Christmas 2007

Christmas was a lot of fun this year. Chloe and Drew helped put up the tree about a week before. (No need to have it up long, less time for them to destroy it). I let them put ornaments on the tree and Drew filled the bottom branches with them. (I bragged on how great it looked and rearranged it after they went to bed).

My mom's house was decorated really great this year; she puts so much time into it and we all enjoy it every year. I took some great photos of Chloe in her Christmas dress around mom's tree; I'll have to post them as well. Drew's Christmas picture did not turn out so well. He refused to change clothes and when I made him; he got angry and would not let me take his picture. I finally got two shots of him crying beside the tree and I gave up. No amount of coaxing, sneaking or waiting or anything would do. He's in the middle of the terrible two's and he'll fall in the floor kicking and screaming and stomping over just about anything, so we just step over him and keep going. Oh well, I kind of like the one with his mouth open and one big tear rolling down his cheek; it looks like he's hollering "Stop it Mommy!!!" He was probably saying "Me no love you!! Me no like you!!" He tells me that a lot and my answer is that he doesn't have to like me; he just has to listen to me!

Chloe asked me every morning for the first 25 days of December if today was Christmas and I was so glad to finally be able to tell her yes. She was so excited; Drew was more laid back about it. Allen and I were up until midnight wrapping everything for Santa and then withing 30 minutes on Christmas morning they had opened over a dozen presents and then they were really excited to see Grandma and Granddaddy coming with more.

It would have been an almost perfect Christmas, all that was missing was my brother, Evan. Next year, if it be God's will, we will have our perfect family Christmas and we'll have so much for which we are thankful.

2007 has had its ups and downs, but there has been so much happiness and so many unexpected blessings this year. I am so proud of two of my brothers; it is such a pleasure to know them and words cannot express how thankful I am for how God has tranformed their lives. Love you Greg and Evan!

Not Enough Hours in the Day

I thought that while I was out of school I would have all this free time to play with the kids; spend time with my family, enjoy my animals and write in my blog, but I was wrong. I'm actually more busy now than ever. I have two children that demand almost constant attention. A blind husband that still casually tosses things around as if he can see to find them, and lets not forget that I have more dogs and cats than your local animal shelter. I have three house kitties (and one on the way if she tests negative for PKD) and then there are two yard kitties. Then there are the dogs. Let me stop and count them. We have Pepper, Spot, Comet, Goldie, Mister C., Misty, Molly, Missy C. and Sami, that covers the rat terriers. Then there is Libby and Lilly the Bostons, and Lilly's two week old pups, two little fatty females. Then we have Lady Bird my American Bulldog (still need to write that story) and our other bulldog Jade (there's another tale to share), plus Jade's sister who was sold until I received an email today and was told to keep the $250 deposit tragically someone has died and they have to travel to Puerto Rico for who knows how long, so I've got to find a new home for her and last but not least there is Happy, another bulldog looking for a new home (yet again another entry). I've had tons of calls and emails, just nobody wants to drive any distance to meet her. So, how many dogs does that make? I count 18, but lets not forget that Sami is about to squeeze out a litter any day now and little Misty will have her first litter in another month. It is really crazy around here sometimes, but our lives are so full. I enjoy ever animal I own, and I think they are happy too. They don't dig out of their kennels or try to escape and they act so happy everytime we come out, even though we're outside a dozen times a day. We hold them, pet them and love them. I took five different ones walking today, not counting letting Lilly run around the yard. I brought her inside in a kennel to have her pups and she's still inside with us. She's such a great house dog; I hate to send her back out, but it is almost time for Sami to move in and they do not get along,actually none of my ladies like each other, guess you don't call 'em bitches for nothing, so Lilly and her fat pups will head out to the barn in a cozy little cedar shaving filled box with a heat lamp. Chloe is going to be heart broken. She and Drew sneak in and hold the pups everytime I take Lilly outside to potty.

I don't know why I've rambled on about my dogs. I guess because it is almost 1:00 am and my brain is really tired. I've been keeping a hand written list of things to write about and I promise to share some funny Chloe and Drew stories and of course write about Christmas really soon.

Tweedles

We have a new member of the family and I've been so busy that I haven't had time to write about her. I finally found another female Himalayan, five months old with a beautiful pedigree. Her breeder was absolutely delightful, a really nice person that truly loves her cats. I met her at a catshow in Colombia SC. The kitten is so pretty with big blue eyes and tons of coat. Her hair is so soft. She has such a sweet playful nature. She lives in our bedroom and bathroom. She loves napping with the children everyday. I close her in the bathroom at night so that she won't wake me up attacking my toes. She's a blue point just like my first Himmie; her name was Niki, so I named this little girl Nicolette. I call her Tweedles as a nickname, but Drew doesn't like it and he calls her Niki. I guess he's listened to all my stories about Niki and he thinks this cat is the Niki I've been talking about. Today will be her first bath. I like to give them one every week, especially since she sleeps in our bed. Other parts get a sponge bath everyday, and of course all that hair needs to be combed almost daily. Persians require a little more up-keep than other cats, but they more than make up for it in their sweet gentle nature. The absolute perfect house cat, if your willing to bathe and comb them. Oh, and they do produce a few more hairballs than their short haired counterparts.

Bye Bye Boss

I'm having one of those nights where no matter how hard you try, sleep will not come. Maybe it was all the excitement of today or maybe it was Allen getting up to answer the phone at 10:15 and then coming to bed gloating that he'd sold a dog. I had to point out that all he had done was answer the phone. I was the one that placed the add in the first place. I had waited over two weeks for him to make some kind of move toward selling the whopper of a mistake and he'd done nothing. You, see a few weeks ago a friend of his gave him a Boxer bulldog, Boss. Now he's a very sweet doggie and I really like him, but we have so many others and he just doesn't fit in. He looks like a car parked in a garage in our kennels that are built for 10 pound dogs, not 100 pound monsters. And, don't even get me started on cleaning his kennel. It is like mucking out a horse's stall. I'm afraid he'll eat one of our runty little pups or maybe eat Bob the cat. I told Allen not to take him, so of course, he had the man drop him off while I was gone to school. He proceeded to tell me how easy it would be to sell the 100 pound brute, so I waited for him to run an add, make a sign, do something, do anything, just find a new home for him. He eats as much as all the rest of our dogs put together. Anyway, yesterday I was tired of waiting, so I took some cute pictures of him and wrote this nice little add that I posted to three or four free online classifieds. Well I received emails the next day and Allen answered a different call, so now he's all cocky with this I told you so attitude, as if he did anything but bring the dog here. He said "See men like big dogs" and I just had to roll my eyes and tell him that if I'd waited on him to make a move toward selling him we'd have more in dog food than we could ever hope to get from selling him. You know what's going to happen? He'll start taking in every big pure bred dog he can find thinking he can turn around and sell it. Oh well, he's almost completely blind and won't be able to read those free classified adds much longer in the newspaper and I'll just have to accidently skip over them when I read them aloud to him. Okay, I'm just being mean now. It's time for bed.

Thanksgiving 2007

Well today was Thanksgiving and we had a rather traditional meal that turned out very good if I do say so myself, but the rest of the day was not so traditional or so pleasant. Chloe and Drew were absolutely wild. They woke-up fighting. I had to break up a hair pulling, kicking, screaming fight over the building blocks this morning before breakfast. Drew landed himself in the corner where he argued, cried and angrily stomped his feet. I calmed him down by making muffins and letting them help. After breakfast they resumed the fight over the blocks; this time it was Chloe that couldn't get it together and she ended-up in the corner. Next we had to run to Wal-Mart for a few things that I forgot. They continued the fight in the buggy constantly complaining that one or the other one was being mean. Finally I was at the end of my patience and I called Allen to bless him out. Not really sure why I was going to fuss at him, guess I just wanted to inflict a little pain on the only other person responsible for these two little monsters.

After getting home with them and feeding them turkey (I lied and called it big chicken). Drew will only eat chicken, so he thinks turkey and pork are also chicken. They calmed down and watched something on the Disney channel and they were really sweet for a couple hours until nap. I don't even have the energy to discuss how painful nap time was. Chloe was absolutely determined to not take a nap and it was a battle of wills to make her go to sleep. Drew wisely sucked his passy and snuggled with his blankie while Chloe misbehaved.

After nap they fought some more before supper and then they ate together and fed their babydolls and were so sweet, until time for dessert. I made their favorite (or at least it is usually their favorite). Strawberry-short cake, three layers of delicious moist cake, strawberries and whipped topping. Drew said "It good mommy" and Chloe said it is "Yucky" without even tasting it. That angered Drew and he began yelling "It good Chloe! You take it back!!" Chloe would not stop saying it was yucky and Drew kept yelling how good it was. I made Chloe leave the table and go to the living room, which hurt her feelings. So, she began telling us that she would just have to go live with Grandma and not have a little brother anymore.

You know it is really funny. No matter how frustrated I become they always manage to do something so sweet that I instantly feel better and the stress is gone. Today it was Chloe getting right in my face, nose to nose, smiling that beautiful charming little smile and then she gave me the biggest hug those little arms can give. Drew had a similar moment at nap. He took out the passy, leaned over and gave me this big wet kiss almost as if to say "Don't worry, I love you Mommy". Thank you God, for my two greatest blessings.

I Take it Back

A month or so ago I wrote a little blog, praising my time management skills, telling how I had saved time by feeding my children supper in the bathtub. Well, I must say that it was not my greatest idea. Last night I was once again running short on time, so I fed them while they were in the tub. Both were munching on some raw bell pepper when Drew choked on a piece and threw-up everything he had eaten in the tub and down the side of the tub. Of course the cat immediately stuck her nose in it to investigate, so I not only had to clean puke off the side of the tub, floor and off the kitty. I didn't let it stop me; we continued with supper and bath, but I made sure everything I gave him was in really small pieces.

Me No Like Brown Pants

Drew is so funny. The other day my mom was in the kitchen cooking lunch. Around the house she dresses very casually with comfort as the ultimate goal. She was wearing a baggy not so flattering pair of cotton stretchy pants. Drew came into the kitchen and looked her up and down and said "Me no like your pants Gandma. Me no like brown pants!"