Just a couple pictures. I have an entry coming that hopefully will be nothing but pics, so you all can see how our kids are growing (so fast!).
The kids LOVE sweet corn. They liked it last year, but this year they were super excited about it. As in, they'd pick, shuck, and brush it on their own in order to get it for supper. Probably a good thing we had to keep a fence around it.... It keeps the dogand the kids out. I'm not a huge fan of sweet corn - not that I don't like it, just that it has to be a certain age: not too young, not too old and gummy, for me to like it. If I can find a batch that meet my criteria, I can put it away with the best of them.
Next year, I should let the kids enjoy the sweet corn more often. There's part of me that doesn't want to eat too much fresh, or we won't have enough to freeze. But I guess we'll plant a couple more rows and make it one of those sweet things that summer is all about.
I couldn't distract Jacob enough from chowing down to get him to look at the camera.
Even missing his two front teeth, Nathan cleans off an ear really well!
Zadie would eat straight through the cob if we didn't keep giving her our finished ears to distract her!
So I don't really have any excuse for not posting, other than sheer laziness. Why clean the house, when I could sleep? (Or eat....) Why fold clothes, when I could sit on the couch and stare at the wall? (Or tv if the kids are asleep.) Why play with the kids, when I could wander from room to room, wondering what task I had thought I needed to do there?
So you can guess where blogging ranks on the list.
Geez. That makes me sound like I have a severe case of depression.
Nope. Just epic pregnancy brain syndrome. Combined with the beginnings of summer cabin fever.
The garden is kind of in between stages - my meager spring crops (lettuce, radishes, etc) are done, and my summer ones are not on yet. We got a late start on the garden because of the wet spring (not complaining!), so everything is behind.
My plans for summer school aren't quite what I thought. Kicking the kids outside to play trumps fighting Nathan to stay at the table and pay attention. We are doing a lesson of reading (phonics? He's not actually reading yet, so I'm not sure what you call it.) every day after lunch when the younger two go upstairs for naps. He's okay with that, because it's too hot outside by then, and there's no distractions playing nearby, tempting him with toys.
Paul and I have joined/started a Bible study. (Actually, separate, but related studies.) Ever since we got married, we had a couples group that got together every other weekend (due to Paul working the other weekends), so we really didn't have time to do a Bible study also. As we all had kids, it got harder and harder to get together, and since Zadie was born a year ago, it felt very forced to try to get together (8 or more kids, ages 5 and under, may have had something to do with that....) After the first of the year, I told Paul I was going to quit pushing to get together. Apparently everyone else felt that it was time to move on as well, because no one's been trying to get us all together. :)
So I told Paul, if we weren't going to do that, I wanted to join a small group. There are small groups at our church, but I don't really know if it's proper to invite yourself to an established small group.
But our group kind of materialized on it's own. Paul and a group of guys from our church went to Encounter in February. They had follow-up Bible studies for about two months afterwards, and then decided they wanted to keep meeting. Their meetings were on Tuesday nights, our band practice nights, and one of my singers' husband was in the Bible study, and rather than drive separately from our hubbies (we both live out of town), we would just hang around and visit while we waited on our husbands. We decided to do something constructive with the time, and start our own study, and two other wives wanted to join us. So we start with the guys, and have a time of worship together, and then separate and do our studies and prayer time. We ladies are doing a study of the book Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church to Grow by C. Peter Wagner. We've really enjoyed the time and discussions, even if we are a bit distracted by children. The guys are really getting a lot out of their time together. And I am so excited about what God is doing in their lives. The changes in all of them are obvious. I am so glad they have their time together to grow spiritually and encourage each other. Men need MEN to encourage them.
In completely unrelated news....
I hate cleaning the kitchen. It is the most frustrating homemaker duty of all of them. Most other jobs you do, you can at least tell you've cleaned recently, and they kind of stay semi-clean for a few days. The kitchen can go from sparkling clean to toxic disaster area in an hour. Having to endure this process 3 or more times a day is maddening.
As frustrated as I get at my boys for their whining and arguing, when I think about it, I am so proud of them. They are 5 and 3, and the amount they already help out around the house and yard is actually quite amazing. Nathan's daily jobs are unloading the silverware from the dishwasher (which he complains about as much as I complain about cleaning the kitchen) and taking the scraps to the scrap pile (compost heap). Jacob's jobs are feeding the pets and taking the recycling to the back porch. They both help Paul take out the trash and take their dishes to the kitchen. Nathan vacuums, and helps weed the garden and flower beds. After I pulled the beets, I showed the boys how to wash and take the leaves off them, and they did the rest by themselves and brought them to me in the house. They water my flowers, and haul branches to the burn pile. It makes it sound like we run a child labor farm, but it makes me very proud that they see that there is work to be done, and being part of our family means helping out. (Lest they seem too perfect: sometimes it does take a lecture to remind them of this.) It also makes me look forward to they day that they are old enough to clean the kitchen by themselves Especially when there are four of them..... I'll never have to clean the kitchen again!!! (Insert evil laugh here.)
Okay. Paul is working nights, and I probably should head to bed soon. The unfortunate truth of the matter is, that no matter how late I go to bed, the kids still get up at the same time.
So, when we got our dog - 7 years ago - he would chew on my clothes. Not Paul's, just mine. He got ahold of a pair of my pajama pants and put a couple small holes in the thigh. Even though they were already like 6 years old, I kept them since the holes were relatively small, and I never wore them out of the house.
But the last couple years, they've gotten really ugly. You know how they say behind every sexually frustrated man is a woman in sweatpants? Yeah, these were those kind of pants.
I'm so cheap, though, and couldn't justify spending twenty bucks for a pair of pajama pants! So I kept holding on to them. After all, sometimes you just need some baggy, comfy clothes to have a lazy day in.
But this spring, I finally decided it was time to let go. They were 13 years old. I put them on the rag pile.
The next day I was at WalMart picking up something totally unrelated, and I passed the clearance rack. I usually don't peruse them, because I don't need more clothes. But I saw the $3 sign, and I had to look. There were only a handful of things in my size, but what do you think one of those things was? Yes! Pajama pants! And only $3!!!
I came home and gave Paul a complete spiritual application for this.
Sometimes we hold on to things in our lives because we don't want to let them go. They are things that aren't necessarily bad, but they may not be God's plan for us. He has something better planned for us, but we have to get rid of what we want in order to make room for what He has in store for us. And when we do let go, he surprises us with blessings (hello, $3!!!).
Okay, maybe it's a stretch to apply spiritual truths to sale-priced sweatpants, but the truth remains.
And these pants are awesome!!!
:)
So after looking over my entries from the last 3 months, I realized, that even though I've posted a lot, I haven't really posted anything on what's going on in our lives. I figured it's about time.
So.... No guarantees - I'm just typing as they enter my mind.
Paul made an unexpected trip to Colorado the first weekend of February. We were informed January 27 that Paul's 88-year-old grandfather had been admitted to the hospital with leukemia. Paul was leading a Men's Encounter launch from our church, so he couldn't go out immediately with his dad. He flew out the following Sunday (the day after he returned from Encounter). By the time he got out there, Grandpa had digressed startlingly, and pretty much slept the whole time. Grandpa passed that Tuesday, the night before Paul was to fly back home.
We had planned a community worship night for the next Sunday. We went ahead and did it as scheduled, then our family and Paul's sister headed out immediately afterwards, driving all night to get out there.
The service was a wonderful tribute to Grandpa's life. I enjoyed the stories of friends and neighbors, and the Honor Guard was the best I've ever seen.
I am not good with words in memorium, so I'll just say this: We will miss him. I have only been a part of this family 9 years, and I felt as close to him as I do my own grandfather.
We tried to get his house cleaned out and ready to sell. All of the family lives out of state, so they worked hard to get it done while we were all there to help. (Not that I was much help with a 9-month-old explorer and a sick boy.) Paul inherited all of his grandfather's wood-working tools, and it ended up taking a rental truck to get them back to Kansas.
When I searched hotels closest to the house, I found a bed and breakfast 5 blocks away. It was a bit more expensive than a hotel would have been, but it was like a home away from home. We pretty much had run of the house, so we could spread out, and the innkeeper came each morning and fixed us a yummy breakfast. It made the trip so much less stressful on me. We were close enough that we could walk back and forth. It's called Inn at City Park, and I highly recommend it. The innkeeper, Tara, went above and beyond - not only seeing to our every need and fixing breakfast for us, but entertaining Zadie so I could eat my own breakfast in peace.
Jacob got sick during our trip, and started running a fever the day we got there. I suspected an ear infection, but he kept saying his ears didn't hurt. He was pretty miserable the whole trip home, and only slept less than an hour of the 12-hour drive. I got him into the doctor the next day, and even though they pegged him as having the flu, I was right - ear infection. I'm going to stop letting them do lab work on my kids. Our insurance is decent for doctor's appointments, but sucks on lab work. We owe $70 for that little unnecessary influenza test. I should have had them check his ears first, then let them stick that rod up his nose.
I warned this would be rambling: So, we just had our third blizzard in a month. I talked about the others in this post. Spring started on Wednesday, and over the weekend, we got 8 inches of snow. Lovely, drifting, pelting snow. Church was cancelled Sunday morning. We had a little church service at home. Since it was Palm Sunday, Paul read the Triumphal Entry story from the Bible, and we sang 3 praise songs around the piano. The boys were so cute, singing their little hearts out on the songs.
We have cats in the cellar. (Is that like "bats in the attic"?) Grosses me out. I thought I had sealed up their entrance, but apparently not. Now I hear them jumping on the furnace and vents. So disgusting. I put three trays of rat poison out (just in case they're not cats - a thought which I don't even want to entertain). Maybe the cats will eat it, and we'll be rid of the problem.
Paul and I celebrated our 9th anniversary on Wednesday. We went out on a date on Monday, going to see Oz, The Great and Powerful at our local cinema. Grandpa and Grandma (Paul's parents) kept the boys overnight, so we only had one Munchkin interfering with our sleep schedule. :) Paul spent Tuesday at his parents' working on a bath remodel. When we got home from practice and Bible study, he asked if I wanted to watch a movie.... at 10 PM? He was supposed to work on Wednesday, our actual anniversary, but smiled as he told me he'd taken it off.
Wednesday, we decided to go spend some money on the house. We need to replace a couple doors, but figure we need to get the house leveled up before sinking money into improvements. We went to Home Depot and bought 4 jack posts to put in the cellar, to support the floor joists. We decided to go out to lunch, because it was, after all, our anniversary. I wanted steak, so we went to Longhorn Steakhouse. With all 3 kids. What were we thinking? But it was so nice. Granted, we were there after the rush, but service was great. The kids were all well-behaved, no whining, wandering, or otherwise. It's nice to see the beatings paying off. (J/k.) (Mostly.)
Nathan is 6 lessons away from finishing his Kindergarten math. We should probably just end school early, but I'm insane, and we're going to charge right in to 1st Math. We'll probably end up doing school sporadically through the summer, just because at this age, it will be easier to just stay in the groove. Something has clicked with his reading, and he's really seeming to "get it" when he reads words. He has one little book that he can read on his own. I don't have him read it often, because I want him to be able to read it, not quote it from memory.
I originally was going to wait to start Jake on his preschool at the first of next year, rather than in the fall. But he's farther along than Nathan was at the same age. He can count to 10, and identify numbers 1-5. He knows a few letters, all his colors, and most shapes. He's more interested in coloring and cutting than Nathan was at the same age, but I suspect that's because he's been exposed to it more. So it looks like he'll be starting in September.
Little Miss Zadie is talking now. She has words for different things, but they all sound the same. "Da" is for Dad, that, look at this, and anything else she wants to point out. "Mum, mum, mum" is for Mom, more, yum, and anything else food-related. Okay, so really, we have no clue what she's saying, but she is definitely becoming more vocal. She's walking as well! She does it more when no one's paying attention to her. I keep her in footie pajamas most of the time since it's been so cold, but I think they've been hindering her movements, when her feet won't stay in the feet. Surprising how much better she moves in actual clothes and socks!
Anyhow. My laptop battery is about to die, so I'll post this much and return later for everything I missed.
Oh my. I just printed out my birth plan. It just clicked to me: It really is close.
Yesterday was 2 weeks until my due date. We really are to the "any day now" time. Paul has been asking me for two weeks if I've packed my bag for the hospital.... I think it's because he doesn't want to have to try to find everything himself if I go to the hospital unprepared. (I think he was scarred last spring when he had to bring me pads when I was in the hospital..... They were double bagged and buried under other stuff. :P He doesn't want to do that again.... Not to mention the nursing pads.... A man bringing his wife two types of pads?? NOOOOO!!!!!)
Well, tonight I packed the hospital bag. That is a task I hate doing, because what do you need? I mean, really need? Clothes are the hardest for me, because I want to be comfy, but not look like a bag lady either. Will I be cold or hot? What will the weather be like when we go home? I'm trying to go minimal, because I remember how little I used with the boys.
I'm also at the point where I feel like I have to shave every time I take a shower. I was talking to a friend from church, who is also pregnant, about shaving - which, seriously, at this point.... "I shave by faith, not by sight." This friend has worked as an OB nurse, and mentioned how after "being on the un-groomed end of things" shaving was very important to her as she nears her due date. I had told myself that the doctor and nurses have seen everything, so some stubbly knees aren't a big deal, but maybe not. Oh well.
I was going to get a pedicure, but then was thinking about these dang stockings.... I'm still supposed to wear them, even after I deliver. So who is going to enjoy, or even see the pedicure? I think I'll paint my own toes (or make Paul?) before delivery, and then reward myself with a pedicure mid-summer after I've had my veins fixed and I'm finally stocking-free! (It will have been 6 months of wearing them by then.)
I also was going to get a hair cut before I have the baby. But then I found out I could pull my hair back into a ponytail - a very stubby, ugly one, but a ponytail nonetheless. That is handy since we're working outside a lot. And then I remembered the shedding. I didn't have postpartum shedding with Nathan, but did majorly with Jacob. So assuming I lose 3/4 of the hair on my head in the next few months..... I'll save the haircut for trying to make it look good after that. :) (I'm a cheapskate who only gets my hair cut twice a year, if that.)
Paul installed the infant car seat base in the backseat of the car this afternoon. It's going to be tight, but we'll manage. The car seat is cleaned and ready to go.... As long as I can keep the @#%* cat from peeing on it. I don't know what's up with him, but he is on my list. He peed on the changing table last week.
Well, the dryer just kicked off. That's the baby clothes! Last major prep thing to do to get ready for Baby. Tomorrow, Paul can help me pick out which white or yellow outfit we want to take to the hospital. I still have no feeling one way or the other. I think it's a girl, just because statistically, we're due for a girl after two boys. But I don't know. I love the anticipation, though.
And the house is a disaster. I'm on about a 3-day cycle. About every third day, I feel like I'm on top of things around here where I would be okay leaving for 2 days to have a baby. But it is definitely not the third day. Path through the living room, piles in the dining room and kitchen......ugh.
We'll get there.
And if not......
Baby will get here anyways.
:)
"Nathan, are you happy tonight?" Everything that came out of his mouth had been a song for the last hour. "Yes! I'm happy 'cause Jesus lives in my heart!"
A week ago tonight, Nathan prayed to ask Jesus into his heart.
We had gotten home late. Jacob was already asleep (I thought), so I took him up from the car and put him in bed. After Nathan had brushed his teeth and gotten his pjs on, Paul took him up. He prayed with him, then as he was walking out of the room, he said Jacob sat up and said, "Me do bad things. Mommy do bad things. Everybody do bad things." (We've talked with them about how "all have sinned." - Romans 3:23.)
Paul said he came back in and said something back to Jacob, who checked out of the conversation when Brutus (the cat) jumped up on his bed. But then Nathan started talking and asking questions.
Paul said they went over all of it - how he (Nathan) had sinned - "done bad things" - and what those things were. How you can't get into Heaven if you've done bad things. How Jesus was perfect and died on the cross to pay for our sins so we can go to Heaven. How we need to say we're sorry for the bad things we've done and ask Jesus to forgive us. About how when Jesus lives inside of us, we act and want to act differently.
I wondered what was taking so long, since I couldn't hear anything and the light was off. Then Paul came down and told me everything they'd talked about, and said the conversation ended with Nathan praying to ask Jesus to forgive him and come live in his heart.
I'm not sure my heart has ever felt such joy. It is the most wonderful thing to realize that your child will spend eternity in heaven with you. What makes it even better for me is the fact that I can see a difference. He's four. He's a boy. So there is still some "nature" that takes over sometimes, and he has a hard time controlling. But his attitude has made some noticeable (at least to me) changes this last week.
I've always said that the measure of good parenting is not in if your child knows how to cook or do laundry when they're grown (although I do want mine to know those things, too!), but whether they believe and love and honor Jesus as their Savior.
I'm happy to say our oldest does. And he wants his little brother to have Jesus in his heart, too.
I can't tell you for sure what I did today, but it may not have been cleaning house.
What I told Paul after he woke up this afternoon (working nights) and the house was literally a pile from one end to the other. (Okay, so three rooms. But still. Literally. Pile.) Between toys, laundry, our child-sized table and chairs, and a huge pile of blankets the boys made for kitten snuggling, it was one huge booby trap.
(Oh, and I was taking a nap when he discovered it.)
I've been bad at getting updates lately. Between teaching Nathan's violin and preschool daily, I haven't had much free time.
So in lieu of a detailed update, I thought I'd just share some of my favorite pictures from the last couple months.... The pictures are more interesting than my ramblings anyways. Most of these are pictures I intended to use for a blog, but just never got around to it. (Typical.)
This was on Mother's Day (so it's a few more months than just "the last few"). I love them, and I think they're so cute when they are dressed matchy-matchy. My handsome guys!
Why colored bubbles only sound like an awesome idea.
He's quite fond of torturing the cat (in love). And the cat just takes it, so it's his own dumb fault.
Nathan found a tiny baby snail (on top of a "normal" size snail shell, which is about the size of a nickel). I thought the photos with him in the background were hilarious.
We have some old, old Bugs Bunny cartoons - the ones from World War II, with jingles about war bonds and saving tin. One on there is the national anthem. He always stands up when that one is on. (So proud of this.)
Multi-tasking.
My rock stars. (I may have posted it before.) I did tell Nathan to do the "peace" sign.
We expanded our play set. It now has two platforms. The next step will be a playhouse built on the area where Nathan's bike is parked..... Someday. The new platform will lead to a loft above the playhouse.
Jacob is a picky eater at mealtimes. But when he wants to eat something, he'll eat anything. These pics: a whole boiled egg - in the shell, and a stick of butter. He also ate half a decorative gourd - straight through like an apple, chalk, crayons, and markers (which he has to try at least once a week).
The boys watching the final Space Shuttle launch.
It has been DRY. This is our feet after a very short walk down the grass at the side of our gravel road. It's October, and it's still no better.
Nathan is coming along on his violin. Jacob is now very interested as well, but it's very obvious he does not have the patience to even bother trying to teach him yet. It's like, "I want to hold the violin. Okay. I'm done."
The lighting was just perfect the evening I took these. My boys just look like they're glowing (which they always do to me :) ).
The favorite pastime this summer was removing all of my landscaping bricks from the edge of my front flower bed, hauling them in their Tonka trucks, and then lining them up or stacking them on the sidewalk. I just finally reclaimed them two weeks ago, and so far they haven't been destroyed again (yet).
More "I don't see the point of these flowers." We took this large planter down off the deck rail after Jacob pulled it off on himself. They proceeded to pull the flowers, because they were on some prime dirt for farming.
As a "last hurrah" of summer, about the beginning of September when it started to cool down, I filled up the dog's water pool (it's very dry, so he needs a place to drink and splash). The boys proceeded to strip down and go skinny dipping in the COLD water. They loved it. (Incidentally, they have not asked to swim since. :P )
I love any picture of our house and yard. It just makes me feel so peaceful. Home must really be where your heart is.
We had one of those crazy spiny squooshy balls, and it popped. (I didn't know it was possible.) It makes for an awesome silly hat, though!
Nathan turned 4! I made him a worm cake, which looks PATHETIC compared to the one in the magazine I got the idea from, but he loved it.
My parents got Nathan and Mackenzie (my niece; her 5th birthday was the same week, so we had a double party) globes. It is perfect timing for school, learning about the world God created, and showing them where their Aunt Sissy is. (Carlsie, my youngest sister, is in Zambia for 2 years with the Peace Corps.)
Here, they're showing us where Zambia is.
This face. It makes my heart melt every time. What is it? Is it the puppy dog eyes?
And his smile just lights up a room. Seriously. Heart bursting.
Of course, this guy is getting pretty darn handsome. His smile can just say T-U-R-D sometimes. :)
This post is mainly to see how things work in the new browser I'm trying... Google Chrome. For some reason, Internet Explorer won't post my blogs. I can view, compose, etc., but it won't post. I've told you before about Paul and I's separate browsers, and I hear over and over about how crappy Internet Explorer is (I'm starting to agree), so.... I'm trying something new. I figured Blogger is a Google site, Chrome is a Google browser, so..... They should work pretty well together.
Meanwhile, enjoy some pictures.
We have kittens. 5 of them. Please find a new home for them.
Three of them are yellow. The yellow ones are all "Milo" to Nathan and Jacob, even though 2 of them are girls. ("Joyce" is the white one, and Nathan has yet to come up with a name for the gray one.)
This is from our Independence Day party.... On the 2nd. Nathan saw all the guns and had to go get his gun. Every time they started shooting, he'd start shooting, too. From the hip, of course. He's that good.
Jacob and Grandpa watched the shooting.
Rock stars.
2011 Harvest Hitchhiking, Part 1. Helping Mr. LaGalle with his wheat harvest across the road.
Earlier this month, I heard little footsteps go across the floor after lights out. Later when I went up to check on them, this is what I found.
My summer is complete when these flowers bloom. I love my pink gladiolas - they made it through the awful winter, even though I didn't dig them up like you're supposed to.
I think Daylight Savings Time should not be used any more. Really, the reason it was implimented was to use less electricity and get more productivity during World War II. (Am I right on this?) But I've heard that nowadays, with current technology, it does nothing.
Nothing, that is, except completely screw with my children's sleep schedules.
My kids are very solar-minded. (Or whatever you want to call it.) They won't go to bed at night if it's still light outside, and they wake up as soon as the sun begins to light the sky. So you can see why I hate DST. In the summer, it's light until 10 PM for a few weeks. And then in the autumn, after the time changes, they are completely thrown off. Jacob woke up at 5:15 on Sunday.
Add to the Jacob sleeping complication, that he still wants to nurse if he wakes up. So when I go and pick him up, he does somersaults in my arms to try to get under my shirt. This had better end soon. I'm tired of the 2 AM screaming fits.
In other news: I got to enjoy my first taste of wine (or any alcoholic beverage) in four years. That's right: four years. I've either been pregnant, nursing, or "trying" (not preventing) since December of 2006. Actually, I guess we "tried" all of 2006, too, but things weren't happening on their own.
Our friends Josh and Tara came over for supper and brought over a nice bottle of wine. It was really tasty - Paul even said he liked it, and he doesn't like wine. I love the taste of wine, and really enjoyed it. I had two glasses! (Such a lush.)
(And for those of you that know us well, and know we aren't "preventing" - certain female hormonal events are presently occuring, so it's obvious I'm not pregnant, and thereby safe to have a drink.)
I'd like to announce that I would call Nathan completely potty trained. Ecstatic! Although, I told Paul I'm not sure I should consider any kid completely trained until they can wipe their own backside (properly!) and button and zip their own pants. But he's staying dry at night now. Back in.... August, I think, he suddenly started staying dry at night. I bought a package of pull-ups for nighttime, and three months later he still has nearly a dozen left. About two weeks ago, he asked to wear underpants at night, so we let him. Saturday night was the first time he'd wet the bed while wearing underpants. (Which resulted in a 2 AM complete stripdown of him and his bed. Lots of crying.)
We inherited a "project" from my grandparents. They had a calf born to them that was absolutely tiny; she barely came up to your knee. They thought she was about a month premature. The vet thought it could be that, or possibly that she was a dwarf. Either way, she wasn't quite "right" but displayed an incredible will to live. They started her on a bottle (she sucks with her tounge sticking out the side of her mouth), and after about a month, offered her to us for the boys to help take care of. I was excited to get into the "cattle business" but apprehensive about taking a calf with problems. She was recovering from an eye infection when we brought her home last Saturday (a week ago). We made up a nice pen for her in our unused dog pen, and turned her loose. She seemed to enjoy the tall grass. So after letting the boys talk to her through the fence, we went inside.
Just before bed that evening, I took Nathan out to feed her a bottle. As I shone the flashlight toward her pen, I noticed something large and red on her back. It was blood. Our dog had gotten ahold of her through the fence and ripped off large chunks of her skin from her back and the back of one hip. I was very angry at the dog. But he didn't act vicious toward her - I think he truly thought we had brought home the calf to be a snack for him. (She was smaller than the dog.)
I treated the wounds as best I could, and she really didn't act like they bothered her. The one on her hip that I couldn't cover with a bandage wrap got infected a little bit, but a vet that goes to our church said it wouldn't be a big deal, and told me how to take care of it. By Friday, the wounds looked pretty good, considering, but she seemed to be weak, and have trouble getting up. Saturday night when I went out to feed her her nighttime bottle, she was stretched out on her side, and pretty unresponsive. The inside of her mouth was cold. We brought her inside for the night, hoping that she had just gotten chilled and that spending the night in the warm house would revive her. But really we knew better. She died during the night on Saturday.
I know it may have been inevitable; that she may have died anyways, no matter what I had done. My parents aren't even sure it was the wounds from the dog.... She just wasn't "right," and it could have been the eye that was infected when we got her. But when something dies on your watch, you still feel responsible.
However, it made me realize how much I missed doing chores. Don't get me wrong - I didn't care for bundling up the boys every morning and taking them out in the cold, and trying to get them to keep their gloves on while I tended to the calf. But I liked having something to do, and something to take care of. Paul and I are talking about buying some bottle calves, if we can afford them after we finish paying hospital bills.
Anyhow. I am totally in a bloggy mood today. Later, I will try to upload some pictures to show what we've been up to. But first, I'm going to feign productiveness and see about cleaning that kitchen.
I took the boys out to play in the sand pile on Monday, and within about 5 minutes of getting out here, I felt like killing every animal on our property that we pay to feed and keep around. First off - we had to buy a tarp to cover the sand pile, because our cats thought it was their giant (pardon the term, but it so perfectly applies) "shitterbox." This spring, when we were out there every day, we would have to scoop out no less than a half dozen piles of poop, plus who knows how many pee deposits we missed. After finding one pile that exploded into wiggling tapeworms upon touching it with the shovel, I immediately sent Paul to the store to buy a tarp. The tarp is the same width as the sandbox, so covers it well, except at the corners where it's anchored. So if the stupid cats can find more than 3 square inches of sand uncovered, they will take a dump on it - and usually because the sand target is so small, they end up pooping at least in part on the tarp. SICK. When I lifted the tarp, a big fat mouse ran out from under it and hid between the wall and the ladder. It startled me, but didn't bother me too badly. I quickly started scooping and flinging the poo before the boys got in. Due to the heat, it had been probably a week since we'd been out there, so there were about 4 piles - thankfully all dried up. I missed one turd on the side the boys came in from, and Jacob was just getting it to his mouth as I grabbed his hand. SICK. (And that boy has an unnatural fascination with putting anything that is totally un-appetizing into his mouth.... dirt, sand, hair... you get the picture.) The boys climbed in, and Nathan pointed out a toad. I shooed it over the edge. Then I found another one, and shooed it likewise. I kept wondering how those toads were sneaking back in, after about the 5th time of shooing one out, and then from beneath Nathan's foot a huge one squirmed up out of the sand. It was really big - it looked like I feel after conquering a Chipolte burrito. I shooed it out, and it waited politely under Nathan's little picnic table for us to get done out there so he could wriggle back down in the sand. I glanced over, and I noticed that the mouse was still hiding between the wall and the ladder. So I went up to the house and carried Brutus outside and put him right in front of the ladder. Then I took a stick and pushed the mouse out toward him. Brutus looked at it, sniffed the ground, and walked off. The mouse ran back to the sand pile, so I picked Brutus up and threw him onto the mouse, thinking if it scurried away from him, Brutus would take up chase. Nope. He sniffed the mouse again and just sat down. The mouse scurried (more like sauntered - cocky little bastard)along the wall, so once again, I picked up Brutus to throw him toward the mouse. Brutus sat down at the end of the wall. The dog came trotting up to see what all the comotion was about. The mouse hid again - UNDER THE CAT. I moved the cat so the dog could see the mouse, but when I said, "Come here, Hercules!" the stupid dog ran off. Then came back, then ran off, then came back, then ran all the way off. Like he was saying, "I know you want me to come, but you can't make me come. Ha." The mouse escaped into the dog pen. I was thoroughly peeved at both of our pets then (the outdoor cats avoided my wrath by staying out of sight). And I kid you not - 10 minutes later, Brutus comes wandering up, and starts sniffing around. He came up to the ladder and crouched down, and started stalking the trail of the mouse - all the way up to and into the dog pen. A few minutes later, the dog came sniffing around and followed the trail as well. If I had had something to throw at them other than a small child, I would have. Sometimes I hate our pets.
I can't believe it's been over two weeks. I'm so ashamed. Okay, not really. But it just shows how time flies when you're having fun. Or just... Time flies, with or without the fun. I don't even know what all I've been up to that's kept me from posting. This weekend has kind of blurred everything else from my memory. Let me give you a rundown of the last several days: Tuesday - gone most of the day doing errands, visiting Paul at work, and Grandpa in the hospital. Wednesday - Paul worked in the morning. After he got home in the afternoon, we got the boys put down for naps then I went in to town to set up for a garage sale at Lurenda's mother in law's. Thursday - Normal-ish morning. Put boys down for naps, then left to set up for garage sale, left there to practice music for a wedding, then went immediately to wedding rehearsal, then home to eat and put the boys to bed, then back in to set up for the garage sale. Got home at 12:30. Friday - up at 6:30, first day of the garage sale. Left at 1:30 to take Jacob home for his nap. After nursing him to sleep, I realized that resistance was futile, and I crashed myself for an hour. Which meant I had to scramble to get myself dressed and out the door to be on time for the wedding. Saturday - up at 6:30 again, met Paul for breakfast at Burger King, back to garage sale. Massive rain out. We sorted stuff for donations (we have a staunch "no returns" policy - if we were willing to sell it to a stranger for a quarter, we can part with it to Goodwill or LifeCare), then I went to church to copy off the bulletins. I got home about 2, and once again fell asleep nursing Jacob. I took a nap under the pretense I'd clean that night. So yeah - now it's Sunday night and the house looks no better. Not only was I gone for pretty much 3 solid days, I also have the piles of stuff I "bought" (ahem) at the garage sale... One of the families (we had 7) has two boys that are a couple years older than Nathan, so I grab up any of their hand-me-downs I can. And then there's also the clothes, books, movies, and other things siblings have borrowed for so long they think it's their own and try to sell it. So what am I doing? Sitting in front of the computer avoiding housework. My excuse is that I could get shocked by lightening while doing dishes, since it's rumbling and flashing outside. (Before you laugh - that just happened to a local guy this week.... Lighening struck outside and traveled up the pipes and shocked him while he was washing dishes! He was dazed for over a half an hour.) Jacob is 7 1/2 months now. He has four teeth. Four very sharp teeth. His favorite thing to try them out on is me. My hands, my legs, my shoulder, my other parts...... OUCH. He's crawling, pulling up, and experimenting with "free-handing" - where he's pulled up holding on to something, and then lets go and teeters there before plopping onto his tush. He is SUCH a happy guy! He smiles all the time, and also doesn't mind cuddling, which is something Nathan never really liked, even when he was little. He's usually content with anyone, which makes getting stuff done much easier. He hates baby food. You know how they say "try a new food 10 times"? Yeah. We've tried like 30 times, and still he spits it out. He starts spitting before it even gets in his mouth. He prefers food he can pick up and chew, but he doesn't chew it well enough and he gags. So we tried mashed up whatever-we're-having. Tonight I made grilled marinated chicken and tomato spaghetti, and he seemed to like it, so.... We'll see. Nathan is talking, talking, talking. His vocabulary expands constantly - he's always saying new words and phrases that leave us laughing or shaking our heads. New this week are "allright", "yee-haw", and "just a minute". A couple weeks ago he said, "Good gracious" - and I have NO idea where that came from. He's starting to act out things with his toys - mostly his cars and tractors, talking to each other. And I've noticed that the main characters are "Daddy" and "Mommy". Tonight I was the big red firetruck, and Paul was the green tractor. Nathan hasn't had a potty accident in several weeks. He's dry I'd say 50% of the time after naps. We still are a long ways away from being dry at night, though. Both of the boys love being outside. I can take them out to the sand pile and they'll entertain themselves for an hour. But rather than being able to relax on a blanket, I have to be on the lookout for Jacob eating handfuls of sand, and any "poop cat" (Nathan's term) landmines. I hate cats. I broke out the bike and trailer and have hauled the boys around the neighborhood several times in the last month. I discovered we have a badger family living in a den right next to the road about a half mile from the house. Lovely. That means either I have to lock up the dog or go another way. (Badgers are very mean, and can kill a dog in a fight.) My garden is so-so this year. Because of the unusually cool and wet spring, only about half of my seeds germinated. The only crop that did great is my lettuce. I have a blend of four types of lettuce, along with a mesculn greens mix that makes an amazing salad. I have much more than we can consume ourselves. Our corn is loving the hot humid weather and has really sprung up the last week or so. It's fast approaching time to put a fence around it. Well, this post has taken me about 8 hours to complete, by the time I get distracted, and then have an internet failure. I'd better just go ahead and publish it.
The other day, after telling Nathan for the umpteenth time to "Be nice to the cat," I realized just how much I use the term nice when I'm instructing him on the way he should be acting. Be nice to the cat. Thank you for sharing. That was nice. That's so nice when you help Mommy. Use your nice voice. You need to ask nicely. Be nice to Mommy when you want something.
So I decided I need to be more specific. Because it's got to be confusing to a two year old to have one word cover all those things.
So I started being more specific.... You need to be gentle with Brutus. Thank you for sharing. That was very kind. You need to be patient when you want something.
Hmm.... Then I realized:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.... (Galatians 5:22-23)
What a perfect example of how to teach our children the way to act! I know that maybe the concept of sin/salvation is still over Nathan's head (well, not the sinning part - but the need of a Savior), but he is old enough to be learning these traits.
I haven't had time to dig in and do a word study on what each word actually means (other than my general idea of what each means). But I figure generalness is at least a starting place.
So I've written them down on a sticky note and put it on the fridge. Paul and I are trying to use any opportunity to instruct Nathan in these traits. We'd rather have a son who inhibits all the above, rather than a son who is merely nice.
Last Thursday morning, Nathan wanted to go out to play. I wrestled with the door (our front door sticks) as he pleaded, "'Side?" As I looked out the front door, I noticed something dead and furry at the end of our sidewalk in the driveway. I thought, That dang dog drug something dead up into the yard again! He's always finding possums or rats or other gross things.
I picked Nathan up and went out to investigate. As I got closer, he pointed and said, "Cat!" Sure enough, it was what was left of our Mama Kitty - a head and front foot. Totally graphic (luckily no blood). But it didn't disturb Nathan.
We have no idea what killed her. We're 99% positive it wasn't our dog... They've lived together for four years with no problem. We're thinking she got killed by a wild animal (coyote or bobcat), and Hercules either found what was left of her, or he scared off whatever killed her and brought back what was left to let us know. He had woken me up barking his head off and howling about 5 o'clock that morning.
So that leaves us with orphan kittens. We have found a home for one of them, but would really like to get rid of at least most of the rest. One or two cats is all this farm needs - we don't want to turn into a cat farm! If you want one, or knowanyone who might - PLEASE let us know!
Clockwise from bottom left: Pinky (boy), Tippy (girl), Orangey (boy), Cucumber (girl - has a new home!), Callie (girl), and Mozerella (girl).
