Punt, Pass and Kick

Sadie participated in our All-School Booster Club's Punt, Pass and Kick Contest today. She did a really great job and had fun with her friends. Everyone who participated will receive a medal at an upcoming home football game.

Razbilly

The boys and I just finished a rousing game of Razbilly. The only equipment you need is a bouncy ball--ours was a baseball-sized hard rubber one. T.S. came up with the name and the following rules:

• You have to throw/bounce the ball to the other person--if they catch it, you win.
• You may use certain moves, such as the frog dance to help you catch the ball.
  
  It was very exciting. When I was throwing the ball to T.S. he would quietly repeat, "I hope her wins, I hope her wins." He tried very hard to catch the ball every time because he wanted me to win.
  
  C.W. caught a few balls but mainly served as the cheering section. When someone wins, you cheer very loudly and wildly for them. I'm sure Razbilly will catch on and be the next sensation--probably even an Olympic sport someday.

Future PGA Tour Champs

The boys enjoyed some golf today. They all had a good time, and no one caught a golf club in the head (thankfully and probably amazingly). Notice that the smallest golfer seems to have the longest club. We have some future golf stars right here in our backyard.

What's that sound I hear?

Today is Saturday and the kids and I are tired. After sleeping later than usual, we've done a little laundry and taken care of the animals. That involved cleaning out Wilbur's house and applying more sunscreen on him. Yes, I said sunscreen. Pigs like to lay out in the sun--white ones like Wilbur will sunburn, so you have to apply sunscreen. (I know, crazy, we have clothes for the lambs and sunscreen--SPF 50--for the pig).

The kids were in the computer room and I was in the living room, when all of the sudden I heard giggling and laughing. From my kids? At the same time? I went to investigate and found both of them, in one chair, playing games on the computer and enjoying each other's company. Way cool! They even let me try a few games--the kids are both better at them than me. You can go to Fun Brain for lots of good games for all ages, some of them even educational.

Conversations in the Car

On the way home from the football game tonight, I realized there was a flyer on the windshield. It was about the Halloween carnival. T.S. took it and read it on the way home (in the dark). He announced he was pretty sure it was from Tryce and Kenli and that Kenli was going to let him come to her birthday (her birthday is in July). He also told me that it would be at Halloween. Here is the conversation that followed.
Me: What do you want to be for Halloween?
T.S.: A pirate.
Like you were last year?
Yes, I'm going to wear the mask.
You mean the eye patch?
No, the Batman one.
So you want to be Batman for Halloween?
Yes, a Batman pirate.
long pause
Mom, you need to get me a tiger suit.
A tiger suit?
Yes, you know, like a costume.
Oh, so you want to be a tiger for Halloween?
Yes.
I wonder what he'll end up choosing. Sadie used to decide months in advance and never waiver, not so with T.S. We'll have to put a cut-off date on choosing a costume, after that date he won't be able to change.
As we got out of the car:
Mom, look at all the pretty stars.
Yes, there are a lot tonight.
You know what would be really cool? A shooting star...

The Adventures of Underwear Boy

T.S. still doesn't like to be photographed, but the past few days he has been working on building with his Pop-onz Blocks and allowed me to photograph the structures. I just happened to get him in a few.

I debated titling this Adventures of Underwear Boy or Pajama Boy--he loves to wear his pajamas everyday as long as he can (and who doesn't?). But, on a moment's notice, usually after being fully dressed, he often appears in just his underwear. We've been discussing that next year in Kindergarten, this is not appropriate, we must keep our clothes on at all times. To try to put into words what T.S. does on a daily basis would be futile. Let's just say he comes up with lots of great ideas, has fun most of the time and is generally a hoot.

Kitten Update--we have poop!

So, I finally figured out how/where to rub the kittens to get the desired result. 3 of the 4 have their eyes open. All of them seem to be good. They got to go to town today and hang out at mom's so I could feed them between our activities and not have to drive back home. They were in the box in the car when we were eating lunch at The Golden Spur (our local--and only--eatery). T.S. and I were a little surprised to only find 3 when we came out to leave. Because the box was tilted, one crawled out and made it all of the way over the back seat. Thankfully we found her. All in all I'd say they are doing well. As T.S. says every time they eat, "They're gonna live!" (we hope)

Petunia

We've mentioned Petunia a few times so I thought I'd show everyone a picture. She is a really good dog that is growing older and has lately had a little arthritis and seems to be a little hard of hearing. The kids call her Tunia or Tuna. She isn't well trained but we love her. Here are a few things for which we have come to depend on her:

• snake killer
  
• kid protector--she's always gone in front of the kids and checked out bushes, etc.
  
• guard dog--she usually doesn't let strangers in the yard
  
• hunter--we've found everything from pheasants, rabbits, rats and chickens in the yard--she loves to make sure you see what she killed

I decided that I needed to get a few pictures of her before it is too late. Every time I think she's about done she surprises me by running and playing with us. Hopefully she'll be around for a long time to come. She wasn't very fond of the camera. The one of her laying down is beside the air conditioner--one of her favorite spots. She loves to lay there and survey what's happening around her and bark at the occasional rabbit or nothing at all.

Chicken Update

This is T.S. in the chicken pen with the eggs he collected. The next pictures are of the "baby" chickens. We're also including one of the older ones--that's one of the Leghorn hens and a Cochin Bantam rooster.

Wilbur

Meet Wilbur--Sadie bought him today. He seems to have a bit of a personality. Hopefully he'll turn out to be "some pig."