Pirate Kelly

Wynn hates being alone... a lot. Even if he isn't doing anything with you, he'd rather sit in a room with someone and do nothing then be doing some fun by himself. So I've racked my brain with how we would deal with the eventual need for his own room. Sydney is already ready to have a girl's only space and her own privacy from boy eyes. It's funny how naturally she just became more self aware and more modest. It's awesome to see her grow up and mature. Anyway, Wynn needs his own room.... but he'll hate it if he is alone. My solution - a dog.

I started doing research a few months ago on different dog breeds that would meet our needs. It needed to be short haired, mostly indoor, cat, rabbit, and kid friendly... in that order! J/K. I didn't want to have to walk it everyday or have a hyper, yapper dog that would just add to the chaos around the house. According to a quiz I took on the AKC website, our best type of dog would be a greyhound. Hmmm... so I kept my eyes peeled for a couple of different breeds and we visited the shelter a few times to see what was available locally.

One day on my way to take Wynn to school the thought came to me to call the shelter just to check what they had. I had trouble finding their number and actually ended up talking to the wrong place... but the thought kept coming back so I took the time to find the right number and gave them a call.

"Do you have any small/med adult dogs? Good with kids and cat?" Imagine my surprise when they said they had a greyhound that fit that description. She had been there a few weeks and came in as a stray. They were trying to transfer to another facility the next day. Naturally, I took the kids in that afternoon. We spent several hours there getting acquainted and after seeing how she interacted with the kids. Listened to my and their commands, was gentle, didn't lick or jump, was not aggressive to the cats or bunny at the shelter... my mind was made up. In fairness I did send Andy a warning text!

Her name is Kelly. and she is Wynn's dog. He wanted to call her pirate... so Pirate Kelly if we are getting technical. She is about 7 by the vets estimate and a sweetheart. We did have to have one of her teeth pulled, but other than that she is in good health. Wynn gets to feed her, take her out to go potty, clean her poop, brush her, walk her, etc etc and HE IS A CHAMP AT IT! I have been so impressed with his initiative to get up first thing and come get her from our room and take her out. He doesn't complain when we ask him to clean up after her or take care of her and all the kids have really bonded with her. She is getting used to our house really well and completely ignores our neighbor dogs, Nemesis, and is only slightly interested in Blanco. We are in the process of teaching her to come reliably because the few times we have tried to exercise her fully, she doesn't come back when called. At her speed, she could easily get hurt or lost. If you didn't know, greyhounds can run up to 40 mph so for now she only gets slow walks every few days. Greyhounds however are known to be very lazy dogs and she is perfectly content to lay around the house or yard all day with a few bouts of energy throughout the day where she jumps around and sprints as much as she can.

I feel so blessed to have found a great fit for our family and for Wynn. We are all happy to have her. :)

Abby's Big Bed

I got very ambitious one day and decided I would sew a quilt for Abby's bed. Up until then she had been using Sydney's old Tinkerbell comforter. Abby loves Minnie Mouse though so I started in on it. It was actually fun since there were so many different pieces and techniques required to finish it that I'd never done before. I ended up hand sewing the majority of the Minnie applique and that was a LOT of work, but I'm happy with how it turned out..... I really hope she likes it for a long time! She gets to feel so big now that she sleeps in a twin bed and can get in and out by herself. She doesn't take as long of naps though as too be expected since she can get up and play instead! In a few months, she'll be ready to move in and share a room with Sydney and Wynn will get his own room-more on that to come.

Newport for Spring Break

We went to Newport for Spring break with my parents. I LOVE THE OCEAN! It makes my heart so happy. The sight, the sound, the smell all of it just seems like home to me somehow. The kids were thrilled. We got to do lots of fun things. Since Sydney's birthday was over Spring Break we got to celebrate it there with Grandma and Grandpa Pack. It was very special to Sydney to have them around to celebrate her birthday with us. She really wanted to go look at tide pools on her birthday, but the weather didn't cooperate. We did get to some tide pools another day and she had a lot of fun. Wynn got SOAKED. in his Iron man pj's he insisted on wearing, almost immediately but he was a trooper and hung in there until we were ready to leave. We ever had a seal watching us wobble around on the rocks. I really think he thought we were crazy! The waves were so huge they came up and over the rocks once and knocked even me down a bit. We visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium as well as the Hatfield Marine Science Center during our visit. I really enjoyed the science center, which was a pleasant surprise since neither Andy or I had ever heard of it. There were so many cool salt water tanks and hands on exhibits for the kids to explore. When they are a few years older we could spend a lot more time there. /Andy and Dad's request was that we set some crab pots so we did and they enjoyed their crab macaroni dinner even though we only caught 6 small red crab. I tried it again, but alas, I still don't have a taste for them. Another day, w

e saw sea lions down at the bay front and, true to tradition, bought tons of freshly made salt water taffy. It was very yummy! we got so many flavors though we couldn't keep track to know which kind we liked best. Our hike to the lighthouse reminded me so much of the forest in Alaska I got slightly sad and reminiscent. I had never visited a light house before and it was beautiful. I'm glad I didn't have to live by one and care for it decades ago however. That would have been a HARD, isolated life. I'm so glad we got some sunshine and got to enjoy the beautiful coast with mom and dad. It was a great experience with lots of fun memories made. Looking forward to a return to the beach sometime soon....ish!

7 years

A garden/nature party for the girls

I walked Sydney and eight of her friends home to our house from school one Thursday afternoon for Sydney's 7th birthday party. Sydney and her friends have started a nature club at recess where they find nature stuff and chase away the dragons... (boys). Naturally, she wanted a nature party where they basically did the same thing. She had a treasure hunt where they collected nature items and then made art out of what they found. We pinned bees on a pinata and smashed a beehive pinata Sydney and I made together. They all jumped on the trampoline at once and it got a little crazy but had so much fun. At the close, they all danced with Just Dance Kids on the Kinect. They were so cute to watch!

Sydney is becoming a very considerate, smart young lady. She still includes Wynn in almost everything she does and is eager to help mom and dad. She likes to learn how to care for the house and cook and is becoming a real help to me. Sydney still loves quiet time to herself though and can curl up and read or draw for hours on her own. She loves art the most. Her favorite person to make things for is Wynn. I love when I find cards, paper airplanes, pictures, folded papers or "Origami" that she has made for Wynn that always say how much she loves him. I find them multiple times a week. We love her very much and are proud to see her grow to make good choices and become an awesome girl.

Winter camping

 We camp in the winter. This is our second year going up to Anthony Lakes to camp in early March. Its SO FUN! A bunch of mom without their kids... doing kid stuff and having fun in the snow. What's not to like? It really isn't cold.... Meg and Amy kept us all geared up so we stay warm. We did more cross country skiing this year and sledding. I got some awesome air off the jump.... or "cliff" you can see below. We made lots of memories and had lots of laughs about Meg not knowing how to put on Sydney's hot pink lip gloss for her chapped lips and how my snow pants kept breaking more and more as the weekend went on. By the end I had to tie them on! Guess its time for new pants for next year... I'll definitely be there.