Patience, Jordan style

I try very hard to limit this blog to things about Kenzie and Mason. But, I diverge for a minute to talk about Jordan. This must be one of the most tolerant dogs on the planet. She wants to play with the kitties so bad, but then doesn't know what to do when they want to play back. So, she usually just sits and lets them play with her tail, jump on her, or whatever. If you watch her face, she has an expression of such tolerance, as if to say, "I just need to sit here they'll eventually get bored and move onto something else." They even eat her food, and she just watches them. Sometimes she'll let out a little whimper, as it to say, "come on, people, can't a dog have a little dignity around here?"

Sunday stories

First we have a nature story with a sad ending:



Then we have a highly acted non-fiction short flick:

Preloween

We're getting our money out of our Halloween costumes (especially because Kenzie's is the same as last year). In addition to wearing Spiderman or the Purple Princess outfits on, say, a random Wednesday in September, we've already had a few official occasions to dress up.

Last night we went to Issaquah's community center with about a million other costume-clad little kids. Since Mason's costume is from Costco, there were about ten other matching Spidermen. Not easy to keep track of one red and blue puffed up three year old in a sea of them. Five year old princesses were no less common. Several of Kenzie school buddies were there, so she left us in her dust as she ran throughout the hall with her friends. Yes, she is officially a schoolgirl now.

Tonight we stopped by a party at Donald and Michelle's. The kids bobbed for apples, and ate orange cupcakes (can you tell?). (Chirpie was dressed as a pumpkin. I think this is a good idea as neither kid has tried to dress up a kitten. Yet.) Kenzie spiced up the costumes a bit tonight. She wore spider rings and a bat headband, so she was a scary purple princess.

To the right Mason demonstrates that when he dresses for Spiderman, he really dresses for Spiderman...he insists on his Spiderman drawers.

And, speaking of bobbing for apples...

Writer of the Month

Kenzie won the award at her school today for "Writer of the Month." We got to see the prized journal that earned her the title. It's a very cute, colorful book that contains drawings of Chirpie, herself, her friends and a watermelon. I'll post pictures when it comes home.
Since she doesn't usually go to school on Wednesdays, she received a special invitation from her teacher to the all-school (except PM kindergarten) assembly. She walked in front of all the other kids to the stage where she was presented a certificate and a pencil from her principal. We sat in the back with videotape rolling and camera flashing. She's shown here with her teacher standing in front of the wall where the journal was posted.

Kenzie's babies

So far Kenzie has really stepped up to the challenge of taking care of the kitties. She changes their litter box without being asked, keeps their water dish fresh, and makes sure they always have food. When they wake her up in the night she pets them until they fall back asleep. (She demonstrates to me by stroking Izzie behind the ear.) Chirpie, however, has not fallen into second position. I snuck into her room and took this picture. Look carefully and you'll see that Chirpie is tucked tight in her arms.

Sounds heard from our house today

First thing this morning I snuck into Kenzie's room with the camera, expecting to get a cute shot of her snuggled in with George and Izzie. Instead she was sprawled out on the bed and the cats were nowhere to be found. Pretty soon I heard a timid little "meow" coming from the locked cat crate. Kenzie woke up and I said, "did you lock them in?" "Yes, they wouldn't go to sleep, so I put them in there, petted them until they went to sleep, and then locked the door." Wonder what time of o-dark-hour that was.

She carried Izzie around pretty much the entire day. As the day progressed, George gained more favor with her too. By nap time (in which only the kittens slept), they all three were best buds. Here are the sound-bites from our household today:

~ Where's George?

~ Mom, aren't they cute? Come look.

~ Please don't pick the kitty up by one leg.

~ Kitties don't like to be spun in circles.

~ Mom, aren't they cute? Come look.

~ Is George under the couch again?

~ Yes, Izzie is Dizzy.

~ What do we do when the kitty cries? That's right, we put it down.

~ Mase, the kitties can't go on your bed because you don't have a bed.

~ Wait...that doesn't mean that we get to pick it right up again.

~ Kittens don't like to eat pumpkin seeds. But, evidently they do like caramel apples.

~ Can we get block the entrance to the bottom of the couch?

~ If those kitties keep you awake, they won't be sleeping with you.

~ Mom, aren't they cute? Come look.

~ Did he really find a hole big enough to get back under the couch?

~ Zeke is mad.

~ Izzie, don't eat Jordan's food. Uh oh. Jordan, be nice to the kitty.

~ Izzie thinks Jordan is her mommy.

~ Mom, aren't they cute? Come look.

~ Kenzie, you need to love George just as much as Izzie.

~ Mason, no, you can't take the kitties into your room.

~ Mom, these kitties really do love me. Look. They are so sweet. Look Mom, they are so cute.

~ OH NO - Izzie bite George. No, Izzie, No. No bite George!

~ Mom, George is under the couch again.

~ Mason...where are you going with that little kitty?

~ meow

Izzie and George

We have our two new kitties! The leading names are Izzie and George. Izzie for Issaquah and George because we want Grammy to remember he's a boy (since she thinks all cats are girls and all dogs are boys). (Yes, there's the Grey's Anatomy connection too.) Izzie and George look very similar. Izzie has lighter eyebrows and some calico markings on her back and chest. I think George is all gray.

Here's the story on Izzie and George. Somebody dumped four two-week-old kittens in a box labeled "free kittens" and set it beside a five lane highway. Two of the kittens escaped and were run over, the other two were rescued and taken to a clinic. These two, Izzie and George, were bottle fed for several weeks until they were ready for a home. We had put the word out to our friends that we were looking for needy kittens. Since we're suckers for the hard luck case, these mutts fit in to our household. They were both a bit shy at first, but it's obvious that they're very sweet and cuddly. Kenzie took to Izzie right away, and pretty much didn't put her down all night. George was more reserved and wasn't too sure about Mason's energy level, but was very tolerant - and perked up once Mason went to bed.

We let Kenzie sleep with the kitties locked in her room tonight. It's almost 11. I just went up there to check on her. The three of them were wide awake. I forgot how much energy kittens have and how silly they can be. It's fun to watch them pounce on a dot on the carpet or go in circles trying to figure how long their tail has been following. Yes, I think Izzie and George will fit right in. We haven't asked Zeke and Madison for their vote yet, but they're not too happy. We did brief introductions, everyone hissed, then the older cats walked off in disgust. As long as they don't become bullies like they were with Taylor, we'll all get along just fine.

Little artist

Kenzie loves to draw and I love all her details. I'm so impressed with her ability to put pen to paper, drawing things from memory or her imagination. I have this picture hung in my office. It is all of our kitties playing outside on a hill. The rabbit in the upper right corner is really our orange cat, Madison. If you look closely you can see Zeke's gray-on-gray stripes. Oh, and don't miss the "big light" in the upper left.



This is her self portrait. She is holding Chirpie around the neck. Chirpie is dressed in her blue dress, of course. (She alters between that and the mermaid costume.) Kenzie has purple shoes, tied of course. She even matched the toe and heel second-fabric detail of her shoes.

First peek

Here's an early picture of our new kitties that we hope to get tomorrow. Jackie suggested the name of Mr. Pickles for the boy, which we like better than Sponge Bob, but haven't yet convinced Mason. And, we have no ideas except Buttercup for the girl. Now accepting suggestions - help us!!

New kitties?

We may be getting a couple of new kittens. We've been looking for weeks now, talking to the kids about the possibility. We heard that there is a set of 7 week old sad-story siblings, one boy and one girl. Kenzie is still thinking about a name for hers. Mason either wants to name his Zeke (just like our other cat) or Sponge Bob.

The Mitten

Kenzie's reading abilities continue to grow. She is quite fluent and loves to read. Here she reads The Mitten, trying to master all the toughest words.

Alphabet

Think it's time that we start putting a little more energy toward helping Mister master his alphabet. Check out the video below. Although, he has been making progress, mostly from his sister's tutoring. See January and last December.

Ghosts of Halloweens Past

Tractors

This morning Cindy took Kenzie to ballet, so I asked Mason what he wanted to do. He said, "go look for tractors and Honeybuckets." Rather random, but feasible. So, off we went to the Highlands. We found a construction site and watched several dump trucks get filled with dirt. The tractor operator saw us after a while and came over to chat. He explained that the fascination with large machinery is a life-long obsession for boys, but he counseled Mason that there are better jobs out there.

Then in the afternoon we went to a pumpkin patch and, voila, another tractor. How exciting can one day get for a 3 year old boy?

Salmon Days

Aunt Carol, Devan and Jaidyn joined us yesterday for a visit to Issaquah's Salmon Days. The highlights were riding the "train" (that was, as Kenzie pointed out, on wheels and not a "real train"), watching the fish try to jump the ladder and, of course, face painting.

Jordan

Last Thursday Jordan had a really rough day. She could barely get up and got worse as the day progressed. By about 7PM, she couldn't stand at all, wasn't eating, and was barely responding to our voices. We rushed her to the emergency vet, saying our goodbyes on the way. Because she is eleven years old, and has lost > 20 pounds in the last year, we were pretty sure this was the end. But, after some time in the clinic (and a good chunk of change expended), there was no "smoking gun." She had a sore back, so we took her home with some meds, and some wet food (which she loves). She's eating voraciously and is otherwise as healthy as you could hope an eleven year-old dog to be. We still feel there's some underlying issue that caused the weight loss, but for now, we're enjoying her being her old self.

Bzzzzzz.....

Or, as Kenzie said when walked in the door, "he hardly has any hair now!" And you can still see traces of where he did the self-buzz.

Talking to Grandma (in my skivies)