Guilty!

Bub's fun game that keeps me running around after him is he loves to get into the cupboard and feed the dogs cookies. I managed to grab a photo of him in the act. He doesn't look too guilty, I mean how can you think that he is doing anything wrong with a face like that. And I figure as long as it doesn't exceed 2 cookies per day, it is a lesson in sharing, right??

Pictures speak loudly

I am in big trouble. I took some photos yesterday and when I looked at the shots today I realized I was in real trouble. There it was, looking at me right in the face: the bad situation that is looming right on the horizon. While the baby looks innocent enough now, the resemblance to the biggest troublemaker so far in our house is uncanny. My worst fears have been realized, I fear that Thing Two and Baby are on the same brainwave. It is only a matter of time before they are co-conspirators in trouble. You see it too, right? I am not going crazy, right? Please tell me you see the resemblance too. *sigh*

Second verse same as the first.

Why is it that this week my two furry children have acted in a repeated fashion.
First this:
Which looks a lot like this from a few months back:Then we have had the 'butter bandit' act again, which is the exact situation that happened way back here. This time I was making cinnamon rolls and had taken out butter (FOUR cubes to be exact) to soften (they came directly from the freezer). I proceeded to leave it on the counter and went to get Baby from his bed. After a while Thing 2 came into the room licking his chops (I honestly thought he was in the room laying on the floor) I knew at that point that he had been up to no good. I asked Soder to go and assess the damage. He said it wasn't that bad, there was only one bite taken out. Relieved, I went to the kitchen to finish up with the dough. That is when I noticed that it was a little more disturbing than what Soder has realized at first. I don't know about you, but I don't count 4 cubes of butter in that pan, do you?What a stinker!

Thing two and the chicken

Since Thing Two has been so into the squirrels lately, I decided to look on Netflix for some dog appropriate movie. I found a movie about chickens that PBS had created. I turned it on and crazy Thing Two sat there for about 45 minutes watching it. And every time the chickens or roosters made any chicken related sound he would cock his head to one side to listen. I think I was more entertained than he was, regardless it was a great time for all.

Past Week

I am the most unexciting person this week. I worked the first half then I can't remember one single important thing I did the rest of the week. Apparently, I have done nothing substantial but take pictures of the others in the house doing thing. I am suffering from bored-itis. I HAVE to find something fun to do this weekend.
Thing One's Hiding Place... not so hidden exactly.
This look I have been getting a lot. I don't think he is very amused.
Thing 2 has been putting in at least 2 hours a day watching 'squirrel tv'. At least he is amused.
Soder holding the baby while he naps in the afternoon.

In theory this works

When Kimi was a puppy, she was always on, what the obedience-class-people taught us, was 'tie down'. She was a good puppy and hardly ever challenged us. She is the epitome of a good dog. Then along came Ratchet.
He is wild and crazy and has a mind of his own. He often barks at nothing (I think it is just to test that his bark is still there.) He taunts and teases Kimi with her toys. And very often gets Kimi into trouble (i.e. they start wrestling near the baby)
We decided (probably a bit late) that what Ratchet was missing was 'tie down'. So this is where Ratchet spends the quiet afternoons. He is tethered to our couch. It worked for the first bit and we proudly patted ourselves on the back saying how we would finally get Ratchet under control. Then the squirrels came, or maybe it was a rouge dog, or merely a person walking behind our house, anyways, Ratchet realized that the couch wasn't made of cement. He lunged at whatever was walking past and that was the end of our celebration. He moved the couch a full 2 feet from the wall. It still is a great tool to try to "tame" our wild 'child', but now we have to keep the back window shade pulled most days (or have one of us sitting on the couch).
We love each of our children (both hairy and traditional) for their strengths and weaknesses. I just wish it was easier to love him without having him tied to our living room furniture.

The reason there will be no more big stuffed animals

Yesterday, as I was preoccupied with the baby, the dogs decided to play tug-of-war with one of the last remaining stuffed animals. It was a tiger that stood about 3 feet tall and was one of Kimi's favorite toys. (this was before Ratchet, who should be known as the destructor of all things stuffed.) At one point during the destruction, Kimi managed to shake the poor stuffed animal so hard that it actually rained down cotton stuffing. Good times for everyone... Kimi and Ratchet running around like mad dogs, me cussing while I pickup an entire garbage bag full of stuffing, and the baby who had a full stomach for the entire event was happy as a clam. I think that the dogs are more work than the baby.

And how are the other family members liking the change?

Kimi likes to stand watch over Liam. I think she is his guardian angel... or the dog character, Nanny on Peter Pan.
Ratchet likes to be a part of whatever is going on. He will just come up and give Liam a few kisses then walk away. I think it is his way of saying, "It is ok, Liam. This is all I can contribute."
Kimi makes sure she is right there with me whenever I do anything.
I think they both love the new addition.

Rachet the Posh!

Every day when I am drying my hair, Ratchet runs from wherever he is in the house to come and be a part of it. I mean really how much can one dog love the hair dryer. (I wish I enjoyed it as much as him.) He would stand there and let me warm him up for ever. The look of sheer contentment is priceless.
When we first got Ratchet, we thought Kimi and him were the same body type. It was only after we noticed that he loved the water in the shower did we realize there was one small shortcoming. His front legs are a little shorter than Kimi's, meaning that when he sticks his head in the shower for a drink, he has to prop himself up on the bathtub. If you notice in the picture you can see the entire pads of his front feet. I find it hilarious because I have never seen a dog do that before. He is one of a kind.

Will the guilty party please raise a paw...

So last week when I took Kimi out to do her business in the morning, I came back to see Ratchet, the little angel, sitting by the back door looking a little too innocent. Upon further inspection of the house, I noticed a small bite taken out of the butter that was on the counter. This was the only thing touched. I think the little monster thought he could get away with it. And since I didn't see him actually do it all I could do was laugh and of course take a picture.

Good Boy!

Way to go Ratchet for graduating Basic Obedience 101. This is a large step for a once wild and crazy puppy that once threatened to pull me down the stairs, jumped wildly at what ever he wanted and usually only listened occasionally. He is now a wild dog, that love to learn and is eager for anything treat related. (Did I mention I have never seen a dog actually have a crush on anyone but I think that he seriously loved our instructor! I mean Loved, with a capital 'L'. Or maybe it was the chicken that she used as rewards, either way she made him so happy!) Even though it isn't a magical fix, the classes taught my husband and I more along the lines of what we need to do for our energetic boy! Seriously, I can tell that he wants to learn so if he ends up being a horrible dog it was our fault not his. Good boy, Ratchet! You made me so proud in class.

The Squeaker from Hell

Like kids, dogs have the same ability to pick the loudest most obnoxious toys ever to play with. This light bulb squeaker has been up on the window sill for weeks now because of the high pitched squeak it gives off. Ratchet loves to just walk around the house squeaking it. You can tell how happy he gets because he will squeak it faster and faster. Finally tonight, after taking these pictures, he managed to chew the squeak right off it. Even though I am happy as happy can be, it is sad because he loved it so. I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of the dead squeaker. He will get over it, Christmas is right around the corner and I am sure something just as bad will replace it.

My pups are in Utah. I am in Seattle. They are my babies. What am I doing here with out them? Making a better life for us, right? Right! Boy, I miss them though. They were my laughter everyday. Thankfully though, I have my sister and her family to try to keep me entertained. Like today, when my sister and I went to the store, and she was being a silly by talking to me with a British/Australian accent. I was unfortunately about 5 feet ahead of her when she said, "Ello, Mate!" and another guy heard her and responded by saying that he was actually from Britain. The guy then proceeded to wait for us at the end of another aisle to relive the awkward moment again. It was the most entertaining time at a grocery store I have had in a long while.
Then I hear that my pup Kimi was wrestling with Ratchet and hit her back end into a rock. (She is fine and no harm done.) But I don't like to hear that my little girl went crying to someone else. (Thankfully, she is in very capable hands.) :) I can't wait until we have the reunion. It will be the best!

What is wrong with this animal....

Most of my humor comes from my animals. Today, I saw Ratchet looking very intently into the cold oven to see what was in there. He proceeded to stare at it for about 3 minutes. He kept looking back at it ever time it looked away. He is such a puppy and such a goof .

Who knew that there was so much fluff in some of those toys?

What is the funniest part is the one that looks guilty isn't the one that did most of it. Instead it was our little guy that loves to dig every last piece of stuffing out of what ever. Good times, and thankfully he is "helping" me lighten our moving load by ripping apart about one toy every day. At this rate, they will be getting all new toys by the time they move up with me.

What happens when a 10 month old puppy realizes there is a kiddie pool? They look like this...

Then afterward... the car ride home was very quiet.

New Edition for our family

Today we went in to the dog park and was having a really great morning. We decided to stop by Petsmart to get Kimi some treats and see the pups up for adoption. (We have been looking for Kimi a friend, but hadn't found the right pup yet. We adopted Kimi and she has been the best dog.) Kimi walked right up to one of the kennels and sniffed the dog in it. (His name for the last two weeks has been Liam, but I didn't really think that was a great name for a dog so I named him Ratchet.) Kimi is really great with other dogs, but for some reason she really attached to this pup. They started playing right off the bat and acted like they were best friends. We decided that Ratchet was the puppy that would complete our family for the time being. There is a lot of training to be done, but he has been really great so far. He is a good boy!