Snow-venture!

One of my biggest fears before we moved was how I would survive the winter. After moving from a climate of rain, I was not prepared for snow. Crazily enough, the weather here has overall been more tame than our old home, which is recovering from Snowpocalypse. The summer definitely packed a hot, sweaty punch {but I LOVE the heat} The fall was absolutely amazeballs and now that we are in winter, it has been unusually warm. They even had to cancel a snowman making contest at the town's winter fest this weekend {disappointing!}

Over the weekend, we had some of our first real snowfall in this area. Time for some good old fashioned snow fun! We bundled up Gbear {which is quite a job when your toddler does NOT want to cooperate} and bundled ourselves {I'm a wimp in the cold} and headed out in the glorious sunshine to play in the snow. Such a simple day, but so much fun. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I watched Bear romp around in the snow and lil Gbear trekking on his snow day adventure.

Flashback Friday: Puppy Edition

The other day I made an EPIC puppy mommy fail. Every morning, HB leaves the gate open and when I get dressed for the day, I go out and shut it so that Bear can romp. Clearly, you can guess where this is leading. The other morning, I got distracted by laundry and let Bear out the back door {i.e. didn't see the gate wide open} He usually romps for a while and then comes to the side door and barks to be let in. I didn't get worried until I realized that I had finished my tasks around the house and still no bark.

I go to to the door to check on him and my heart stops. I see the gate open. Quickly I ran outside, already beginning to panic. After calling his name a good 5 or 6 times, with my voice becoming increasingly frantic, I realize he's not in our yard. He doesn't have his collar on because he just got a bath the night before and we are only a few short blocks from some major roads. Not good odds for an easily distracted puppy. I started running up the street {no shoes on} yelling his name, when I remember the front door is open and the baby is unsupervised so I stop and run back. Speed dial my bestie but only get her voicemail. Panic grows. The tears are flowing at this point. What will I do without my Bear? How will HB ever forgive me? How will I forgive myself? Suddenly, I hear it. It's like angels singing. Bear's distinct bark off in the distance. I run to the edge of the driveway and peer up the street and I see the flutter of his tail as he chases a kitty. Relief swept over me and I realized I was shaking! I called his name once more and he came running like it was a game. I have never been so happy to see his goofy face since the day we took him home.

Recently I've been feeling a little reminiscent of his puppy days, after all, he was my first baby! Who can resist cute puppy antics? Not this girl ;)

 

Bear used to throw puppy tantrums when his bowl didn't have water left in it. I kind of miss the puppy tantrums

 

This was Bear's very first pig's ear {gross, but he loves them} and Kora, J's pup, desperately wanted him to share. Clearly, sharing was not on Bear's mind!

How Not to Treat a Dog

I could pretend my lack of blogging was in solidarity with the blogging day of silence, but in reality, life simply got busy and I didn't have a lot to write about. Sometimes I'm a firm believer in quality over quantity. Although that infers that my writing is quality, which let's be frank, a lot of times it's simply rambles.

Anyway, we had a lovely day here today. Sunshine. A bit of warmth. I am always cold, so unless it's in the 80's I'm not completely satisfied, but it's better than freezing cold and rain.

Since we tend to have crappy weather, I feel like we spend way too many weekends just lazing about the house. Today I was determined that this would not happen. We played in the yard. HB picked up dog poo. We took an extraordinarily long trip to the puppy park. Bear was beside himself with glee. There were hundreds of dogs there all enjoying the sun.

Since we do tend to get quite a bit of rain, there were still many puddles. Our Bear cub loves to romp through the puddles and we let him. I figure he usually gets ridiculously messy anyways, so he might as well really enjoy himself. Well today something happened that left me awestruck. Dumbfounded. Just plain PISSED.

Bear was romping away happily in the puddle and as puppies do, he convinced another dog that the puddle was the place to be. Said puppies owners were none to pleased with this development. As HB, Gbear and I approach, laughing at the silly puppies making a mess, the other owner is getting agitated. I turn to HB to say something silly, when I realize she threw a rock at her dog! Not only did she hit her dog with a rock, but she bragged about it to the guy she was with!!!!! She thought that hitting her dog between the eyes with a rock was the appropriate way to discipline her dog. Of course, HB couldn't let it stand and said something to her, but she just laughed it off and walked away. I think more might have come of it, but we did have Gbear with us. It just makes me sick even thinking about it. In case you ever wonder, gee, how can I get my dog to stop playing in the puddle, a rock to the face is not the answer. {but I'm pretty sure I don't need to say that to you lovely ladies}

Craft Time with McDancer

I saw a few different bloggers do this craft and I thought it would be great for a St.Patrick's Day wreath. Rebekah over at Life with the Edwards posted a tutorial back in February. Since so many others have done tutorials, I will give a cliff notes version for mine :)

I chose 4 fabrics from JoAnn's. I went with the pre cut squares they have in the quilting section because I have a terrible time choosing, so it narrowed my options down. I think if I did this again I would get 5, to just make it a little fuller. Wire hanger. Shamrock.

Bear wanted to help. I cut the fabric into long strips and then cut them in half. I formed the wire hanger into a wonky circle. {I would advise against using the ones that are covered in white plastic~ it makes it harder to bend and makes a mess. Learned the hard way lol} Then I cut the strips in half and tied them into knots around the wire. After they were all tied I fluffed it up and attached a shamrock decoration I got at JoAnn's.
And Voila!

Now I've got a fun St. Patrick's Day wreath :)