Can I Help with Those Christmas Lights?

My husband took down the Christmas lights this weekend and it reminded me of the pictures I took a few weeks ago when he put them up. Once he gets started on a project, there's no stopping him. I wish I had more of that in me! I'm the one who works on ten things at once and I'm not sure any of them are ever completely finished. But can you completely finish laundry??? Just asking?

We were working inside and he was working outside.

The two oldest boys put the lights and ornaments on the tree, while Youngest, well, he,...ah...

You get the idea.

It's a good thing the Mortician was in a great mood, because it was cold outside that day, so...

I spent most of my time helping from here.

When he was finished we wandered out to see. My oldest son and I stepped out on the porch and immediately heard a mournful crying. We looked all around, but didn't see the source. We looked at each other and slowly looked up.

Yep, there's Sox the cat! That goofball cat!

As they say,..."curiosity killed the cat".

Do your cats come when you call? This one does not! She was an orphan and I shudder to think what she went through. It took weeks for her to come to us or let us pet and hold her.

So we pondered what to do as she paced in every direction except the ladder.

Since it was cold out and I'm a whimp, I gave up and left the kids to solve the problem. Just being a good mother and all, raising children with good problem-solving skills.

Middleman suggested to his younger brother that they leave the ladder up and hide. There's brilliance in that young mind. She was down within five minutes. I'm so proud!

A Beautiful Morning

It was a cool, peaceful, misty morning,





tinged with the smell of...


skunk!





Oh, am I glad the dogs sleep inside!

Harvesting Green Beans

Since it's a first year garden at our new house, I planted a little of everything this year. Why not experiment a bit to find out what grows well AND disappears at the dinner table?

The green beans snuck up on me...

I thought I should take a look the other day and was surprised to see a batch ready to be picked, right that minute!

I'm afraid I was forced to relieve my first garden assistant of her duties. She was a real pain in the ....y'know. Immediately following our sojourns to the garden, she would need a bath, dry, fluff and curl. Way too much work! So I hired a new assistant, our trusty Lab, Bailey. She sat in the path while I enjoyed picking green beans. The panting was a little annoying, but hey, one should not be picky.

She looked the green beans over carefully.

"I prefer Zucchini".

Well, I never. Solo may be the answer.

We steamed those beans up, added a little butter and they disappeared. Don't you love seeing kids eat vegetables?

Kitten Wins Over A Devoted Dog Lover

For those of you that know my husband well, this is a remarkable moment. For those that do not, please let me explain:



My husband does not like cats...that's simply to mild...



My husband hates cats! Can't stand them! He's even been overheard saying cats were put on this earth to be drop-kicked.

This abandoned kitty, named Sox by the boys, seems to be getting under his skin.

Do you suppose he may even pet the kitten?

Could we dare to think he may coo to it?

Coo to it??? Uuuh, no cooing, definitely NO cooing.

Now wait a minute, after examining this photo a little closer... I believe he was watching TV...yes, I'm sure of it. It was probably ESPN! That explains everything! He didn't even KNOW the kitten was in his lap!!!

Dang it, I thought for sure we had had a breakthrough.

Important Note: This story is greatly exaggerated. It's true and I just didn't want any confusion about it. My husband LOVES all domesticated animals, especially our three boys.

Woman Committed for Not Being Able to Say NO

Reporting from the Psychiatric Ward of the Local Hospital:



Woman receives phone call from husband announcing the discovery of an apparently abandoned kitten. Kitten has been attacked and has sustained minor injuries to the face and leg. Woman immediately goes to investigate. She finds poor kitten is also starving. Orders husband to buy food and meet woman at home.



Once kitten is fully satiated on food and water, husband and woman take note of black kitty's four white socks, white stripe on face and black-dot nose. Woman looks forelornly at husband. Husband responds with "that's a cute cat".



Woman is a goner. She reports adoption of THIRD cat to three sons and is immediately carted off by men in white coats. Surely there is a cure for "cute baby animal, must adopt" syndrome!

The First Day of Summer Vacation

From my perspective, today is the first real day of summer vacation - the first day the kids aren't due at school. I'm thinkin' a nice quiet day.


Are you kidding me??? We took off this morning for guitar lessons, followed by shorts and baseball cleat shopping, and then baseball lessons. As we walked into the baseball school, we noticed that the left back tire was nearly flat... which lead to this.






Bet you can't tell we're country folk.

By late afternoon we had called The Mortician twice for assistance. First he came to get the car with the flat tire. I love this man. Next he came home from work to get this guy...







You see, the kids have been fishing quite a bit in the pond the last few days. One day they ended late and had three large fish on a stringer. Since they planned to fish again in the morning they decided to leave the fish on the stringer overnight. In the morning when they checked on the fish, one-half of a fish was missing. So this was not a case of escape, freedom, back to the cool pond waters. Something ate that half of a fish and sometime in the morning it came back for the other piece. My husband's conclusion: a huge snapping turtle. Yikes!



So when word filtered back to me today that the kids in the neighborhood had found a huge snapping turtle and my husband was on scene, I needed to go take a look... and a few pictures.

The Mortician and a neighbor had a plan. They would "humanely" put the turtle out of this life with a shotgun! Oh, boy. As I snapped photos, an idea dawned on me and I said to my husband, "How about you put the turtle in the back of your suburban, drive it down the road to the creek and let it loose?"

His reply based on the unnerving hissing noises and the 1" stick the turtle had broken like a toothpick, was, "why don't you put it in the back of YOUR van, drive it down the road and let it loose."

"Ok!!!!" Am I a good bluffer or what???

He added, "Anyway, it will just come back."

Being a little stubborn, a bit bossy and full of ideas. I replied, "well, how about farther down the road to the river?"



It must have been what felt like a half-a-million little eyes, ages 9 through 14, that made him grumble, "Oh, alright!" Did I mention I love this man? I do not have a PETA membership, I swear. It's just that even a frightening, incredibly ugly creature such as this turtle, should have a chance if there's a reasonable one. Right?

He threw the turtle in the back, we all jumped in the cars and off we went.







The Mortician chucked the turtle down the hill to the river.






As he walked back to his car, with a devilish grin on his face, he said, "If that turtle comes back, he is going to KILL us!"

The turtle's new home, that is, if it survived the fall.

Abbey Road

The Scene of the Crime.

After living in our new home for a few months, with our lab, Bailey living outside. Bart and I began to discuss wanting a dog inside...one that was calmer and didn't shed. We had heard about Labordoodles from another Wamego family.

Considered, considered...too big!

We then thought about a Wheaten Terrior, like my brother, Marty's dog, Maggie. Sweet, lovable, dog.

Considered, considered...maybe still too big.

We then traveled two and a half hours to visit our beloved friends, Jean and Mike and met...

Daisy
Daisy is a cockapoo. She's almost a year old and is about 20 pounds of hypoallergenic dog. Hypoallergenic is the term used by the Petland salesman. I couldn't begin to make this stuff up.

Our plan: 1. look at puppies. 2. ask questions. 3. hold puppies. 4. ask more questions. 5. leave.

This would provide us with months, maybe years of material for deliberations on size.

Me: ok, everyone, I have what I need to know. We can go now. This would be a good dog for the future, down the ROAD. So we...

bought Abbey.



Nobody really likes her.

I swear!

Nope, not one of us!