Rounding Out the Family Members ...

... are the pets!

Okay, okay, it's quite possible I've overdone it on the pets in The House. BUT I CAN'T SEEM TO HELP MYSELF! I mean, what's a girl to do when seeing that little critter who is dumped in a "quarter box" at a garage sale, stuffed in a plastic sandwich bag with really ugly random Christmas ornaments at an antique store or otherwise forgotten in a box of childhood memories? These statements and more are all true when it comes to the pet population of The House members and those family who come to visit! They had to be rescued, amiright ?! Here are their connections to both myself and those who now "own" them:

Inspired by Disney, we have Lady the Cocker Spaniel and Tramp the Dalmation.
Claiming lap rights are Scooter, the orange kitty, and Sweetums, the gray fella.
Their names come from characters on The Muppet Show.

Named for characters in the Arthur series of children's books, which is a very
favorite in our family, we have Francine in the middle of it all with Buster
crouched down and Arthur upright and on alert.

Grandpa Buddy adopted this little one "for" Hollyann.
(He is a master at spoiling her!) He is named Neil
for my personal adoration for Neil Diamond.

Of course Mowgli I MEAN Thurston Howell has the
weird ones! These actually were my own Dad's, and
I remember them from when I was a kid used in the
mountain scenes (long story). Clockwise from the
kitty, we have Shere-Khan, Baloo, King Louie and
Bagheera. They and their boy were all connected to
The Jungle Book until Thurston Howell messed it up.

Penny's little pup is named Aurora for Sleeping Beauty.
She's quiet like Penny. Because Sleeping Beauty sleeps
the entire story.

Richie owns Fonzie the pug. It's the perfect name for the pooch as Richie and
Fonzie are best buds in the Happy Days series. Phoebe passed on the idea of
personally owning a pet. "No thanks," she said. "Five kids," she said.

Here's Roni with Lassie and June. My Girl insisted on one of these as Lassie, so
I figured a connection to the human mom seemed appropriate for the other.

 One of the books My Boy remembers me reading to
him is The Trumpet Of the Swan. We loved that story,
so, in honor of the wonderful swan characters, we have
Louis ...

... and, Serena.

My Boy also has a particular fondness for Corgis, so,
when I saw this at a toy store in Michigan, it had to
come to The House! Meet Cash.

Of course, the household owners figure having a large house means filling it
with all kinds of love!

Frankie the black cat, is named for one of my very first kitties. Bruce and Yadi,
the yellow kitties, are my favorite Cardinal's baseball players. Bruce Sutter
pitched for the Cubs when my family lived in the Chicago area. The year after
we moved to the St. Louis area, he was traded to the Cards. He moved for me, I
just know it. Yadier Molina is the current Cardinals catcher. Any time a friend
goes to a game, I let them know to, "Say hey to Yadi for me. He'll know."

In the neighboring basket is Hal's dog Blossom named for a Riverdale family.
And, that pile of pups? Teddi's the big one with Graham and Bear on top of her!
In the naming process, I was apparently taking too long to think when My Girl
said, "Teddy Graham Bear." And, so it was with a slight change to feminize
Teddi's name.

On the laps are mama kitty Dixie, from the story Because of Winn Dixie, and
kitty Dessa from The Leanin' Dog. Both are stories with good memories of
curling up with my kids and reading out loud to them.

In the back drinking from the dish is neighborhood pup Marbles which is one
of Snoopy's brothers. Polly keeps feeding him to keep him around.

I didn't forget the other! It just happens to be particularly
special to me. This is Eleanor. She is actually named for
my very-favorite-ever dog Elly. Elly was like a shadow
to me. She was so loving and fiercely loyal. I called her
"Eleanor" only when she was doing something wrong. And,
when I say I used her impromptu full name only twice,
I'm totally not kidding. There's only one Elly, though. So,
this is Eleanor. 😊💚

There is just one more pet I can't forget:

Meet Torkle! He is named for my very first goldfish. Torkle was with me three,
strong years. I would seat belt his bowl into the passenger seat of my car
to take him back and forth to college with me. I loved that little fish, and he had
the coolest name. So, why not immortalize him here?!

That's it!! For nowwww ... hahahahaha! My Girl will see me discover a pet at a store or antique shop and waste no time saying, "No. You have enough." And, then I promptly ignore her if the animal is awesome. So, I make no promises that there won't be additions! But, this is the family for now ...