Annie and Paul's Room

     You know that curse your mother put on you as a kid, "May you have a child just like you one day."  I swear it comes true even if your kids are furry and 4 legged.  I wasn't a tidy kid, and more times than not, I remember my parents going into my room to clean it for me (Not what I'd recommend to any young readers out there, no matter how good it sounds).  Obviously, Annie and Paul aren't going to clean their own room.  They'll clean up the kibble on the floor they haven't eaten, but that's about it.  We went away for a few days a while ago, and I hate to leave the house a mess when I'm out of town.  (I like coming home and not feeling like I need to clean right away)  At the top of the list "to be cleaned" was Annie and Paul's room.

I'm sure this wasn't what my great aunt had in mind when she said I could have this dresser, but it's what works for us.  All of Annie and Paul's no sew fleece blankets are in here (after being washed of course).  The top drawer also has a window fan that we put in the window during mild weather to pull fresh air into the room.  The TV on top is unplugged, but at one time, we'd leave the weather channel on all day for Annie and Paul to listen to while we were away.  

I picked up the thing to elevate their feeding bowls at IKEA on a whim a few years ago, and when I went back they weren't sold any more.  The big green container was from packing for college freshman year, now it holds Annie and Paul's food.

Paul doing his no look pose.  The mattress and box spring were my bed when I moved to VA after college, now A&P have taken it as their bed.  The good news is when I sleep with them, it's pretty comfy.  It's also a warm place for them to sleep in the winter.

The pile of dog beds is usually where Paul sleeps.  Different ones have been collected at different times, but they've all stood up to Paul so far.  It's another comfy place for the pups to crash out.  

When I went back to IKEA a year after getting the food dish risers, I was dismayed to find they stopped carrying them.  I took a collection of old encyclopedias (from the 1960's) and used them to elevate Annie and Paul's water dishes.  In close the window weather, they sit under the window, but in open window weather we move them.  Otherwise they tend to become a dead bug collection.  

Not the best picture, but one of my favorite new things in their room.  I've walked into A&P's room to feed/water/ ask "what are you barking at" several times in the dark.  And I'm always afraid of, "What am I about to walk into?"  This night light is from IKEA and it's got a little light sensor on the top of it.  So in the day time, it turns itself off and turns itself on at night.  It's tucked between the food and the dresser and I now know what's where in their room when I walk in at midnight.

PS- Here's an earlier look into Annie and Paul's room on how we "crate" them when we're gone.