He didn't get it from me...

His fashion sense, that is.

I told the kids to go get dressed (yeah, it was noon and they were still in their jammies) and they could go outside and play before it got crappy outside. Jake comes back with: A green Oregon Ducks shirt, khaki brown shorts, and white socks with black stripes. Not quite what I had in mind, but it full filled what I asked him to do. This is EXACTLY why, at 9 years old, I still lay his clothes out. And thank GOD he still allows me to)

January 25, 2012 - Ice Skating Part Deux

The Christian school had the 2nd run of ice skating (they break it up into 2 groups-4 thru 6, and 7/8th grade) This was Josey's last year doing it (since they don't have enough kids to run high school). I drove Josey and her friend Corenne, because, you know, God FORBID we ride the school bus *shudder* We got there and, within 20 minutes, the girls were jonesin' to leave. I told them they had to stay at least an hour AND they had to get permission to leave early from the principal. I had a good time. Not sure if the girls did. I think they were bored (and out of shape-they were tired after 20 minutes-I did circles around them lol)

Hand in hand...

Tired, bored, watchful...

Smile!

the girls.

We Met HARNESS!

Brett and I watch a TV Series called Gold Rush. It's on the Discovery network. We've watched both seasons (though, season 2 is ending here soon). These gold miners are based out in the Valley, so I never expected to see them HERE. I was food shopping in Safeway and I'm in an aisle. I look up and catch this guy's eye and I think to myself, "Holy hell, that looks just like Harness!" (which is the guy who's the mechanic). I had to text Brett to confirm his name because I couldn't remember. So, Josey comes into the aisle and I'm telling her, OMG OMG OMG I swear that's Harness. She said she'd go up and ask. I told her no, until I could confirm it. I didn't want her to look like a butthead lol. So, we see him in the meat aisle (he's in the beef, we're in the turkey hahahaha) He goes to walk past us and I'm looking and he said Hi. Now, if any of you've watched the show, you'll know that Harness's voice is noticable. As soon as he said Hi, I knew it was him. So, I do what any normal person would do: Ask-Are you Harness from Goldrush!?!?!?!?!. He said yes, and I become an blubbering fan. I asked him if I could take a picture, saying my husband would never believe it, we watch your show all the time, blah blah blah. He said sure, then said, "Are you sure he's not going to be jealous? You're pretty good looking!" lol. Then, I went all motherly on him. I said, "How's your back? I worry about you." we talked a little about that. I asked him why he was on our side of the pond. He told me he moved here and is renting space and playing drums. After we left him, Josey turned to me and said, "I worry about you? Really Melanie???" hahahahaha. Uh, yeah, these are the things you say when you're "star struck". Funny thing? Josey wanted a picture with him, too, but she's never seen the show, nor did she know who he was LOL

Friday, January 20th -The Death of Ms Hammy

We got Ms Hammy in May of 2010. She was already 4 months old. The lady at the pet store advised us that hamster lives are about 2 years. Hammy was Jake's birthday present from Nana. From the beginning, Hammy was mine. She was supposed to be Jake's, but I took care of her. Hammy was a novelty to the kids. She would always bite Liv. Why? Because Liv constantly got down close to Hammy's cage and blew on her. When she'd pick Hammy up, Hammy would smell her breath and know it was the girl who tortured her, so she figured payback was in order. Consequently, Liv would talk to Hammy thru the bars, but wouldn't hold her again. Josey liked her, in the beginning. I'm not too sure what Hammy really thought of Josey, however, she did use Josey as a wee wee pad. Everytime Josey would hold Hammy, Hammy would pee and/or poop on her, without fail. It got to be comical. Josey would only hold Hammy if she had a towel in her hand. Me? She loved me. I'd go so far as to say she adored me. I think she knew I was the one who took care of everything. I bought her new treats, gave her veggies, held her, rubbed her belly and between her ears. She was my buddy. I don't really think anyone in the house knew how much, nor did I, until she was gone =(. I was home all day with her, so she was the one I complained to, talked to, joked with. Yes, I know. Sounds ridiculous to say about a rodent. But, Hammy was pretty cool. She had a funny way of climbing up the cage and hanging upside down , which amused me.
Last week, I noticed she wasn't moving around much in the cage. I went to go in to pet her and she reared back and bit me. At that point, I knew something was up because she's never come close to biting me ever. I noticed that she hadn't really been eating her food (though she was drinking her water). Then a few days after that, I noticed her breathing picked up. I went in to pet her and she hardly moved. Friday am, she was half in the nest she built, and half out, laying abnormal. I started petting her and talking to her. I told her it was ok to go. I turned my head and turned back and around and she was gone...And I cried. I know it sounds so stupid to cry over a hamster's death but she was a family pet, rodent or not. I was worried about how Jake and Olivia would take it (I knew Josey would be ok-she didn't really care of Hammy anyway). I put her in a Kleenex box with some of her bedding so the kids could say their last goodbyes. Liv was pretty sad. Jake was, too, but he was more ehhh, ok she's gone than anything. When I showed Liv Hammy, the first thing she said was "Why is his body still here? I thought it disappeared and went to heaven?" So, I explained to her that your soul goes up and lives with Jesus, and your body stays here for us to bury and to give us something physical to mourn. She seemed pretty ok with that answer. When Brett came home for lunch, he dug a hole. Jake didn't want to go out (uhh, yeah, he was too busy playing his DS) but Liv went out. I was stuck on a call, so I couldn't go. I caught the tail end. Liv came flying into my arms. My poor baby girl was trying so desperately to be a big girl and not cry. She kept saying to Brett, poor Hammy, poor Hammy sniff sniff. I'm going to get the kids a stepping stone so that they can use that to decorate and put over where Hammy is so we'll always know where she's at.



Hammy, trying to chew her way out of the cage.

Please, no pictures...

You talkin' to me???

Ice Skating Part 1

I say part 1 because Josey's class goes next week, and I'm going then, too. This is the fun part of having children in separate grades. You get to enjoy the fun stuff more than once! We went to the Seventh Mountain Resort. I didn't realize the rink was outdoors. I'm forever glad I had the forethought to grab gloves and hats. Of course, Jake forgot his gloves in his backpack, so I had to give him mine (as any good mother would do) We had a great time. All the boys in the class were going crazy and then there was Jake, Mister Cautious, which worked out great because he hardly fell on his hinney. He fell on purpose a lot (because the other boys were). Olivia was another story. My mom, Nana, came with us. Liv clung to Nana, then advised Nana that she could do it herself and practically took off. Consequently later on, right before we left, she dissed Nana for a boy. That didn't work out so well. She ended up falling and hitting her head. Of course, I was right next to her and she was coming for me, but had she not dissed on Nana, Nana would've been there and she wouldn't have fell. Lesson learned, I guess.

Jake, the skater

Liv's hand being held by Lige and Krysten

Jake out there chillin'

Olivia, learning with Nana...

Me and my handsome boy!

Nana and Liv taking off

Tuesday, January 10th-Bring on the kitties....

Jake's been wanting a kitten for years. I think he's been asking since Christmas 2007, when we were going into Rays and there was someone giving away kittens. I thought once I moved out and got my own place I'd get Jake a cat, then I met Brett. He and Josey have cat allergies, so I had to tell Jake no kitties. Fast forward to a few weeks ago. The neighbor's cat started showing up at our back door. Big, fat, fluffy Smokey. We started petting her, giving her treats, etc. She started showing up at our door daily. Brett started softening on the whole cat thing, then Josey decided maybe she wasn't THAT allergic, and she could handle a cat. I told her if she got a cat, I'd have to get one for Jake, because I promised him years ago he could get one. The other night, Josey and I finally got Brett to say yes. I went on the grand search for 2 kittens, preferably female (I know there's technically nothing wrong with a fixed male, but I've ALWAYS had issues with boy cats spraying, even when they're fixed, and even if they get fixed young enough, so as a rule, I stick with females). We were going to go to the Humane Society after school today, when Liv's preschool teacher told me that one of the volunteers, Grandma Roberts, had 4 kittens to get rid of-They had a lot going for them. They were litter trained, fixed, and FREE. 3 of my favorite things lol. It worked out that the two females were short haired, so we met Grandma Roberts at the school and picked up our 2 new kitties. Jake and Liv have a brown, orange, and white (calico) mix they named Pikachu. Josey's cat is grey and orange and she named her Banshee. This is where the fun begins. We brought both cats home and opened the carrier. They both popped out and promptly walked the house, meowing. Jake and Liv had no idea what to do. I was attempting to tell them to calm down (the kids, not the cats lol). I put them both near the litter box so they'd know where it was at (the cats not the kids LOL). Both cats went in different directions. I'm looking at Pikachu and out of the corner of my eye, I see Banshee-then, she's gone! I can't figure out where in the heck she went. She was in the corner of the kitchen, then literally, like Houdini, she was gone. I got on my hands and knees and realized that there was a tiny little opening where the corners meet between the drawers and the cupboard-she crawled thru there! GAH! So, I take the molding off in order to see what the deal is. I get down and notice it's worse than I thought. There's about a 5-6 inch gap that leads down between the cupboard and drawers and at the end of THAT is an opening on either side about 3 inches. Yep, she's crawled into one of those holes. She totally refuses to come out. Brett gets home, and he's attempting to help. We finally decide maybe if we drill one hole, we'll be able to stick a hanger in there and nudge her out. No dice. It's totally fitting that Banshee is Josey's, because she is S.T.U.B.B.O.R.N. Seriously...wouldn't budge. Brett and I are pushing the hanger in, she's not going ANYWHERE, and if we got her to move, she'd just saunter over into another corner of the cupboard so we couldn't move her. Finally Brett had to break out his big work drill, drill several holes big enough for me to fit my hand in so I could reach in and get her. Let me tell you, in my kitchen now, it looks ridiculous because I stuffed rags in those holes. The rags WILL NOT go anywhere until those cats are big enough that they can not get thru those holes. We'll probably figure something else out, but in the mean time, the rags suffice. Let me just add, Banshee also managed to crawl UP INTO THE COUCH tonight. I wasn't going to do anything to my expensive couch to get her funky butt out, so I went in the hard way. Oh well. Soon she will be too big. I can't wait lol. As a side note, Pikachu is adjusting nicely. She's been out and playing. The littles (and Josey, too though I'm not sure she'd admit it) totally dig her.
This is Ms Pikachu. She looks a little devilish here but she' really not.

Brett looking thru the first few holes he drilled to see where the heck she was at.

The several holes we had to create so I could shove my hand in to get her. If you look closely, you can see her little nose, taunting us. Turd...

And she's rescued and in Josey's arms. This was the first time Josey was able to see her. When we brought the cats home, she was with Grandma.

It took just about a minute...

for a million things to happen while in the doctor's office. Let me set the scene: The kids walk into the door ahead of me while I finish a conversation with Hank. I walk in. Liv is sitting next to an old couple, and Jake is sitting on a leather ottoman about 7 feet from Liv. After I walk in, I had to do the "no, you go, you were ahead me." dance with some older guy that came in at the same time I did. I hear the kids chattering. I'm only half listening (because, let's face it-they weren't fighting). As I'm waiting for the receptionist, I hear Liv utter something to the effect of, "Blah blah blah fake farts, like this!" As I turn, she has both hands poised to make a fake farting sound. I catch her in time to tell her to stop and give her "the look" (that mostly doesn't scare my children, sadly) At this point, Jake is calling Liv "weird" to which she's taking great offense. I called Liv over and whispered (because there were about 6 people staring at me) that her behavior wasn't appropriate or acceptable, and to please stop. I asked her to go sit back down. As I turn to check in, I see Jake slide OFF the ottoman and throw himself to the floor, intentionally tripping Liv. Before I can say anything to Jake about it, Liv jumps up and goes at him like she's in a WWF ring, yelling, "You didn't have to do that, you big dummy head!" and proceeds to HIT him. At this point, I just want the floor to swallow me up. The guy behind me chuckled and said, "Well, that's one way to take care of that!". and giggled. Liv caught him giggling, then she turned to the old couple, who laughed. At this point, Liv thinks she's pretty cool. I'm horrified. See, sometimes when you're an observer, it's not good to laugh. Especially when my children are around. It only encourages them.

Good times had by all...Calgon, take me awwwwwwwwwwwway!

Dirt, Dirt, and More Dirt

The past few days have been pretty decent outside. I picked the kids up from Hank on Monday. When we got home, I decided to kick them outside to enjoy the sunshine and warmth (ahem, 56 degrees-heat wave!) while they could. There were a few hiccups (like Liv running to the door and crying, "Jake said he was going to hit me with muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuud!" of course, just saying it was enough to get a crying, raging fit out of her, so even though he didn't throw mud on her, he got the satisfaction of making her mad) I went to check on them a few times, and they were filthy. Good thing it was bath night!!! I was doing laundry, and I was hearing a faint noise, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Brett finally yelled from the bedroom, "The kids are pounding on the house." (he was in bed, sick). I got a sick feeling in my stomach. I went outside, and found several sets of hand prints on the side of the house. I saw several shades of red in my brain. I was so angry, I didn't think to have them wash the prints off right then (which would've been the smart thing to do). My first instinct was to send them in the house to clean up and sit in their rooms awhile. Of course, one blamed the other. It's funny how you can match up hand prints to really find out who the culprit was (in case you were wondering, it was mostly Liv). They will be cleaning the side of the house on the next nice day.

Fast forward to today. Again, Liv wanted to go outside and play. I let her for reasons listed above, but told her NO MUD ON THE HOUSE. No problems...About 30 minutes later, Liv comes flying into the house, carrying roly poly bugs. Cute, right? In theory yes, except she was wearing her rain boots, and just where do you think she found said roly polys? IN THE MUD. In her excitment, she forgot to take them off at the door. It was one of those things that happens in slow motion. You turn and see it happening but you can't speak fast enough to stop it. Needless to say, there were dirt prints from the slider to my desk. I should be thankful that A) there wasn't anymore mud on the side of the house and B) Only half the trail was carpet *sigh*

Such cuteness...

Jake, laying in the dirt, digging.

the hand prints *sigh*

And the feet prints...

Happy New Year!!

So, I don't normally make New Year's resolutions. Those that know me know my follow thru sucks. I have grand ideas, I start them, then I get bored. Oh, the life and times of someone that has the attention span of a pea. There IS a medical term for this, but I have only self diagnosed, so I'll leave it at me being a pea-brain for now =).

I have wacky children. If you are a friend of mine on Facebook, you know this. Many people turn to my page on blah days because, mostly, they know they'll find something that will crack them up. Most of the time that "something" is my children. I've actually been told on several occasions I should write a book. Well, please see first paragraph on why I don't..

Back to the New Years resolution thingy...My only NYR is to actually start and maintain my yearly blog about the kiddos. I was good the first 2 years, but last year was not a good blogging year for me. Not to say I didn't have PLENTY of material. I just became pea-brained, then once I got too far gone, I became overwhelmed and well, if you look back, my last post was on October 30th and that was for a post from JULY! Gah Melanie...Get with it.

So, let this be the year of the blog! Onward and upward!!!