The Cat and The Woodchuck

Our backyard is a sanctuary for animals. We have about 6 different kinds of birds, endless squirrels, A family of 4 bunnies, a woodchuck and occasionally a couple of deer. Every morning, afternoon and evening the bunnies and the woodchuck come out of the trees to eat. I think they are getting ready for winter because you'd think they were all teenage boys as of late. Eating constantly!! Well this morning a orange and white cat decided to join the breakfast club. However, the cat eyeballed the woodchuck (chuck is his name, they all have names but I won't bore you) too long. I know this because instead of keeping everyone on the "take another bite" schedule of our own breakfast, I was watching out the window. Naturally the girls noticed so they came to watch. So here is Chuck watching the cat and the cat is watching chuck and all of a sudden backs start to arch. Hmmm...never seen fat ole Chuck do that before. I decide in my good Mothering to inform the girls that this could go in a bad direction. And because I am such a good mommy I tell them if one attacks the other they are to close their eyes and I will tell them what happens. So now Chuck is trying to do the right thing and walk away...I pointed that out to the kids..."see you should always try to walk away from a fight." Now I am narrating and Chuck says to...fluffy...for lack of a better name (the cat hasn't been around long enough to be named) "fluffy, I don't wanna fight you man...walk away cat." and Fluffy says, "take one more step, chunky, and I'm gonna take you out in front of those kids" Well chuck took another step and, like Ryan does pretends to do something else and then takes off running. He's remarkably fast for the body to leg ratio! Fluffy follows and they chase each other into the trees. Now we are all standing there listening..."you hear anything?" I got three No's and of course one yes. The yes comes from the hypochondriac of the family (no it's not me, I am miss worst case scenario) This person can hear yelps and hisses from the cat and Chuck. OK, I don't think so. We figured we just wait to see who would come out of the trees victorious, but the timer rang and we had to leave for school. I am happy to report that Chuck made his scheduled appearance at dinner time. No sign of Fluffy. I don't think the cat is welcome for meals anymore. I'll let you know if we see him or start to smell a foul smell coming from the trees. Normally my children get to experience mating or birth from nature so this was a nice change of pace!

Home or Hotel?

I recently read a book that asked this question, "Is your house a home or a hotel for your children?" At that time, I was definitely running a hotel. I was doing everything for our kiddos and starting to resent the fact that they expected it. Well after I read this book, things got shaken up!! The girls have regular chores and certain expectations of what they need to do everyday. It has changed our home drastically. A few of the things the girls do are: Empty the dishwasher (Reagan does the dishes, Rebecca does the silverware 2. Help pick up the house at the end of the day 3. Clean up their dirty clothes after a shower 4. do their own laundry and keep their rooms clean with a vacuum and dusting once a week. They do get an allowance, but they can only lose money if I have to do a job for them or if they hire someone else to accomplish their responsibility. At first I wasn't sure how this was going to work, but I have to say it has helped relieve my burden a ton! Anyway, the best part so far is this, yesterday I noticed Reagan's room was getting a touch messy and her bed wasn't made. So I did it for her. It was so cool to see her come home from school go up in her room and yell, "THANKS MOM!" I got the opportunity to bless her instead of feel taken advantage of. That has been awesome. It has given me joy back in surprising them with a job already done! The other great thing is we have started giving them allowance. They are a bunch of savers!! LOL No one wants to spend their money now that they are seeing it add up. It's cool to watch them learn that not everything is worth having. Lastly, I have to tell you about Ryan who is picking things up just by watching. Lately his favorite past time is to play in the sink. With a stool he can reach to turn the water on and play. Last night I let him play for a while so he got out some cups and was having a grand time. At some point he decided while he was there he would brush his teeth. So I told him to brush his teeth and then he needed to be done. I could not believe it when I walked in the bathroom after he was done...we'll I couldn't believe he actually turned the water off the first time I asked!...He had put all of his cups away and done his 2 year old best to clean up without me asking!! That was so cool. Is it really possible that I am going to end with an easy child??? I guess the lesson that I have learned is that I can do everything for everybody thinking I am being a great mom and in the process burn myself out into a resentful mess. Or I can delegate some of the responsibilities to my children and give them a happy mom and teach them to contribute to our family. When the choice is home or hotel, we remember quickly that a hotel is only fun for so long but it always feels great to come home!

Back to School

Sorry it's been a while since I posted anything. The beginning of the school year is always a little crazy. I started to realize just how lax our routine had become over the summer. Now we have our feet under us again and things are running nice and smooth. The first day of school is always interesting. Each child deals with it differently and I find myself dealing with each of their emotions all at once. Reagan is always nervous.
She is so much like me. She sat at the breakfast table unable to eat because the inevitable stomachache had shown up. I couldn't say I blamed her because I had the same one. I was busy hoping she'd like her teacher and that she would find a friend in her class, and countless other thoughts that every parent of every child has. Then there was Rebecca just as excited as ever.
Not a care in the world just ready to get going. The ache in my heart was for her. The fact that she is growing up faster then I can keep up with gives me that ache in my chest. For her I hoped that she would find her class room. She seems so small to me, yet the confidence she has makes me so proud! We are two weeks in and everyone is doing great. Reagan pulls out her daily homework and gets it done right after school. It helps that the neighbor and I have a deal and both of our children must do their work before they can play. It works wonders. Rebecca is doing so well at getting ready for school and coming home and telling me everyday that, "someone has homework!" however it is NEVER her...always me. LOL Before I know it all three will be getting on that school bus and I am told that I will rejoice. For now, I nurse the ache in my heart knowing that being a parent will always be bitter sweet and it will always go too fast in some ways and not fast enough in others. I am just thankful that I get to be here to witness their lives. That is truly the best gift I've ever been given.
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Getting Creative

Well I finally took some time to create something!! This is a desk calendar for 2009! In the blank areas I can put pictures of my family or a trip or nature or whatever. I am super pleased with how this turned out. Ron wants me to make him one, but I need to make it a little more masculine!! Wouldn't want him to get picked on for the girly calendar!!

Busy Boy

Well Ryan has been in rare form lately. I'm still not sure if I should be disturbed at his latest experiments! However, he was slinging a hammer just yesterday so I guess we are OK still. Anyway, I came upstairs and found my son with purse in hand wielding it as if he were a professional! This face cracked me up because it's like he knows I busted him doing something interesting. He quickly changed that face to one of his contagious little smiles. As if the purse wasn't bad enough, I happened to look at the floor. At his feet lay my high-heel boots. Now I am getting the picture. He was trying to get the boots on as well, but the boots went clear up to his hips. Every time he would bend over to pick up the boot the purse would fall off of his shoulder. He figured out that if he held up his arm the purse would stay on. This was a priceless thing to watch. However, in true guy fashion, he decided to give up and go play with his balls!! HA!! That was not meant to be rude, but since it's so funny, I will leave it. I meant his basketball and soccer ball with bat!! Never mind...

Ouch!

Poor Ryan was having such a good time last night and then it happened! One trip of the foot and SLAM!!! Right into the coffee table. I have never seen anything swell this fast before!! He usually doesn't cry as he is pretty tough...but as you can see
some well deserved tears did fall. I tried to put frozen veggies on it, but have you ever tried that with a kid this age who is in pain??
Good Luck! This morning there is a nickle size bruise and he seems to be fine. Reagan was the one playing with him and of course was crying because she felt horrible. However, after Ryan said..."I OK Reaggie, I OK." It seemed all better. I am sure this is just the first installment of bumps and bruises for him, but this one gets the gold for now!!

Dump and Run

A friend and I were conversing through email today about the trouble our sons cause. Her son puts Butt Paste in the toaster and turns it on, all the while turning the crock pot off, my son has more of a dump and run thing going on.
Now it would appear that I am just a neglectful parent, but what I was doing at the time was helping Rebecca clean her room. The vacuum was going and so I did NOT hear a brand new box of cereal dump on the floor. Be sure to notice that some of them got stepped on and ground into the carpet!! Imagine my surprise when I just finished one big mess and came down to this. This is a fine example of why I blog...otherwise I would be insane. Perhaps instead of Fruit (ha right I think "fruit" is a little misleading)Loops, I should buy Raisin Bran...Less sugar and I can kill two birds with one stone...I'll let you figure out which birds I am referring too!! Ryan has provided a few more interesting things as of late. I will be posting them as well. Gotta love little boys!!