Since Mason was very little Jonny would be getting ready for work and ask him if he would be the man of the house while he was at work. Mason would eagerly agree and send daddy on his way. It's been a cute little moment between them for some time now. As was Mason telling daddy to go to work and make money, lol He started that when he was 20 months or so and then it was "go work, make money" :)
Tonight was no different. The boys huddled up on the couch, Jonny with a bowl of cereal and Mason with his DS and the usual you be the man of the house spiel. I got in on the conversation this time and asked Mason will you be taking to garbage out tonight? scooping the poop in the back yard? and the list went on a little. He hesitantly said yes with a little smirk on his face.
Now these are not necessairly duties that are soley Jonny's but more like duties that I do not enjoy and he will pick up the slack on so I have to do them as infrequently as possible. Thank you dear!!!
After dropping Jonny off at work I tell the kids on the ride home that when we get home it's bath's, jammies and hopefully we'll put the laundry away (it's been sitting in my room in baskets for almost a week now and daily dumped on the bed to search for the clothes we need and then later that night when there just wasn't time enough to do it, it went back into baskets and waited till the next day) and then if everyone is behaving we'll have a story and then bed.
After we were all in the house I reminded Mason to close the door, make sure it was locked and to close the blinds. He did with a proud little smile. I then asked him to let the dogs out back (something that the kids are asked often to do) and he asked if he needed to go out and pick up pooh. lol no honey. But let them back in and make sure you lock the door:) To which he grumbled, do I have to do everything, is that was the man does? Oh honey you're filling the role perfectly! lol
Mason and Connor had a bath together and I was getting discouraged because Connor was crying, I could only find pj bottoms for him and Mason was throwing cup full's of water up in the air in the bathroom. Abby was holding a mirror unstably (I swear she would have dropped it if I didn't step in) Madelyn was brushing her teeth, kinda not really and I was trying to talk with my mom on the phone. It was a mad house! No one was cooperating with anything they were asked or were supposed to be doing. Sorry mom I'll try to talk to you later.
Mason out of the bath, Connor crying because I'm not holding him, gasp! Mason not in a stitch of clothing, please find something to put on! The girls being not so cooperative in the bath. And then in one instant, Mason was dressed, Mason please go and play with your brother for a min. Get the girls washed up and let them have some play time in the bath. Let the baby out of his dungeon (crib) and tackle the laundry heaped on my bed. And who was so helpful doing that? You guessed it, Mason! If Connor hadn't found a ball of yarn to occupy himself I'm sure he would have been eager to get in on the laundry fun also.
Mason helped match socks and fold clothes and sort them into their baskets (each kid get's their own and put's it away). When all the clothes were sorted Mason was a wee bit disapointed that there was no more laundry and asked a few times if I was sure there was no more. Aw honey I'm sorry I will wash more tomorrow and we can do this all over again. I asked him to carry his and his sister's baskets to their respective rooms, he's very proud of himself being able to carry laundry baskets on his own now. Bless his little muscles I get that boy to help bring them down to the laundry room and upstairs again, truly a blessing for a woman who can do a couple loads a day and still rarely catch up. He then put his clothes away and went room to room picking up dirty clothes and filling, or over filling a basket with my promise to wash them the next day.
I was so proud of my little man and all his help this evening. I truly could not have done it without him. In all honestly we probably would still have been in a chaotic state had he not helped me. I love that little man!
We read a story, that he reread to his baby brother when I realized that I hadn't brushed hair after the baths. Oh my.
So all in all I could not have accomplished baithing 4 kids, brushing everyone's teeth (except Connor's 6 little one's, his tooth brush has walked away!), hair, laundry not only sorted but put away and read a story and enjoyed it! Connor even put down what he was busy with when I started to read and crawled up into the bed with us and for the most part cooperated instead of trying to eat the book like he does! lol
All of that is pretty tough to accomplish when I have Jonny working along with me. Mason will definitely have his fav school lunch tomorrow, french toast fingers' with sausage and maple syrup for dipping. Anything for the Man of the house!
Friday, 13 April 2012
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
One of the sweetest moments of the day
It's been a long day, started out with some less than exciting discovery and continued on into a nice pleasant day with a tired and somewhat frustrating evening. Definitely not my worst day but it's up there among the tyring one's.
After the kids were all in bed and sure that they were sleeping I made myself a bath. I'm proud to say that it was a big girl bath. For me a big girl bath consists of bubbles that do not smell like bubble gum or some other fruity smell that kids bubble bath smells like. There just happened to be a sale when I was at the drug store one day on this floating (kinda always assumed bubbles floated anyway...) bubble bath that had a lovely calming floral smell to it. ah bliss
So bath, big girl bubbles, a mug of hot chocolate (diet of course and yes I do have diet hot chocolate, it's one of my fav's!) and a good book. A real book, different for me seeing as I've been reading on my kobo since this last November. I would never dare to take my kobo in the bath with me! I'd drop it and ruin it, no doubt.
I have been spoiled by the features I would have never guess I'd become dependant on. I never would have thought that turning a page as opposed to tapping the screen with minimal effort would have ever mattered to me. Yes kobo you have changed how I read now. I also found myself in a few instances resisting the look up a word with the dictionary feature. I seriously can't believe how many times I stopped myself from doing that! I love to look up a word to either learn the definition of it as opposed to assuming what the word means, or to just reassure myself that I knew the definition to that word. But anyway...... long story short it's strange reading an actual book compared to my little touch screen kobo.
ANYWAY, on to what inspired me to start writing this after 11 on a school night (gasp!).
I check on my children sleeping in their beds. OH MY WORD! I'm fairly certain there is not a parent in the world who can look at their sleeping child and not feel some sense of happiness. I look at their sweet sleeping faces, mouths open wide and breathing softly and think I cannot believe you were the same child who drove me crazy just a few hours ago! They look so perfect and peaceful sleeping away.
This moment of checking in on my crazy crew late at night before I get to bed is one of the sweetest moments of the day. All of the craziness that goes on when we're rushing to get out the door in time for the school bus (I don't know if we will ever get to the bus without one mishap. So far no amount of prep or early early mornings seem to help solve that). Then there's the fussing, whining, demands of the little one's who are not in school yet and testing you often. The moment when you have to wake said little one's from their naps to get the older one's from the bus, the homework chaos, one loves it, one detests it, one wants to get in on it with her older sibs and one who'd happily crumple everyone's homework, that's how he makes it special, lol Then there's some more time outs and spats while I'm trying to make dinner while a fussy baby, who is sick and just wants mommy, cries at the baby gate at the kitchen door. Phew, dinner is done, forget bath's tonight it's soo not going to happen! PJ's, brush your teeth, I already did, ok do it again, ok, cause you know she didn't actually brush her teeth. It's bed time, I don't want to go to bed, I'm thirsty, I'm hungry, I want, I need....... wait for it, wait for it...........ah they're all asleep.
Now at this moment I can't truly appreciate all the little hugs and I love you mommy's from the day because for some reason it's so much easier to let the craziness of the day to take over the sweet peaceful moments. Playing nicely, reading stories to the little one's, doing what they were asked the first time (this does happen and I loooove when it does!)
But when they are all tucked into their beds and I've had some mommy chill time I can absolutely enjoy the little moments in the day that have been over looked. Yes you were a doll and emptied yours and your brother's backpacks, thank you for your helpful consideration. Yes you were very nice to cuddle and calm your sister down when she was upset, thank you for your loving compassion. Yes you forgave your baby brother when he pulled your hair, again, thank you for your understanding and forgiveness. Yes you melted my heart when you crawled across the floor, pulled yourself up at my legs and gave me the biggest little toothy smile, thank you for your endless love.
All the crazy moments of the day are long forgotten and only the lovely moments we shared today linger as I stand over their beds with a goofy smile on my face thinking how amazing they each are. I am truly blessed to have the 4 children I have that are special and unique in their own ways.
Thank you Lord for trusting them to me.
After the kids were all in bed and sure that they were sleeping I made myself a bath. I'm proud to say that it was a big girl bath. For me a big girl bath consists of bubbles that do not smell like bubble gum or some other fruity smell that kids bubble bath smells like. There just happened to be a sale when I was at the drug store one day on this floating (kinda always assumed bubbles floated anyway...) bubble bath that had a lovely calming floral smell to it. ah bliss
So bath, big girl bubbles, a mug of hot chocolate (diet of course and yes I do have diet hot chocolate, it's one of my fav's!) and a good book. A real book, different for me seeing as I've been reading on my kobo since this last November. I would never dare to take my kobo in the bath with me! I'd drop it and ruin it, no doubt.
I have been spoiled by the features I would have never guess I'd become dependant on. I never would have thought that turning a page as opposed to tapping the screen with minimal effort would have ever mattered to me. Yes kobo you have changed how I read now. I also found myself in a few instances resisting the look up a word with the dictionary feature. I seriously can't believe how many times I stopped myself from doing that! I love to look up a word to either learn the definition of it as opposed to assuming what the word means, or to just reassure myself that I knew the definition to that word. But anyway...... long story short it's strange reading an actual book compared to my little touch screen kobo.
ANYWAY, on to what inspired me to start writing this after 11 on a school night (gasp!).
I check on my children sleeping in their beds. OH MY WORD! I'm fairly certain there is not a parent in the world who can look at their sleeping child and not feel some sense of happiness. I look at their sweet sleeping faces, mouths open wide and breathing softly and think I cannot believe you were the same child who drove me crazy just a few hours ago! They look so perfect and peaceful sleeping away.
This moment of checking in on my crazy crew late at night before I get to bed is one of the sweetest moments of the day. All of the craziness that goes on when we're rushing to get out the door in time for the school bus (I don't know if we will ever get to the bus without one mishap. So far no amount of prep or early early mornings seem to help solve that). Then there's the fussing, whining, demands of the little one's who are not in school yet and testing you often. The moment when you have to wake said little one's from their naps to get the older one's from the bus, the homework chaos, one loves it, one detests it, one wants to get in on it with her older sibs and one who'd happily crumple everyone's homework, that's how he makes it special, lol Then there's some more time outs and spats while I'm trying to make dinner while a fussy baby, who is sick and just wants mommy, cries at the baby gate at the kitchen door. Phew, dinner is done, forget bath's tonight it's soo not going to happen! PJ's, brush your teeth, I already did, ok do it again, ok, cause you know she didn't actually brush her teeth. It's bed time, I don't want to go to bed, I'm thirsty, I'm hungry, I want, I need....... wait for it, wait for it...........ah they're all asleep.
Now at this moment I can't truly appreciate all the little hugs and I love you mommy's from the day because for some reason it's so much easier to let the craziness of the day to take over the sweet peaceful moments. Playing nicely, reading stories to the little one's, doing what they were asked the first time (this does happen and I loooove when it does!)
But when they are all tucked into their beds and I've had some mommy chill time I can absolutely enjoy the little moments in the day that have been over looked. Yes you were a doll and emptied yours and your brother's backpacks, thank you for your helpful consideration. Yes you were very nice to cuddle and calm your sister down when she was upset, thank you for your loving compassion. Yes you forgave your baby brother when he pulled your hair, again, thank you for your understanding and forgiveness. Yes you melted my heart when you crawled across the floor, pulled yourself up at my legs and gave me the biggest little toothy smile, thank you for your endless love.
All the crazy moments of the day are long forgotten and only the lovely moments we shared today linger as I stand over their beds with a goofy smile on my face thinking how amazing they each are. I am truly blessed to have the 4 children I have that are special and unique in their own ways.
Thank you Lord for trusting them to me.
Thursday, 9 February 2012
That junk drawer is no good I can't shove stuff in it!
I have looked at the ones you can buy in the stores but in my opinion they waste space and I'd like to take advantage of every inch because we have a lot of junk. Anyway my beef with drawer organisers is that they either don't fit, too big, too small. Or too shallow. In a deep drawer it makes absolutely no sense to me to use a divider that will either have things spilling over or not using up all of that deep space! And last but not least I do not want to pay for something that I am capable of doing myself.
My materials were empty boxes I've saved from the recycling bin because I thought they might work. Scissors and a pen. Simple.
I put the boxes in the drawer and traced the line of the top of the drawer and then cut along the line. Assembled the boxes in the drawer and then filled them with our junk drawer junk.
Now I have some nice deep dividers that house their own individual supplies and I'm happy. I proudly show Jonny what I've done and he's not so impressed. I ask him if he likes it because he's not offering any input on what's happened to the drawer. Apparently he won't be able to just open the drawer and stuff whatever in there.
Alright so we're not on the same page as to the function of a junk drawer. He would like an bottomless drawer to house all the things he can't bring himself to throw away that magically has more space each time he put's something in it. I would like a neat and orderly little spot for things that don't necessarily have another home.
I did this last week and he's not messed with it so that's a good sign. He even asked me where something was and I told him it's in it's spot in the junk drawer. Usually he'd just open the drawer take a peek and claim he looked but couldn't find it. But guess what?! He found it! This is working out even better than I had hoped!
The finished product. I am not completely satisfied with this solution I have come up with so I will continue to work on it, tweak it. But for now it is doing what it's supposed to do and I've not spent a penny on it.
This is what it looks like after being put to use for a little while. I took this pic last night before finishing this post and it's still working for me! YAY!!!
I so want to do the kids bathroom drawer now too. All in good time, that is when I find the time!
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Adopting Kittens
The kids had been asking for about a year if we could get a cat. While things were a little crazy at home with a baby (Madelyn) and having a dog. I was a little leary about getting another animal. But when we dug up the ivy that was taking over the back yard I started to see little mice running around the yard and not wanting them to make their way into my house I thought ok let's explore this kitty thing!
A friend of mine told me the pet store by her house has rescue cat's for adoption. OK great. We went and they had 2 litters. The lady in the store informed us that getting 2 kittens, if there were no other cat's in the house, would be ideal as they would have a playmate to keep them busy and not get into as much trouble. Sure sure, it's true but I think it was also a great way to scam us into getting two! So we filled out the adoption papers, waited and visited the store often to see the kittens. The girls working in the store assured us that they were holding the two we picked for us and would let them come home with us as soon as the lady who ran the adoption agency approved us. Based on previous adoptions they had supervised they had no reason to think the lady wouldn't approve us. Everything looked great and we even signed the, will not declaw agreement that most people didn't sign. The kids had named the kittens Rocket and Annie. They were so sweet and the kids were super excited, we even took Samali with us several times to meet her new little friends.
Then we got the call from the lady from the agency. We were not approved. I seriously thought I would cry. We had been visiting these cat's for a week and a half while waiting for this lady to get back from another rescue she had been busy with. When I asked her why she would not adopt to us she said because we had kids. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! The girls in the store told us she was one of the few private agencies who adopted to families with kids and even they were surprised. She explained to me that kids didn't know how to treat animals. Now I don't know what kind of kids influenced her in this way but I was determined to convince her that my kids were fine with the kittens. I convinced her to meet with us at the store to observe how the kids were with them. As the day approached I told the kids that the lady probably wouldn't let us have the kittens. They were so upset. I called her and told her that we were no longer interested. I didn't care that she had made a mistake and didn't care to convince her otherwise. I didn't want my kids to be crushed by this woman face to face who already had her mind made up about kids and pets.
So our search continued. Again we checked at the SPCA and they only had adult cats that came with the recommendation of a quiet home with no other pet's or children. For cryin' out loud! So I searched on kijiji in the pet adoption section. There was a charming pic of two brother kittens from a farm. The lady who had several kittens listed wished that these two go together as they seemed so attached to each other. Seeing as we had already been convinced of getting two anyway I went to meet them. We did not tell the kids about them, trying to avoid little broken hearts in case it didn't work out.
When they woke in the morning me and Jonny introduced them to two orange tabby kittens. They were so excited! That day we thought of names for them. Both kids wanted to name them Annie and Rocket still but that didn't seem right to me, especially being that they were both boys. Now if you hadn't already picked up on it Annie and Rocket are characters' from Little Einsteins. Mason quickly chose Leo, also from Little Einsteins. Abby took a little longer before she settled on Moses.
So there we were, Samali, Moses and Leo. They all got along well and it was not too long after before the kittens started to work out who was the alpha male in the house. Leo took that role on and Samali and Moses quickly obeyed.
This next bit is sad and I'm crying right now just knowing what I'm going to write.
The kittens were five months old and it was thanksgiving weekend. Me and Jonny were going away for 2 nights for the first time since we had Mason, it was looong over due. We scattered our 3 kids. Mason and Samali went with my father in law for the weekend. Abigail went with my parent's and Madelyn went with my sister and her husband. My parent's had gone to check on the kittens who we had left plenty of food and water for, and you have to understand the huge amount of guilt I felt and kinda still do and that my mom felt being that she was the one who had checked on them. So we left Friday afternoon and coming home on Sunday we stopped to get Samali and Mason and headed to my parent's for dinner. From there Jonny went to work for night shift and I headed home with the kids and Samali. When I walked in the door and first saw Leo I knew instantly that something was VERY wrong with him.
He looked like he was deflated. His fleshy hip part was sunk in, his chest would sink in with every breath, his face was grey and he would open his mouth as if to meow and there would be no sound. I called my parent's and asked them to come over. One to stay with the kids and one to come with me to the vet. I wrapped Leo in a towel, he was shivering and smelled of urine. Thankfully my vet is open 24/7 and they could take him immediately. My mom drove while I held our dying kitten.
When we got there they took an x-ray of his chest to see why his breathing was so laboured. His chest cavity was filling with fluid and crushing his lungs. He had FIP Feline Infectious Peritonitis and there was nothing they could do. They told me that they could operate and release the fluid but he was so sick that just prepping him for the surgery would kill him. They suggested that it would be best for him to be put to sleep. I didn't want to be the one to make this decision alone so I called Jonny at work at midnight. I stood in the reception area of the vet sobbing my eyes out explaining to him what was going on and what they recommended doing. Now as irrational as it was I was upset with Jonny for agreeing that we should put him down.
So I went back into the room, held and stroked that poor little kitten who was in so much pain just from trying to breath and was basically suffocating trying. And I watched him slip away after they gave him the needle. He went limp in my hands and I just sat there sobbing and thinking how am I going to explain to my 3 and 4 year old that Leo was dead.
On the drive home my mom tried to comfort me and I stopped crying briefly. I did not sleep that night. I was so lost as to what to tell the kids about Leo. They were familiar with The Rainbow Bridge Poem from when my father in laws dog passed away. I don't believe that animals go to heaven so I knew I could not tell my kids that they would see them in heaven but I felt I could tell them that when they do go to heaven they will go over the rainbow bridge and get to see them one more time.
I also wrote them a letter from Leo. In the letter Leo tells them that he was sick but feeling much better now that he was on the rainbow bridge with Papa's dog. How he wished that they not cry too much for him because they still have Moses and Samali to take care of and love. How he loved his time with them and how kind they were to him and how he loved playing with them.
Honestly it really sucked! I was all cried out and must have scared them because I looked like crap after a night of crying and not sleeping. We cried together and Abby asked questions and Mason was very quiet. Madelyn obviously had no idea what was happening, being that she was just a baby, so she was all smiles and giggles that day which upset Mason. He was upset that his sister could laugh and clap her hands when his kitten had just died. How was he to know that a baby couldn't understand?
Shortly after that Moses, who was intended to be an indoor cat, started escaping the house. The first time this happened it really scared us. But he came home and was fine. He was still a kitten and with the loss of his brother still a fresh wound for us it worried us while he was gone for a day or so at a time. After a year of this and a trip to the vet for a bite Moses got on one of his excursions. The picture to the right is when he got the bite on his tail and needed antibiotics for it and had to wear a cone for 2 weeks. After that the vet suggested that he might be looking for his brother. I'm not kidding when I say these kittens were close. They did everything, it seemed, together. The vet also suggested getting another cat.
I had researched FIP and knew that one cat could potentially be a carrier and cause a new cat to die of FIP. Did we want to chance this or pay the big $$$$ for a test? After finding out how much it would cost and the fact that he got out so much and none of the neighbourhood cat's seemed to be ill we found another kitten. Again from kijiji. We went one evening to get our new kitten.
Mason named him Pretzel and him and Moses became fast friends. They played together and slept together and, grossing us all out, baithed eachother. Maybe they're a little too close!
Pretzel took a little while to warm up to Samali completely. She would sniff him and he would swat at her and send her running back to her bed, poor timid thing. But after a year or so of this they started playing together one day and have now accepted eachother. Or I should say Pretzel is now accepting of Samali.
We still talk about Leo and the fond memories we have of him. But Pretzel has made himself a part of our family and wouldn't you know it, he's the alpha male. Yes our 17lb cat Moses, the vet says he's a big boy, he's thick and she wonders if he may have mancoon in his family line. We have no way of knowing as he was a barn cat, all I know is his mom was bitty, so yes this 17lb beast of a cat is submissive to the little 7lb, full grown mind you, younger cat.
As far as Sequin is concerned I'm sure both cat's would have gone on just fine without her. Moses is hot and cold with her. He will be fine with her one moment, even playing with her, but the next moment he will wack her. She comes right back to him though and he kinda surrenders to her and let's her sniff him. Pretzel is not as open to Sequin. He hisses and does that deep growl when he see's her. She ofcourse thinks this means let's play and charges Pretzel. It's funny though because he will watch her and when she's sleeping he will sneak up and sniff her. I'll find him sleeping in the same spot Sequin recently vacated. At first I thought it was cute, like he wanted to be near her without actually being near her, but now I think he's trying to cover her scent with his own as if that will erase her and the scent she has. I don't know but we'll figure this out as we go. It took Pretzel a while to warm up to Samali so I imagine it will be the same with Sequin.
And that is the happy/sad story of how we came to have our cats.
A friend of mine told me the pet store by her house has rescue cat's for adoption. OK great. We went and they had 2 litters. The lady in the store informed us that getting 2 kittens, if there were no other cat's in the house, would be ideal as they would have a playmate to keep them busy and not get into as much trouble. Sure sure, it's true but I think it was also a great way to scam us into getting two! So we filled out the adoption papers, waited and visited the store often to see the kittens. The girls working in the store assured us that they were holding the two we picked for us and would let them come home with us as soon as the lady who ran the adoption agency approved us. Based on previous adoptions they had supervised they had no reason to think the lady wouldn't approve us. Everything looked great and we even signed the, will not declaw agreement that most people didn't sign. The kids had named the kittens Rocket and Annie. They were so sweet and the kids were super excited, we even took Samali with us several times to meet her new little friends.
Then we got the call from the lady from the agency. We were not approved. I seriously thought I would cry. We had been visiting these cat's for a week and a half while waiting for this lady to get back from another rescue she had been busy with. When I asked her why she would not adopt to us she said because we had kids. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! The girls in the store told us she was one of the few private agencies who adopted to families with kids and even they were surprised. She explained to me that kids didn't know how to treat animals. Now I don't know what kind of kids influenced her in this way but I was determined to convince her that my kids were fine with the kittens. I convinced her to meet with us at the store to observe how the kids were with them. As the day approached I told the kids that the lady probably wouldn't let us have the kittens. They were so upset. I called her and told her that we were no longer interested. I didn't care that she had made a mistake and didn't care to convince her otherwise. I didn't want my kids to be crushed by this woman face to face who already had her mind made up about kids and pets.
So our search continued. Again we checked at the SPCA and they only had adult cats that came with the recommendation of a quiet home with no other pet's or children. For cryin' out loud! So I searched on kijiji in the pet adoption section. There was a charming pic of two brother kittens from a farm. The lady who had several kittens listed wished that these two go together as they seemed so attached to each other. Seeing as we had already been convinced of getting two anyway I went to meet them. We did not tell the kids about them, trying to avoid little broken hearts in case it didn't work out.
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| Notice how aggressive my kids are with the kittens I'm still a little upset about that. |
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| They had their own dish but prefered Samalis. |
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| I believe Leo is the one sitting and Moses is laying down. They were never too far from eachother. |
This next bit is sad and I'm crying right now just knowing what I'm going to write.
The kittens were five months old and it was thanksgiving weekend. Me and Jonny were going away for 2 nights for the first time since we had Mason, it was looong over due. We scattered our 3 kids. Mason and Samali went with my father in law for the weekend. Abigail went with my parent's and Madelyn went with my sister and her husband. My parent's had gone to check on the kittens who we had left plenty of food and water for, and you have to understand the huge amount of guilt I felt and kinda still do and that my mom felt being that she was the one who had checked on them. So we left Friday afternoon and coming home on Sunday we stopped to get Samali and Mason and headed to my parent's for dinner. From there Jonny went to work for night shift and I headed home with the kids and Samali. When I walked in the door and first saw Leo I knew instantly that something was VERY wrong with him.
He looked like he was deflated. His fleshy hip part was sunk in, his chest would sink in with every breath, his face was grey and he would open his mouth as if to meow and there would be no sound. I called my parent's and asked them to come over. One to stay with the kids and one to come with me to the vet. I wrapped Leo in a towel, he was shivering and smelled of urine. Thankfully my vet is open 24/7 and they could take him immediately. My mom drove while I held our dying kitten.
When we got there they took an x-ray of his chest to see why his breathing was so laboured. His chest cavity was filling with fluid and crushing his lungs. He had FIP Feline Infectious Peritonitis and there was nothing they could do. They told me that they could operate and release the fluid but he was so sick that just prepping him for the surgery would kill him. They suggested that it would be best for him to be put to sleep. I didn't want to be the one to make this decision alone so I called Jonny at work at midnight. I stood in the reception area of the vet sobbing my eyes out explaining to him what was going on and what they recommended doing. Now as irrational as it was I was upset with Jonny for agreeing that we should put him down.
So I went back into the room, held and stroked that poor little kitten who was in so much pain just from trying to breath and was basically suffocating trying. And I watched him slip away after they gave him the needle. He went limp in my hands and I just sat there sobbing and thinking how am I going to explain to my 3 and 4 year old that Leo was dead.
On the drive home my mom tried to comfort me and I stopped crying briefly. I did not sleep that night. I was so lost as to what to tell the kids about Leo. They were familiar with The Rainbow Bridge Poem from when my father in laws dog passed away. I don't believe that animals go to heaven so I knew I could not tell my kids that they would see them in heaven but I felt I could tell them that when they do go to heaven they will go over the rainbow bridge and get to see them one more time.
I also wrote them a letter from Leo. In the letter Leo tells them that he was sick but feeling much better now that he was on the rainbow bridge with Papa's dog. How he wished that they not cry too much for him because they still have Moses and Samali to take care of and love. How he loved his time with them and how kind they were to him and how he loved playing with them.
Honestly it really sucked! I was all cried out and must have scared them because I looked like crap after a night of crying and not sleeping. We cried together and Abby asked questions and Mason was very quiet. Madelyn obviously had no idea what was happening, being that she was just a baby, so she was all smiles and giggles that day which upset Mason. He was upset that his sister could laugh and clap her hands when his kitten had just died. How was he to know that a baby couldn't understand?
Pretzel took a little while to warm up to Samali completely. She would sniff him and he would swat at her and send her running back to her bed, poor timid thing. But after a year or so of this they started playing together one day and have now accepted eachother. Or I should say Pretzel is now accepting of Samali.
As far as Sequin is concerned I'm sure both cat's would have gone on just fine without her. Moses is hot and cold with her. He will be fine with her one moment, even playing with her, but the next moment he will wack her. She comes right back to him though and he kinda surrenders to her and let's her sniff him. Pretzel is not as open to Sequin. He hisses and does that deep growl when he see's her. She ofcourse thinks this means let's play and charges Pretzel. It's funny though because he will watch her and when she's sleeping he will sneak up and sniff her. I'll find him sleeping in the same spot Sequin recently vacated. At first I thought it was cute, like he wanted to be near her without actually being near her, but now I think he's trying to cover her scent with his own as if that will erase her and the scent she has. I don't know but we'll figure this out as we go. It took Pretzel a while to warm up to Samali so I imagine it will be the same with Sequin.
And that is the happy/sad story of how we came to have our cats.
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Our Potcake Samali
A few years ago after moving into our new house we decided to get a puppy. We had dog sat our parent's pup for a week and it was great practise to see if we could fit a pup into our lives.
My parent's found their dog on http://www.potcakeplace.com/. We wanted to rescue a pup, we really don't care about what breed a dog is just as long as it would fit with our family. So we started to look. I was so disapointed that there were no potcakes available at that exact moment. We looked at the local SPCA but they didn't have any puppy's. So I did an online search for rescue agencies in the area. I found a few but unfortunately they only had adult dogs that suggested they go to a quiet home without children. Well that just would not work.
I checked back often with potcakeplace and then one day there she was! If you click on the link you can read her story and some of the emails I sent after she came to her forever home. It was pretty crazy! We did the whole adoption process over the internet and then shortly after me and Mason were driving to the Toronto Airport to pick her up. They had given her the name Samali, after the two women who found and rescued her, Sam and Ali. We loved that her name related to her rescue and the beginning of her journey to our family.
She has been a wonderful addition to our family. Very friendly, playful and quietly protective. She may bark occasionally when people come to the door but if she ever perceives real danger from someone then you'll hear a quiet low growl and her fur will stand straight up.
Unfortunately though she is still nervous. We're not sure what happened to her before she was found but she has never been the best with men. It took her a while before she would not pee herself when Jonny was in the room. As long as he was sitting she was fine, if he stood it was a deal breaker, she'd pee and run back to her bed. I'm happy to report she is not so scared she pees herself but she is still pretty jumpy and leary of men she does not know. Jonny and other men that she's been around are fine, once she's been around them often enough.
Now why did we feel she would like to have another dog in the family? On walks she always wants to play with other dogs, she will get down in the crouch mode with her bottom up and wagging for all it's worth waiting for the other dog to engage.
A few years ago, after Mason and Abby had been asking if we could get a cat we decided to get one. (I'll be blogging about that time in our lives tomorrow) Samali was sooo sweet with the kittens. She would snuggle them and give her bed up to them when they would push her out. It wasn't log after that we got another little bed and put it beside hers so that she could keep her bed and the kittens could have their own. Yeah they still kicked her out of her bed and she would curl herself up into a little ball and sleep in the cat bed. They had their own little water dish but they preferred to drink from Samalis. Oh my, these cat's were taking over the house and Samali happily obliged. It was fun to watch her play with the cat's.
Seeing this and how she interacted with other dogs either on a walk or at the dog park we decided that she could use a puppy friend. At first I was a little disapointed that they didn't "play" together. I thought for sure they would have! But they just needed some time to adjust to each other. I guess seeing as Sequin was living in our house with us that Samali needed some time to adjust to that before she would play with her. Today they were playing together and it was so much fun to watch them together. I can't wait till Sequin is well trained enough that I can let her run loose with Samali and just watch them play. Samali will smoke her with running though. Samali is bigger than Sequin and she is soooo fast. We wonder if she has some whippet in her or something. She kinda has the body of one and people often ask if she does. But man can she run! It's a good thing that she listens when her name is called because there is no way I could ever catch her!
Check back tomorrow and I'll take you through the pain and joy we went through finding our cats.
My parent's found their dog on http://www.potcakeplace.com/. We wanted to rescue a pup, we really don't care about what breed a dog is just as long as it would fit with our family. So we started to look. I was so disapointed that there were no potcakes available at that exact moment. We looked at the local SPCA but they didn't have any puppy's. So I did an online search for rescue agencies in the area. I found a few but unfortunately they only had adult dogs that suggested they go to a quiet home without children. Well that just would not work.
I checked back often with potcakeplace and then one day there she was! If you click on the link you can read her story and some of the emails I sent after she came to her forever home. It was pretty crazy! We did the whole adoption process over the internet and then shortly after me and Mason were driving to the Toronto Airport to pick her up. They had given her the name Samali, after the two women who found and rescued her, Sam and Ali. We loved that her name related to her rescue and the beginning of her journey to our family.
She has been a wonderful addition to our family. Very friendly, playful and quietly protective. She may bark occasionally when people come to the door but if she ever perceives real danger from someone then you'll hear a quiet low growl and her fur will stand straight up.
Unfortunately though she is still nervous. We're not sure what happened to her before she was found but she has never been the best with men. It took her a while before she would not pee herself when Jonny was in the room. As long as he was sitting she was fine, if he stood it was a deal breaker, she'd pee and run back to her bed. I'm happy to report she is not so scared she pees herself but she is still pretty jumpy and leary of men she does not know. Jonny and other men that she's been around are fine, once she's been around them often enough.
 |
| This is the dog zone, beds, toys, food and water |
A few years ago, after Mason and Abby had been asking if we could get a cat we decided to get one. (I'll be blogging about that time in our lives tomorrow) Samali was sooo sweet with the kittens. She would snuggle them and give her bed up to them when they would push her out. It wasn't log after that we got another little bed and put it beside hers so that she could keep her bed and the kittens could have their own. Yeah they still kicked her out of her bed and she would curl herself up into a little ball and sleep in the cat bed. They had their own little water dish but they preferred to drink from Samalis. Oh my, these cat's were taking over the house and Samali happily obliged. It was fun to watch her play with the cat's.
 |
| Moses is in the purple collar and Leo is in the red collar |
Seeing this and how she interacted with other dogs either on a walk or at the dog park we decided that she could use a puppy friend. At first I was a little disapointed that they didn't "play" together. I thought for sure they would have! But they just needed some time to adjust to each other. I guess seeing as Sequin was living in our house with us that Samali needed some time to adjust to that before she would play with her. Today they were playing together and it was so much fun to watch them together. I can't wait till Sequin is well trained enough that I can let her run loose with Samali and just watch them play. Samali will smoke her with running though. Samali is bigger than Sequin and she is soooo fast. We wonder if she has some whippet in her or something. She kinda has the body of one and people often ask if she does. But man can she run! It's a good thing that she listens when her name is called because there is no way I could ever catch her!
 |
| Being black she is sometimes hard to find in pics. |
Check back tomorrow and I'll take you through the pain and joy we went through finding our cats.
Monday, 6 February 2012
We got a new puppy!
So me and Jonny had been talking for some time about getting another dog. We have one, Samali, and we thought she would love a play mate.
I was at the OEYC with the kids and in a casual conversation I was talking about a dog I knew of that might be needing a home. One of the ladies who works there said she knew of a dog that needed a home and did I want to see it? At first I kinda panicked. Wait I'm not 100% sure I really want another dog. We heard this little puppy's story. She was adopted by a girl who moved here from China. She unfortunately is not able to keep her because she was going back to China for a long visit and could not take the dog with her or find anyone here to watch her for the long time she'd be away. So she needed a new home.
I told Jonny about the dog and he was all for it. I called our vet to check what our yearly vaccinations would now cost with another animal, to make sure that this was something that we could actually afford to do. It was and all things were a go, we had made arrangements to go and meet her and I was feeling a little anxious. After all this girl could have decided to keep the puppy or give her to someone else. Then I started to question my decision, should we REALLY do this? My anxiety was building. I've been reading a book about anxiety and decided that I need to pray about it and release it to God. If it was meant to be it would be. Phew I felt sooo much better after praying about it and not worrying about it anymore. We would go and meet the puppy and if the meeting went well and the girl wanted to give her to us then we would have a new addition to our family.
Me, Jonny, two of our kids and Samali went to meet this little puppy. She was very timid of us at first. Once we left her old owner she attached herself to me. She tried several times to crawl under my feet, problem was I was driving. Jonny scooped her up and snuggled her. Samali and her sniffed noses and things settled down.
Mason and Abby we're a little shocked when we met them at the bus after school with our 2 dogs. They had no idea, it was awesome! Madelyn and Jonny had been talking about calling her Sequin. If you have little girls and have ever seen Barbie Fashion Fairytale you might be familiar with Barbies pet poodle Sequin. Mason was very upset that this was what we were going to call her. We tried to reassure him that it was a nice name and he could call her Seck or Seckie for short. After talking it through with him he didn't care what we named the dog, he was more worried that Madelyn had not named a pet yet. Oh my! He and Abby named the cat's and me and Jonny settled on Samali. He was upset thinking that Madelyn was left out. I swear sometimes that boy can melt my heart with his sweetness. I told him to go and talk with Madelyn about what she wished to call the dog. Sequin. Alright then she has her name.
Her first night at home we let her loose to get familiar with her new home and the other animals and children in the home. In that first night she growled at Samali when she would come near me. That sent Samali scurrying back to her bed. There's no need to make a skiddish dog even more nervous. Moses who usually sleeps at my feet was chased out of our room numerous times that night. Let me tell you waking up to claws scraping the floor and animals colliding into walls as they chase each other is not fun!
The next day her official welcome to the family this is how we do things started. She did not know or understand us, I'm thinking her previous owner spoke Chinese to her. So she's been wearing a leash around the house. This is to let her know that she's not the boss and helps us correct her behaviour. ex. if we call her and she does not come we will take her leash and repeat the command to her and lead her to where we were when we called her. While we've been teaching Sequin we've really come to appreciate what a good girl Samali is! It's also encouraging because I know that we will get Sequin there too.
She is a joy to have and so far, with the exception of those jealous moments, everyone likes her.
Check back this week for more posts about our new puppy and how the other animals are adjusting to her.
I told Jonny about the dog and he was all for it. I called our vet to check what our yearly vaccinations would now cost with another animal, to make sure that this was something that we could actually afford to do. It was and all things were a go, we had made arrangements to go and meet her and I was feeling a little anxious. After all this girl could have decided to keep the puppy or give her to someone else. Then I started to question my decision, should we REALLY do this? My anxiety was building. I've been reading a book about anxiety and decided that I need to pray about it and release it to God. If it was meant to be it would be. Phew I felt sooo much better after praying about it and not worrying about it anymore. We would go and meet the puppy and if the meeting went well and the girl wanted to give her to us then we would have a new addition to our family.
Me, Jonny, two of our kids and Samali went to meet this little puppy. She was very timid of us at first. Once we left her old owner she attached herself to me. She tried several times to crawl under my feet, problem was I was driving. Jonny scooped her up and snuggled her. Samali and her sniffed noses and things settled down.
Mason and Abby we're a little shocked when we met them at the bus after school with our 2 dogs. They had no idea, it was awesome! Madelyn and Jonny had been talking about calling her Sequin. If you have little girls and have ever seen Barbie Fashion Fairytale you might be familiar with Barbies pet poodle Sequin. Mason was very upset that this was what we were going to call her. We tried to reassure him that it was a nice name and he could call her Seck or Seckie for short. After talking it through with him he didn't care what we named the dog, he was more worried that Madelyn had not named a pet yet. Oh my! He and Abby named the cat's and me and Jonny settled on Samali. He was upset thinking that Madelyn was left out. I swear sometimes that boy can melt my heart with his sweetness. I told him to go and talk with Madelyn about what she wished to call the dog. Sequin. Alright then she has her name.
Her first night at home we let her loose to get familiar with her new home and the other animals and children in the home. In that first night she growled at Samali when she would come near me. That sent Samali scurrying back to her bed. There's no need to make a skiddish dog even more nervous. Moses who usually sleeps at my feet was chased out of our room numerous times that night. Let me tell you waking up to claws scraping the floor and animals colliding into walls as they chase each other is not fun!
She is a joy to have and so far, with the exception of those jealous moments, everyone likes her.
Check back this week for more posts about our new puppy and how the other animals are adjusting to her.
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Handy Diet Friendly Fav's
I thought I would share some of my go to meals when I'm trying to loose weight. They are pretty minimal recipes that you should add your own spices and herbs to to make it your own.
I love cabbage and cabbage rolls. But on a diet I try to not eat rice so much and who has time to make cabbage rolls anyway, not this girl! So one of my almost weekly meals is I will buy a head of cabbage and slice it up. I will cook up a pound or two of ground turkey with some garlic. When it's cooked I add the cabbage and slice a couple of onions (I like a lot of onions, so you may want just one or two) then I will add a can of low sodium stewed tomatoes. Depending on what I have available I will throw in some other veggies, I love corn with this.When it's all done I add some Franks RedHot and some Parmesan. Mmmmm I usually have enough of this to last me the week so if the family is having something that isn't so diet friendly I can throw a bowl of this in the microwave and voila dinner/lunch. I will also snack on the raw cabbage as I'm chopping it, it has a very nice crunch and is kinda sweet.
Quick, easy and I love squash! I will do up either a butternut squash or an acorn squash with a little butter and some splenda brown sugar. While these may seem like a side dish I will eat it as the main dish. That being said depending on how hungry I am I will eat 1/2 to a whole squash. I get unlimited vegetables on my diet so they often become my main course. I will occasionally have a chicken breast or steak on the side or save my protein for cottage cheese or yogurt later in the evening as my snack.
Another fav is spaghetti squash. Personally I love it roasted in the oven but don't often have the time for that so I often put it in the microwave. If I have some pasta sauce I will put that on it or I will just melt some margarine on it and add some Parmesan. I recently found out that I'm allowed almonds so I may try toasting some and adding them to the squash. I wonder if I'm allowed pine nuts, I'll have to check on that one. I'm also love mushrooms and spinach, but being that mushrooms are higher in starch I try to only eat this one once or twice a week. I will saute the mushrooms and onions with some garlic and when they are done I will throw in a LOT of baby spinach and saute it till it's done, usually only take a min or two for the spinach to be done so I always add it at the last minute. This one is good with some margarine and Parmesan but can be done without too. To add some protein to this I will cook it in scramble eggs and add Franks. Add some diced chicken or cooked ground turkey, again with some Franks! Occasionally I will cook up a few scallops and add fresh lemon juice to the dish. It's sooo yummy and if you like spinach and mushrooms like I do I'm sure you'd enjoy this!
Chicken breasts. I will eat chicken most of the time. I will cook a few and they will last me for a few days. I will chop one up and add it to a salad. I will sauteed some zucchini, onion and garlic and added some frozen corn, chopped a chicken breast and dinner is served. I don't feel that corn or zucchini need anything else.
Soups! Who does not love soup!? Well I suppose some people don't but I'm not one of them! I like a cream of whatever soup with vegetables in it. But my diet soups can't have the typical things that make soups creamy. To work with that I will put a small pot on to boil and and add veggies of my choice, usually onion, celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower..... I boil the veg's till they are soft and kinda smush them, this helps make the creamy texture, and then add some fat free cheese slices and melt them. A little pepper and voila I have a creamy bowl of soup with whatever mixture of vegetables suits me on that particular day.
Being that I love salads I eat a lot of them. Although recently I have not, hmmm. But the romaine lettuce is tasting rather funky right now, must not be a good season for it. But I will have a garden salad, cesar and spinach salad. I add different toppings to them to make them more of a meal. I will add chicken breast, ground turkey (I like that best on spinach with a homemade crouton, cesar or ranch dressing and hot sauce), a can of tuna (all the animals come begging around my feet for the tuna water when the hear a tuna can, lol) and some of my fiesta rice meat mixture, I like that one with catalina dressing. I've tried a honey mustard dressing on chicken and romaine before too and that was good. I'm open to suggestions on salads! I will also do a cucumber and tomato one with itallian dressing. Now my big meal salad that I've served when we've had guests often has them a little stumped! They're not quite sure about the combo of cooked and raw vegetables on their salads.
I'm thinking a salad post is in order because I'm not doing them justice in this little blurb!
I try to keep things different but when you're on a diet it's often easiest to stick to a few main meals that you know are OK for you, that you like and always have those ingredients on hand.
These are just general ideas so I'll post the actual recipes I go by to make the dishes I listed in this post. So check back often and see what new strategies or suggestions I'm working on to keep on track of my diet.
I love cabbage and cabbage rolls. But on a diet I try to not eat rice so much and who has time to make cabbage rolls anyway, not this girl! So one of my almost weekly meals is I will buy a head of cabbage and slice it up. I will cook up a pound or two of ground turkey with some garlic. When it's cooked I add the cabbage and slice a couple of onions (I like a lot of onions, so you may want just one or two) then I will add a can of low sodium stewed tomatoes. Depending on what I have available I will throw in some other veggies, I love corn with this.When it's all done I add some Franks RedHot and some Parmesan. Mmmmm I usually have enough of this to last me the week so if the family is having something that isn't so diet friendly I can throw a bowl of this in the microwave and voila dinner/lunch. I will also snack on the raw cabbage as I'm chopping it, it has a very nice crunch and is kinda sweet.
Quick, easy and I love squash! I will do up either a butternut squash or an acorn squash with a little butter and some splenda brown sugar. While these may seem like a side dish I will eat it as the main dish. That being said depending on how hungry I am I will eat 1/2 to a whole squash. I get unlimited vegetables on my diet so they often become my main course. I will occasionally have a chicken breast or steak on the side or save my protein for cottage cheese or yogurt later in the evening as my snack.
Another fav is spaghetti squash. Personally I love it roasted in the oven but don't often have the time for that so I often put it in the microwave. If I have some pasta sauce I will put that on it or I will just melt some margarine on it and add some Parmesan. I recently found out that I'm allowed almonds so I may try toasting some and adding them to the squash. I wonder if I'm allowed pine nuts, I'll have to check on that one. I'm also love mushrooms and spinach, but being that mushrooms are higher in starch I try to only eat this one once or twice a week. I will saute the mushrooms and onions with some garlic and when they are done I will throw in a LOT of baby spinach and saute it till it's done, usually only take a min or two for the spinach to be done so I always add it at the last minute. This one is good with some margarine and Parmesan but can be done without too. To add some protein to this I will cook it in scramble eggs and add Franks. Add some diced chicken or cooked ground turkey, again with some Franks! Occasionally I will cook up a few scallops and add fresh lemon juice to the dish. It's sooo yummy and if you like spinach and mushrooms like I do I'm sure you'd enjoy this!
Chicken breasts. I will eat chicken most of the time. I will cook a few and they will last me for a few days. I will chop one up and add it to a salad. I will sauteed some zucchini, onion and garlic and added some frozen corn, chopped a chicken breast and dinner is served. I don't feel that corn or zucchini need anything else.
Soups! Who does not love soup!? Well I suppose some people don't but I'm not one of them! I like a cream of whatever soup with vegetables in it. But my diet soups can't have the typical things that make soups creamy. To work with that I will put a small pot on to boil and and add veggies of my choice, usually onion, celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower..... I boil the veg's till they are soft and kinda smush them, this helps make the creamy texture, and then add some fat free cheese slices and melt them. A little pepper and voila I have a creamy bowl of soup with whatever mixture of vegetables suits me on that particular day.
Being that I love salads I eat a lot of them. Although recently I have not, hmmm. But the romaine lettuce is tasting rather funky right now, must not be a good season for it. But I will have a garden salad, cesar and spinach salad. I add different toppings to them to make them more of a meal. I will add chicken breast, ground turkey (I like that best on spinach with a homemade crouton, cesar or ranch dressing and hot sauce), a can of tuna (all the animals come begging around my feet for the tuna water when the hear a tuna can, lol) and some of my fiesta rice meat mixture, I like that one with catalina dressing. I've tried a honey mustard dressing on chicken and romaine before too and that was good. I'm open to suggestions on salads! I will also do a cucumber and tomato one with itallian dressing. Now my big meal salad that I've served when we've had guests often has them a little stumped! They're not quite sure about the combo of cooked and raw vegetables on their salads.
I'm thinking a salad post is in order because I'm not doing them justice in this little blurb!
I try to keep things different but when you're on a diet it's often easiest to stick to a few main meals that you know are OK for you, that you like and always have those ingredients on hand.
These are just general ideas so I'll post the actual recipes I go by to make the dishes I listed in this post. So check back often and see what new strategies or suggestions I'm working on to keep on track of my diet.
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