she lets me talk sometimes- Hope has all the fun, telling stories and being on the website- so now it’s MY turn.

So here’s what I want to talk about – sticks. I love sticks- I like chewing them, I like carrying them – and if they’re still sticking in the ground, I like trying to jump up and grab them.  There’s a great big one still sticking in the ground in the backyard, but Mom says to leave it alone so we can eat figs this summer.

I was carrying a great big stick the other day, and Hope had to come up and grab it. She tried to take it away from me, but I wouldn’t let her. We ran all over the yard pulling the stick. Ha! I finally won because Hope gave up and picked up a cup that blew into the yard.

I wanted to stick out my tongue at Hope – she’s so bossy! She always tells Dad and Mom when I do something wrong.  And I think she likes it when I mess up – she thinks she’s so great.

But Dad reminded me that Hope and I are sisters, and we’re supposed to love each other and help each other. He reminded me about when I was little and Hope taught me all about living here.

So I’m going to be nice to her- she really is fun to play with; I just have to remember the verse Dad taught me: I can do all things through him who strengthens me.  Phil. 4:13

Just remember that Jesus loves you, just like he loves Hope and me; and he’ll help you get through anything, if you’ll just ask him – even if it means being nice to your big sister!

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Here’s the doll that Mom has been working on! Scout and I were pretty leery of her at first- she looks real, and we thought she was going to get up and play with us, but I don’t guess she is real. She sits very still and looks at us; I think it creeps Scout out – she keeps barking at her. We’re going to take her down to Florala, to Cancer Freeze, on Saturday.

Her name is Bleau Victorious,  after our friend Bleau who used to live out near Jennifer and Daniel.  She’s battling cancer and is going to be victorious too! Mom’s got a whole bunch of pictures on our Facebook page if you’d like to see them- they’re here.

Mom and I hope everyone will come see us and buy lots of tickets – all the money we raise will go to the Cancer Freeze folks who help local people battling cancer. I don’t know exactly what cancer is, but it must be pretty bad to have so many people fighting it.

See ya’ll Saturday!

I don’t know why, but Mom got real excited the other day.  She came in with this thing here and took it to her sewing room. I know it looks kinda like a tomato, but that’s not what it is.

Then she took this bowl that was full of pins and needles and started sticking them in this thing. Now I know that sounds crazy- I mean, how many people do you know who keep pins and needles in a bowl? But I know how they got there. See, Scout got up on Mom’s desk and got the other one, that was full of pins and needles and…. well, let’s just say that pins and needles and sawdust were all over the floor of the den. EVERYWHERE.

So after Mom looked all in Scout’s mouth to see if she was bleeding, she got Dad’s big magnet and picked them all up and put them in a bowl.  The next time she went shopping, she couldn’t find of these things. But Grandmama helped her find one so Mom was really happy.

So now Mom has a new tomato thingy full of pins and needles.

I just wish I knew why Mom and Dad keep calling us goats… I mean really? Just because we like to chew up stuff, like shoes, and we eat paper and try to eat cat food cans, and Scout likes to sleep on top of the sofa… oh, never mind.

What do you think? are we really goats, or are we just silly dogs?

The other night I heard Mom and Dad talking- something about freezing and a lake. I know- that sounds crazy, right? And after Mom put that tree in the living room, I was wondering what the next crazy thing was going to be- and I think this is it.

She told Dad about these folks who PAY MONEY to jump in the lake down at Florala. They don’t get paid- they pay money to jump in. But then she told him why – you see, there are some good folks who live in Florala, and they like to help people who need it. So they started an event called Cancer Freeze– every year on the first Saturday in February, they do all kinds of things to raise money to help local folks who are fighting cancer.

They have a pancake breakfast, a fun run (and you know I love to run!), fishing, chili cookoff, auction,  a car and bike show and I don’t know what else.

But Mom is going to be there- in fact she’s making a biker doll to raffle off. (Dad can’t go this time because he can’t get off work.)  I can’t wait for her to finish it! Scout tried to help by chewing on the yarn Mom got for her hair, but Mom made her leave it alone.  As soon as she finishes it I’ll put a picture up so you can see it. She’s gonna be wearing a tie dye t-shirt and jeans, and maybe even chaps and a vest.

So I want YOU to come by and see us – bring lots of money to spend on tickets for the doll, and to buy some chili and some pancakes, and to run, and just to donate!

On Thursday nights, Dad goes to church for the men’s prayer meeting, and Mom has some of her friends over for Bible study.

I like it when her friends come over – they pray and talk about stuff in the Bible, and eat snacks (last night, one of the ladies brought vanilla wafers, which are yummy).  They let me have some of the snacks sometimes, but that’s not the main reason I like it.

And I get to come visit with them, but Scout has to stay in the crate- Mom says it’s because she’s still working on her manners and Mom doesn’t want her to accidentally scratch someone or jump on them. But that’s not the main reason I like it either.

I really like it when company comes because they love on me like Dad and Mom do- they pet me and baby-talk me (even though I’m not a baby). Sometimes when they sit on the sofa, I can get up and sit beside them. Ms. Betty has a cat, and I like smelling of her so I can get to know her cat. (I really like to kiss Ms. Betty’s ear because she giggles when I do.)

Dad says that everybody wants to be loved; everybody, even little dogs like me.  He says that’s what the folks who follow Jesus are supposed to do- we’re supposed to love them, even if they aren’t very lovable sometimes. We have to love them and show them Jesus, and tell them the truth about Him and about how to get to Heaven.

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John 14:5 Thomas said unto him, Lord, we know not where you go; and how can we know the way?

6 Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.

7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also: and from henceforth you know him, and have seen him.

8 Philip said unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it will satisfy us.

9 Jesus said unto him, Have I been so long a time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father; and how say you then, Show us the Father?