Yogurt

I don't like yogurt. Did you know that? Well, I don't. I had to eat it like three times a day when I was fairly young because I had a yeast infection or something like that.

Still don't like it today.

BUT! I like Yoplait Whips. I guess when you fluff-ify and add enough sugar to just about anything, I'll eat it.



I ate three yesterday. I just ate my last one.

They have a lot of sugar, though - like 21 grams in the four ounce cup.

I probably shouldn't eat them. Too much sugar.

I'm on my way to the store to buy more.

Preschool "playgroup"

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Hailie and Wendi attend the local Methodist preschool from nine a.m. to noon. They love it, it's adorable, and... let's just say it's needed.

On Wednesday mornings, they have what we call a "playgroup", which is basically a bunch of kids their age having a preschool thing for two hours, rotating homes. Everyone loves it, we see new ideas, etc.

HOWEVER! as I am getting them ready (earlier than usual - no real reason), I think to myself, I wonder whose house we're going to today. I look at my calendar and do a cartoon-esque eye-popping out of the sockets because it is to be at OUR HOUSE! AHHHHHH!!!!!! Let loose the headless chickens!

Of course, I had laundry piled high on the couch waiting to be put away, a dirty kitchen table and floor, AND not a clue what I should do with the six five-year olds (including Wendi and Hailie) for two hours. Oh, did I mention we don't have a printer? Yeah, makes worksheets kinda hard.

I just picked something no one had done yet (we've been doing a letter a week and, lucky me, I get the first week with NO letter) - the senses! Oh, it ended up being so easy and a BIG hit. For sight we played "I Spy with my little eye..."; for hearing, we did "Name That Tune" (I have it down from my years as a primary chorister and my last several months as a nursery chorister); our smell activity involved a blindfold and just about every extract and smell-laden food I could find (a HUGE hit!); tasting was fun with snack - and I happen to have a big jar of Jelly Bellies, tons of flavors, to figure out what we were eating; and touch was, again, with a blindfold and feeling stuff. It took a long time - we drew pictures of eyes, ears, noses, tongues (HILARIOUS!), and fingers - and every kid thought it was such a fun day.

Hm. Maybe I should plan playgroup in half an hour more often.

Or NO!

The kittens provided all the entertainment we needed, "Go on out back, kids, and touch the kittens - but do NOT taste them!"

*sigh* It's amazing what a person can do when they have no choice! :o)

Hair Cuts

It actually was a couple of weeks ago, but I finally decided my son should not look homeless any longer. I made him sit (which he just LOVED - do you sense the dripping sarcasm?) and I trimmed him up as best I could amidst the whining (more mine than his) and constant moving (his, not mine). Yep, missed some spots. Who cares? he looks so handsome!

Then, after the warm-up, I moved on. Brent is MUCH easier to trim because he has learned to sit still for a haircut (thank you to all the barbers, over the years, for smacking him around until he learned to sit still)!

Well, maybe it had something to do with the fear that if he moved, I would impale him with the scissors or trim off an ear with the clippers.

Regardless, I had success!!!!



(this was directly after the haircut... Brent had not brushed his hair yet... I know, it looks kind of "poofy"... should have waited until after the brushing. Lesson learned.)

WHAT?! More twins?!

Well, sort of. Technically, they're part of a much larger group.

First, after the untimely demise (or assumption thereof) of our beloved Smokey, we have found ourselves with an empty cat house and a LOT of leftover cat food. Hm. What to do except go to the Canyon County Animal Shelter (which is a much nicer shelter than they had when I was growing up) and pick out a new kitten?

Well, there were two left from that litter. As soon as Wendi saw them (in the same little "cell" for lack of a better word), she said, "Look, Mom! Twins!" It was all over right then. There was another set of three kittens, but I draw the line at triplets!

Allow me to introduce our new pets!

This is Tiger... (because he is orange, like a tiger)



Tiger is the runt of the litter, and a bit more playful. He acts like he needs that kind of love.

And this is Tanner... (because he is, well, tan-er)



Tanner is more... into exploring and knows his name already!



By the way, have you ever tried to get to kittens to sit for a picture?! Even worse than children, if you can imagine. The worst case scenario is when you ask the KIDS to get the kittens to sit still. WOW! That was probably the biggest laugh I've had in a while. Almost laughed so hard I cried. And the laughter is not helpful, either. Oh, the comedy of errors!



Fun times, happy kids, and I'm still allergic to cats. :o)

"I want nor pokey, please."

For those who don't know, Ben doesn't say "more", he says "nor". Whatever. He'll get it eventually.



The other day, the twins were at school and I was doing some work on the computer. Ben was running around doing all sorts of Ben-ish things and he tells me he's hungry and needs a snack. I asked him what he wanted for a snack (which, as all mothers know, is a critical error in dealing with a two-year-old). He said, "I want pokey".

Hm. Pokey? He's hungry so he wants a shot? No way. Can't be it.

"Ben, can you show me what 'pokey' is?"

"YEAH! Follow me!"

At this point, I'm a little nervous... do I have a snake in my house? Do I have a skewer full of meat from the previous tenants (which, considering the things I have found under the stove since we moved in, would not be a stretch)?

He runs to the fridge and opens the door and pulls out... (is the suspense killing you?) the container of cookie dough we have yet to bake! POKEY?! REALLY?! I said, "Is this 'pokey'?" Ben: YEAH!

I told him it's called cookie dough and he said, shaking his head, "No, Mommy, that's pokey!" (As if to say, silly mom, let me help you... po-key!)

Sidebar: Yes, in our house we do occasionally eat raw cookie dough. For the five people in the world who don't know, Wendi and Hailie are allergic to eggs, so our cookie dough (and anything else you can imagine) has no eggs - we use various things to substitute - I can elaborate at another time. No, they won't grow out of it. And no, it's not one of those allergies where they'll get a rash and a tummy ache. They throw up everything you can possibly imagine that is inside of them, their throat closes up, they pass out, then die. No joke. (Yes, we have emergency medicine to halt the progress of this reaction, but the more they are "exposed" to eggs, the more swiftly these events will unfold. Have to avoid the allergen all together.) It is called an anaphylactic allergy. I have the same thing to tree nuts (no, not peanuts - those are a legume, not a nut). Believe me, I know exactly how much trouble this causes.

SOAPBOX ALERT! For the curious, here are a few things that contain eggs (aside from the obvious cakes, cookies, meringues, etc): nearly all breakfast items (french toast, waffles, pancakes), many marshmallows, candy corn, some breads, Snickers bars, many granola bars, anything with nougat, chicken breadings, creme puffs (NO! I love those!), many crackers, corn dogs, many noodles, some pizzas... I could go on for eons! "Egg substitutes" are all egg whites and some oil. Needless to say, I know it's a pain more than anyone else. But, I also know what it's like to have this type of allergy and how you feel like you're this huge burden to everyone because everyone makes comments (can't have this, your parents are going without that). Which, since you're reading my blog, irritates me to NO END when people say that now about Hailie and Wendi "making" us not be able to have eggs... Although the implied meaning is that we obviously love them and are glad to make that sacrifice, that is not said aloud nearly as often as how hard it must be. No, it isn't hard. It's a change. Actually, an easy one, thank you very much.

Ah. Better.

Back to the Ben story - So, I gave him a little piece of cookie dough and then sat him down with some pears while I swiftly baked the rest of the "pokey", which magically turned it into "cookies" according to Ben. He must think I am just amazing. I can turn pokey into cookies, I have magical kisses which will heal any wound, and upon my words we all go outside to ride bikes. "I am the all-powerful Mommy!" (It's so fun to notice the things that kids believe and marvel at!)

Oh, yeah!

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This is the REALLY funny one:

18

But, they didn't indicate if these five-year-olds were angry (as in, you stole their candy or ate their last chip, etc). This can make a difference, so I'm gonna guess these are run-of-the-mill five-year-olds.

Sorrows of the Feline Kind

For those who don't really know, I don't like cats. They're snobby and think they own you... just not right for something that is fairly dependent on the people they seem to somewhat loathe. Oh, and I'm allergic. (As if our family needs any more allergies!)



Ergo, we adopted a cat last fall. He was "free". And, as all "free" animals end up, he cost us more money than I'd like to mention. Smokey was part of an abandoned litter that a very nice lady syringe-fed until they were old enough to be given away. As I am sort of psycho about having pets NOT live in my house (save fish and other cage-only animals), we got a very nice "home" for him outside with lots of toys and special dishes, etc. My daughters have been so happy with their pet - taking great care of him and loving him. It has been one of the best things we could do for our kids!



Having been raised by people, Smokey is an incredibly loving, grateful cat. He plays ball with the kids, lets them carry him around, and even tolerated Ben picking him up by his tail once or twice. ("Ben, put him DOWN!" *thump*) Basically, a dog-like cat.

He got in a cat fight a while back and had to be put on antibiotics. We put him in the garage to heal up. His favorite place to perch was on a very high shelf right next to the door that leads to the house. Imagine my surprise and I walk out that door and notice something staring at me from way up there! He had since healed up and was doing great outdoors again.

About three mornings ago, we didn't see him. We put his food out like usual and it has been sitting there since. Now, let's get into the trauma of it all... The first thing I ought to mention is that the kids don't want to play out in the back yard. They think it's too lonely without the cat, who usually hid when they were out there... or, at least when Ben was there...

Wendi makes us go on walks each day calling for Smokey. She carries a fairly large basket the whole time, too - "knowing" that he will see it and know it is for him and jump in so she can carry him home.

Hailie won't let me put his house in the garage. "Mom, he needs to come back and he won't know it's our house if his house isn't out there."

We have checked with our neighbors and animal control and the animal shelters. I'm thinking he's probably dead somewhere (and I'm scared that on one of our walks, we'll find him squished in a road and I'll have to SHOW my kids death - literally), but we can't tell the kids he's dead because then he will show up again. Here's what I think that conversation will go like:

Wendi: Mom! Smokey is out back! He's not dead!
Me: What? Oh, that's great! Is he okay?
Hailie: He's better than okay, he's resurrected!

You see the dilemma here? (Do you know how much deeper of a doctrinal conversation that will be than I want to have with a five-year-old?) We just want to know that he's run away forever or that he's dead or something so that the twins will have some closure!



Alas, no closure to be found.

This is my little farewell to the only cat I've ever liked. We love you, Smokey!

(By the by, the first picture is of Smokey as a little kitten and the second picture is of Wendi holding Smokey with Smokey's house in the background. Those two were taken on Wendi's "Kid Tough Digital Camera", which the girls begged to have for a full year before I finally bought each of them one for this last birthday - it was ALL they got for their birthday from Brent and me, but it was one of the best toys we've ever bought them. I really enjoy seeing the world the way they do (not as many butts involved as I had thought). And, the pictures aren't quite as bad as I'd imagined. Obviously not as good as a "grown up" camera, but not that bad!)