Our Beautiful Chaos

Radar

Thank you those of you who have reached out to see if the blog was still on. Yes, yes it is - but we have a new addition. And Between the new addition, busy work and two young kids - well some days when the day ends I literally melt into the couch.

Welcome Radar!

Piper had been talking about a dog and considering her energy level and where we lived we decided it probably wasn't a horrible idea.

Josh wanted a decker rat terrier. I didn't want a puppy.

So we compromised and adopted Radar. A rat terrier mix.

We were told he was 2-3 years old. Not so sure of that now that we have him.

He is very sweet. High energy. About 98% house trained. Well I should say he's 100% house trained. We're 98% dog trained. See he lived in a crate for far too long and has no potty cues. If I'm on it we have no problems. But he doesn't tell me when he has to go. We're dealing with that.

But he is on voice command, doesn't pull on a leash, is super careful with the kids and knows "down", "no" and "release."

He sleeps through the night. And that means more to me than a couple of accidents in the girls' bathroom.

Random dress up photo from the fun box Grandma Sally sent.

And Moxie helping with the dishes. AKA Brillo pad facial time.

Okay, back to the dog.

So he doesn't chase the cats. Abby took to him in less then 24 hours. Oscar is coming around.

These are out of order, I apologize. But as you can see - he looked like a dog from a 3rd world country. Ever bone visible and stained yellow.

He is now filled out, loves to be bathed and brushed. And is looking quite good. He even grew out of his collar!

Josh and I are not dog people.

We've been laughing about it actually.

He's very sweet though, and for that we're grateful.

Sisters

See that face? That would be the teething face...

Just when I thought we were done.

2 year molars.

Good thing her sister is good at taking her mind off the pain.

But the other thing that cracks us up is that when Moxie is in full teething mode we can tell because all she wants is to be tickled.
"again - again!"

Chores and cuddles

They are just too much...

Hiking buddies

Cece and Ginger's little brother has been looking for something to do these days. Well really his Mom and I love a good afternoon hiking excuse.

Quinton is beyond shy, so Piper's insistence to hold hands...well let's just say he's a good sport about it.

But around here, if you go on a random hike - you come upon some amazing stuff.

Stargazer

I work from home most days and while Moxie naps Piper usually watches a little something so I can have some focused writing time.

Lately she's been into the new Cosmos.

"Mom, we are all made of stardust. Did you know? That means we are stars here on earth."

Before the weather got too brisk I made a bed in the backyard and after Moxie went to bed we spent some time stargazing under down blankets.
She was so amped from the clear milky way cuddled between her parents she didn't sleep well for several nights.
It was worth it.

Well rounded

Josh asks me every other day if I've loaded this photo to the blog.

This September was archery hunting season and Josh got out a lot. But that also meant that Piper was without Daddy a lot. We talked a lot about it. She loves meat, so she grasped the concept of the process. She even became quite interested in Bambi. We had the book from the library and a radio story version as well. She calmly tells me Bambi's Mom was someone's dinner. She was okay with it all as long as no one ate Bambi.

But once we were clear with that she was back to being into the whole wild game thing.

While Josh was not successful in archery season, a generous friend was successful in first season riffle. So we had a large elk to butcher here at home. Piper's fascination increased when she got to hold an elk hear the size of her head.