An Evening of Family Fun

Ahh...nothing puts me in the Christmas spirit like clean windows... You don't need to comment that I'm a neat freak-- I know. Anyway, after cleaning windows yesterday we decided to all go bowling and eat pizza out. Ricky was the high scorer with a 171. He had five strikes in a row! I mentioned that proffessional bowlers can make a lot of money, but he didn't seem interested in that career. Then we stopped and bought a Christmas tree-- a REAL one of course, and this evening we are decorating. Here's a new video of Chippy eating a piece of popcorn.

The Mighty Duck Hunters

Father and son had a successful duck hunt this morning. Ricky shot his first duck, a bufflehead. He's not a hunting fanatic like his dad, but he very much enjoyed it today. I spent most of the day cleaning all the ceiling fans and lighting fixtures in the house. (boring- I know, but you won't find me attempting to shop today.) I'm trying to gear up for doing the windows tomorrow. All the windows in the old section of the house are so old that they don't open well, leak air, and are difficult to keep clean. I only attempt it once a year in the fall after the insects and spiders have finished their damage for a season and the dust from the planting of winter wheat has settled.

Squirrels are Not Pets

I read the above statement as I was researching how to raise an orphaned squirrel, and I now believe it to be true. As Chippy grows quickly so do his wild instincts. He is still friendly, but now gets nervous easily and will be stressed if the kids play with him too much. He is not old enough to release into the wild yet, but he seems contented in his large cage with climbing logs. We still feed him milk three times a day, but he takes less, and eats more solid food. He has a beautiful bushy tail.

Big R is sick today with a cold. He's big enough to stay home by himself, but I elected to stay home from church to take care of him. Pretty soon he will be all grown up, so I need to take advantage of all the opportunities I have to mother him.

The Disappearing Dog

Just a cute video...

Mishap

Lizzie has inspired me to share this embarrassing story with you, so here it goes... One day last week as I attempted to flush the toilet, the handle fell off. I mean it not only wouldn't flush, the little lever was laying on the floor. Well, I thought about recruiting help from my husband who just happened to be in the house at the time, but then I have at least a rudimentary knowledge about the working of toilets, and being the liberated supermom that I am, I attempted to put it back on myself. Well, I got it on, but it wouldn't turn, so I lifted the lid off the tank to see what the problem was, and as I did so, the hose that brings the water into the tank sprang loose and sprayed me ALL OVER like an unmanned fire hose. I instinctively used the tank lid I was still holding as a shield, but that didn't make the water stop, of course. So I did what all liberated supermoms do when cornered-- yell desperately for help from their husbands!

He didn't think it was very funny. He was concerned about all the water on the floor. But a few days later, the almost exact thing happened to my son. He and I were able to laugh about it then. And yes, my very handy husband eventually fixed it. Thanks Honey.

Kids are Wonderful

When I'm having a hard day, they never fail to lift my spirits. Take yesterday, for example. I was quite drained emotionally when we sat down for dinner (without Dad, again), then a montage of entertaining fragments ensued, refreshing my sense of humor and boosting my morale. Such as:
"Mom, when I'm eight, can I join an Indian tribe?"...
"I think I'm allergic to my bra."...
"The next person that says the word 'hate' has to do the dishes."... "Yeah, so don't say hate--oops!"

A walk by the lake

We visited Grandpa's house yesterday and had a lovely walk by the lake. On the lot adjacent to Grandpa's they are building a large log cabin. The interesting thing about it is that they are reusing huge old beams from another old house and then putting chink between them. It looks like a real old-fashioned, Abraham Lincoln log cabin. The children had fun playing on the wooded shore.

We finally finished Chippy's big cage. He loves it. He can climb up the logs and forage around in the sticks, rocks, nuts and other debris we placed in there for him. He still takes formula three times a day, but has trouble holding still now. His wounded toe has healed nicely, and I don't think will be much of a handicap. God makes His creatures incredibly adaptable.

Tattle tales

It was hard day. I just needed a little rest and a little less confrontation. Maybe I was feeling a little experimental, too. Anyway, it was late in the afternoon, and I was laying down for a short rest, when one of the little girls came in and asked me for a cookie. Normally, I would either say, "Yes, you may have just one." or "No, it's too close to dinner time." But this time I said, "Sure, have as many as you want."
"Really?!" said my little one.
"Yes!" I replied. She ran to get her sister and told her what I had said. Then came back and asked if sister could have cookies, too.
"Yes, have as many as you want." They just stood there, shocked. Then they did a strange thing. They went to their older brother and told him what I had said. He advised them that they must be mistaken, and they should double check. So they came and asked me again. I gave them the same response. Then they did an even stranger thing. The 7 year old went in the kitchen, made herself a plate of left-over chicken and carrots and ate it. Then she had three cookies. The 5 year old didn't have anything. A few minutes later, Daddy came in. The 5 year old immediately told on me! --"Daddy, Mom said we could have all the cookies we want! That's not right, is it?"
Well, apart from being told on, I was proud of their moral responses. They felt that eating the cookies was wrong even with permission from their authority figure. So they didn't do it. Then they went to another authority figure for affirmation. (I guess it's OK to be told on.)
Cookies today, life decisions tomorrow...

Lizzie and Kate

Well, the sun still rose this morning. (And without Obama's help.) In fact, it was a perfectly beautiful day--high of 77 with pure sunshine and a gentle breeze. We spent most of the afternoon working on Chippy's cage. It is rather large--four feet high and 32 inches across. But we want him to have plenty of climbing room. He is beginning to play and bite on his monkey chow. Yes, I said monkey chow. It's what you're supposed to feed to squirrels so they don't get metabolic bone disease. Click the play button on the video below to see Chippy in action.

Last weekend Kate and I had a fun visit with Lizzie. She sure has changed. Here is Lizzie and Kate last year.

The pic below is Lizzie and Kate last weekend.
See what I mean? I think maybe she should cut back on theTwilight novels :)

Voting in Roaring Springs

We voted first thing this morning. That was pretty much routine, except for the view across the street from the volunteer fire station where we vote. Here are a couple pics of what is left of the triple murder scene. For those of you who are reading this from a distance and have not read it in a paper: The killer of the children, and attempted killer of their mother, has been arrested and we hope will be soon tried and executed. A motive has not really been explained other than that he was their DirecTV guy. I have heard that it may have been more of a stalking situation. Tell me, how does an otherwise normal guy, suddenly, and somewhat randomly, attack a woman, try to kill her, and then stab her three children to death, including a 5 year old little boy? It is unnerving having that intensity of evil so close to one's haven of home. Kristy, we are praying for you. Justice will be done, and although you may not see it, there is still Love in the world.