Friday, April 27, 2007

A few brief replies to comments -
* Laura - Yes, I remember Boo Kitty. How could I possibly forget her? Kevin and I used to refer to her as Freddie Kruger Claws. The flea shampoo didn't solve our problem so all the cats plus our 2 foster dogs got Advantage today. I'm also going to spray the yard tomorrow and attempt to bathe the dogs.
* J-Lynn - If I got low on gas, I could have always stopped at the Shell. :-)
* Dy - You can get a ticket for cruising? I had no idea.

************************************
I really wished I had recorded the following events. We could win America's Funniest Home Videos.

Wednesday evening, after KJ had left for his dad's, and before David got home from work, I decided to replenish the hay in the chicken pens. I opened up the Red's and Betty's pen. They ran out to gorge on bugs and grass while I added hay to their nesting box. Next, I did the same with Diddy and Ziggy's pen, and lastly, Winkin's pen. All the chickens were enjoying the beautiful weather, feasting, taking dust baths, and just generally enjoying life. I moved on to Paul's pen. Now I don't let Paul out like I do the others, because I'm not sure that I could get him to go back in. I was giving him feed, changing his water, and adding hay, while attempting to keep him in with the feed bucket. Suddenly Paul came at me wings flapping, and beak aimed right at my face. I fell over backward trying to get out of the way...and he. was. out.
(Paul)


Paul immediately leaped on Betty's back and started ummm... mating.
(Betty is finishing her molting, not diseased.)


Poor Betty squawked for help and then just put up with it. Paul jumped off Betty and on Ziggy.
(Ziggy)


Ziggy tried to fight, but also lost out to Paul's hormonal frenzy. Diddy tried to run, but she was no match for Paul either.

(Diddy)

About 2 minutes had passed since Paul's escape. Apparently he was one ho**y rooster. About this time, David drove up. He was just in time to see Paul go after Winkin. She is our sweetest hen. She never pecks, doesn't mind being held, and is normally very passive. With Paul however, Winkin fought back.
(Winkin)
David and I watched in awe and amazement while Winkin kicked Paul's booty. Paul had grabbed her by the back of her neck as he tried to mount. Winkin shook him and grabbed HIM by the back of the neck. Paul tried to get rid of her, but Winkin was relentless. When she got thrown loose, she chased Paul down, pecked at him and grabbed his neck again. Paul ran into Ziggy and Diddy's pen trying to escape, but Winkin followed him in. Finally, they stopped and were having a stare down; Paul looked terrified and Winkin looked like a PMSing woman who had just been called fat by her hubby.
I moved Winkin away from Paul and put her up in her pen. Paul ran out of Ziggy and Diddy's pen so I put them up also. I managed to rescue Betty from Paul and put her up also. I started herding the Red's (who had been way out in the yard) towards their pen. I got Rudy to safety before Paul came rushing over scattering the rest.
(Rudy)
I put on some leather work gloves and attempted to guard Paul like you do in basketball to prevent him getting around me, while David put up Nikki and Wendy.
(Wendy) (Nikki)
When Wendy reached the safety of her pen, Paul crowed in frustration and started leaping towards my face. He was pi**ed off big time!! I cursed at him and backed off. David took the gloves while I grabbed a hysterical Dorothy.
(Dorothy)
Dorothy and I watched as David and Paul battled. Paul would leap at David and David would swat him back down. I don't remember David's exact words, but it was something like, "Come on! Come on! You think you're tough!? Come on! I'll kick your a**!" Paul ran from David into his own pen. Dorothy and I breathed a sigh of relief. I put her up and helped David latch Paul's pen.
Would anyone like a beautiful, but hormonally crazed rooster?

Monday, April 23, 2007

You should blog this.

This morning KJ actually uttered the phrase, "You should blog this," so I am.

Pre-Story Info: I had gotten up late and was wearing pajama bottoms, a T-shirt, and crocs since I had no intention of getting out of the car. Unlike Ree however, my pajamas had an intact crotch.

After picking KJ up from his dad this morning, I turned left out of the Shell parking lot, drove a few blocks and turned into Sonic. (KJ was hungry and I was out of sausage at home.) I ordered a toaster sandwich combo only to hear the disembodied voice tell me that they were out of bread, and would I like a burrito instead. I looked at KJ to confirm that no, he did not want a burrito.

Okay, plan B...I turned right out of Sonic's parking lot, passed the Shell we had just left, and headed towards the highway. KJ mentioned Subway, but I told him that I didn't want to go inside, and besides, we had already passed it. As I turned onto the clover-leaf highway entry, I gaily announced that we were heading to Whataburger. KJ said that he didn't really want Whataburger. *sigh* I immediately took the other clover-leaf to exit right back off and return to the road we were just on, heading back the direction we had come from.

We passed back by the Shell while discussing where to eat. I didn't want to go IN anywhere since I wasn't dressed appropriately, hadn't brushed my hair, or brushed my teeth. KJ mentioned Subway again, but we had already passed back by it. He said, "What about Bakery Donut? You look fine, Mom. It's a redneck town, people dress like this all the time." I quickly checked the mirror and finger combed my hair...good enough. As I was about to turn into Bakery Donut's parking lot, KJ said, "Oh! I didn't really want to GO to Bakery Donut. I just asked about it." I said, "But you love Bakery Donut!" To which he replied, "Yeah, but I'm burned out on it." *sigh*

I left their parking lot and suggested we just go home and he could have a frozen pizza or a breakfast sandwich with bacon instead of sausage. KJ said, "How about Subway? I haven't had a Subway breakfast sandwich in a year and they just melt in your mouth." I did a U-turn just before leaving town and went back the way we had come...again. We passed back by Bakery Donut and Sonic, and turned into Subway. It was 8:06 and they did not open until 9:00. Now, what exactly is the use of serving breakfast if you don't open until most people are at work or school?

*sigh* "Where do you want to go?" I asked KJ. He said, "Just stop and let me think a minute." I stopped. He thought, and then said, "Let's go to Whataburger." I drove past the Shell (again), entered the highway (again), and drove a few exits down to Whataburger. We went through the drive-thru so I didn't have to get out of the car (yay), and were eating our breakfast happily as we drove towards home (finally), when KJ said, "You should blog about this," so I did.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Ducks, Fleas, and Cats

After David left for work this morning, about 7:00am, I was contemplating going back to bed when I heard a lot more bird noise than is usual around here. We slept with the windows open, and while I expected the usual morning songs of cardinals, robins, black-capped chickadees, guineaus, and of course our rooster, this was different and much louder. I looked out the window to see our front trees full of ducks, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks to be precise. The cats and I watched them for about 15 minutes until the ducks decided to move on. I guess we were a rest stop on their way to wherever they are planning to live for the summer.

Our neighbor's dogs whom we take care of, our foster dogs, have fleas. I dusted both yesterday with flea powder and put a flea collar on the big one. Both dogs seem much better today.

All of our cats are indoor cats. Emily, however, loves to go outside and occasionally manages to slip by us. Emily now has fleas. She has passed her fleas on to Fuller and Neko. This has happened before and the fleas are usually taken care of with a good flea shampoo. If the infestation is bad, I'll use the drops on the back, and have even bombed the house once. This flea attack looks pretty mild so a good bath should do the trick. It sounds so easy, doesn't it? Would you believe that I have to actually make a cat bathing plan? Here is how bath time for kitties went today.

*I haven't had a shower myself yet which is good since I'll definately need one after I bathe the cats.
*Make sure I'm wearing grungy clothes.
*Gather at least 3 large towels and place in the bathroom.
*Run about 3 inches of lukewarm water in the tub.
*Set flea shampoo on edge of tub within easy reach of my right hand.
*Get large plastic cup for rinsing and set on edge of tub.
*Nonchalantly wander house looking for Fuller. Sweetly call, "Fuller-kitty...where's my favorite kitty?"
*Go into kitchen and open cabinet where cat food is stored.
*Grab Fuller when she runs into kitchen.

****NOTE ON WHY FULLER HAS TO BE FIRST****
Fuller is the oldest and wisest cat. If I bathe a cat before her, she'll know, hide, and I won't see her for the rest of the day. When Fuller hides, you practically have to tear the house down to the studs to find her.

*Hold Fuller as far out in front of me as I can and run into bathroom, kicking the door shut behind me.
*Place Fuller into tub. While talking soothingly non-stop, wet, lather, lather, lather (supposed to leave lather on 5 minutes), lather, lather...start tub draining...get water going for rinsing...lather...test rinse water temp...lather...test rinse water temp again, and rinse.
*Remove Fuller from tub and towel dry...catch her and keep drying...catch her again and keep drying.
*Let Fuller out of bathroom.

*Run about 3 inches of fresh water in the tub.
*Retrieve a sleeping Emily from my bed.
*Hold Emily as far out in front of me as I can and run into bathroom, kicking the door shut behind me.
Emily's bath routine is identical to Fuller's except I sing to her.
*Let Emily out of bathroom.

*Run about 3 inches of fresh water in the tub.
*Go look for the beast...I mean Neko.
*Grab Neko from kitchen.
*Hold Neko as far out in front of me as I can and run into bathroom, kicking the door shut behind me.

****NOTE ON WHY NEKO IS LAST****
Neko is deaf so she most likely won't realize that I'm bathing the others. Neko has only had 2 baths before today, so she doesn't yet understand that I'm NOT trying to kill her. If Neko is last, then if/when I get scratched up by her, I can treat my wounds instead of plunging them back into soapy water to bath the others. Neko throws such a caterwauling fit that Emily and Fuller are always waiting just outside the bathroom door. They always stare at me accusingly as they comfort Neko.

*Follow the same procedure for bathing Neko as I did for Fuller and Emily, except no talking or singing, and lots of claw dodging. I also have to keep retrieving shampoo bottles that she knocks in the tub while trying to escape.
*Attempt to towel dry Neko, but finally let her out of the bathroom when she leaps for my face.


*Tell Fuller and Emily to quit looking at me that way.
*Throw pile of used towels into washing machine.
*Take pictures of wet, pissed-off kitties.
*Wait for water to reheat so I can shower.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Origin of the Universe

I haven't had time to post about Sunday until now.

We left the survival birthday party about noon and drove to Texas A&M University in College Station for a Physics festival. We arrived at the campus by 2:00, but had a terrible time getting into the parking garage due to it also being Parent's Weekend. I was in full panic mode by the time I finally got the car parked. It was 2:27 and our main reason for coming was to attend a lecture at 2:30 by Stephen Hawking on the origin of the universe. David, KJ, and I got out of the car, made a note of what level we were on, and moved as fast as we could to the auditorium. David and KJ were both a little shocked to see me elbowing people out of the way, passing slower-moving people, and going around the lines of people waiting to show their tickets to the ushers and receive seating directions. Hey, I showed it to the first usher on the bottom floor. I didn't figure I needed to show it to the ones on the upper floors also. I was NOT going to miss this chance to hear Hawking. I had gotten some of the last few tickets before the event sold out, so we were waaaay up in the upper balcony. We were all sweating and out-of-breath by the time we found our seats. 2:31...we made it. The ended up starting late anyway to give everybody else, who also had trouble parking, to find their seats too.

The lecture was wonderful! Some of what he said went right over my head, but it was just so neat to hear him speak in person. KJ loved it and has been talking about Stephen Hawking ever since. He even started A Briefer History of Time yesterday, and keeps reading parts aloud to me.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Some friends (also homeschoolers) of ours had a birthday party for their middle child this weekend. They hired a guy from this company, and flew him in from Colorado for a survival campout party. It started at 9:00am Saturday and ended at 1:00pm Sunday. It was not a drop-off party; entire families were invited. The dads participated with the kids while the moms did meal duty and chatted in the house.

The survivalists started by going across the road, over a hill, and down by a lake. They learned to make wood shavings for fire kindling, (What a studly husband...mine)


and how to start a fire with a metal match and a knife. (For my real-life friends, those are Kendall's and Rodney's hands.)


They started several fires.


KJ was temporarily granted a reprieve on fire building. (He's been banned since the fire in his bedroom incident.) KJ and Elora are roasting wild onions.


They learned how to build a shelter,


and cut grass for the roof.


The roof has to be 2 feet thick to be watertight, but survival man let them stop here.


They also built a huge "S" (from SOS) on the ground as a distress signal. I was inside getting supper ready so I didn't get a picture of that. They learned about wild edible plants, and ate prickly pear cactus, mustard flowers, and wild onions. They slept in tents behind the backyard in the horse pasture. I did get pics of that, but they were too full of other people's children. After supper, we had a firework show to rival any I've seen the city put on. (I forget to mention that this family lives on quite a bit of land out in the country.) On Sunday morning, we had a brief devotional and the survivalists practiced navigating with a compass. All in all, it was a wonderful party.

Is this not the cutest cake ever!?


Wednesday, April 11, 2007

I have been very lucky with KJ. My friends have told me many a story about ER trips, stitches, and broken bones. KJ has been to ER a grand total of one time. He was about 8 months old and ended up being admitted with pneumonia. He has never had stitches or broken bones. I'm not sure if I've raised a very cautious child or just been lucky.


This is a pic of KJ today.
Underneath his left pant leg is a knee immobilizer that stretches from mid-thigh to just above his ankle.
Yesterday, near the end of fencing, KJ managed to sprain his knee. We had an x-ray today and hopefully my luck will hold and there won't be any bone chips. KJ is NOT a happy camper.

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Meet the animals Part 1

I know you are all just dying to meet some of the zoo's education animals. Well, even if you're not, you get to meet a few anyway.

This is Monty, a ball python. Monty is a very laid back snake. When handled, he generally curls up into a snake knot, and just lies there letting children touch him.


This is Cobber, the Kookaburra. You've already heard about some of his antics in an earlier post. He was rather agitated (pissed) today, because the oppossums were out walking around the ranch house and he wasn't.


This is Moe, a cockatiel. He is soooo sweet and one of my favorites. He likes to ride around on my shoulder while I take care of the other animals in the education building.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

If April showers bring May flowers...

If April showers bring May flowers, what does April snow bring? This is Waco, Texas. It never snows here! I haven't seen snow fall this heavily since we lived in Pennsylvania.



Friday, April 6, 2007

I didn't think to take a picture of KJ's frog pond before his improvements, so I just took a picture of his other pond instead. The one he improved looked pretty much the same.

Frog pond before renovations:



Frog pond after renovations:

KJ had a terrible time deciding on whether to have clear water or muddy water. If he had clear water, he would be able to see the frogs swimming, but so would predators. He went with murky water for now, but he may drain it and clear it up a little.


Our science class met for Invertebrates Part 2: Arthropods. We discussed the characteristics of arthropods and dissected a grasshopper and a crayfish. Here is one of the grasshoppers. I wasn't fast enough with the camera, so nobody had enough crayfish left to photograph. Once we're finished with the dissecting and discussing, the boys immediately chop their animals and the girls' animals to bits.



I got the link for this recipe from Chris at Notes from the Trenches. It's hilarious!

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Where has this week gone?

It's been almost a week since my last post, and I'm not sure why. I know the weekend was busy, but aside from DOD on Sunday, I can't remember what we did. KJ has been in a bit of trouble and is grounded from the internet. In addition, I've taken over scheduling his day for a while. Monday was absolutely; awful full of anger (his), frustration (both), and tears (mine). Things are better now though, and his school work is getting done.

On a fun note, KJ has transformed his mud hole/frog habitat into a little frog pond. We put a pond liner in, some river rock in the bottom, and he placed a ring of red brick and crushed white marble around the top. I forgot to take a picture and it's dark outside now, so you'll have to wait.

David and I attended the docent appreciation dinner at the zoo last night where we had great food and a wonderful time. I even got a little hedgehog lapel pin for my hours of service. (58 in 5 weeks)

I've realized that I keep forgetting to answer questions in the comments.
J-Lynn - No, I only worked the camp during Spring Break since KJ was gone anyway. I'll probably do one or two this summer too.
Dy - I have no idea how to take a close-up. My friend actually snapped the picture, but she just pointed and clicked. I DID Photo-shop it some though. I increased the contrast, decreased the brightness, increased the saturation, and sharpened the focus on the worm itself.