Thursday, November 13, 2014

Steffie!

After a grand total of four days in our new home, we brought home Steffie! Back in early July, we lost our dear cat, Jordan. Jordan was 15 years old and was Sam's cat before there was Megan, Seren and Wyeth. The loss was hard on us all. The poor cat just couldn't make the car trip. Sam drove the cat, the fish and the guinea pig out to Michigan but Jordan died not 48 hours after arriving. It was so hard because he died at my in-laws home and we didn't get to say goodbye.

For a few weeks, we talked about what other sort of animal we could buy. Bunnies, ferrets, other small rodents all were tossed around.

But I knew at our core, we all just wanted a cat.

The search began on line! Sam went to the local Human Society to look for 'older' cats. And ideally, a cat that already was declawed. We wouldn't declaw an animal but many cats have been declawed. Since we JUST moved into a home, we didn't want a cat pulling on new furniture, etc.  For a few days, we read about kitties on line. And Sam and the kids went to visit the shelter to meet the furry faces.

I came the second time. We had narrowed the cats down to two contenders. Polly Toodle, who was a grey cat, an older cat, a quiet cat. And Steffie. Steffie had SUCH energy! It was ridiculous! She pounced out of her cage, rolled all over us and was extremely hard to handle. I took one look at Steffie and thought to my self, "OY VEY! No thanks!" I couldn't even hold her because she was rolling around and jumping and being a nut case!

Polly Toodle on the other hand? Such a calming presence. Such elegance. Such grace.

We agonized over the decision in the middle of the Humane Society. The doors were closing at 5 and at 4:55 we still didn't feel at peace. The four of us decided that we'd go with Polly Toodle. So we tell this to the society and Wyeth just bursts into tears. Big, ugly tears. "But if we get her, the cat won't PLAY."

He had a point.

We decided we all needed to be on the same page or we would just need to come back.

So we all agreed: Steffie would be our cat.

We got to pick her up the next day. And I have never been so happy with a cat! She is AWESOME. She is so personable! So fun! So talkative! In short, she rocks.

We found her here this week.
 
She also likes to Knit!

 
Thanks Steffie for making us smile!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Focused

Seren is one of the most fidgety people I've ever lived with. Oh my god! That girl cannot sit still. Eating is a full body contact sport. She is a total trip. At age 8, there are still noodles in her hair. She is a total mess. And will often fall out of her chair.

But does she focus when reading!

She literally will sit on the couch for an hour or more on the weekends and just read. 

Today she said, "When I get into a book, I get like into it. Really deep. Ya know? Like today, I was still reading and someone tapped me on the shoulder. He said, 'Seren, we are done. We have to move on now.'"

I have no doubt she was totally clueless as to the fact that she needs to move on.

As she says, "she gets deep".

Smack Talk: 5 year old style

We have had times as of late with the kids fighting. I don't know if it just full day school, new school, tired parents, or the age. But oy! We are seeing aggressive behavior from Seren which worries me. And Wyeth just gets so MAD!  We are working hard at finding outlets. And redirecting. Just hard to see my kids get so pissed off at each other.

But Wyeth's smack talk the other day? Classic.

"SEREN!! I WISH YOU WERE A DUMB OLE BOWL OF SOUP!"