Not a good promotional picture for Jdrf, but....

Only my children would think bacon is an ice cream topping

Max keeps Gracie safe at the pool

The girls grandparents stopped in town today to visit and invited the girls to come swimming at their hotel. Now, anyone how knows my girls, knows they jumped on that:). I realized this would also be a great training time for Max too, since he will be spending a lot of time poolside this summer. I thought it best to check Gracie's BG before I let her jump in; I asked Max if we needed to check and he just looked at me (his way of saying "no"). He was dead on - a perfect 137. Fifteen minutes later he alerts so we check; she's down to 99. Good check Max. Then about 20 minutes later he sits straight up, looks at Gracie in the pool and let's out a single bark. I look over at Gracie and call her in to test. She suddenly gets a funny look on her face as she's heading for the steps to get out of the water and says "Mommy, I feel low". We test. 49! Max helped us avert a potentially very dangerous situation. Had he not alerted us, Gracie would've probably kept swimming and not have stopped long enough to realize she didn't feel right. I can't even begin to express how thankful I am for this adorable, furry little guardian angel who spends his life looking out for my Gracie and keeping her safe.

Max at the pool

My handsome boy

All dressed up and nowhere to go. Poor little guy...this is what happens when you live in a house full of girls.

Max is hitting Puberty

I know, we all have an idea of what service dogs are like...well trained, good manners, super dog:). Well, they are all of that but they also start out, just like every other dog, as a puppy. Puppies hit their teenage phase somewhere between 6-9 months old. Just like your two legged teenagers, sometimes you just want to lock em up and throw away the key. Max William is heading into his teenager phase. Thankfully, due to his fabulous trainer getting me in gear, he's easily handled but that doesn't mean he's going to stay out of trouble all the time. He is after all, a pubescent boy looking for fun. For some reason, Max feels he has to drag all his blankets out of his kennel every morning and scatter them around the family room (aka Max's room). He is also as bad as my girls at leaving his toys scattered about as well. This morning, somehow, he managed to get a roll of paper towels off the kitchen counter and then proceeded to TP his room. Yep, he's definitely all boy. Now he owes me $1.86 for that new roll of paper towels...he'd better be finding a way to earn a little money to pay Mom back;)

Max goes to school

As most of you know, we are a home school family. Of course Max is in school each day with us and patiently waits for recess time so he can play with his girl. Today, Gracie thought he was cold, so she covered him up with her favorite blanket. Here's a few pictures of Max and Gracie during reading time.

Out and about with Max William

Max has grown up so much recently; it never ceases to amaze me. He is not only continuing to do an amazing job alerting to Gracie's blood sugar, but his obedience and public access training is coming along beautifully too. Today we took him to Omaha for some new places and experiences to practice in. He was golden! He stayed right at my side at all times, stayed as invisible as possible everywhere we went, didn't get distracted by children wanting to pet him, didn't flinch when a football landed near him, slept under the table at lunch, potties on command before going into the stores, never once whimpered or whined, I can go on but will leave it at "he's my good boy":).

Snow Day

It's the first real blizzard of the winter here an Max is loving it. His first time out the door this morning, he wasn't so certain about it. But, as the day has progressed, so has his love of snow:). He especially loves having some cute little snow bunnies to romp with.

Lost In Fun

I decided that Max was ready for the big time today so off we head to Lost In Fun, an indoor play center. So far so good:)