So this cat kept hanging around my outdoor classroom at school. It kept getting within a few feet of the kids, who were obviously delighted to see this furry visitor.
I was worried someone was going to bitten or scratched, so Tom valiantly came to help trap the cat.
Once we got her, she was shuffled off to the vet to get fixed and get all her shots.
The plan is to release her back into the wild. But there are a few kids around here who seem awfully fond of her…
We spent today taking photos for my class’ Mother’s Day gifts. Every other kid just smiled for the camera. My kid, however, hammed it up.
Ridiculous(ly awsome).
Spring break has been glorious. I didn’t realize how tired I was until my body collapsed into a heap of exhaustion for days on end while the kids enjoyed way too much time playing on iPads. I think Shep and Neko have built an entire new civilization on Minecraft by now.
Then I cleaned my car. I worked a few days on getting ahead at school. Instead of an all-house spring break purge, I tackled the zones that were really bothering me. (Did you know our children’s bedrooms have doors, and when you close them, the mess magically goes away?)
Today we took a road trip. Took in the science museum and then a delicious meal at a restaurant with amazing light. I managed to sneak everyone’s photo. It appears we are in that phase where everyone sticks their tongue out for the camera. Super.
Tom is a cat person. A cat person who married a dog person. But the dog person has family members with cat allergies. So we just kind of tucked the whole cat discussion on the back burner.
But this year we decided it was time.
Tom began a search of shelters, looking for the perfect kitten. And a few days before Christmas, he found one. The only catch was that the woman coordinating Murphy’s adoption was coming home from vacation and wouldn’t be back until the next day. They assured him that no one would be adopting him until the next day and to come back then.
Neko and I were at riding when they discovered Murphy, so that evening we went back to visit him to insure that everyone could cast an informed vote. But when we walked in, his cage was empty. He had been adopted 30 minutes earlier.
You have never seen three such miserable children. They sobbed the entire drive home. They were inconsolable. Tom was crushed.
We put the word out we were looking for a kitten. We found a litter locally, but Tom wasn’t ready yet. He wanted a few days to get over the loss of Murphy.
But then, standing in his favorite record store, he got a call—our kitten had been returned and was available for adoption again.
Welcome home, Murphy.
Heather, I curse you for turning me on to this. It plays to all my worst qualities—people pleasing (I have to fill those orders before I go to bed!) and having everything just so (what can I add so that my loom lines up with my dairy barn?).
Oh, look…a cake oven!
When your children are little, you take pride in their accomplishments. Part of this comes from the feeling that you somehow had a hand in what your child had done. They learned to walk—we did it! First words? Well, I really was a good coach, wasn’t I?
Of course, in retrospect, we realize that these accomplishments were their own all along. We were just there for every moment, so we felt some ownership.
But then your children get older, and all of sudden the things they accomplish have nothing to do with you. And it’s quite apparent. Ideas burst forth and they run with them at a speed that is impossible to track. All you can do is gently lift your jaw back off the floor.
We went to the dentist this morning. Neko got this little plastic monkey as a prize for having no cavities. As we sat in another doctor’s office, waiting for the next appointment (packing them in over winter break), I decided to take a photo of it. That is the first photo in this series.
Then Neko asked if she could use my camera. I relented, and the next hour was filled with a burst of creativity, art directing a monkey’s journey through an oversize world. The crops are her own, except for one that I made horizontal so it matched this series. I adore seeing the world through her eyes, an amazing blend of my husband and I.
This is the good stuff.
My parents’ house is built on a small hill. It’s the perfect size for beginning sledders. My children and nephews all took their first sled rides down this hill.
This year Neko was looking for an extra challenge, and started building ramps out of snow to launch sleds for some air time.
There’s nothing quite like rosy-cheeked children, exhausted from play in the snow, coming in to parents who have been snoozing on the couch.
This, my friends, is a solid winter.
Just hours before the New Year, during a rockin’ party, Neko rolls the largest snowball of 2012.
