Ragno and May Lynn

I always hoped to be the kind of parent that never yelled. I wanted the saying "A soft word turneth away wrath" to be me. I knew I wouldn't be perfect, but those few times I messed up would really be important and the kids would understand that. I am not that kind of parent. I lose my temper easily. I try to count to ten, I get to about five. I try to take five deep breaths to calm down before I say anything, I might take one. Sometimes I try to just leave the room, the kids follow me.
I know I am not perfect. I know they are little and are supposed to drive you crazy. But I don't want them to drive me crazy forever.
Ragno has started to put on all his favorite shirts all at the same time. He can have as many as seven, and he refuses to take any off until bedtime or bathtime. He is potty trained, but he wears pull-ups at night. Tonight he tried to put on five pull-ups, I think he could have done it if we hadn't caught him. I know it's just a phase, but it's so hot still. And he loves to jump on the trampoline, but he also loves to jump on May Lynn on the trampoline. Ragno is surely a challenge, I love him, but my goodness.
May Lynn is worse in some ways. She will deliberatly take Ragno's toys and run away with them. She hasn't really started saying real words yet, so when she wants something she yells. Or just trys to get it herself. Whenever I am at the computer she pulls on my arm and scratches and screams and crys until I pry her away and put her in bed to calm down. Now I can't work unless she's in bed.
My children are generally good kids. They have so many good points, like Ragno loves May Lynn so much. He will do anything for her, get her blanket out of her crib, share his cookies, help her up when she falls, and hug her when she cries. He also is very polite, he says please and thank you, you're welcome and even no, thank you. He is independent, he will play by himself for hours and be just fine. One day he just decided it was time to be potty trained and he did it. If he hurts you he will give you a hug and kiss and say sorry mommy, sorry.
May Lynn loves to read. You can't sit down anywhere in the house and a second later she will bring you a book or two to read. She waves and blows kisses to anybody. When she sees her family she gets so excited and runs toward them with arms up and a big smile. She loves to play Duck Duck Goose, she has to touch everybody's head and say Duck, then she runs away. She likes to find everyone's nose/ears/eyes/head/mouth. She plays the wheels on the bus and puts her little finger to her mouth for the mommy on the bus says sshhh. She loves to eat Pringles, she carries around a can, and she shares with the dogs.
So while I may not be the perfect mom....my kids are not the perfect offspring. And that's okay by me. I am grateful the Lord saw it fit for me to be blessed with such vibrant, outgoing, individual spirits, and I can only pray that I will help them grow to be the strong people they can be.

More cats

So after the disaster of last week I get a call from Animal Control that we have to put the cats under quarrantine for 10 days because someone was bitten. For the love, I don't even want these cats, and now we have to have them in the house for an extra five days!? Someone came out the day of and today to check and make sure they don't have rabies (yes Becca, cats can get rabies) and then on the 10th day we can let them out after someone looks at them. I'm thinking to ask them just to take the stupid things with them when they come again. Two down, a lot more to go. Anyone want a cat??? Very friendly!!!

Cats

I know not everyone is a fan of cats. I am a liker of cats. I don't mind them, but I don't really go after them or care. That being said...I hate cats. Neko and I have always had a cat. I had one that I brought from home and Neko adopted him, I really liked him. Then we found another one and couldn't find it's owner. We thought it was a girl, and an employee at Petsmart told us this. We found out later it was a boy. Anyway, when we moved to NC we had a litter of four kittens at our doorstep one day. We moved to the country and it wasn't a big deal because they just stayed outside. Then they multiplied. To be fair a few of them also died/got killed over two years, so we generally had the same amount. But we have been meaning to get them fixed for a long time. Have you ever looked into getting an animal fixed? It is expensive!! Most vet's are $80+ for males and $100+ for females. For a society that wants a smaller pet population they sure aren't doing anything to keep the cost down for us normal people. Anyway, we found this clinic that only charges $35 for males and $45 for females. Heck yeah!! So as of right now we have eleven cats that we feed. Most of them are fixed now. We have been taking them in two or three a week.

Now we come to this morning. Drop off at the clinic is 7-8 am, so we need to be up at 6am. We had an appointment for a female that has been pulling a disappearing act every time we try to take her in. She did it again, so we decide to take two kittens that are living in the bathroom to get used to people. They still don't allow anyone to touch them. I am the only one brave enough to catch them, so I don my leather gloves and the carrier. There is a black one and a fluffy grey one. I go after the grey one first. I grab it and it bites and claws, but I manage to get it into the crate. I can feel the teeth through the gloves, but it doesn't hurt. Like an idiot I had the crate on the tile floor and it slides around and the cat escapes. So now I go after the black one, I get it pretty easily since I grab it's back legs just as it goes through a hole in a drawer, and I just put it's front into the carrier and lock it. Neko helps me by holding the crate for the grey one. That devil runs all around the bathroom, even climbing up the wall at one point. When I grab it, I am NOT letting go. It bites me again, but this time I feel it, it hurts. I put it in the crate and it just hold on for a while biting my hand. when it finally let go I lock the crate and look at my hand, I have several puntures and it's puffy and bleeding. We turn off the bathroom light and walk out. Then I trip over the dog and hit my head on the door. That was as close to cussing as I have ever come.

Neko says the stupid fluffy cat's name is Teeth. I think we should call it Satan. Apparently the nurse who put them back in the crate had just as hard a time as I did, because her hands were all bloody, too. So, like I said, I hate cats. Most of the time. There is another one that is so cute.

I still can't post pictures. Sorry this was so long!

Wednesday Slumps

On the radio this morning everyone who called in said something about how the rain (yes, it was raining again) was putting a damper on their day. I was thinking that they were a bunch of whiners and crybabies. Yes the rain can get depressing, but if we don't have the rain, my husband will be out of a job. For the last month there has been so much rain the grass is growng very well and Neko has some pretty serious job security. I love the rain. I love smelling it and right after, when the grass is all wet and the roof is dripping, the way the world is new. It reminds me of baptism, we have been fortunate enough to have several of our Primary children be baptized, and I have had the great opportunity to attend. It is always a special event, and a good reminder of the covenants we have all made. I had an appointment today, they gave me another ultrasound because I am measuring 4 cm larger than I should. That sure makes me feel good, you are bigger than you're supposed to be. But I got to see the baby again, and it's face looks just like Ragno. I can never see what other people see when they say,"he looks just like so-and-so." They all look the same with a few differences, even my own kids, but I could tell this kid looks like it's big brother. I want my babies to grow up ion a world where rain isn't something to get you down, but to be celebrated. I love rain.

Tuesday Tears

I saw this program on TV (did anyone else see it?) called Stand up 2 cancer. It had all these celebrities on it and they performed and talked about cancer survivors and non-survivors, and the research , and preventitive measures and all that, they were taking pledges to cure cancer. I watched to whole hour and only one spot made me blubber like pudding. They read letters from people and one was from a parent of a four-year-old and they said, "I never thought I would hear the words, time of death 11:05 am, for my son. I felt his chest and I could feel his heartbeat and then I couldn't. I felt his first and now his last." I am crying just writing this. I pulled my kids close and forgave them of everything annoying they had ever done. I love them so much and I could never handle losing a child. For those of you who have, I am so sorry, and you are so brave. I think I would curl up in a ball and not leave my room. But I am thankful that we have the chance to see them again, and it made me want to be more worthy to be with those little children in the next life. But it still makes me cry.

Thank you!

Thanks Mare for posting the slideshow, it looks awesome!

Pictures

For some reason I cannot post pictures. I can upload them, but there is no 'done' button to publish it. So I have got an album on Picasa and I will make a link (i think i can) so if you want pics, there are some to see. I have no idea why this is happening, I tried all the troubleshooting tips. Oh well.

Next Day

Well, I survived a hurricane. It wasn't much of a hurricane, more of a tropical storm, and I slept threw it all. I spent the morning a little paranoid because of the 'damage,' but there was none. There is a little bit of flodding in a few areas of Fayetteville, but we had almost nothing happen out here. The umbrella fell over. Neko took me out in my new car and we saw Hancock. I liked it. Maybe it was just that I was out of the house with my hubby, but I had a great time. We had a bit of time before the movie started, so we went to the Harley-Davidson superstore across the street. I have never been a motorcycle enthusiast, I like them, but it doesn't really matter what kind or style I am riding. But they have some COOL stuff! I wouldn't mind getting a motorcycle, but I don't think I could fit three carseats on them. Oh yeah, I got a new car!

I am so tired. I have been awake a lot of the last couple nights, not being able to sleep and the kids have been a part of it, too. My head hurts and my nose is a combo of stuffy and runny. This pregnancy has been a cranky one. I don't remember being this cranky so much, ever.
There is supposed to be a hurricane coming in tonight. I have never been in one. I am preparing for it. I have to fill water containers, and make sure the yard is free of damaging debris, and look over the emergency equipment and so much other stuff. And I'm sick. I don't want to do any of it. Blah.