You know...THAT family......yeah, that's us. I'm not sure how it really even came about, but we are those people now. We talked about getting a pet, as someone who grew up with animals I really felt like my girls were missing out on the joy that they bring you. The Boy never had any animals growing up due to an allergy his mom has, but I knew if I could just convince him that he would fall in love with some kind of something that was cuddly and had fur. We'd tried fish before and he hated them, and their tank.
Finally we settled on the fact that we don't really enjoy picking up huge piles of poo, and since I'm not really a fan of little dogs that eliminated that. Fine, a cat it is! We eagerly looked up cats online, trying to find one we could all agree on. After a few days we found a set of brothers that were looking for a family. We called and we're told that we could be placed on a list of potential adopters and we would be the second family to view. The first family took them both. We were pretty sad since we had let ourselves become pretty attached to those little guys even without holding them in real life.
The following weekend the local SPCA held an adoption event, and The Boy and I went over to see if we found anyone that seemed like they'd fit in. We were pretty sure we wanted a male cat, color didn't much matter, but he had to be friendly, playful and able to deal with the kids. There were SO many cats there! We wandered around cages, and tables full of crates of kittens. We found a few that we liked, and we held and played with all different ages.
After walking around for a while The Boy looks at me and asks "Do you see any that you like?" My response "I want them ALL!" ((perhaps I'm just the crazy cat lady?)) Of course, like he usually does, The Boy reigned me in with his logic and such, reminding me that we came for a SINGLE cat, not a house full. We wandered around again, and came upon our first little guy. Grey stripes and literally climbing the cage door to play with us, Gambit won us over right away. At only three months old he was so playful, and wanted to run and swat at everything. We filled out his adoption paperwork, and made arrangements to pick him up after his surgery the next day. In our county you're required to neuter/spay any adopted animals.
We left there feeling so happy, but as we drove away we both began to feel like it wouldn't be fair to bring home one lonely cat. It wasn't likely that he would be alone often, but what about when he was. Would he be sad? Cry? We decided that we wanted another. We went over to PetsMart, as they were having an adoption event there as well. We looked through the handful of cages there, but I couldn't get the little orange tabby out of my mind. I told him I wanted to go back and see if he was still available.
We returned to the SPCA, but sadly my little orange tabby had just been adopted by another family. I was heartbroken, but we continued to look around. When I seen Jupiter I knew it was meant to be. He & Gambit are from the same litter, and they are so happy together. The woman at the SPCA was thrilled to see that we were back to adopt another cat, and she happily helped us fill out another adoption packet.
A few years later, there was a cat who had been abandoned at the church that the girls took classes at a few times a week. We'd seen him there for a while, and of course the kids at school all loved him, but finally the church said he had to go. Apparently the preschool's sandbox had started attracting a ton of attention from the neighborhood cats since he was there. The kids all called him Cheetos, since he seemed to have a fond appreciation for lunch box chips. We talked Daddy into letting him come live with us, but he said we couldn't call him Cheetos. In the end we settled on Jaxon Moses. He rode on the dashboard of the truck on the way home, and has declared Nanners as his personal favorite since then.
Most recently we adopted Penny, our only female. She's a purebred Bengal cat, and she's all sass. Incredibly vocal, and rather much for the boys to deal with they avoid her at all costs. Except when she gets her food. Penny is a little underweight, so she gets wet food mixed into her kitten food and Gambit can't resist.
In addition to our 4 inside, we have Scrappy the one eyed tom who has been coming around for years; Squish the grey and white scaredy cat; Chunk a fluffy, solid black line backer of a tom; Stash a good sized black and white tuxedo tom who is afraid of his own shadow; Mama the one who brought Squish; Stash, Chunk & Seaba here, and last but not least Seaba, the family baby. Seaba is from the last litter Mama had and she is crazy for attention. She'll actually stand at the back door and scratch trying to get someone to come out and play.
The 6 porch cats came here on their own.Scrappy started coming around about a year after we moved here, and is the most loving feral I've ever seen. Mama cat showed up one day, and we fed her since she was pregnant, I just couldn't starve her. Next thing we know, she's not pregnant anymore, and we can't find the babies. About six weeks later Chunk, Squish, Stash and one other kitten show up with her. The unnamed kitten left, but the others all stayed around. The goal this spring is to get Mama cat fixed. The problem is that she's really aggressive, and extremely feral. No matter what Mom and I have decided that she's getting snipped this spring, even if it means taking some scratches in the process.
Somehow we ended up being the crazy cat family, and it's too late to turn back now. Poor Daddy........
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
The Art of Bartering Among Siblings
Since the girls are getting older they're catching on to the art of bartering. With little to no money available to them, they are creative. Mostly they offer to do each other's chores for one another.
After trying a ton of different systems for chores around here, we've settled on something that's easy for everyone to keep up with. Each week we write down the chores on a sheet of paper, fold it up and they pick one. Now this means that you have a one in four chance of getting the exact same chore (Sassy doesn't do chores at our house since she's here so infrequently). Sadly for Beanie, this has meant that for the last 3 weeks she's had the dreaded "Cats" chore.
Now all that really means is that you are responsible for feeding, watering, and cleaning up after the cats for the week. The worst part of the cats is doing the cat box. I don't think anyone truly likes to clean the box. The good thing for her sisters is that she's tired of doing it also, and as an added bonus she was gifted money for Christmas. This means right now she's paying for someone to do her chore. Spunky Girl was quick to volunteer today. Eagerly cleaning out the boxes to earn her money.
Spunky was given a bank that counts her money as she adds it for Christmas, and she's trying so hard to surpass Nanners total. :) A little sibling competition is alright. ;)
After trying a ton of different systems for chores around here, we've settled on something that's easy for everyone to keep up with. Each week we write down the chores on a sheet of paper, fold it up and they pick one. Now this means that you have a one in four chance of getting the exact same chore (Sassy doesn't do chores at our house since she's here so infrequently). Sadly for Beanie, this has meant that for the last 3 weeks she's had the dreaded "Cats" chore.
Now all that really means is that you are responsible for feeding, watering, and cleaning up after the cats for the week. The worst part of the cats is doing the cat box. I don't think anyone truly likes to clean the box. The good thing for her sisters is that she's tired of doing it also, and as an added bonus she was gifted money for Christmas. This means right now she's paying for someone to do her chore. Spunky Girl was quick to volunteer today. Eagerly cleaning out the boxes to earn her money.
Spunky was given a bank that counts her money as she adds it for Christmas, and she's trying so hard to surpass Nanners total. :) A little sibling competition is alright. ;)
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Spunky Girl Turns 7!
7 years already? It's amazing how fast time flies by, especially when you think about how life changes in that seemingly short period.
Spunky has been a ball of energy from day one, never sleeping, always going, going going. It was like she has a set of never ending batteries. Even today she's got more energy than one person should be allowed. She's amazingly intelligent. AMAZINGLY! Before we went to Christmas break she already finished her entire 1st grade math book, and completed over half of the 2nd grade book. She catches on to things so quickly, it's both a blessing, and a curse. She's caught Daddy and I in a few white lies before since she is extremely quick with figuring things out.
I interviewed Spunky Girl to get an idea of her latest and greatest plans for the future. Here's what she said:
When I grow up I want to be: chef
My favorite color is: RED (this is new, it was pink & green last month!)
My favorite food is: I'm not sure about that one.
My favorite dinner is: Burger King
My shoe size: 13
My favorite TV show: The Green Ninja
My favorite movie: Breaking Dawn Part 2
My favorite book: Elephants and Tigers (Baby Big Girl gave this to her for Christmas)
My favorite subject in school: Science
My favorite animal: Elephant
My favorite game to play: Sorry!
My favorite song: anything by One Direction
My favorite outfit: I don't care.
I'm ___7"___ tall. (WOW!)
I weigh __40 or 50__ pounds. (that's about right!)
For my birthday dinner I want to eat: John's Incredible Pizza
This year I want to learn: learn how to make Elephant Toothpaste (Nanners science experiment)
If I could have any pet in the world, I would want a: horse
My favorite thing to do is: play
My favorite memory of being 6 years old is: I don't have one.
My least favorite memory of being 6 years old is: I don't know.
Well as you can see Spunky is creative with some answers, and forgoes others. 7" tall is a little understatement ;) The last 7 years have been perfectly wonderful, no matter how much we may complain about her lack of sleeping, destruction, or crazy energy levels we wouldn't have it any other way. Although I can firmly say that the cutting of the furniture and the writing on it has got to stop! :)
Spunky has been a ball of energy from day one, never sleeping, always going, going going. It was like she has a set of never ending batteries. Even today she's got more energy than one person should be allowed. She's amazingly intelligent. AMAZINGLY! Before we went to Christmas break she already finished her entire 1st grade math book, and completed over half of the 2nd grade book. She catches on to things so quickly, it's both a blessing, and a curse. She's caught Daddy and I in a few white lies before since she is extremely quick with figuring things out.
I interviewed Spunky Girl to get an idea of her latest and greatest plans for the future. Here's what she said:
When I grow up I want to be: chef
My favorite color is: RED (this is new, it was pink & green last month!)
My favorite food is: I'm not sure about that one.
My favorite dinner is: Burger King
My shoe size: 13
My favorite TV show: The Green Ninja
My favorite movie: Breaking Dawn Part 2
My favorite book: Elephants and Tigers (Baby Big Girl gave this to her for Christmas)
My favorite subject in school: Science
My favorite animal: Elephant
My favorite game to play: Sorry!
My favorite song: anything by One Direction
My favorite outfit: I don't care.
I'm ___7"___ tall. (WOW!)
I weigh __40 or 50__ pounds. (that's about right!)
For my birthday dinner I want to eat: John's Incredible Pizza
This year I want to learn: learn how to make Elephant Toothpaste (Nanners science experiment)
If I could have any pet in the world, I would want a: horse
My favorite thing to do is: play
My favorite memory of being 6 years old is: I don't have one.
My least favorite memory of being 6 years old is: I don't know.
Well as you can see Spunky is creative with some answers, and forgoes others. 7" tall is a little understatement ;) The last 7 years have been perfectly wonderful, no matter how much we may complain about her lack of sleeping, destruction, or crazy energy levels we wouldn't have it any other way. Although I can firmly say that the cutting of the furniture and the writing on it has got to stop! :)
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Spunky & Smart
I've decided that as a parent we should brag about our children more often. Simply put, we tend to forget that these little gals need a little uplifting once in a while. Not so much that they think they're the next
"Kar-Daaa- she an" (yes, I know that's not the correct spelling), but enough that they never doubt just how unconditionally proud we are of them.
Spunky Girl has well, more SPUNK than that of your average 6 year old. She sings, dances, twirls, hops, runs, bounces, talks loudly, asked a million questions and so much more ---- and that's in only an hours time. Simply put she's not your average little girl. Now when it comes to many situations you can imagine that her antics can stress even the most patient person. There are many memories I can recall of myself crying from not being able to understand WHY she can't just sit still for a few minutes. Why she can't stop twirling in the middle of the room as we read. Even shamefully, why she can't just stop being her for a few minutes. I would never want her to truly stop being herself, there are times when I just want nothing more than to have a small piece of quiet.
When it comes to something that she wants to do, Spunky throws herself into it whole heartedly. She's off and running before the bell has sounded, and she's approaching the finish line before the rest of crowd even began. This is a shining example of that....
In the first 5 months of school Spunky has completed an entire years worth of math. Yep, an entire YEAR of math. I decided this year I wouldn't hold her back no matter what. If she was racing through one subject I would allow that, even if she was struggling through another. This has allowed her confidence to raise to such a point that it is running over to her other subjects. She's ready to tackle a subject that she's less interested in, just because she knows that she can bust through her math in no time. Since she's so far ahead in her math she can proudly offer her support to her sister when she needs it. :)
I am so proud to have this wiggly, giggly, wild, dance machine as one of my own. We are so proud of you Spunky!! Great job!!
"Kar-Daaa- she an" (yes, I know that's not the correct spelling), but enough that they never doubt just how unconditionally proud we are of them.
Spunky Girl has well, more SPUNK than that of your average 6 year old. She sings, dances, twirls, hops, runs, bounces, talks loudly, asked a million questions and so much more ---- and that's in only an hours time. Simply put she's not your average little girl. Now when it comes to many situations you can imagine that her antics can stress even the most patient person. There are many memories I can recall of myself crying from not being able to understand WHY she can't just sit still for a few minutes. Why she can't stop twirling in the middle of the room as we read. Even shamefully, why she can't just stop being her for a few minutes. I would never want her to truly stop being herself, there are times when I just want nothing more than to have a small piece of quiet.
When it comes to something that she wants to do, Spunky throws herself into it whole heartedly. She's off and running before the bell has sounded, and she's approaching the finish line before the rest of crowd even began. This is a shining example of that....
In the first 5 months of school Spunky has completed an entire years worth of math. Yep, an entire YEAR of math. I decided this year I wouldn't hold her back no matter what. If she was racing through one subject I would allow that, even if she was struggling through another. This has allowed her confidence to raise to such a point that it is running over to her other subjects. She's ready to tackle a subject that she's less interested in, just because she knows that she can bust through her math in no time. Since she's so far ahead in her math she can proudly offer her support to her sister when she needs it. :)
I am so proud to have this wiggly, giggly, wild, dance machine as one of my own. We are so proud of you Spunky!! Great job!!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Lake Day
We packed up the kids and a ton of gear to head to the lake for the day. A couple of coolers full of food, sunscreen and beach towels and we were on our way. The kids had a blast splashing around in the water all day. We spent nearly the entire day there, and they were exhausted! So much fun!
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| Cousins ready to explore |
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| Yummy in her tummy! |
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| Sunshine & Cheetos - what a girl wants! |
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| Silly Girl!! |
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| Beach Combing with Daddy |
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| Splash Time!! |
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| Conquering his fear of water! |
Monday, January 7, 2013
Gold Rush Days 2012
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| We're off for a day of fun in Old Sac!! |
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| Such pretty dresses |
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| Panning for gold |
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| turning my gold in for dollars |
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| Whoo hoo! I'm rich! |
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| Grandma dancing with us! |
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| He sold me some land! |
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| Love horses! |
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| Dancing |
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| Nanners & Spunky's remains of their watermelon contest |
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| Beanie didn't win....but she had fun! |
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| Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!! She won a $25 gift card for eating the fastest watermelon! |
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| Wagon Rides |
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| Beanie & Me |
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| Nanners & Me |
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| Piglets!! |
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| Ponies! |
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Lunch Date
Saturday, January 5, 2013
8th Grade Graduation
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| So many people came out to support her!! Beanie had the largest crowd by far! So much love from our amazing family! |
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| MawMaw, Beanie & PawPaw |
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| Beanie & her Principal |
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| Church support!! Amazing! |
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