twins

When Mike helped me photograph the kittens, we ended up one photo short. I only had six. Over the last few days, as we have held them more, I realized that we actually did photograph all seven. The problem was that two of them look identical.

I googled it and found out that indeed cats can have identical twin kittens. All of their markings appear to be identical. Who knows? All we know is that they are darling.

shooting

The tradition continues. Ryan and Landon bring the goods. Afternoon session of General Conference ends and the adults steal away. Grandma watches the kids and we head up Spanish Fork Canyon.

Every time we go it takes me a minute to get up the nerve to pull the trigger. Then I get into it and I start to like it.
This .22 revolver is my favorite.
Melanie with Ryan. (That gun he is holding scares me quite a bit.)
The guys took turns pulling the clay pigeons.
I took a lot of pictures--practicing for the photography class I am taking. I shot just at the right time to capture the shell casing flying out as he shot the scary gun.
My tough sisters.
Melanie (13 months younger than me,) me, and Camille (13 months younger than Melanie.) Natalie stayed home with her brand new baby and Erika, who is pregnant, stayed back to help Grandma with the kids.
We finish up with just enough time for these guys to meet my dad for the Priesthood session.
I just finished the book, These Is My Words. It is about a woman living a tough life in the Arizona territories. She deals with scary guys and "indian trouble." She keeps a "kitchen pistol" in her apron pocket as she goes throughout her day. Her use of the pistol ends up saving her and several other people.

As we were shooting, I kept thinking about that kitchen pistol, feeling grateful that I don't need one, but wondering if someday I might. I really don't love guns, and until recently have not wanted one in my house. I am getting closer and closer to adding one to my 72 hour kit.

youtube parenting

Every kid has his or her currency. Jessica earns youtube-viewing privileges . She loves watching Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Jaden Smith and funny cat videos. We try limiting her pop-culture exposure, because it can get a bit much. The hair and makeup and dance moves. The songs about romance and the rock stars and the crotch-grabbing. I want to protect her and keep her little, but she is way too interested in it all.

So, I am trying to find some new stuff to interest her. We had success with this one. We watch it a lot lately and she loves it (I do too.)

So, when you give a pig a pancake, she's gonna want a little Michael Jackson to go with it.

She also recently added Steven Tyler to her "rockstars I like" list. (She learned about him on Idol.) I let her watch this one once. I couldn't understand the lyrics to "Walk This Way," so I googled them. Yeah, I will be watching this one alone--in the privacy of my craft room. That Steven Tyler is sort of yucky and interesting at the same time.

cuteness times seven

I just had to get some pics of these little darlings on their third day of life. They were born Wednesday at 5:30 a.m.. Andrew thought he heard birds chirping and then realized it was little "mews" he was hearing. The average litter is between 2 and 5 kittens. Mama Cat had 7. She is such a good cat and mama to her babies.

They are all mostly black, some with stripes and a little white.

This one is the only all-black one. His nickname for the first day was DumDum because he was the last one out and had a hard time finding his food source. I thought he might have some issues, but he seems fine now.
This one sort of breaks my heart. He has the little raccoon eyes and is totally black on the back, but striped like a jailbird on his tummy.

This one is the darling of the bunch--really pretty mix of white, black and stripes.

This little guy always looks like he has a fauxhawk.
Seriously, I don't think there is anything cuter.
Mama does great with us holding them, but when they start to whine we give them back because she gets nervous.
The kids are in heaven over these kittens. They are so much fun. (Of course, they are really easy right now. I can imagine things could get crazy with 7 rambunctious kittens here in a few weeks.)

In about eight weeks, we will be looking for good homes for these guys. So, if you know anyone, give me a holler.

catastrophe

Depending on your definition, I could be considered a crazy cat lady. My girlfriends asked if they needed to stage an intervention and it was decided that if my house ever reeks to high heaven of cat, or if I ever have more cats than people living in the house--then they need to do an intervention. Have you seen that Animal Hoarder show? That is some crazy stuff. I try to catch an episode a week--just to keep myself in check.

Here is our current situation.

The short version of the story is that I have been taking care of some homeless cats for the last few months. I feed them a few times a week and I set up a little cat house to keep them out of the cold. Some other people have also been helping out, but no one is really taking responsibility for them.

The group is made up of about ten cats. A mama and several of her kittens (about six-months old,) and some other random cats that just joined the herd.

Well, I called all of the organizations out there hoping I could get them adopted or in some kind of foster home. Apparently, there are a lot more cats out there than there are cat people.

No More Homeless Pets (I actually just typed Pests on accident) suggest a TNR approach to the "Feral Cat Problem." They suggest people like me use special traps to catch the cats, then take them to get neutered, then return them to their "colony" where they live out the remainder of their lives. Then they aren't just killed in a shelter, but they also don't procreate and add to the overpopulation problem.

I have been on a waiting list to borrow their traps--just hoping, that in the meantime, none of them did any mating.

A week ago, while the kids were off track, we went to feed them and we discovered that Mama cat was expecting. I knew that the Humane Society would spay a pregnant cat. I also didn't want her to disappear, so I picked her up and put her in the van.

(It is obvious that, at one point, Mama was with a family. She is so friendly and sweet.)

As we were driving home, Andrew asked about our plans with the cat. He worried what Dad was going to think. I told him that we would take her in and see if they could get her fixed. Bev then piped up and asked what would happen to the kittens. Um, well, that wasn't so easy to answer. We had a long discussion about some pretty tough issues. Bev cried.

Then Andrew asked how much all of this was going to cost and who was going to pay for it. (The apple didn't fall too far from the tree.) I told him that we were going to pay for it. Then he really worried how Dad was going to feel about this whole thing.

We brought her home and put her in the garage. Mike borrowed a kennel from his parents and we set her up with a little house--just until we could get her into the vet.

On Tuesday, Andrew and Bev got up early and we had her to the Humane Society at 7:30 a.m. for her evaluation. When we took her out of the carrier to see the vet, the vet said that she was "very pregnant" and due in about 2 weeks. That it was up to me about the "procedure," but that she didn't suggest it. Then, I cried.

She was petting Mama and telling me that Mama really wants to be a house cat and that she is lucky to have a family take care of her and find homes for her kittens. I cried some more.

The kids were thrilled. We packed her up and drove home. I told Mike the news and he was just sort of quiet and then went to work.

I was worried how he was going to deal with this fiasco--he doesn't need any more stress in his life. When he got home he said that we really shouldn't keep her in the kennel in the garage--that she should have more space. Bev and I were trying to come up with something in the basement when he suggested we use the kid's bathroom upstairs. He cut the hole in the box for her house, we got her a litter box and set up food and water. My allergies act up when I go in to see her, so tonight, he helped me give her a bath.

I have googled a lot about cats--how many kittens she might have (between 1 and 8--oh please let it be closer to the 1 side,) how to tell gender (google that one yourself,) how to help her care for them (we will love that part,) how to find loving homes for the dear ones (at 8-12 weeks they can be adopted.)

It will be an adventure.

heros on our walls

I have so many things to tell you, dear blog. I have to tell you about my January-February projects I completed. I have to tell you about the last three weeks the kids have had off track. I have to tell you all about Hawaii.

I will get to all of that when the kids head back to school on Monday. But first, I have to tell you about the most fabulous posters EVER.

I thought I was done with the kid's rooms, then in January I went to Seagull Book and saw these posters. I had seen the small cards, but the posters are amazing. This one is of Esther--my own personal hero from the Bible.

So, I decided to have the kids pick the one they want for their rooms--no idea where we will put the girls'--that bedroom is full.

Here is the website. I cannot say enough how much I LOVE these--so much so that I bought the small versions of all of them.

school lunch bites!

I can't take on one more cause. But I want to. I really want to.

This is what my first-grader's lunch tray looked like on Tuesday. I was at the school and stopped in to say "Hi" and this is what I saw:

I about threw it away and took him home for a sandwich. I was angry.

It is a fried chicken patty on a white bread bun with a cup of ketchup and a cup of fry sauce, a serving of french fries, chocolate milk, green jello and some sort of cookie. I asked him why he didn't take any veggies or fruit--he is my healthiest eater. He said that there weren't any veggies and he didn't like the fruit they had.

At our school, the kids get to pick from two choices. This day the other choice was nachos. Fried corn chips with fake cheese sauce on top. Also at our school the kids get to choose what they put on their tray. I understand that if they are forced to take fruit and veggies a lot is wasted. I get that they have to, to a certain degree, feed the kids food that they will eat. I get that it is my job to teach good eating habits. But, this is what American kids are eating, and for a great many of them this is the "best" meal they get all day.

We do a few home lunches every week. We look at the lunch menu and the kids pick the days they want school and the days they want home. After seeing that tray, the kids had home lunch every day after that.

In a three-week period there are three types of corn dogs offered--breakfast corn dog, mini corn dogs and regular corn dogs. Every Friday is pizza day. If you don't want pizza the other option is a "munchable" which one day consists of a soft pretzel and cheese sauce. Cheese sauce is another recurring theme on the menu.

I am recommitting to doing home lunches. I can do a lot healthier, and for $1.75, probably cheaper than school lunch. The hard part is just getting it done with the craziness of getting four kids out the door in the morning. Maybe I just need to print a copy of that picture and hang it up on the fridge for motivation.

Last week the school did a sort of "Bring Your Parents to Lunch Day." Jessi and I brought lunch and Mike came.

We saw the first-grader first.

Then the fourth-grader.

Then the fifth-grader.

I try to eat with them (I visit with them while they eat) at school once a month, so it wasn't that special that I was there. They were thrilled to have Dad come.

I am now collecting ideas for good home lunches. If you have any, please share.

I've been forgetting to post my gratitude.

1. Even though sometimes it's crap, having enough food to eat. (Maybe gratitude shouldn't start with an "even though.")

2. Having the opportunity to be involved at the school.

3. Health.