... lately

I have so much to catch up on in this little space. Time continues to fly by and I put my blogging on hold so that I can enjoy it all.

The real truth behind why I don't always blog so frequently is actually because of pictures. Yes, my pictures are holding me back.

I've become lazy about uploading and then formatting my pictures to put on the blog and somewhere, a long time I ago, I decided that every blog post that I do should include pictures. I'm not so sure if that really matters to me anymore. I do love pictures, but I am also perfectly happy to read blogs that don't always include pictures... anyways, maybe more posts and less pictures? I'm still figuring it out. Moving on....

Life has been moving along at warp speed. We are already into week 2 of summer vacation, our last day of school as Tues June 3rd! The last few days of school were spent having a community wide end of year BBQ and a day at the local lake, which included hotdogs on the fire, marshmallows, fishing and kite flying. It was a lovely way to wrap up the school year.

Also, our community swimming pool opened up the same week. And while I may not love the idea of a public chlorinated pool, I have to say, we are very lucky to have access to this pool here in our tiny isolated community. Without the pool, we would have a very bored group of kids, with no where to go and get out their energy. We truly are very fortunate to have our pool and are thankful for the lifeguard who has come up for the summer. She will be offering all of the children free swimming lessons, which we plan on doing.

As we kick start our summer, we are making a few plans for some travel, some camping, and trying to come up with ideas for things that we can do here at home. I've gone ahead and have set up a few sensory tables outside. We have a water table and a cloud dough table. I like having a few fun things all ready to go for the kids, for when they start to get a little bored. I have also challenged Noah and Katia to read 100 books this summer (which actually means we read 100 books together). I made a fun chart and we add stickers every time we read a book. Once the chart is full, I have promised them that we will go see a movie at the theater in town.

And also, in more exciting and important news, we added a little addition to our family this past week. His name is Ryder and we are very much enjoying having him here.

Ryder was found on Friday June 6th, at the community garden. He had followed a man who was coming to our community BBQ. Ryder went around to everyone, being very sweet and gentle. Everyone began to talk. Who does he belong to? Do you think he has a home?

We asked the man who Ryder had followed, and he didn't really know who the dog belonged to. He mentioned someone, and with that we decided we'd go talk to them to see if they wanted him.

Some people may think this story sounds strange, but unless you've been in a "community", you might not get it. Without judgement, I will try to explain.

Many dogs (not all) in communities are treated much differently than what the average dog owner might expect is okay. Many dogs live "pack style" and wander around looking for food and shelter. Sometimes these dogs have owners, but still live outside and fend for themselves. It can often be hard to tell is a dog has an owner, or if it is just sorta "taken care of" by many.

We talked to the people who we thought owned Ryder, but they didn't seem to be sure if they recognized him. We put the word out that we had him, and if anyone was looking for him, to come and get him. No one did. And we were perfectly happy with that.

Ryder is a sweet boy, who we think might be part Husky and maybe some German Shepherd. He is small still, we think 6 months maybe, but has a calm and obedient disposition. I wanted to be his "master" but I think he has taken a shining to Winslow. When Winslow leaves for work, Ryder cries and wails. It's actually very sweet.

 We have talked for a long time about adding a dog to our family. I think adding a pet to a family is a very serious decision to make and must be made in the best interest of everyone. As most people know, dogs require a lot of time and energy. And to have a well behaved dog, you need to provide them with exercise and consistent training. If Ryder had come any earlier into our lives, I don't think I would've agreed to take him on. But at this point, Katia and Noah are getting to be older and more self sufficient ... and to be honest with you, Ryder so far has been an amazing dog, so I am happy to say that this is just a great fit for us.

And I shall leave it at that for now.