The Reason We're Not a Very Welcoming Bunch

As the newest print in our home suggests, we are so happy to be back in our home sweet sunshine state! In the two months since I have posted last, we have busy little bees: a cross country move, traveling, visiting with family, and tackling our first round of many makeover sessions for Miss Shania. In the next few days, I'll give you a virtual tour of the progress we've made on our home, so stick with me, I promise I'll finally get to it! All I can say is that we are loving being home owners and loving being in Jacksonville even more.

Since I'm not quite ready to take you on the tour yet, I thought I'd introduce you to the newest addition to our family and a related craft project!

First things first: We rescued another dog! His name is Rigby, and he's a chihuahua/ terrier mix. He's a year and a half old and weighs in at only 13 pounds. After a short two weeks, he's already part of the family and loves his new home. Rigby gets along great with Lucy, our four year old Australian cattle dog (Rigby and Lucy. Yep, we like The Beatles. Who doesn't?). He adores and protects Everett. He's quite the mama's boy. He's house trained, potty trained, and well behaved. And I'm happy on all accounts!

Here's a picture of Lucy and Rigby snuggling. They love to find sunny spots on the carpet together. I swear, this isn't posed. They're already best friends!

I have to say though, our home was already very well balanced before bringing home another dog, and I'd be lying if we said we weren't skeptical. Lucky for us, he's fantastic. I can't tell you how relieved we are that he's doing so well! Although, since he is already very protective of us and his new home, he is having some issues with the heavy foot traffic in our neighborhood. He's getting better, but his occasional discontempt for dog walkers and school children is nothing compared to how he feels, and sounds, when someone comes to the door. When Lucy joins in, it's definitely a nap and bed time ruiner for poor Everett (and poor mama). The other night when the UPS man rang the doorbell after bed time AGAIN, I thought maybe I could get crafty and help our new little fella out.  

Here's where the new puppy related craft comes in! I decided that with all this barking, I wanted a message for our door. I wanted it to be cute and clever, but most importantly I wanted it to ward of unwelcome guests while Everett is sleeping. I also wanted it to be a subtle hint for the UPS and FedEx guys with their incredibly persistent knocking. So I came up with this: "Please don't knock or ring the doorbell. The dogs will bark and mama will bite." What do you think? Did I find a happy medium between: "beware of dog," and, "this house is protected by the good Lord and a gun?" I realize this officially makes us the least neighborly folks on the block, but heck, I don't care... I just hope it works!

I figure the least I can do, especially after leaving you guys in the dark for over two months, is offer to share! So if you like my little message, download it, use it, share it with a friend. I'm by no means a graphic designer, but I'm sure I'm not the only one in an, "If those dogs wake the baby one more time, I'll scream," boat!

Just right click, save, and print away. Of course, just don't pass it off as your own and we're alllllll goooood. =)

***UPDATE***
So I feel like the worlds biggest dummy. Not everyone in my boat has multiple dogs. Here's a new printable to correct that for all of you one-dog people! Enjoy!

If you have a cat that barks and wakes up your baby, I think you may have bigger problems, my friend...

Thanks for sticking with me. I'm so glad to be back and we really do have so much to catch up on! Stay tuned and I'll have all kinds of home updates, how to redecorate on the cheap, and even some carpentry projects. Get excited!