Tiger Stripes

This is what Colin's feet looked like after a summer of guiding rafting trips on the Watauga River!

Ewwwww!

Do not leave glasses unattended.

The Kitten

Last Saturday - July 31st I was working in the garage when I heard a strange mewing sound from outside. Right outside - so close that it almost sounded like it was in the garage with me. I opened the side door to the garage and there by our garbage can was a tiny little kitten. It looked pitifully underfed so I picked it up and brought it inside. Then I went and told Colin, since I am far from an expert on cats. Also, I knew I would need his help keeping Izzie from smothering the kitten with love.
We fed it some tuna, which it seemed to really enjoy. (It wasn't until later that we read you're not supposed to feed cats tuna intended for humans.) Colin held out his finger and the kitten licked his finger and then tried to eat it. It was very innocent, but she had broken the skin and we were concerned about the possibility of rabies. We talked to our vet and also called the nurse hotline. Neither person seemed particularly concerned about rabies - they were more concerned with tetanus and infection - but we were advised to keep the cat for 10 days and if it became ill, have it tested. So we kept the cat and the kids loved it.

When Ben was using the computer she would jump up on the chair and sit beside him. Sometimes he would decide he was "hot" and put the cat down which made her protest loudly until somebody else gave her attention.

Unfortunately, just as we had decided the kitten was very healthy, she became ill Wednesday night and was dead by Thursday morning. When we realized around 11pm on Wednesday that the kitten was very sick Colin went to the ER. We were now very concerned, but not so much anyone else. Colin was told to get the cat tested the next day. Thursday morning was spent making arrangements for the cat - the rabies test has to be done on brain tissue. Luckily we merely had to drop the cat off at the vet. Somebody from the Health Department was responsible for transporting it to Knoxville (about 2 hours away from us) where the test is performed. We were waiting on tenterhooks all day and got the results about 4:30 - everything is clear!

We don't know why the cat died, and of course we are sorry she did, but at least she had several happy days with us in which she spent a lot of time purring happily and getting lots of love.

And a little bit of mauling.

Of course the first thing the children asked Thursday morning was, "Where is the cat?" We told them, in carefully chosen words, that the kitten was unhealthy and had died. They asked a few questions. Izzie wondered if we could see the cat later and Ben bluntly told her, "No. When things die they're dead forever." This didn't phase Izzie at all.

I think the kids enjoyed the kitten because they were the ones in control. They could pick her up, put her down, hold her in their laps. They really liked petting her and hearing her purr. It didn't take much to make the kitten purr, and when it happened Izzie would proudly exclaim, "She's happy!" I hope she is.

Hide Man and the Beautiful Butterfly Princess

The kids recently attended a birthday party where the boys came dressed as superheroes and the girls came dressed as princesses.

Izzie settled on her pink frilly dress with her butterfly wings and, of course, a crown. Here she is with her trusty sidekick "Rooster."

And from the back. Notice her large ruby ring.

We didn't have much in the way of superhero clothes for Ben, but a quick trip to the Salvation Army solved that. We decided to make up our own superhero and Ben came up with "Hide Man" who can hide from his enemies (Ben is big on camouflage) and shoot a cage from his magic finger.

Here is Hide Man looking strong and tough. But also friendly.

Ben's best superhero pose. We ended up with a shiny red top, black electrical tape for the H, and (girl's) red pants with 3T shorts on top. Ben will be 5 in another month or so - what a skinny guy he is. But check out his biceps! Oh, and of course every superhero has to have a mask. Ours was a foam parrot mask from the dollar store that we cut up and glued back together.

And even superheroes have to ride in car seats!

Rhododendron Gardens Take Three

During June I made several trips up to Roan Mountain to capture the rhododendron gardens in bloom. Somehow I managed to miss the peak though. I'm not sure how that happened since I was up there at least three times during the two weeks in which they bloom. I got there very early in the morning and since nobody else was around I thought I'd take a self-portrait with the timer and the tripod. Unfortunately, (I'm not even sure it was on this trip) I made it home without the tripod. Thank goodness it's much more easily replaced than the camera.

Windfall

Last night we had really heavy rain and a lot of wind. This is what Colin found when he looked on the porch! It fell down in the early evening while I was on my way home but Colin and the kids didn't even hear it. And I didn't even notice it when I drove up. (Maybe that was because I was trying to see the road though all the rain!)

The view from the sidewalk. The door to the porch is somewhere under all those leaves and branches.

Side view.

We were up early to clear it all away before the workers came back to finish the floors. (They finished today - new linoleum in the kitchen and laminate in our bedroom!) Colin sawed and I used the pruners and around seven a friend of Colin's who was meeting him for coffee pitched in and helped make piles of branches. After we cleared everything away there was one bunch of leaves left decorating the doorknob. Somehow we got away without any broken windows: even the one screen that's held on with the handyman's secret weapon remained in place.

Recent Favorites

I took the kids out a while ago, as is my wont to do, and took pictures of them. Little do they know I'm gearing up for one more round of pictures before we leave Tenneesee.

The pensive look. Trying out a muted effect. Yea or nay?

The glower. She's not really being a stinker. She has been playing with this look a bit and thinks it's funny to experiment.

A few seconds later.

They were getting bored so I told them to stick out their tongues.

My handsome shy guy.


Izzie's trademark laugh. I love it! How can you not smile when you see this?

Ghost Izzie

I think my shutter speed was a little too slow!

X is for...

excited! We've been working on an alphabet book. Here's Izzie being excited for the letter X.

Silly Hugs with Elmo and Teddy

Keeping Up with the Big Boys

Last Saturday some friends of Ben's from church came over for the day. They're 4 and almost 6 and have a lot of energy! Izzie spent the day running after all three of the boys. The scrape by her eye is from when she tripped pulling the wagon. Since she was holding onto the handle she didn't get her hands out in time to catch herself and her face took the brunt of her fall.
In the afternoon we headed over to a birthday party where there was more climbing and running and sliding down a fire pole... and it was really, really, hot. By the time we left Izzie and Ben were both exhausted, and unfortunately, so filthy I couldn't put them to bed without giving them a bath first. But boy did they sleep well!

A few more from Oklahoma

One evening we went out in the Jeeps to see the cows and see if we could spot some deer. Yellow flowers (buttercups?) were blooming all over the field and I "happened" to have my camera with me. I couldn't help but ask to stop and take some pictures with them. I tried to resist, I really did, but it was too pretty.

You can see that I got some good eye contact in this one.

If you've ever gotten too close to a gosling and had the mother hiss at you, then you might know the sound Izzie is making in this picture.

Well, that's a little better...

That's the one we were waiting for!

Poteau Bluegrass Festival

While we were in Oklahoma we spent a pleasant Saturday morning at the Poteau Bluegrass Festival. It was cold and rainy when we started out, but it turned out to be perfect weather. The day included a tour of an old hotel the historical society was restoring. There was also an old-fashioned shoot-out for which we had front-road seats.

Johnie entered his car in the show.

It was seriously so shiny I had to wait for the sun to go behind the clouds to take pictures - there was just too much reflection!

Ben, checking out the interior. (See what I mean by reflection?)

Half of the gang. Wade had thoughtfully brought some Hotwheels to give Ben and Ben was delighted. In this picture you also see the infamous stroller which earned the prestigious award of "best stroller." The award turned out to be a youth t-shirt from several festivals ago.

We all ate festival food. Ben and Izzie had gigantic corndogs... although I think I ate most of Izzie's for her. To give you an idea of the size of them, Ben had already eaten approximately one third of his by the time I took this picture. In addition to Izzie's surplus, I had my first "Indian Taco." This turns out to be a taco with Indian flatbread instead of... um, what is a taco actually supposed to be served in? A tortilla? A taco shell? You get the picture.

Some of us went on a short train ride. (Short meaning both the length of the ride and the length of the train.) Others, like Izzie, suddenly panicked and decided they didn't want to go after all.

Katie? Patsy? I know how I managed to not be in any of these pictures, but how did you?

More from Oklahoma

The nice thing about visiting Oklahoma is that there are so many relatives in one spot! We went to visit Johnie and Nancy and took a little walk to see the baby chicks. The bread was supposed to be for the chickens, but they weren't the only ones who liked it.

Then we got out bubbles and sidewalk chalk. You can't ask for more fun than that.

Although sweeping... now that's real fun! Izzie was seriously attached to this broom. She wanted to take it home with her even after Grandma Ann assured Izzie that she had a broom at her house Izzie could sweep with!