Meeskeelaneeus

Every once in a while, I have a random post of pictures/stories that don't need a whole post on their own so I combine them.  Thus this post!

Waiting with Chalk



Much of Josh's work is done on his grandparent's yard (which is a little over a mile west of our place).  Quite often, the kids and I are left waiting for one reason or another.  We've found that Great Grandma's and Grandpa's drive is a fantabulous place for sidewalk chalk, making the wait easier.



Caleb has learned to play hopscotch the "right" way: finding a pebble, tossing it onto a number and then skipping over that number during the hopping.  He likes the challenge, especially when I draw an oversized board and he has to do super-leaps to make it!



Sarah Rose, however, hasn't quite gotten the concept yet and just skips all over the place, which Caleb finds hilarious.




And there's always the artwork that the kids have me make.  They tell me the details to draw and where to draw it and I do it per their instructions.  Sarah Rose helped me "design" this barn and silo.  She was quite proud of herself!  She included a tractor and wagon full of corn, but insisted I not put cows in the lot.  Its funny how they know exactly what they want!

 Kittens


Several weeks ago, Mama Cat had another litter of kittens.  When the kittens were just a few weeks old, Mama Cat tragically disappeared.  We're not sure what happened to her, but she's no longer here.  Her six orphaned kittens were just starting to eat cat food, so they are doing well, but they are VERY affectionate and cuddly.  They follow us everywhere, begging for a little love.  Between the six new kittens, the three now grown kittens from this spring, and Old Mama Cat , we have ten cats running around here!  We're trying to give them away, so if you want a super cute, loving kitty, you know where to find one!





I just happened to look out our front window one afternoon to find three of the kittens had stuffed themselves in Sarah's play cooking pot.  Adorable.  I think they were trying to keep warm and protected from the harsh winds we were having that day.



First Haircut



Sarah Rose's hair had never been trimmed and she never lost her hair as a baby either, so the the tips of her long, beautiful two-and-a-half-year old blond hair was getting pretty scraggly.  It was getting tougher and tougher to keep knots out of the ends, so I finally relented and trimmed just the tips.  She hated it and I had to fight her the whole way.  She'd only happy in this picture because I backed away to take a shot and she thought she'd won the argument!  Anyway, the tips are trimmed and combing is much faster and easier now!

  New Bush



About three years ago, my old lilac bush had to be sacrificed to make improvements on the yard.  (Which was okay, because it was old and not too attractive anymore.)  So, at the end of every growing season when the garden centers are putting things on super sales, I've always kept my eye open for a deal on lilacs to replace the old one that is no longer.  This year, I found one!  Its planted outside my kitchen window so that when its in full bloom I'll have a lovely view.  I took this picture because one day, when we find this picture hidden way down deep in a stack of long forgotten photos, I can have a teary mother moment of remembering when the bush and the kids were little!





There's my helper with the shovel!