Not your ordinary visit to the dentist

This morning while I was in the shower the phone rang. I sat there listening to the phone ring and had a sudden thought, "What if that is Taylor's school?" I ignored the phone. A couple minutes later it rang again which prompted me to end my shower and see who was calling. I ran downstairs and both my cell phone and my home phone had messages. The caller id indicated that yes, it was in fact Taylor's school. What are the odds that the only time they call I'm not immediately available?

In my mind a couple different scenarios were being tossed around. The first- some part of his body was going to need stitches and second- he was sick and had tossed his cookies all over the place. But no, that would be too predictable. Instead, they were calling to let me know that Taylor had a rock stuck in his ear and could I please come check him out? A rock. In his ear.

Fan-freakin'-tastic.

Lucky for you, my camera happens to be an appendage of my body, so I got a picture or two (really more like 15- I'm a little overzealous that way). The rock is black.



This little rock-in-the-ear trick really created quite a buzz in Taylor's kindergarten class. I walked into the classroom and was immediately hit with a chorus of excited kindergartners- "Taylor has a rock in his ear!!! Taylor has a rock stuck in his ear!!!" Taylor, on the other hand, seemed to be lacking the excitement that the rest of the class was feeling. He stood up from his desk and came walking toward me looking very somber and nervous. His ear didn't hurt and he wasn't crying- he was just a little out of sorts. His biggest concern was, "I don't want to go see Dr. Ramsey." Trust me buddy, I'm not particularly interested in a $15.00 visit to Dr. Ramsey either. And so I did what I do best, I gave Dave a call.

I relayed the story to Dave. I had to repeat myself because he didn't think he had heard me right. After a good laugh, Dave wanted in on the action so we headed over to visit Dr. Jackson, dental extraordinaire, to see if he could remedy the situation. And remedy it, he did! He got the rock out, ear wax and all. It was quick, easy, and painless. Taylor was so relieved!



Thank goodness for Dave and all his fancy little tools!



Father and Son. A proud moment.

The birthday run-down

A few days before my birthday I asked Dave what we should do for my birthday. He answered so fast I burst out laughing, especially when I heard what he had to say, "Go shopping and do crafts." So that's what he thinks makes my world go round. I was thinking taking a vacation to Hawaii would have been a better answer.

On the day of my birth, I got half of Dave's wish for me- I went shopping! Yay! New clothes for me- I love it! The craft thing- not so much. I'm pretty picky about my crafts though- not any craft will do.

Dave came home from work carrying a flower birthday cake for me. I graciously accepted it and Dave said, "It looked better in the pictures." Haha! It's the thought that counts babe! My kids were asking if they could lick the candles...



Sam (Alan's girlfriend) offered to babysit for us so we could go out to dinner. AWESOME! A night without my kids! I love my kids to bits but I am always game for a break. So, Alan and Sam came over and wined & dined the kids (not so much wine, but you know what I mean). They made me birthday cards while I was gone. I even found pictures of them making the cards on my camera. Good job Al- or maybe I should say, good job Sam (Alan is in the picture, obviously he didn't take it).



Dave and I went out to dinner at Wasatch Broiler- it's in Murray. They serve greek food and I love it. Lalalalove it! After a stop at Costco, we decided to go bowling but I didn't have any socks. We made a quick stop at Target to buy socks. After picking out the socks, we wandered the store, lounged in the patio furniture area, and then decided we were too tired to go bowling. Talk about old people. That's right. I'm old. Okay, maybe not old but most definetly older than I was yesterday.

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!

That's all.

Say what?

The english language is so complicated! I don't usually think about it much because well, I get it. Or I guess I should say, I get what I am saying. I don't know if you get what I am saying, but I get it. Get it?

I forget that my children don't know all the rules yet. They don't know all the words either. And then there are those words that sound the same but mean different things. Those are the words that cause most of the problems around here.

Yesterday I had all four kids with me at Sam's Club. We were pretty much at the end of our shopping trip and I was at my wit's end.

Sara was driving me batty so I turned to her and said through clenched teeth,

"Sara, you are driving me nuts!"

Innocent enough...

NOT.

She gasped. Looked me in the eye and said,

"Mom, you said a bad word."

Fantastic.

It took me half a second to realize what she was even talking about but then I knew. And because I'm a glutton, I decided to pursue it further. So I asked her,

"What are you talking about? What did I say?"

"You said a boy's private part!"

Why yes, yes I did.

And then in the candy aisle at Sam's Club, I had to explain to a 6-year-old, 4-year-old, and 2-year-old, the different meanings of the word nuts.

A closer look

I know you are waiting on the edge of your seat for an update regarding our furry friend invasion...

Well, after the mama cat jumped out of the window well, we never saw her get back in. In fact, she would take off and be gone forever and then come and sit on top of the window well and watch the kitten. Then she would leave again for hours. The weather is a bit wet and cold right now so we were worried about the baby sleeping without the warmth of the mom cat.

Dave opened the window and pulled the baby kitten out and brought her to live under our deck. All the kids were a little too happy that the kitty was reachable. They stayed out there all day. I was trying to get them to stay away from her in hopes that the mom cat would return. I was explaining to Taylor that without milk from the mommy cat, the baby cat could die. In all seriousness he looked at me and said, "Well, why can't you feed the cat?" Riiiiight... We had to have a little chat about cross-species nursing. Not. Gonna. Happen.

The kitten stayed under the deck all afternoon until our neighbors picked her up and moved her to their garage. Yes, it looks as though our neighbors have adopted this furry little bundle of joy and named her Sunny. So there you have it. Sunny is now our neighbor. I feel like I have achieved the best of both worlds here- 1. I no longer feel responsibility for the cat & 2. My kids can have their pet (Livvy calls it "my kitty") via the neighbors. They can visit, love, & cuddle that kitty and then when it grows older and they have lost interest- not my problem.

Since this little kitten is quite small to be separated from its mother, my neighbors have done their research on how to maintain him in a mother-less environment. It all starts with a little kitten formula and a mini bottle (smaller than a dolly bottle). I'm serious. Kitten formula? Yeah... it's at Walmart, just in case you are interested in purchasing some. They also have to stimulate his business with a cotton ball... I think it's hilarious, mostly because it's not my problem. Today at church Zack (the kitty's new daddy) made a point of coming up and thanking me for their new pet. Haha! Sorry Zack, not my fault your wife is a sucker for an orphan kitten.

Livvy G

Livvy is such a funny little thing. She has so much spunk. She is full of energy, attitude, creativity, and love- lots and lots of LOVE.

I've been writing down some Livvy-isms this month. There is no way to convey just how funny it is when she says these things- just know, it's funny.

- She used to say "hoppity boo" for Bippity Boppity Boo but after running around the house today wacking me over the head with her butterfly wand a million times, it seems she has finally learned to say it the right way.

- "You makin' me nerbus"- Translation: You are making me nervous. I have actually heard her use this in context once. All the other times, it's just been her way of saying she doesn't like what someone is doing around her or to her.

- "Me hate you". Yes, I really love this one. I don't like for her to say it AT ALL. She says it when she is upset at someone. I have been working hard to correct her and talk to her about how she is feeling. I explain, "No, you don't hate mommy. You are feeling sad." She is actually doing a good job at not saying it as much anymore. If she does use it, she directs it towards situations and things now, rather than people. It's progress...

- "Too boring". This is what she says after she has been tucked into her bed and comes back into our room. The tone she uses is so matter of fact, so bored, and just so final. It's like, "Sorry mom, not tired, and by saying 'too boring', I officially don't have to go to bed."

- "You're breakin' my heart". My neighbor was the first one to tell me about this phrase but I have since had her use it on me. Gosh, talk about tugging at your heart strings. This little girl really knows how to work people over.

- "Yes." Seems weird but really, she never says words like, "yeah, uh-huh, yep" It' s always "yes". Very distinct. Very Livvy.

- She always seems to be saying "Me not Sara, me Livvy". This is more my fault than anything because I always call her by every name but her own, but still, she picks up on it every time. Never once has she let it slide. Not once.

- She quite often tells me that I am "naughty" or asks me if she is being "naughty" or tells me when she has been "naughty". You've read the blog. You've seen what she does. You can only imagine how she learned that word.

- The other night we were over at my parent's house. She was playing in the basement with Taylor and Ethan. She came running upstairs with no shirt on and out of breath. She said, "No shirt. I fight" and then ran back downstairs. Upon further investigation, this is what I found:



My baby is boxing. Boxing. With her shirt off.

The other night I was blogging away. She came into the room and laid down on the floor with her artwork. She was coloring and poking at her paper with a pen. Moments later I turned around and this is what I found:




All tuckered out. I tell you what, if I played as hard as this kid does, I would be all tuckered out too. She is so much fun. We love her to pieces!

Kharma

My unlove for the four-legged furry creatures of the world has come back to bite me in the you-know-what.

Today I was chatting away with my dad on the phone. I went downstairs to grab some fettucine noodles from my food storage and got distracted walking around my basement and talking on the phone. I walked up to one of our window wells and peered out.

A couple years ago we bought window well covers that are a clear plastic to keep out the water and the riff-raff. Last summer I noticed huge weeds growing down there but let them do their thing since I didn't want to remove the window well cover and climb down in there to pull them out. I get the heebie jeebies just thinking about that.

Anywho, as I peered out the window I noticed the lovely array of dead weeds piled up in the window well and then, seriously, I about had a heart attack- two eyes were staring back at me. Upon closer (but not too close, mind you) inspection, I realized it was two cat eyes. Cripes. A cat? If I know anything about cats, I know they are freaky and jumpy. You look at them the wrong way and they start ping ponging around. But this cat, it just looked at me and didn't move. I sat there and studied it for half a second before I realized... oh yeah, I wouldn't move either if I was nursing babies!!! Are you freaking kidding me? Of all the...

And so as you can only imagine, I had to end my phone call before I fell over dead. I picked my jaw up off the floor and booked it upstairs. Creepy cat in my window well... So at this point I had no idea how many babies were there. It was hard to tell exactly what was going on between all those lovely weeds. I for sure noticed one but it was hard to tell where mama cat and baby cat(s) ended or began. I mean really, if I had realized those weeds were going to become a haven for a preggers cat, you better believe I would have put Dave (yes, Dave) to work removing those weeds. I will have to keep that in mind when this little situation is relocated.

After calling Dave and a friend of mine to vent some of my cat-finding adrenaline, I grabbed Taylor and headed back downstairs with my camera. Yes, I brought Taylor for moral support because I was not going down there alone. This cat and her mystery kitties had me totally freaked out. I know, I'm a pansy. But really, it's a completely different thing to hear about kitties in the window well then to actually find them.

Here is the first picture I got. The mom is the dark thing and the white thing is the baby.



When Dave got home we dragged him down there to check out our new find. I asked him how many he thought were there and he thought there was only one baby. Hmm. I handed him the camera, left him to take some pictures, and I went upstairs. A few seconds later Taylor comes bolting upstairs and I hear Dave saying to the kids, "Get back. Get back." Grrrreeeeaaatt.... So I guess Mister Pillar of Bravery decided to open the window to get a closer picture. He said the mama cat didn't move until he brought the camera up to his face then she jumped straight up, hitting her head on the window well cover, then straight up again, and again until she finally got out. Ouch. That was enough to sufficiently freak out the mama cat and she just stood outside the window well for the rest of the evening guarding, as it turns out, her one baby kitty. I'm wondering if there were more at one point. Yikes. I don't know what she is doing right now but I imagine she climbed back in once she thought it was safe. I'm not about to go down there and check.

Dave captured this picture of the mama cat after he scared the bajeebies out of her...

The white fluff in there is the kitten without the mommy cat in there.

The next door neighbor girl, who is seven and knows everything, came over to see our little zoo in the basement. She was letting the kids know that "the mama cat is not our cat Max because he is only five and that's not old enough to have babies." Right honey. Maybe that thought process is why we have the pet population we have today- you just keep on thinking that right along with the rest of the world. Her mom came over a few minutes later to check out our new pet and fell in love with the little kitten-through-the-window. Her last words before leaving my house, "I'm going to work on my husband".

It looks like operaton kitten adoption may already be in progress. Fantastic. I am more than happy to transplant this little cat family to one of their window wells, thank you very much.