Happy Halloween!

Tonight was the Hays Public Library's Halloween party for pre-schoolers. It was a lot of fun, as usual. I'm impressed with how much HPL does for the kiddos, it's really great. These kids were WOUND UP! Wow! I think they ran 30 laps in our driveway before we even left!

Elijah as Buzz Lightyear, Isaac as Woody, Greg as a T-Rex, Chloe as Jessie, and Jaylen as a bumble bee.

Exhausted cowboys!

Alpaca Days!

Every year a local alpaca farm hosts Alpaca Days for the public. Last year Robynn took Chloe but this year we all went. And an event like this is even better with Little Greg by Chloe's side:) Here are some pictures!

Jaylen kept saying "Puppy! Puppy!" She's such a doll.

This one we named Lyle Lovett. No explanation necessary.

Decorating alpaca cookies.

I think Chloe had plenty of icing!

I think these two were my favorite!

Isaac on the phone

These videos are of Isaac on the phone with my dad, or "Granddad" as the kids call him. It was so funny because Isaac was pacing back and forth, and putting his hands on his hips, and even scratching below the diaper in the back. Hilarious! Unfortunately where he was standing his 'scratching' hand was in the shadow but hopefully you can see a little bit.

Charlie's new "bling"

An update on Charlie. Wow, what a good dog. His behavior is like none we've seen in our house, and if you know Lexi, you know this is a compliment to Charlie ! haha! No, Lexi is a good dog she's just full of energy. Charlie is too, but he is more obedient and calm when needed.

Each day is a new milestone for him. We've had plenty of potty accidents in the house but overall he's getting more comfortable each day. The first two days we kind of let him hide as he pleased as we knew it was so overwhelming to be in a new place. But now he's coming out of his shell a bit and is playful, friendly, puts his ears back and wags his tail. He'll lay down in the living room when we're watching TV, although the TV was one thing he had to get used to. He had never heard noise coming from a funny machine like that and was very confused. It was cute. But now he is acting more like a family dog and joining us more often. He and Lexi go round and round outside so overall he is the dog and companion we really wanted and needed for Lexi.

Here's Charlie--showing off his new bling! Wow, a real family!

He actually looks much bigger in this picture than he actually is.

Oh yeah....GO CATS!!!!

The flash doesn't let the powercat glow in the picture as it does in person.

Pumpkin Patch 2010

Pumpkin Patch! So much fun! Here we are on the tractor ride to the pumpkins. We had to get another orange drink, just like last year. This year Isaac was a drink hog and he had the orange mustache to prove it!

Typical Chloe!

Isaac was REEEAALLLYYY trying to lift this one!

Here is our collection. Chloe was guarding them while we waited for the returning tractor ride.

Isaac digging in the dirt, showing off his big-boy underwears!

Chloe got to ride the rides this year, including the zip-line. She had so much fun!

Isaac was less than thrilled with his sister's smothering.

Happy Fall!

A new dog!

Charlie on left, Lexi behind Chloe.

We got a new dog today! Doerfler's Harley Davidson held adoptions for Western Plains Animal Shelter. We've been thinking about adopting a dog for a while but wanted to wait until after vacation. Then when I heard this event was coming up we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to scope out some dogs without feeling bad leaving an actual shelter empty handed. Luckily we found the perfect little dog.

His name was Harley, which was pretty fitting for the venue today:) But that name just isn't one of my favorites and we already know several dogs named Harley. So keeping it close, we chose Charlie. Naming a dog is hard! It shouldn't be, but it is. Charlie was the first name that came to mind when I was thinking of adoptions this morning and then when it was so close to Harley I thought it'd fit. I also liked Lenny (after a friend's dog), Buddy (Buddy the elf, who else?), and Barney (NO, not the big purple dino, just a fun name). But Royce and the kids voted without my presence and Charlie was the choice. It's perfectly fine by me.

Charlie is one year old and is so calm. Granted he's in a strange house with strange people, but he's very calm. He is part lab and we don't know the other mix. I see glimpses of beagle and glimpses of coyote but I don't think either is correct:) He weighs about 30 lbs I think. I know he's scared, but he's calm scared, not angry/mean scared. Robynn came over this afternoon to meet her new 'nephew' and she held him on her lap for over an hour. He was really comfortable. So the more he can be around us while also feeling safe will do him good. He hasn't drank much, if any, since we brought him home but I know that will change.

So wish us luck! He was rescued by WPAS from death row which breaks my heart. Too many puppies from puppy mills and not enough just being loved the way they should be.