Best Friends

Seren and I were chatting the other day. And she told me a story which I just thought was awesome. "So you know how I play with 'M' all of the time? So we are like becoming good friends.  So I was kinda nervous but I asked her if she wanted to be my best friend! And she said, 'Well, we already are!' So Mom! I have a new best friend in Michigan!"

Isn't that awesome!? And sweet?

She and 'M' made a paper necklace that said 'best friends' but she is on the lookout for one from Claire's boutique!

This weekend 'M' and her mom came over! So fun!

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!

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!"

First Sleepover party

Seren successfully attended her first sleepover party this past weekend! What an amazing time for her! And the mother of the birthday girl asked me to stay to make sure everything was under control. So it was a great time for me too! (I left at 8:45!).  The girls were just a really great group of KIDS. Like the nice girls. And Seren was right there in the middle of them. Feeling confident in who she is.  (Until I started to leave for the night. Then? She was a little concerned. No one to tuck her in. But she did it- no calls on my cell in the middle of the night!)


It is happening! We are adjusting!

off she goes!

 

Silly girls!

Safety First!

Wyeth and Webbie. The two are still inseparable.  I would go to the ends of the earth for that little stuffed turtle. Webbie, due to his propensity to wander off with out our permission, does stay home more often than not. And he doesn't go to school. But every now and again, he does come along on important trips.

Safety first!

Overheard and Spirit Week

Wyeth continues to have funny things to say about his Kindergarten year. Every night he and his sister talk NON STOP about their days. I love it! I know these days won't last forever and one day I'll get the dreaded response of "fine" to my inquires about their days. They are a riot. He tells me who is a good listener. Who is not a good listener. Who went up to 'Blue' on their behavior chart and who had to go down to 'orange' or worse, 'red'! There is just so much to tell us- mostly about the playground and who he played with. He said that someone asked him to play Ninjas. But he didn't know how to play that. The other child suggested Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Wyeth didn't know how to play that either. So "we just decided to run around". He has little quips which just break me up. Mostly because of how he says them.

"I think Joe Prose is cute."

"Mom! The teacher was trying to spell Joe's name and got it all mixed up! She said there an 's'. There isn't an 's' in Joe! Then she said it ended with an 'h'! What!?"  I explained that she was probably spelling "Joseph". :)

He also is quite the rule enforcer. This won't serve him well in months and years to come. But he continues to find injustice and declare it as such. "They were being rude!" "He wasn't being fair!" Etc. etc.  He also noted, "Someone said that they could see my underwear. I just said to them that was inappropriate!"

He is practicing learning to tie his shoes daily. He got the trick of it learning the new way. The teacher must really be pushing this skill because even when he isn't wearing tie shoes, he practices.

Meanwhile Seren adores her teacher. So do I. I mean, she just LOVES this teacher. The teacher is a total goof- and we fit in so well. We are really really lucky to get her as a teacher! Seren seems to be thriving.

This week was Spirit Week at school. Monday was PJ day. Tuesday was silly hair day. Wednesday was farm day. Thursday was favorite sports team day and Friday was 'Blue and Gold Day'. (School colors).

They had a great time with all of the days but really really liked crazy hair day!

 

not a very happy farmer. :)

It is also freezing here. Well, not too cold. But today was the first day I had to use the ice scraper on my car to get the frost off!

Good thing we tried out the fireplace last weekend! Our first fire! LOVELY!