The girls are always very concerned about the creepy crawlies. So I was not surprised when they asked about spiders and if they could could hurt them. I explained that in Minnesota there are not a lot of spiders that are poisonous. They seemed to accept this explanation and we went on eating our cereal and grapes.
Suddenly a spider dropped right onto Breonna's shoulder and she FREAKED out! Screaming and flailing she almost knocked her cereal bowl onto the floor and couldn't get out of her booster seat fast enough. I saw the spider only for a split second and he headed for cover from the crazy girl and we didn't see him again.
The incident scared Jordan quite a bit and she wanted me to stay in the kitchen while she finished her food to protect her in case the spider came back. I told her that the spider was probably more scared than she was and was not likely to drop down from the ceiling onto her while she was eating.
The odd thing is - they love bugs. Dead ones. They have check boxes with dead bugs from Grandma Shirley's farm - dragonfly, walking stick, and cicadas.
Ick. If I had my choice I'd rather deal with a live bug.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Hair Day
It is hair day for Breonna. Hair day is generally a laid back day where we sit around for most of the day and watch movies - whatever the girl who is getting her hair done wants. Mind you, I try and direct the selections at least subtly. There is only so much Dora one can take.
Step one - take out the old braids. We started out the morning taking Breonna's braids out and watching Megamind. They were resistant to watching this movie, but now that they have seen it they really like it. I got all of Breonna's braids out in the run of the movie.
Step two - deep condition her hair. She currently has the conditioner and copious amounts of olive oil on her hair under a shower cap and a turban. They are eating their lunch and gearing up for the next step.
Step three - Braid and bead. This is what takes the most time. She has chosen alternating hot pink and white beads. I will braid her hair - probably somewhere between 60 and 70 little braids, wrap the ends of the braids in aluminum foil and string the beads onto her hair. She has opted for Go Diego Go on Netflix Instant. We watched 11 straight episodes of Diego.
My brain shut down several hours ago. Jason just got home from spending it in the seminary library writing the last paper for this semester. His brain is about gone too - his from excessive exertion. mine from lack of.
We are going to TaeKwonDo tonight for probably the last time until August as we have tee ball starting up on Tuesdays and Thursdays soon. We'll blow off some steam there.
I LOVE the way her hair looks when we are done, but I wish there was an easier way.
Step one - take out the old braids. We started out the morning taking Breonna's braids out and watching Megamind. They were resistant to watching this movie, but now that they have seen it they really like it. I got all of Breonna's braids out in the run of the movie.
Step two - deep condition her hair. She currently has the conditioner and copious amounts of olive oil on her hair under a shower cap and a turban. They are eating their lunch and gearing up for the next step.
Step three - Braid and bead. This is what takes the most time. She has chosen alternating hot pink and white beads. I will braid her hair - probably somewhere between 60 and 70 little braids, wrap the ends of the braids in aluminum foil and string the beads onto her hair. She has opted for Go Diego Go on Netflix Instant.
My brain shut down several hours ago. Jason just got home from spending it in the seminary library writing the last paper for this semester. His brain is about gone too - his from excessive exertion. mine from lack of.
We are going to TaeKwonDo tonight for probably the last time until August as we have tee ball starting up on Tuesdays and Thursdays soon. We'll blow off some steam there.
I LOVE the way her hair looks when we are done, but I wish there was an easier way.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
It's been a long day
I found out last night that my father caught a ride in an ambulance to a Des Moines hospital where he was to have his gall bladder removed this morning. Just hours previous Jason found out that his father was in a Sioux City hospital waiting for his own gall bladder to be removed. What are the odds that both my father and father-in-law would have the exact same surgery within an hour of each other. Weird.
I got a phone call from my mom around 8:30 this morning that Dad's surgery went well and he was in recovery. I found out from my mother-in-law that John is loopy from the pain killers, but otherwise recovering nicely.
On a different, but similar front, we had been noticing over the past couple of months that Callie (my cat of 17 years) had been losing considerable weight and was rather lethargic and unstable on her back legs. I called the vet to see if I could get an appointment for today to get her checked out. They could fit us in at 10:00 - I had 20 minutes to get the carrier found, put Callie in it, get the girls dressed, and drive to the vet. I picked Callie up out of her cubbie - I didn't realize how skinny she had become over the past several months. I put her in the cat carrier and there was not a bit of fight in her. I knew this did not bode well for her prospects. She gave me a few weak meows and then nothing until we got to the vet.
On the way to the vet the girls asked if Callie was going to have to have a shot. I explained that it was quite possible that Callie may need to have a shot that would put her to sleep and she would never wake up.
Breonna asked, "Would she die?"
"Yes, honey, we may have to put her to sleep so that she won't have any more pain, so yes, she may die."
The girls were very interested and curious about this shot that puts you to sleep. There were assurances from me that they would never have this kind of shot.
After a couple of blood tests it was determined that Callie had acute kidney failure and there was not much that could be done for her. At this point there were three blubbering girls in the examination room waiting for the vet tech to bring our kitty back so we could say goodbye. We spent about 10 minutes petting her head and talking to her, telling her that we loved her and would miss her. The vet asked me if I would like to be in the room when she was put to sleep, I declined. The vet tech came back and took her and all I could say was "Goodbye baby."
Callie was my first pet other than the outdoor animals that we had at my parent's house. It was uncommon to have a pet for more than a year on the farm, so there was never a tight bond because I knew they would eventually be run over on the road, killed by another animal, or run away for greener pastures. It was hard on me to lose her because I've had her since she was a tiny ball of fur, and I think it was hard on the girls to watch me in my grief.
We brought her body home in a cardboard box and Jason and I buried her in the backyard when he got home from work.
Goodbye my friend. I love you.
I got a phone call from my mom around 8:30 this morning that Dad's surgery went well and he was in recovery. I found out from my mother-in-law that John is loopy from the pain killers, but otherwise recovering nicely.
On a different, but similar front, we had been noticing over the past couple of months that Callie (my cat of 17 years) had been losing considerable weight and was rather lethargic and unstable on her back legs. I called the vet to see if I could get an appointment for today to get her checked out. They could fit us in at 10:00 - I had 20 minutes to get the carrier found, put Callie in it, get the girls dressed, and drive to the vet. I picked Callie up out of her cubbie - I didn't realize how skinny she had become over the past several months. I put her in the cat carrier and there was not a bit of fight in her. I knew this did not bode well for her prospects. She gave me a few weak meows and then nothing until we got to the vet.
On the way to the vet the girls asked if Callie was going to have to have a shot. I explained that it was quite possible that Callie may need to have a shot that would put her to sleep and she would never wake up.
Breonna asked, "Would she die?"
"Yes, honey, we may have to put her to sleep so that she won't have any more pain, so yes, she may die."
The girls were very interested and curious about this shot that puts you to sleep. There were assurances from me that they would never have this kind of shot.
After a couple of blood tests it was determined that Callie had acute kidney failure and there was not much that could be done for her. At this point there were three blubbering girls in the examination room waiting for the vet tech to bring our kitty back so we could say goodbye. We spent about 10 minutes petting her head and talking to her, telling her that we loved her and would miss her. The vet asked me if I would like to be in the room when she was put to sleep, I declined. The vet tech came back and took her and all I could say was "Goodbye baby."
Callie was my first pet other than the outdoor animals that we had at my parent's house. It was uncommon to have a pet for more than a year on the farm, so there was never a tight bond because I knew they would eventually be run over on the road, killed by another animal, or run away for greener pastures. It was hard on me to lose her because I've had her since she was a tiny ball of fur, and I think it was hard on the girls to watch me in my grief.
We brought her body home in a cardboard box and Jason and I buried her in the backyard when he got home from work.
Goodbye my friend. I love you.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Boar's Head Tavern
I've been aware of the Boar's Head for quite some time now. Jason has been a fellow there for several years. I've met some of the fellows including the late, great Michael Spencer. Loved him - he reminded me of my Uncle Dave. Anyway, until recently I have only been a sporadic reader. I had a hard time overcoming the format of the actual page. Once I started using the Google Reader, I started reading the Boar's Head along with a few other of my friends' blogs.
Today one of the fellows posted this web site:
http://www.iwl.me/
This web site (supposedly) analyzes your writing and tells you who you write like. I pasted three of my recent blog posts in the frame. The analyzer said I write like Mark Twain, Margaret Mitchell, and Steven King. So I'm sarcastic, romantic and horrifying.
I can live with that.
Today one of the fellows posted this web site:
http://www.iwl.me/
This web site (supposedly) analyzes your writing and tells you who you write like. I pasted three of my recent blog posts in the frame. The analyzer said I write like Mark Twain, Margaret Mitchell, and Steven King. So I'm sarcastic, romantic and horrifying.
I can live with that.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Oh so helpful (poor cats)
The girls really do want to be helpful. Jordan decided I needed help making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch today. She was trying to guide my knife hand as I spread the peanut butter. As soon as Breonna saw Jordan was helping, she had to get in on the act. She actually grabbed my hand to "help" and I ended up smearing peanut butter all over the counter.
We have cats - 3 of them and they have varying tolerance for the girls' antics ranging from Punkin who is very social and will allow them to pick him up or hug him. Callie goes into hiding when the girls get up and comes out and snuggles after the girls go to bed. Emmi is somewhere in between.
I came into the living room and found this:
Yes, that is Punkin under a pink blanket. Apparently he looked cold.
We have cats - 3 of them and they have varying tolerance for the girls' antics ranging from Punkin who is very social and will allow them to pick him up or hug him. Callie goes into hiding when the girls get up and comes out and snuggles after the girls go to bed. Emmi is somewhere in between.
I came into the living room and found this:
Yes, that is Punkin under a pink blanket. Apparently he looked cold.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Corn on the cob
Corn is the girls' favorite. So I asked them "Have you ever had corn on the cob?" They asked "What's that?"
Really? Of course I grew up on a corn farm and we had corn for almost every meal from mid July until mid August. We had to get these girls some corn on the cob.
We went to a vegetable stand and bought a dozen ears of corn. I brought them home and shucked them and got them ready to cook. The girls were following me every step of the way "What are you doing now?" "What is that big pot for?" "What do you need all that water for?".
We got dinner on the table and I buttered and salted the corn for them and handed it to them - we even got out the little corn holders for them. I put it on their plates and looked at them expectantly. "How do I eat this?" Breonna asked me. Of course they don't know how to eat it - until recently they thought corn came out of a bag. So I got my ear of corn ready and modeled eating it for them. Once they figured that out there was no stopping them. I had to make them eat their fruit and their hamburgers before they got another ear of corn.
I think that we will be getting more corn before the summer is over.
Really? Of course I grew up on a corn farm and we had corn for almost every meal from mid July until mid August. We had to get these girls some corn on the cob.
We went to a vegetable stand and bought a dozen ears of corn. I brought them home and shucked them and got them ready to cook. The girls were following me every step of the way "What are you doing now?" "What is that big pot for?" "What do you need all that water for?".
We got dinner on the table and I buttered and salted the corn for them and handed it to them - we even got out the little corn holders for them. I put it on their plates and looked at them expectantly. "How do I eat this?" Breonna asked me. Of course they don't know how to eat it - until recently they thought corn came out of a bag. So I got my ear of corn ready and modeled eating it for them. Once they figured that out there was no stopping them. I had to make them eat their fruit and their hamburgers before they got another ear of corn.
I think that we will be getting more corn before the summer is over.
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