It's Official

Things have gone to h-e-double-hockey-sticks




That's what happens when you teach lil' devils how to play the piano.

Haunted Happenings

Annual pumpkin carving. I tried to control myself this year and only brought home 5 pumpkins, even though it was very hard as I stood in the middle of a good acre of pumpkin patch and contemplated all of the beauties. The local high school ag farm produced over 2,000 pumpkins this year. They had so many pumpkins every elementary age student in the valley got one. Impressive. I felt very "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" plucking my pumpkin 2 miles from my house.

Jara wanted a traditional cat-kin, my speciality.

We hide the tools of the trade in the ice chest and Jed sits on it so Jack doesn't carve up the house, others or the cat. We are serious in our weaponry: drill, saw, knives. Do not undermine the versatility of ice chests.

I worry too!

Here they are, Jed did the giant scary one and I did the others. Typically I do three or four to his one but I wasn't on my game this year. It was cold! Winter has come this week and my hands cannot properly carve when they are numb. Plus I'm getting old and my wrists really don't cooperate as well. Too many projects that involved cutting in college. Crazy elem ed majors always cutting, coloring and gluing. Anyway...

What haunted happenings would be complete without a FAT, black cat? Mr. Hyde better not be Mrs. Hyde. Isn't this one indignant, lazy cat? (That has taken over my spare sock basket.)

"Why?" may you ask is she posting her dirty socks. Well, these are not just any socks, these are my Halloween socks and they are not dirty they are eleven years old. You can tell a lot about a person by looking at their shoes, or in this case, socks. These socks tell a story...

A long, long time ago, back when our ages ended in the word "teen," Jed bought me these beauties for Halloween. The first Halloween we were together. He gave them to me with a package of Ritz cheese crackers and a flower plucked off a neighbors bush. I thought it was hilarious, wonderful, and sweet all at the same time. He already knew me so well, food because he knew where we were at the time and I was starving (those crackers were the only sustenance I had for a full day) flowers, because he's always thoughtful like that and socks with spiders, because they are downright festive. I've been wearing these socks for more than a decade, they are my favorite and not only do I wear them in the month of October but I also wear them the other 5 months out of the year that require socks in the desert. They are very soft and comfortable. I'm so sentimental about them I wonder what will happen when they get a hole? I might just have to frame them.

The Halloween of the socks. Groovy baby.

And yes, we actually wore this in public. Really, it was nothing compared to the other costumes we saw that year.

Remember the elephant man Wendy?

To-Do List

1. Fix sprinkler clock.
Lights blinking, numbers working, switches working but no sprinklers. Sprinklers turn on if you flip a switch but the working clock is not turning them on. Oh great, electrical problems. (Ever since our house was blasted by lightning things haven't been the same.) I also draw the line at using my butter knife to fix electrical things. Getting zapped by the hot wire fence as a child one too many times leads to a healthy respect and fear for electricity. Well, the great mystery was solved by pushing in the outlet safety/test button. Elusive little switch.

2. Fix laundry room light switch.
The light went out like a flame (yeah literally) and for about a year I've been feeding the cats and doing laundry in the dark. Strange things can happen when doing laundry in the dark.

3. Return worthless merchandise to Amazon. Not worth the time consuming guess and fix, guess and fix.

4. Banking stuff blah blah blah

5. Floor chores, the kind that involve sweating and back pain. I no likeee vacuuming and mopping. Fortunately my vacuum blew up. Woohoo! I've been plotting its demise for years and it has finally kicked the bucket in a cloud of smoke and dust. Which seems like the proper way for things to go out around here.

6. Send pictures to print company. Does anyone else have a back-log of 500 or more pictures to develop. The only curse of the digital age.

7. Practice my picture taking on my vulnerable ninos, they like it. Mmhhmm Oh and some innocent cows that I couldn't resist. I miss having cows/steak in the backyard.


So happy and giggly (maybe her brother had just said his new favorite word.)


I get a lot of profile pictures of Jack, he's practically 2 and therefore slightly uncooperative.

Isn't she a beauty? I really do love cows.

THE END

Even though the to-do list/task is time consuming, menial AND tedious it's so nice to have a sense of accomplishment, and a working sprinkler clock. (I got really sick of setting the kitchen timer every 15 minutes 6 times a day. We have a lot of landscaping.)

Thank you G-pa Wheeler for your help.

As of Late

The sun going down on our last lake adventure. Summer 2010 yielded very beautiful lake days for us, calm water, gorgeous sunsets, children who don't eat sand as much and can swim independently (well with life jackets.) After the fateful last lake trip of 2009 we vowed to never go on a windy day again and therefore made the choice to forgo quantity in lieu of quality. Always a wise choice.

Don't you adore toddler Buddha belly silhouettes? I do.

This is my huzza huzza jumps for the end of summer. Even though I thoroughly enjoy lake time, I would rather avoid the blazing temperatures that lake days require. On the cups half full side- How many places can you enjoy swimming the last weekend in September?

Here is my little preschool girl, learning every day. She has an awesome teacher (yeah that would be me) and has fully embraced education. I was worried this summer when she refused to play ABC games with me. I thought for sure it would be the old adage "The doctors wife dies young, the shoemakers wife goes barefoot, the teachers daughter HATES school!" But alas she has, thankfully, dispelled the myth and has been teaching not only herself but Jack as well. Jack cooperates grudgingly and has a thing for chewing up the math manipulatives.

We've busted out the stroller after a 3 month hiatus. Look closely in this picture and you will see our walking companions. I feel like the pied piper. As if pushing a giant Cadillac stroller with two children in it wasn't the epitome of mommy hood now I'm rolling with cats in tow! The lazy animals can never make it home and have to be dumped in the luggage rack so they don't get run over. We start out down the road and no amount of stomping can keep them from following so half-way through the walk they start cowering pitifully scrambling from barking dogs and cars so I scoop them up and this is what you get. Thankfully we live in a small town and no one bats an eye at the lady pushing her kids AND cats.

Once more we had a torrential downpour that resulted in flooding. We have lived in our current house a little over 3 years and in that time never seen the wash full and in the last two months it's happened twice. Its a good year for rain around here, thankfully. I'll take mud with rain any day. Plus, as you will see from the following pictures, mud is FUN!

Well most of the time. The princess' purse in the mud was no bueno.

But squishy toes, little footprints, and foot squelching is extremely enjoyable.

Jack enjoys his mud sans shoes, they slow him down and do not allow for optimal squishy feeling. Do you see the river in the background? Look closely.

And here is one more of the road washed out and the kids washing out. To our advantage or disadvantage? Jack knows how to work the water spigot and proceeded to clean up his feet and Jara's purse, most importantly.

Please excuse the classy outfits my children are wearing we don't always look cute when we are at home holed up in hurricane-like weather.

We have a long road, long driveway and were all the way to the bottom happily frolicking in the mud when a movieesque crack of thunder preluded the next wave of the storm. Imagine if you will, Jara screaming from fright caused by LIGHTNING clinging to my pants, Jack rolling in the mud and refusing to leave, forcing me to carry him sultan-style as I run in flip-flops, all the while protecting the camera under my arm. By the time we got home I was filthy and winded. Baths for everyone! And more cardio for the mommy.

Last but not least, Jed's battle wound. Keep in mind Jed has very long 6'5" legs and this little beauty was filling up a good portion of that upper thigh I'm exposing you to. A few days later it melted into an even bigger bruise. The bodily sacrifices paintball requires of you. I often tell him I'll give him a ten second head start and then open fire just to help him practice but he has yet to give in to my sadistic side. muwhahaha

Farewell Furry Friend

Icky's ninth life finally expired. It's taken me a while to write this because
1)I was in denial
2)How do you memorialize a legend? She looks so dainty and feminine in this picture but in reality she was a born killer with super, sharp claws, strapping muscles and the ability to swallow a gopher whole. Not typical qualities of your refined house cat snacking on Fancy Feast.

Icky was the clearance cat. All of her brothers and sisters found loving homes but nobody seemed to want the cat with too long of a tail and the scrawny ribs. We tried everything to promote her retail value attempting to name her something nice like "Mandy" but nothing ever stuck, except for Icky. As in "that icky cat won't move outta the way," what is that icky cat doing now?" So we were stuck with her and every day of her life my mom lovingly threatened to send her to the "farm." Eleven years later however she was still sticking around, living life to the fullest, defying death, until the last week when her poor kitty heart just couldn't take anymore. I knew she was on or getting close to her 9th life but I never dreamed she wouldn't have a tenth or eleventh reserve life, she seemed too hearty.
She was your premium blend alley cat. Besides the freakishly long tail and the permanent skinny cat look, no matter how many rodents she devoured, she also acquired over the years a notched ear and red-rimmed eyes. And did I mention she drooled, especially when she was happy.
Our most infamous story around the family table however is the ill attempt to release her into the wild. Don't be too judgemental, remember she was practically feral anyway and could fend off dogs ten times her size with the swipe of a single paw and a death hiss. My parents figured she had lived in "captivity" (the life of a house cat) too long and due to the fact that everyone in the neighborhood already had their fair share of Icky offspring it seemed a loving choice, much better than a shelter where she would be locked up and probably sent to the "one-way-door" and due to her territorial behavior she never would have stuck around another house and did I mention no one even wanted her as a cute, harmless kitten.
SO, Icky went for a little ride in the back of the truck, safely tucked into a dog kennel. However, upon arrival at her new destination Icky was MIA. No cat, kennel still closed, she seemingly disappeared into thin air. Problem solved, until Icky was found coolly licking her paws on the front stoop glaring at my parents as they pulled into the driveway. Not to be deterred Icky's next ride in the truck included a locked cell and a much, much longer drive. Let's just say over the mountain and through the woods, across the river far enough away to jam her internal kitty radar/gps system.
Fast forward a few months. My sister decides she wants a couple of pet kittens and goes searching at the Mesquite animal shelter. They show her various friendly cats and kittens and then say "Oh and we have another cat who just had kittens but they are still too young and the momma doesn't play well with the other animals so we have to keep her over here," proceed down a long dark tunnel etc. SURPRISE there is Icky in all her glory, happily purring laying in a fluffy bed surrounded by her little mews in a practical kitty day spa!!! Ashley almost choked, laughing, gasping in surprise and shock. It was karma, destiny, fate, luck whatever you want to call it, but that cat was not going out of our life's easily, so we accepted our fate and Icky was brought back to the familial home cleaned, well-fed, de-wormed and spayed to be forever treasured, loved and never taken for granted again. (While she was gone mice had invaded.)
The last few years of her life she happily ruled in supreme grandeur, reigning terror on the local, unlucky rodents, birds, dogs and the occasional tom-cat who was stupid enough to eat her Special Kitty. Icky patiently tolerated my children pulling her tail and performed her trained trick of jumping and rubbing on my hand up until her last day. May she forever rest in peace, wherever cats go. I'm thinking she broke too many cardinal sins to be in heaven but one can have hope.

Oh and in case you would like to read more "In the life of Icky" I suggest you read my sisters post from 5 months ago, it will further enlighten you. (And is somewhat similar to mine I guess I should have re-read it before posting this-oh well)

Meaningful Masterpieces

My daughter conveys meaning and soul into her artwork...


Here are all of the Letter C, cereal collages we made in preschool. Which, bytheway, is going great!


And here is my favorite, and not just because it is my daughter's, but because it is her-reflected in little marshmallows. A princess, of course, would not dream of using anything but marshmallows and properly placing them in their dignified spots. (A few came loose.) The mother queen of course has problems and didn't properly place the C upright when taking the picture.


And this is what you do if you are bored at the Chinese restaurant and your brother is a menace to society. (Although extremely innocent and darling to his adoring mother.)
Jara is on the left, she has long, beautiful hair and developmentally appropriate arms and legs, most importantly, she is sporting a smile!
Jack is on the right, he has a frown, spiky hair and a fang.
Jara's main technique is realism.

Jumping through Hoops

For fun we are training for the circus. We figure the children are burning off their naughtiness and we can capitalize on their craziness. Jack needs to burn off whatever is in his system, today he got a taste for my foam dice I use with my preschool children and took a chunk out of every single one. That's just a drop in the bucket compared to all of the other havoc and chaos he has wrecked on my house in the last month or so.

Now on to the adult work-out. Jed powering the greenest, red car ever! ZERO emissions on this one baby. My work-out consisted of showing everyone else how to hula hoop for real and no one else needs to see that, it's bad enough my neighbors probably did.

Note Jack's feet, this allows for maximum speed, and yes we let our daughter car surf.