A New Addition to Our Zoo

Last Sunday the girls and I went to the cat shelter as usual when we went into the kitten room and saw this wonderful little creature:

Her name was Penelope and she was all alone. She was such a love and was snuggling with us. Moira begged us to get her and finally we relented.

She's five months old.

She hasn't shown any interest in the other cats or Suki. She just runs around exploring and doing her own thing. She has a little bell on her collar so we always know where she is.

Liam is showing Penelope the laser pointer. He calls her "Bee-nana-pee".

And our other pets:

Here is Sugar sleeping on Kyla's bed.

Our Lucy who was four months old when she adopted us.

Of course, our dog Suki.

And we still have our chickens.

This is one of the original ones that Will first brought home. She is very pretty and her feathers shine.

This is our littlest chicken. She is very tiny.

This is the biggest chicken and she rules the roost. She is much bolder than the others and the other two follow her around.

The three of them in their coup. They haven't laid any eggs for us yet, but I keep checking their nests.

*Not included in this post are the two little goldfish that Moira has in her room.*

Simply Cats

The girls and I are still volunteering every Sunday at Simply Cats. We look forward to going every week so we can visit the cats and give them some love.

This is Valentine. She was shot in the eye with a bow and arrow by a young boy. Her left eye has been sewn shut and her left ear is deaf. She is afraid of the kids and doesn't like sudden movements, but sometimes I'll go into her room by myself and she'll come and sit on my lap. She drools when she is especially happy.

This is Dark Sky. He is a love and is always rubbing against our legs. He is Kyla's favourite.

Inca Due and Brenda

This is Simon. He is Moira's favourite cat.

Dyllon. He is an affectionate cat too, but prefers adult company.

This is Ralphie. He sits by his door and waits for us to come in and pet him.

Maggie

Fradee. Normally he doesn't give us the time of day, but when Moira brings out the cat treats, he becomes very vocal and lets us pet him.

The hardest part of going to the shelter isn't seeing all the cats that need good homes, but missing them like crazy when they do find one. You get to know the cats and their personalities and you can't help but love them. You take for granted that you are going to be able to see them every week, but when they get adopted and they are no longer there, it's heart breaking.

Snowshoeing

I finally made it up snowshoeing this season. It's the first time I've been up in two years. It felt so good to get some fresh air and to give my body a workout. I'll sleep good tonight!

The trail wound through the trees.

I only fell twice this trip. I need to work on my snow legs.

I snowshoed on the trails at Bogus Basin.

Views from the top near the Nordic Lodge.

Will and Moira went skiing while I was snowshoeing. Moira looks so grownup with her skis and new poles.

I'm Back!

Wow! It's been three whole months since I last posted anything here. It has been a crazy fall this year and I'm just happy to be able to say that I survived it.

I started school again this September. I enrolled in the Library and Information Technology course at the University of the Fraser Valley. I've been interested in their programme for years, but now that it's all online, I can do it from Boise. I haven't taken classes in over eight years so to say that I felt a little out of my element is an understatement. I took two classes this semester and they kicked my ass. So many times I'd be on the verge of tears and I would beg Will to let me quit. He would gently say no and bring home dinner so I wouldn't have to cook. I ended up getting an A in my Internet Information Retrieval class and somehow managed to pull off a B in my Young Adult Library Services class. It was a tough class, even though I really enjoyed it. How I managed to do that is a complete mystery. My mum wisely advised me to stop questioning it and just be happy about it.

Another major happening was that Liam finally got his hair cut. I didn't want to do it, but I was feeling the pressure from others so I gave in and took him to the hairdresser's. He freaked out and was not happy about it at all. I was so upset afterwards that I vowed I wouldn't get his hair cut again. Just look at what happened to my boy.

This was before going in. Look at his beautiful curls.

This was the result after. Now he looks like a generic boy. He looks so much older. And he's disappointed that he can't have ponytails like the girls anymore. I swore to Liam that I wouldn't have his hair cut ever again.

In November we went to Newport on the Oregon coast. Kyla got to spend her fourth birthday there. We took her to the aquarium and to the beach. She had a great day. We stayed in a condo on Nye Beach and pretty much had the whole complex to ourselves. We spent a lot of time at various beaches and taking it easy. It was much nicer to have one nice warm place to stay in and use that as our home base. A few times I felt a stab of anguish when it would hit me that we hadn't been to the coast since Skye died. It brought back some of those old feelings of the pain of loss.

The view from the condo we stayed in. We were so happy to be near the ocean that we didn't close the curtains once the whole time we were there. We got to lie in bed and watch the waves. We even had the door open for a while just to smell the salt air.

At Heceda Head lighthouse

Kyla's birthday cake

Moira and I could have spent all day at the touch pool at the aquarium.

I loved the jellyfish too.

Beach combing

That brings us to Christmas. Kordon and Morgan came into town for a few days. Morgan spent the whole time with us. We love him so much. He is such a great kid.

Morgan and Moira were practically inseparable.

Santa came to visit us again this year. We must have been very good to get a second visit.

Liam was thrilled to see him at the door, but as soon as he walked in and headed to the family room, that's when the panic set in. Once the presents started coming out, things were all right with the world. He got an RC Buzz Lightyear rocket ship.

Moira got a remote control helicopter.

Santa even had a little something for Morgan. He was a good sport and graciously sat with Santa to get his lantern.

Kyla got a Smurf house.

For our annual favourite gift photo, Kyla chose her play purse with the little ponies, Moira's is the new Webkinz, Liam picked his tape measure, and Will decided on his Morrissey record clock. As for me, I would have to say it's my new camera, although I promptly lost the memory card for it so I haven't been able to use it yet. Leave it to me!

So, there you have it - the last few months in a nutshell. Hopefully it won't be another three months until the next post.

Kids Say...

Spending all day with Kyla and Liam, I get to hear them talk and I'm always fascinated with the things they say. It gives me a glimpse into what is going on in their minds. Here are a few of our recent "talks".

Me: You have a soggy bum, Liam

Kyla: Then stop touching his bum.

Kyla (to me): I love you.

Me (to Kyla): I love you.

Liam: I love me!

Kyla (to Liam) I love you.

Liam: I love cars.

New Coup for the Chickens

This weekend Will got the new chicken coup put together. The plastic bin we had them in just wasn't big enough anymore. They were getting out of it and pooping all over the bathroom floor. And it was time that they get acclimatized to the outdoors.

Will put the coup under the balcony so that the chickens would stay safe and warm. They have an indoor area full of straw and a perch and an outside area where they can scratch and run around.

Moira's little black chicken died suddenly so on Sunday Will took her back to the same place and they picked out two new chickens.

Moira's new chick.

One of the original chicks. They are bigger now and are losing their down. They have tail feathers now and feathers on their wings.

Hyde Park Fair

This past weekend my Etsy group set up a huge booth at the Hyde Park fair in downtown Boise. I think it was the biggest booth there. We set up the tents Thursday afternoon and then I was back again Friday morning to set up my stuff. The fair started that evening and went through Sunday. It was a long weekend! I was so exhausted by the time it was over. I spent almost all day Monday hanging out on the couch with the kids.

This is the outside of the Idaho Indie Works booth.

This was my table. I changed my set up for this event. I got rid of some things that weren't selling and added other stuff.

This was my piece de resistance. I had been working on it for a while and finally got it done. Unfortunately, it didn't sell.

It was a good experience working with lots of different people. Hopefully this even will be even better next year.