Graduated

My girls graduated from preschool. (While this sentence may generally be followed by an exclamation mark, I find it rather silly that they "graduate" when, honestly, no one doesn't. It is, however, a good milestone in their lives that ought to be recorded. Luckily, it's not as ludicrous as the little girl in the program whose mother put makeup on her so that she would "look better with the bright lights". Hello! The little girl was four years old; I felt like she looked like some sort of Jean Benet Ramsey. It was disturbing.)

Regardless, it was an adorable program! Here is part of one of the songs.

Oh, and Hailie is wearing a pink skirt with white shirt. Wendi is wearing her red jumper dress with scotty dogs on it.

Joke... right?

So, a frazzled lady with three kids (all at once trying to carry a struggling kitten) walk into a veterinarian's office -

You've heard this one, right?

That's what I'm thinking as I actually DO this a few days ago.

Long story short, Tiger tested "Low Positive" to FeLV while in the animal shelter (didn't know this until we got him home) and started getting sick a few days ago. The good news is that he is actually negative (to what the vet described as a sort of kitty AIDS) and we're not even going to put him on the anti-virals. Not necessary.

Lessons learned: Get a pet carrier. Oh, and never let the two-year-old hold a kitten. EVER. :o)

Familial Growth

So, I'm pregnant. Due in November.

Just thought I'd share.

And, as a pregnancy first, I've been puking and sick. Lovely.

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)