Five's a Party

As I am sure most people who read my blog know, I had a cat called Baby. I say most, because most people who read it actually know me and therefore would know all about Baby going missing. She is not home, although we did have one episode where we THOUGHT she came home. We drove in our yard after dark and saw an orange tabby and assumed it was Baby. It may have been, but if it was her, she's a scaredy cat and ran away from us and did not show herself again. That doesn't seem like our friendly attention seeking pet Baby. I miss her terribly, but I think I have faced the fact that she probably isn't coming home. Yesterday, I went out to feed our fish, and saw a grey shaggy lump on the lawn. I wasn't sure if it was alive or just a bit of a log, but I meowed at it, and it meowed back, loudly! It was a small grey and black kitty, probably about 4 months old, and very very skinny. I talked to her and she talked back, but she was pretty nervous, and any advance I made toward h

My brother Terry got engaged on friday! He called me on Saturday and sounded pretty excited :) It looks like the wedding might be in February. I sure hope I can make it!

It's actually over a month away, but I know I need to plan something. He's desperate for cash, since he's opened a bank acct and is saving for ................. a lawn tracter. yes, honestly, a lawn tracter. I have no trouble giving him cash for his bday, but should I have a party? would it be rude to put on the invites "no presents, please, but donations to the Kyle's lawn tracter fund accepted"? He's also said that he wants a firebelly toad, which are small and fairly easy to care for. They can live in a 10g aquarium, which would be just fine for one toad. This is probably a far more practical gift for him, but he wants both! He wants a lawn tracter sooo badly b/c we went camping at a friend's house, where they had a lawn tracter. They have a farm with lots of different tracters etc, and Kyle was allowed to drive the lawn tracter for hours! He LOVED it, and I think he's finally found something he is into besides bugs/ reptiles/ amphibians. I am N

A blog I visit just about everyday, is hosting a giveaway. It sounds like a very interesting giveaway! check it out: http://inashoe.com/2008/09/08/gotw-alba-gu-bra/ They are giving away CDS all about the Scottish heritage of Christianity called How the Scots Saved Christendom: Tales of Bravehearts and Covenanters. Even if I don't win this contest, I will probably try to buy these CDS anyway~ if you have read my blog at all you will know that things Scottish always catch my interest!

We have many beautiful old maples on our property. They line our driveway on both sides and there are two on the opposite side of my house. We came home after meeting yesterday to find that one huge branch had somehow been broken off and was lying across part of the driveway! It had fallen off a high part of the tree, and was actually part of the main trunk that branched off at the top. It left some pretty big gouges in the ground. I figured that we would cut it up with the chainsaw and burn it in our fire pit, but G had other plans to impress his sons. (and his wife!). No sissy chainsaw for him, he lifted that giant, heavy maple log and CARRIED it over to the burning pit!

A critter dug under our composter last fall, and apparently dragged out some squash seeds, because about halfway through the summer, I noticed something. A small spruce close to the composter was growing leaves. Three or four squash plants were growing, and they have completely taken over the tree! and there are five or six squashes growing out there on the spruce tree.See the tree behind Liam? It will be nice to have some "free" squashes this year!

~ got TWO couch covers for the loveseat today at a yard sale (only 5$!), which match my existing couch and chair covers, so no more white sheet on the loveseat! ~ the boys spent a good portion of the day baking cookies and coffee cake in the easy bake oven with no argueing! ~ walked again today with G, the boys, and Wally. I hope we can keep this up! ~ I made Liam a "coonskin" cap today, which he has been wanting for aaaaaages- ever since we read "Where the red fern grows". He still wants a REAL one, but one made from funfur will do for now. ~ We had some cloud cover and rain and wind yesterday from Hurricane Gustav (ok, ok, so it was a storm depression by the time it reached us) but today was marvelously sunny and warm. ~ glo sticks make for really neat pictures

When I read Laura's books as a child, I loved them. I read them over and over again, until even today I could tell you what happens in each book and even quote many parts of the books. They captured my imagination and I have loved most things pioneer since then. Now, I am reading the series to my children. They are greatly captivated by the descriptive flow of the events and places and people, even though the books are about a *GIRL*. There is complete silence as I read, no fidgeting or whispering at all. I am so glad that they are enjoying them as I did! They've even taken to playing "Little house" with their webkinz hahaha. They watched a few episodes of the TV show, but they've denounced them as "That didn't happen in the book! and Ma's name is CaroLINE, not CaraLYN!" etc etc etc I love the Garth Williams illustrations and I am sad that the newer editions don't have his illustrations, which make some of the longer more "foreign to us

Liam got some canvas shoes for school. He keeps asking me "are you SURE these are 8 year old's shoes?" We got his in the US, and no other kids in his class are wearing them. He's seen teenagers wearing them, but no kids his age. Because nobody else in his school is wearing them, he is unsure about them. He loved them when he saw them and tried them on and was pretty excited about them. I hope that he can get over his "peer pressure" anxiety and just wear them because he loves them! He has camo ones for out door use and a spider pair for indoors at school. His camo pair is like these, except green with no red stripe. I think they are pretty cute on him (can I say that about an 8 year old boy? cute?) and Liam has always been his own unique person and worn what he likes so it makes me a bit sad that at only 8 he's worried if the other kids are wearing the same things. Ryan and Kyle both got regular sneakers that they are happy with, so no worries there!

The boys headed back to school today. They weren't overly excited, but neither was I! I hope they have a good year and learn alot :)