Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!

My Halloween girl. She looks a little spooked, huh?
Check out my cool bat socks!

Plan for the day:
Make caramel apples
Pop some popcorn
Watch Hocus Pocus and eat junk!


Trick or treat 08

The line up this year, ladybug, puppy, witch, racecar driver, and a soldier. Of course, the soldier took off with his friends before I snapped a pic, and by the time he got back, my battery was dead. You'll have to check out Krista's blog to see the oldest kid. I think she got a pic of him. The cute green witch. Daddy said, "She's so cute, we couldn't even make her ugly."

The little ladybug
And they're off!
I was surprised by the number of houses not partcipating this year. At some points, it was a bit of a walk between houses handing out treats. Some people really got into it though.
See the chainsaw wielding skeleton dude?
Yep, that's my puppy walking right next to him without a care.
The older two were a little nervous, but Teagan didn't seem to be bothered.
Tess was just along for the ride.



The old hag on the porch? That was a real person. Well, with a mask. Tatum was a little leery walking up there once she saw her move.
They didn't last the whole 2 hours, so we headed home right before 8 to check out their stash. My kids are lightweights when it comes to trick or treating. And they haven't quite figured out that the more houses you hit, the more candy you get. One of these years, it will sink in.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Pumpkin painting

Day 1
Buddy wanted a pumpkin too. But we know she just likes to use them for chew toys so she didn't get one. Our girl did visit the vet the other day because she was rubbing her butt raw. Apparently, she is allergic to flea bites. Who'd thunk it? So she was sent home with some flea treatment, anti itch spray and steroid pills. Oh, and an order to go on a diet. I guess 86 pounds is too big for a 2 yr old.


Notice how Tatum started out with a smiley face and ended up with a black pumpkin. (The pictures are out of order)



Teag and Tess



Day 2
Daddy washed the pumpkins just so they could paint them again. Another activity that doesn't rate high for coolness points, hence the missing 11 yr old.

Tess wasn't too into it this time either.



The end result
Travis, Teagan, Mommy, Tess, and Tatum's pumpkins

Tate discovered if you combine every color, you get purple! Sort of.

We made some applesauce after we were done with the pumpkins. I stuck it in the fridge, because, really, who wants to eat warm applesauce. When I opened it up later, I discovered someone had already raided the bowl.

Ignore the sink full of dishes. We washed them while the applesauce was cooking. And no, I don't understand why the 3 yr old insists on going shirtless, even with the furnace is set to 65.


Remember when we were complaining about the 80 degree October days? Now, we can complain about 40 degree October days. The wind really started kicking up last night so Bobby brought my ferns in off the porch. Apparently, a little birdie had made it's home in one because it went sailing through the house. I would have taken a picture of it sitting on the ceiling fan, but I was too busy, uh, ducking. We did get it out the back door into the mud room where my darling husband caught it. So we snapped a pic of the intruder before releasing it out the back door.



Sunday, October 26, 2008

Gurgling Tess

11 weeks

Tess is 11 weeks old today, which is almost 12 weeks, which is basically 3 months. Wow! How did she get to be that old already? I remember the day she was born. No really, I remember it, vividly. Somehow, that little red, sleepy girl, became this curious, cuddly, yummy little chub.

We painted some pumpkins yesterday while the big boys were off helping Grandma. I think it was just a practice session since the little people got a wee bit crazy with the paint and ended up with black pumpkins. Tess was content to watch from her bouncy seat.

Although she did paint one pumpkin.

I'm a superstar!

And then, as if that wasn't amazing enough, she attempted to defy gravity by pooping upwards instead of, you know, the normal way.

She had a blowout clear up her back, which seemed to amuse her.
I didn't think it was funny, but she thought it was hilarious.
Off to the bathtub we went, and since Tatum splattered black paint on her face, and I don't have a baby bathtub, she went too.

It is pretty convenient, since this baby bather just hands me the baby after she's clean. No more rinsing out the annoying baby tub or finding somewhere to store the darn thing.
I wouldn't recommend leaving a 3 yr old alone with the paint though.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

A Boy and his Hats

So I took Tanner to the Halloween store to pick a costume. I swear, he had one costume in mind until he saw the toy guns, then he was all about an army costume. I'm sure, just to get a play gun. In the meantime, Teagan was checking out the hat collection. He already has his costume but he insisted he had to have the motorcycle helmet. I had to point out that puppies do not wear helmets. Pay no attention to the pink nail polish. It's a hazard of having an older sister.


I particularly like the little Rastafarian man.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Happy Birthday Bros!

My little bro is, eek, 32! Which makes me, well, older. Travis came over with his girlfriend and her son, Braeden, for an enchilada dinner and cake.

We sorta forgot to get candles, so, we improvised.
My lens cover was half closed on this one, but I thought it was a cute pic.

Hope you spend your birthday money wisely, Travis. Hard to believe the little guy is in his 30's.
What's worse, my baby brother turns 21 today! Which makes me feel really old, considering that I used to change his diapers. He's out in Wyoming with my Dad so no pics to share. Hope you have a good birthday Ryan!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Guilt

Yoda August 2005 - October 17, 2008



Feeling guilty just sucks.

Remember our kitty who was having the pooping issues? We put him out on on the porch to keep him from pooping on the carpets. Which was fine, we gave him food and water. He hung out around the porch. The kids would go out and pet him. We'd let him back in. He'd poop on the floor again. So we'd put him back on the porch again with his food and water.



On October 1st, I came home with a pet taxi to take him to the vet. We couldn't find him. I was afraid he might have gotten hit by a car, but with all the construction right in front of our house, it wasn't likely. Bobby thought someone probably took him in, since he never strayed far from the porch. That seemed plausible and I hoped it was so, since he was a housecat and had never had to fend for himself. I couldn't understand why he wouldn't come back to the porch for his food, unless someone else was feeding him.



We found him last night. He was huddled on the side of the road by a big gravel pile. His eyes were so matted, he couldn't see. We brought him in the house and saw how sickly he was. He was filthy and emaciated. He obviously hadn't eaten or drank anything since he had disappeared. I don't know where he had gotten off to for that two weeks or how he had almost found his way home. We bathed him, warmed him up, and tried to get him to eat or drink. We left him in the playroom snuggled up in a blanket last night. I woke up about 4:30 this morning to find him curled up behind my knees. I thought that if he had the energy to make it up the stairs and onto the bed, surely he would get better. He even drank a little water this morning before we took him to the vet.



Bobby noticed some bleeding in the tub when he bathed him. He thought he may have peed in the water. I thought he might have a kidney infection. I figured the vet would give him an IV and antibiotics.


It was much worse than that. Bobby just called from the vet. They said he was in acute kidney failure. Even if they pumped him full of fluids, his kidneys would not recover. They had to put him to sleep.


I feel such guilt over this little cat. He had been with us for the last 3 years, since he was a kitten. He napped with me after I came home from work. He tolerated the kids toting him around. He would climb into our laps while we watched TV. At night, after chasing his brother through the house, we would find him snuggled up with one of the kids. We should have taken him to the vet sooner. We should have searched for him longer. We should have done right by this cat.


My heart aches for Yoda and how he suffered. Knowing that the kids hovered over him last night, that he slept snuggled up and warm gives me a little relief. As Teagan will tell you, our cat had to go bye bye.