House of Feline Sorrows

I've been delaying this one, but in case anyone wonders about the status of our cats...little orange guy aka August Rush aka Auggie, aka Max passed to the hereafter after a valiant effort by Andrew and me to nurse him through. Momma cat never got her milk and that's generally an end to itself where kittens are concerned.
SO, by Monday we were still putting off the kitten interment in our pet cemetary. Yeah, I know, you only want to delay such things a certain length of time. Jordan rode with me to get Ethan from school and to town. We backed out of the garage and closed the door which had been up that afternoon. Where am I going with this? Well, we returned and I pressed the door opener. Andrew was shooting hoops in front. Suddenly I saw a strange sight; something kinda big and white fell from the gap between garage door and garage on to the cement. I stopped the van as Jordan and I realized with shock and confusion that it was Pengin, a cat they brought from Nebraska. Apparently she was laying on top of the garage door and was compacted when we left for town.
That evening we all trooped to the woods where our fallen felines are resting, hopefully for the last time in a long time. Given the loss of the kittens and then Pengin, perhaps it isn't a shock but a little sad that Ethan's comment when we got back to the house was "Look Mom, Boo-Boo cat is still alive!"

Kindle Me Pink

Technology is a fearsome and wonderful thing. I find I alternate between hating the chains it places on us and drinking it in with big gulps. I guess right now I'm gulping. This blog, of course, has become my fun online journal. After a lengthy and inexplicable hiatus I also signed up for billpay at our bank because as fun as handwriting checks is, managing half a dozen accounts the old-fashioned way is getting, well, old. Of course there is my phone, which functions as a camera, camcorder, GPS, mp3 player, photo album, web browser, along with phone and text messages, all in a sporty red package.
Meanwhile, I had been obsessing for some time over a new product at Amazon called the Kindle. Literally within hours of scoffing at the idea of e-books (true bibliophiles require the aesthetic pleasure of paper and page-turning, dog-eared pages and notes in margins, plus who wants to spend more time staring at a glaring screen?) I found this thing. Intending to read up on it in order to boost my ammunition for cynicism, I soon found it has an amazing list of features that caused me to drool in anticipation of owning one.
Now this may seem like a swell idea to put on one's Christmas list, but after several weeks of obsessing I came to the conclusion that Bill would never purchase this item for me since it is not something he would see the beauty of, plus my book group is starting back up. Like showing up at the first day of school with the best Trapper Keeper, I anticipated sitting with the group, saying with each suggested title, "Oh, I can have a free preview chapter in 15 seconds, let's look shall we?", or "I can find the author of that one/browse the bestseller list/read reviews or discover what other books people who bought that book chose". So yesterday when I rushed home to snatch the lovely Amazon box off the porch I trampled firmly on feelings of indulgence and guilt and began to Kindle.
On top of all that, what started as Bill and I browsing MySpace and Facebook to see how risky those sites seemed for our teens and how secure their pages were, we were sucked in by curiosity "I wonder if anyone we know is out here. Here's a handy Search for your Friends feature." Turns out there are old married folks like us out there :-) Now somewhere along the way I will find more ways for technology to add efficiency to our lives, but for now I'm kinda having fun.

Get on the Bus, Gus

Oh my goodness, it all happened so fast...yesterday morning I saw the bus Ethan would ride pulling into the school as I left and thought, it looks half-empty, orderly and is driven by a nice-looking older guy, but isn't it nice I can drop Ethan off?
Last night when I picked Ethan up, he said "I want to ride the bus sometimes". I said he would have to choose every morning or none, not every once in a while. He said he would think about that. This morning he announced he would ride the bus each morning. I said not today since we hadn't given the driver warning to stop at our house. Then as we pulled out the driveway, here came the bus. I said Ethan, that's your bus. Do you want to try riding? He said yes and jumped out of his seat.
Dale, the nice driver, was very reassuring. Ethan is the last pickup which means a whopping five minute ride to school. I have witnessed the orderly manner in which the kids unload twenty feet from the school door and a teacher shuttles them straight in where two other teachers stand along the hall to be sure the kids get straight to where their classmates wait in the gym for the bell.
Ethan plopped into a seat two rows back, looked around with big eyes clutching his backpack to his chest, then looked out the window ready for the adventure of riding the big yellow bus to school.
Breathe, Lisa, Breathe.

Contest Over!

Mr James Seckman is the official winner of one genuine, nerve-zinging, square on high five from yours truly. He correctly identified the cool compound word type surname as Sellhorn. Congrats, dude!

Monday Update

This weekend we went to cookouts Friday and Sunday, and Saturday saw the animated Star Wars movie and a small hot air balloon invitational here in town. Also on Sunday I helped hold previews for the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class at our church. Several of us are going to facilitate the 13 week course this fall. I'm excited to do it and would like to offer the teen version in the spring.
The balloons are always fun. This time there was a huge Pepsi can balloon that was out of service so the owners blew it up with a fan and it lay on its side so people could go inside it. The mass ascension was cancelled partway in due to some weather blowing in, but soon it was dark enough for the illumination. It's cool to see all the colorful balloons glowing. There were a few other things for the little kids including a pony ride hosted by the people who sold us Spirit.


Oh, here's a puzzler for the Tecumseh crowd; a few weekends ago there was a Back to School Bash at the church. I helped with food and a lady there and I got to talking. Turns out she graduated from Tecumseh in 1975, her name is Mary and maiden name escapes me although I was sure I wouldn't forget such a cool last name. It was like two words together and maybe starts with 'S'?? She knew Jim and his family, actually grew up across the street from the Seckman house. She also lifeguarded at the pool when Betty managed it. Anyway, her family has since moved away and she hasn't been back for some time but she was tickled to talk about her old home town. First person with the full name gets a high five when I'm back next :-)

This morning I dropped Ethan off at the curb outside school instead of walking him up. He was all cool about it until he got out and I shut the van door. He spun around and gave me a look through the glass like he just figured out he was on his own. I gave him my bravest grin and said have a great day, and he marched in. Most of his commentary on school so far regards lunch, snack, recess and his friends Jordan and Rush. Today is P.E. for the first time so maybe that will rate a remark. Oh, and Friday Ethan got his first fund-raiser packet already. It's a nice product, but every school in town sells them, including Jordans, and the coupons are limited to the Columbia area. I can say I'm not big on selling stuff.
Alaina had her move-up at preschool today. She is now in the Knights and Maidens room (each class has a medeival type name to go with the castle theme. Last year she was a Squire and Ethan a Sentry). A number of her best buddies moved up also. She was excited to check out the new digs.

Big Kids' School

Andrew's day went fairly well. He got the schedule he wanted. Physics and Algebra II have him a bit worried, English he's good at but it's not his favorite. However, German II, Honors American History and Men's Team Sports should suit him very well. The sports class is an every day P.E. class that is very popular with the guys. It's right in between physics and algebra so should provide some fun and stress relief. Then he ends the day with study hall which he wanted so he could get a lot of his homework done before coming home. He has one teacher from last year and said he saw quite a few kids he knew.
Jordan did great. Her school has all the kids walk this big square hallway until the morning bell rings. It's called the West Walk and Jordan said it was fun. It gets the kids moving and they can chat while they walk. She has at least one friend in each class and lots of kids she knows from Smithton. She has the regular english, math, American history, P.E. and science, plus german and art. The art looks really cool; pottery, papermaking, beadwork on a loom, cartooning, drawing, architecture, I can't even remember all the stuff. She said lunchtime was a little crazy and crowded but otherwise seemed very pleased with the day. Oh, and a blessing for a teenage girl; PE is last period so if they get sweaty they at least get to go home right after :-)

Ethan's First Day

This morning was the first day of school here at Columbia Public. We woke up to rain that had fallen steadily most of the night. Andy's school starts earliest, plus he had some schedule issues to straighten out, so he was out the door by 7:05. Jordan rode in with Bill at 7:30, since her bus would come at 6:19 and we just won't do that to her!
Then Bill brought Ethan's favorite cinnamon rolls home and we ate before driving to his school. Besides the rain, which made first-day photos a little hard to get, drop-off was great. Ethan found his spot and settled right in to color. Bill and I's hovering was clearly for our own benefit. The rest of the day I fidgeted and cleaned. Lainey and I read books, fed horses, and played. Finally it was time to pick up.
Here are some quotes from Ethan:
"I have some bullies in my class here too, so I had to deal with them"
"I didn't have to wrestle them or anything though"
"I made friends with a boy named Jordan and some other boy. They're skinny like me"
"I have the coolest school in the world!"

In the interest of fairness, here are a few recent quotes from Alaina:
When walking to the horse barn "Mommy, my boots are tired"
When digging through her brother's things in celebration of his absence "I'm not Alaina, I'm a scientist and a pet shop guy" (the I'm not Alaina cop-out is coming up a lot lately)
When riding home from Jordan's riding lesson after a long day "Jordan, look at my face, do I look happy or do I look mad?" "I'm werry, werry angee"
After reading Five Little Monkeys "Those monkeys made a sad choice"

Kitten Sadness

Our tiny kitten tale is shrinking by the day. Turns out the kittens were nursing but Momma wasn't producing anything. Now I am bottle feeding our last little orange tabby just in case he can make it. Andy has helped out with a couple feedings also. It's hard to even approach the "every two hours" feeding schedule. At least we know we tried.

Living On A Prayer

1. Well, you know how cats just have kittens in all kinds of crazy places and poor circumstances yet they mostly seem to have no problems? When Juno appeared with junk in her trunk yesterday morning, she had jumped down from a shelf about as high as I am tall to come see us. That water broke and yet nothing happened the rest of yesterday.
   This morning she was clearly trying to labor but five hours later nothing. We were getting worried so called our neighbor/vet and asked his advice and did some research online. About that time baby number one was born, very small and not alive. We're pretty sure that was the one whose sac broke yesterday and that Juno went into premature labor when she made that jump. Number two, little black and white, arrived and I broke the sac and put it by momma as she seemed a little confused still. It is so tiny and got so cold. Ethan ran to his room and brought his I Want To Be A Vet book and informed me we could take care of it. Another call to David the vet and while he says preemies are hard to save he gave us some tips and we decided to do our best.
   We have a heat lamp from Ethan's triop (sea monkey) experiment so rigged that up and dabbed a bit of pancake syrup on his tongue for quick energy. Then I explained to Ethan and Alaina that this baby may or may not live and fielded the barrage of questions they had. Soon two gray tabbies arrived. I had to break their sacs also and cut the cord for one, but once I placed them by her, momma did great. Then a lull while we gave them sugar boosts, changed their bedding and got each one to nurse. Half an hour later, orange tabby appeared, the biggest of the tinies.
   Wish us luck and that momma is finished. Bill's research says the more hair the better (they have all but on their ears and lower legs), less wrinkled skin/more filled out is better (they look like shar-pei's), and that if they will nurse their overall maturity is hopeful (all are nursing!!!). Will keep you posted.

Here's a Science Lesson For Ya

This morning as Jordan and I headed out to ride horses, Juno, the expectant cat from the woods, ran in looking like delivery is imminent. We made a box, spread out cloths, and gathered around to stare at her as she ate a giant meal, broke her waters, stared at her belly, and lay on the carpet just by the cloths we had provided.
Ethan is fascinated, Lainey is indignant that the momma won't let her babies come out and play with her, Jordan is cracking jokes at Bill, who is surprisingly squeamish about the whole thing. Having seen and heard all manner of human wounds and conditions, he squirms as though bugs are crawling on him each time Juno does anything of interest.
Happily, we ate with friends last night who say they have been meaning to get two kittens for their very nice garage/shed, promise to spay/neuter them etc. Of course Ethan whispered in my ear this morning, "Mom, we're gonna keep her". Wait until he sees the kittens!
At this moment Juno is resting comfortably, storing up energy for what really has to happen pretty soon. Any bets on the size of the brood?

Lainey's New-World Dictionary

Alaina can hold her own in conversation with older kids, but still has some of those cute manners of using language that I want to remember. Grammatically, for example, us and our haven't clicked, so she will say "that's we house", or "we're going to we're house".
There are also several words that she uses in unique ways. Somehow the meaning of the words got a little mangled along the way, so when she throws them into sentences the effect is quite humorous. One is "spicy". I think she uses it like fun or exciting. For example, "I like that kitty, she's cute and spicy". Another is jealous. It seems to mean cool or I guess phat. For example, "Ethan's new shoes are jealous".
The final and perhaps more ironic one is that somehow store became interchangeable with pharmacy. So, Ethan's shoes were from the shoe pharmacy, toys from the toy pharmacy, and last night she wanted to eat at the food pharmacy. Jordan and I like to giggle at these and use them ourselves sometimes. I told Jordan she could use jealous at school and make it the new in word at Jr. High.

Jr. High Dreaming

Today was Jordan's schedule pick-up day. She will go to a new school building this year, West Jr. Her friend Kahlea stayed the night and this morning they helped each other beautify. On arrival, we learned she got the schedule she wanted, got Kahlea as her locker partner, saw several friends she hadn't seen over the summer, had a good school photo (we got a preview on her activity card), and toured the halls to find where all her classes are.
Afterward several of the girls met at the mall to hang out and look for back-to-school clothes. Tonight she's staying at Kahlea's, then tomorrow she has her riding lesson with Alexis, who also stayed with us last weekend.
Jr. High looks so fun; I wanna be in Jr. High!

Animal Explosion, or 'Mamma Mia!'

As I alluded to earlier, we took Lainey to choose a hermit crab of her own. The little guy, named Kiko, seems very pleased with his new habitat. His shell is painted in bright colors and in tiny letters it says Colombia. Note the south american spelling. Not sure what that's about, but the kids are operating on the premise it refers to our hometown and not the source of the artist's inspiration.
That evening as I sat on the deck I heard a cat wailing in the woods. It sounded like Holli, Jordan's kitten, who panics if not near people for a while, so I called to it. Then it bounded out onto the lawn and looked calico, so I thought it was Boo-Boo so still called to it. Soon I learned it is the friendliest, half starved little cat with hanging belly that can only mean kittens are on the way. I called Jordan to show it to her and meanwhile Lainey escorted it up to the sunroom and hovered over it chasing the other pets away while it devoured half the catfood. We set her out but she managed to slip into the garage and go unnoticed overnight. This morning we set her out and when I arrived home this evening there she was huddled in the rain by the garage door. So who's up for a kitten :-)

In the Name of Science

Ethan is our junior scientist and lately has been most fascinated with biology, mainly insects, reptiles, and things he can put under his microscope. We have a ten gallon aquarium that has been home to tadpoles, snakes, frogs, worms, various insects etc. This week it got a workout. Ethan got a book about snails and slugs on his last trip to the library. It includes great instructions on the care and habitat of the things. Unfortunately, our area is not the greatest to easily find nice big snails or slugs either. We did find a few though and in they went on top of rocks, soil, leaf matter, etc. When you're a 5 year old scientist though it is hard not to handle your critters and the slug soon didn't look so hot.
Friday night while my brother Larry, sister-in-law Deb and nephews Trevor and Ryan were visiting, two largish toads happened across the patio. Ethan scooped them up and they became the next cool pets in the tank. One is and American Toad and the other we haven't identified yet. We spent a couple of days digging up worms and catching crickets and grasshoppers and watching the toads gobble them up whole. It was a fun experiment but I soon wondered how long we would be able to find food for the little eating machines. So, when Ethan asked again about seeing if the pet store had the large land snails his book told about, I said we should set the toads free and go check. Ethan decided a farewell party that included a last meal of captive crickets plus one last turn holding each toad would be a good send-off.
When we reached the pet store we discovered they don't carry the snails but had little hermit crabs. They are only $5 and many have cute painted shells (do they hold the little guys up while painting these or do they paint shells and wait for a crab to adopt it?). What we didn't realize until our child was dancing excitedly around waiting for his crab was that the $5 crab needs two water dishes (very shallow) and salt water conditioner, special soil (ground up coconut shells) to keep his home soft and humid, hermit crab food, cuttle bone, extra shells in case they want to relocate, you get the idea. Also when reading the care sheet at home we learned that they prefer company, 3 or more the recommended number. Well, once you've invested in the habitat what's the big deal right? So today the Morrissey's will be back at PetCo where Lainey will choose a crab whose artwork fits her style and the two can climb around and bathe in their tiny saltwater pool together.

Day at the Zoo

Yesterday I went with Ethan's pre-K class to the St Louis Zoo for a field trip. My friend Tracie has a son in Alaina's class as well as a daughter in Ethan's class so we took the two little ones along and rode together. That made the whole thing so much more fun as we gabbed the entire ride and the kids entertained each other a bit.
The zoo was busy and we had 15 kids so thankfully there were several teachers plus 6-8 parents. With frequent stops to count heads and matching t-shirts, we managed to not lose anyone. We were sooo hot until a well-timed visit to the penguin house which may have been the kids' all around favorite thing because the penguins and puffins are just so fun to watch. After that we were headed to the River's Edge where elephants, hippo's etc. are. Alaina and her friend Mason were riding in the zoo stroller discussing things when the following snippet was heard "Alaina, we're gonna see elephants next". "Yeah, elephants got big ears like my Daddy". Too funny
One thing that stood out about this trip to the zoo was that there happened to be loads of babies right now and all the animals were out and even interacting. The baby boom included five tiger cubs who were frolicking like crazy, a baby giraffe, baby elephant and three Mongolian Wild A__ babies. One mother answered the "what's that animal called" question with "let's read the sign, it says Mongolian Wild Aaaaa____donkey. Because let's face it, the pre-K crowd finds enough excuses to use those hilarious potty words.
Another thing was one giraffe that hung out right by all the kids and took leaves and grass from their hands. Also, there were a number of zookeepers posted by the exhibits to talk to the kids about the various animals. Of course, Ethan loved the snake house and insectarium with its variety of tarantula's and other creepy crawlies.

Getting Ready

Today I took Ethan and Alaina to get haircuts so they will be "broken in" by the first day of school. Alaina sits still as a statue for her haircuts but with the most serious almost scowl on her face. She gets very excited about them so I don't think she dislikes the experience, more that this is to her a true "big girl" thing and she wants to look big in the process.
Then we went to buy Ethan's Kindergarten supplies as per Midway School. The supplies are supposed to be plain and will go into a community chest to be replenished by willing parents throughout the year, so the highlight was the backpack. Ethan looked over several character options including a Star Wars Clone Wars one that I was sure would take the prize. In the end though, he latched onto a real hiker/explorer looking one in forest green with just a small tarantula on it. I was secretly tickled but made sure to point out that many of the kids at school will have the character ones and asked if that would make him regret his decision. He slipped his skinny arms in the straps and marched off after the rest of his supplies, wearing it until the checkout. Case closed!
Next Tuesday is Ethan's testing to determine the classroom breakdown, then Thursday we have an Open House where we will learn which of the two classes he is in, meet teachers, tour classroom, etc. We have heard both teachers are excellent so have no preference, but hope to meet some other kids in his room and clear up some of the nerves of going to a new school, room etc. We also get to turn in the supplies, thankfully since with the modern addition of wet wipes, Clorox wipes, paper towels, ziplocs, and kleenex to the old standby's it would be quite a load for the little tykes to haul in opening day.
I asked Ethan how he was feeling about Kindergarten. He said excited but also a little scared. I asked what about and his main concern at that moment was that this school would be doing far too much art for his taste. Why? Because of the worrisome proportion of crayons, markers, glue etc. on the supply list.

Why Can't I...

Get organized, get organized, GET ORGANIZED!!!! A goal of mine today is to identify some key things I can do to clear some time-wasting crap from my life. Now I freely admit this goal has haunted me numerous times over the years, but right now I feel just about aggravated enough by the self-imposed chaos of my life that I'm gonna get it right. Blogging may not seem like the best way to jump-start this project, but I am a person who gains motivation from having written something down or heaven forbid, telling it to someone. This post could accomplish both if I get the guts to tell anyone I know that I have a blog. Yeah, have to procrastinate on that one until just the right moment...

Here I am on the verge of blogging. I'm not entirely sure why I'm doing this, having resisted the medium for so long. Perhaps because I so want to have a journal but never want to sit and write it out. Perhaps because I will only write down fun and memorable things here and then I will have a great source to go back and remember and focus on the best moments. All the cute things the kids say and do I say I will write down and never do. Voila! I can type them instead. Plus, this can be dressed up and integrated and isn't that fun. Or maybe, just maybe, as Bill is saying over my shoulder, I have blog envy. OK, moving on...
Yesterday Ethan said from the back of the van "Mom, isn't that cool, Lainey has a song about her". I was perplexed until I focused on the radio and Ethan singing along to Aerosmith "Dude looks like A Lainey". This can be recorded for posterity along with Ethan's excited singing along to Funkytown "Taco Butt, Taco Butt, Taco Butt, Ooohh, Yeah" with his little hiney shaking to the beat.