Midweek Update

Took Z to the doctor today to get another x-ray of her hips. Things are looking good, so she will only be wearing the brace at night. What a relief.

While at the appointment, Finley and Joe got to pick out some token toys while Z got her x-ray. Joe ended up with a small 'bouncy ball.' Later, while the doc was reviewing the x-ray, Joe stowed the ball in his jacket pocket. When we were getting ready to leave, Finley asked him where his ball was. "Right behind here," he said as he pointed to his crotch.

Finishing up lunch, Finley asked me what 10 plus 10 plus 10 was. I held up three fingers and had her count by tens with me to thirty. Then she held up four fingers. "Do you know what four 10's is?" She asked rhetorically. "40! Do you know what six 10's is? 60!" The kid is multiplying and doesn't even know it.

Weekend Update 10/26

For those of you wondering, the pigeon is gone. We saw it for the last time last Monday or Tuesday. This was right after Finley named it 'Sarah'. Perhaps it didn't like the name. Chris was incredibly disappointed when it didn't come back. He keeps talking about it. He might need therapy.

In other news, Chris painted our back porch this weekend...

and Jane was moved into her new, larger hutch that we found on craigslist for a really good price. I also built a little hide-away for her like the ones I saw at a pet store but could not imagine paying $20 for.

Last night, we had another little driveway campfire. The kids didn't bother to really toast the marshmallows, as you can see.

That got me thinking about going on a 'real' camping trip with them. I had visions of me trekking through the woods with the pack, Finley and Joe running ahead, stopping every now and again to soak in the beauty of nature. Surely the three of us could fit in a two man tent. But then I got stuck. They don't have nice, lightweight, 20 degree sleeping bags. If we do go camping, I guess we'd have to settle for one of those close-to-the-parking-lot sort of places. Oh, well.

Joe woke up from a nap the other day and wandered into the kitchen. "Mom?" he said in his still-groggy voice.
"Yeah?" I answered.
"I love you, but, Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"Where's Fin?"

Being a mother to a son like Joe is very funny to me. I am here for him to hug and kiss on. Dad is here for him to wrestle and beat on. Joe was so desperate to help us this weekend, that Chris outfitted him with my old DeWalt 12 volt drill. He carries it around like a machine gun. He helped me screw Jane's hide-away together, but still wanted to drill something, so we let him 'drill' holes in an old piece of drywall.

Finley is in that stage where she automatically puts -ed on the end of all verbs to make them past tense. I can't wait until she gets the hang of irregular verbs. My mom sent a few bags of craft popsicle sticks to us a few weeks ago. This has kept Finley very busy gluing them together. I would take a picture of one of her creations, but the camera battery is dead. To her dismay, she ran out of glue this morning. We may need to make an emergency trip the the store.

Thursday, I take Zivah in to get another x-ray of her hips. I'm hoping things will look okay. She's been babbling a lot, but still not many recognizable words. Figured out how to say 'ball'. I think she's tried to say 'Joe'. My favorite, though, is when she sees you for the first time in a while, lights up, and says 'hi!' in her sweet, airy voice. She has mastered the stairs, and I'm quite thankful that she is one of those cautious, sensible toddlers. Once at the top of the stairs, she always crawls forward until she is a safe distance away before she sits down and approaches the top with caution before turning around to back down.

I had better stop rambling at get to the laundry. (groan)

Pigeon Update

Chris mowed the lawn yesterday afternoon, and a search of the yard this morning did not reveal any pigeons.

However...

this afternoon, it returned. And Chris wanted to feed it. So he did.

Now what?

The Pigeon and Jane

Well, the pigeon snuck into Jane's cage while we were out in the yard with Jane. I don't know if the two really are friends, or if Jane was upset that the pigeon might be eating her food. She hopped right on into her cage and went right up to the pigeon and...When it looked like Jane might possibly be trying to gnaw the bird's eye out, I snatched her back out. Thankfully, the bird finally exited the cage on her own, and is in the back yard. I have closed the doors to prevent any further incident.


After a little online research, I matched the bird's tag number to some guy in Louisville, KY and sent him an email to let him know what the pigeon was up to.

A Random Visitor

We found this homing pigeon hanging out on our back porch when we got home from running errands this morning.
Apparently Jane has friends we don't know about. Or maybe some one was trying to send me a message. Or (most likely) the bird just got really confused.

Zivah and Jane

By request, here is a picture of Zivah crawling into the rabbit's cage. She didn't crawl all the way in this time, probably since Jane was in there. But she did steal more food.

Z absolutely loves Jane and lights up every time she sees her.

The Most Wonderful Coffee Cup in the Whole Wide World

I just spent at least a half an hour wandering aimlessly through the house searching in quiet desperation for my coffee cup. It was in none of the usual places. Could my children have played some sick joke on me? Did it slip through a worm hole into another dimension? On a day like today, I was feeling absolutely and completely lost without it (as was evident from my room to room meanderings).

Thankfully, I finally found it in the microwave where it was waiting patiently for me to remember that I had already poured some more coffee.

It has been with me for over a decade. I still remember finding it on a shelf in a Salvation Army Store in Omaha. It was fifty cents, possibly the best fifty cents I've ever spent.

WWF Champ

About a month ago, in one of those father/son moments that I have no control over, Chris introduced Joe to wrestling. (groan) New rules are in place to prevent Joe from attacking Chris out of the blue in an attempt to start an unscheduled match.

On Tuesday, while I was taking Finley to dance class, Chris made Joe a 'House Wrestling Champion' belt.