Kittens!

For our latest homeschooling adventure, we've been reading about cats this week. Last weekend at the District Campout, a teenage girl from another branch mentioned that they have kittens that needed homes soon. That got me to thinking...our hamster isn't much of a pet. We don't really interact with him much. We need something to love. So, I talked it up to Russ, and...the rest is history.

Today we got kittens: Cinnamon and Sugar. The reddish one (Cinnamon) is the runt of the litter, but very friendly. He is so tiny!













The whiter one (Sugar) is bigger, and already loves the scratching post.

They are soo cute, and the kids love them. When we visited them yesterday, and Lizzie first saw them, she said "Oooooo! Ooooo!" That's what she always does when she sees a small fuzzy thing that she wants to hug. Usually it is just a stuffed animal. She must hug every stuffed animal she sees. But, she's been very good with the kittens, not grabbing them or anything. She leans way over to see them closer and holds her hand out, even makes patting motions, but doesn't seem to actually want to touch them just yet. Ethan likes to hold them, of course. But Matthew is the one that is absolutely in love with them. Actually, we sort of got them with him in mind, as a type of therapy for him. Something for him to cuddle and hold, have quiet time with and just enjoy the peacefulness of petting them. He is very protective of them.

I'll get some pictures of the kids holding them tomorrow. I need to go to bed. Yay, we have kittens! We love cats and dogs, but cats are a little easier to take care of, so... :)) More difficult than a hamster, but more lovable, too.

Politics

Russ and I were raised republican, and we're LDS, so we come from a largely conservative background. However, I don't recall much politics being discussed as I was growing up. Russ' brother married a girl whose family is strongly democratic. I respect them alot, so that makes me more interested in figuring out what I really believe. We've had a bishop we also respected very much who was a Democrat.
Russ and I don't get television, so we have to read news online to learn about the issues. We're trying to be a little more responsible and read up about the candidates. Especially since we have to send in our ballots soon (we vote in Washington state). If a moderate is someone who may vote for either party, depending on the candidate or situation, then I guess we're moderates. We are leaning toward Obama, because we like his health plan and financial plan. The thing holding us back is the fact that he may appoint Supreme Court Justices that will have long-term consequences on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.
I'm just throwing this out there, because that's what we're thinking about right now.

Tag--Seven Random Things About Me

Seven random things about myself. Hmmm, it's all randomness. Off the top of my head...

1. It's almost midnight and I'm writing seven random things about me instead of going to bed. (Russ donated that one). I hate to have to go to bed. I wish sleep were optional instead of necessary. There is so much to do, so little time to do it. Even when I was in kindergarten I remember not wanting to lay down on those little rugs and take a nap. Who does? Actually, now I love a nap and I love sleep--after I've gotten plenty of it and I'm feeling good from it. But, I never like having to stop doing things to go to sleep. Besides, it's not always restful, because my dreams seem so real that it's like living another life while I'm sleeping. One year I wrote down my dreams every morning. It bugs me that so many people think they don't dream, when the fact is that everyone dreams, it's just that most people don't remember their dreams. Russ used to think this, but after two years of listening to me tell him my dreams every morning, he started remembering his. Ha. You just gotta wanna.

2. I am a sugar addict. Hopefully someday I'll be able to say "recovering sugar addict". I've noticed that other cultures think our sweets are too rich or sweet, and American's tend to think the same about other cultures' sweets. At least I've seen this in China and Japan. It's just a different type of sweet. Everyone thinks their own sweets are best. Like me. Lizzie is my sweet and I'm addicted to her. I could just eat her up. And I never want to be recovering from that kind of sweet.

3. I love ideas. I collect ideas. It's my hobby. I love to go into the hobby section of WalMart and just imagine the possibilities of all the things I could make. I can and have gotten lost in WalMart and other hobby stores (JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, Michaels), which leads to number 4...

4. I have ADHD. This is why I can get lost in a store for so long. I have spent over 5 hours in WalMart at a time, more than once. The first couple of hours are fun, but after that it's more like compulsion to look at everything. Like every isle in the store. Almost. I usually skip the soaps and perfumes because they give me a headache. And I usually don't go in the electronics or automotive section. But, in general, it's like everything is interesting and has equal pull on my attention. WalMart is an ADD person's nightmare. And heaven.

5. I have always wanted to be a photographer and a writer. I would like to write children's books. I've even planned a few, but I'm not really serious enough about it to actually take the time to do it. Maybe someday.

6. Autumn is my favorite season. I love to breathe the cool, crisp air as I take in the multi-colored trees. I love trees. Some of the best places I've found to enjoy the autumn is, in no special order, Minnesota, Utah, Alabama, Virginia and Tennessee. Also Japan. Maybe because they all have so many beautiful, deciduous trees. I love to feel cool, much more than being hot. And yet, I've spent a lot of my life in hot, humid places. That's one reason why we'll live in North Dakota over Louisiana.

7. I can swallow a whole bunch of big pills/vitamins all at once. I noticed that I hold my left hand up in the air palm up, like I'm waiting for someone to put something in it while I swallow my pills or vitamins. I do it without thinking and then I notice and feel silly and put it down. I've done this for years. Ever since I started swallowing vitamins. Russ can't even swallow a multi-vitamin, but I can gulp a small handful at once. I even successfully taught my 5-year-old son how to swallow a pill, again proving that you just gotta wanna. And now, I'm going to bed. Even though I don't really wanna.

Homeschooling update #2

Great news from our little corner of the world! Haha, well, it's great news for me. We have had three great days in a row of homeschooling! I don't know if we ever matched that even in public school. It turns out that I needed to provide the right motivation. Because, really, what is more fun than playing with your transformers all day or reading Harry Potter books every free second? So, to pull Matthew away and get him to accomplish his lessons in a reasonable amount of time (like before 5 pm??) this is what I did. I got out a couple of baby food jars and told the boys that for each lesson they completed/participated in, they each got to put one marble into their jar. Later, each marble can be redeemed for 15 minutes of computer time. {I got this great idea from Ericka, one of my homeschooling friends here in Del Rio}. Well, that was an immediate reward, kept them going, and didn't involved sugar. Ethan likes to try free online games. Matt likes to go to Transformers.com and watch old webisodes of the original cartoons, or just look at all the different Transformer toys that are available. Although I really can't stand to see him sitting there drooling over more Transformers, it is working. Today they both got done before lunch. We start after breakfast with a morning devotional: prayer, sometimes a song, and then I read a few verses of scripture and we discuss it's meaning and how it applies to us today. Matthew did his Reading, Math, Science, Health, and Social Studies. Ethan does all the same subjects, only modified to his level. I'm actually really enjoying it.

This afternoon, I left the kids home with Russ while I went to the dentist to supposedly get a small cavity filled. I ended up with a root canal! That was fun. My lip is only now, five and a half hours later, returned to it's normal size and feeling. Happily, I didn't have to wait for it to get really painful before I got it taken care of. The dentist was telling me how much pain it was when he was up all night with a tooth needing a root canal instead of a filling, and how I was being saved sooo much pain. I believe him, of course, but I couldn't help thinking "Oh please, I have had three babies. Pain? Bring it on." Nevertheless, I VERY glad to report a pain-free root canal, something unheard of until recent history. As we learned in Social Studies this morning, during Colonial times in America, there was only one cure for a painful tooth. Visit your local blacksmith and let him YANK it out. Fun, fun. Thank goodness for modern medicine. Well, some modern medicine anyway.

What are the odds?!

Okay, so Russ and I were playing Yahtzee tonight, and I rolled a Yahtzee on my second turn. It was five 4's. Then, in the next game, his first turn, Russ rolled a Yahtzee--also 4's. Then, the very next turn, I rolled a Yahtzee of 4's. So, considering that these dice are not loaded (they're the very same dice we've always used for this game), what are the odds of that many Yahtzee's being rolled--especially the two right after each other of the same number. In one game there are 13 turns. Figure that one out, if you dare. Nikki, Ed, we're counting on you! No pressure though. (Nikki and Ed are our genius sister and brother-in-law who pontificate about numbers for a living).

Wait, it gets better! We just played a tie-breaker game, and I rolled a Yahtzee of 6's, and then a few turns later I rolled a Yahtzee of 4's! So, the odds of rolling a Yahtzee of the same number (4's) in three consecutive games, and whupping Russ' butt. Let's hear it folks. I want to hear some replys!