Torn

Sparky has been hunting a mouse for at least an hour this morning.  I use the term "hunting" loosely, because what he's doing is less like hunting and more like fishing.  He's using the catch and release system, over and over, with the same mouse.  I don't know how this little rodent hasn't died of a heart attack yet.  And, I'm torn.  And now, Natalie Imbruglia is stuck in my head.  God, how I hate mice.

I'm torn because while I'm proud of the cat for earning his keep, I also hate to see the mouse suffer.  Actually, that's not true.  My wife hates to see the mouse suffer.  I just wish he'd kill the thing and get it over with so I could pick it up and throw it in the trash.

But, I'm not going to yell at him and discourage him from doing what he was brought into this house to do.  As much as it would break my kids' hearts to hear it, Sparky wasn't brought home for their enjoyment.  He's here to kill mice.  Kill 'em dead.

I can't punish him for taking a little pleasure in his work can I?  I can tell that Rachel wants me to finish him, but this isn't Mortal Kombat and there's a code between assassins.  "Nothing is true, everything is permitted."  So, rather than grab my hammer and stop this nonsense, I'll permit Sparky his little indulgences.

Note To Self #2

Note To Self:

Never trust a toddler playing quietly.

Also, Magic Eraser does not work on hands...or legs...or other areas of the body that are exposed when your child walks up the basement stairs with her diaper off and a blue magic marker in her hand.

Don't forget to buy more magic markers. She seems to like them.

Bonding:Like Glue On A Wound

There is a special bond between Elizabeth and myself.  We do everything together.  We eat the same foods, we watch football together, and we even go to the hospital together.

The results of a recent MRI led to an even more recent surgical procedure--namely, spinal surgery (that's totally metal).  The night before my surgery, Libby was feeling sympathetic.  Rather than just share in my emotional pain, she shared in my physical pain.  One badly placed footstep and a well-placed chin later, she was in the hospital emergency room getting her own little surgery.

When I say surgery, what I really mean is that they super-glued her wound shut.  Two-hundred and fifty dollars for them to glue her chin.  I certainly appreciate the ER nurses and their ability to keep my baby from bleeding out, but a quarter of a thousand dollars sounds pretty steep for a glue-job.  Lesson learned.  I've a 97-cent bottle of Elmer's and some Duct-Tape I'll try next time.

The price seems more ridiculous when you consider that my spinal surgery cost us a little over 700 dollars.  That's the difference between In-Network and Out-of-Network.  Not to worry though, the Affordable Care Act will make everything more affordable.  It's in the name, it can't fail right?  On the plus side, for a little under 1,000 dollars we both received some cool scars and matching bracelets.

I also scored this sweet pair of socks with a built-in sunroof.

Even though my back still hurts, my foot is still asleep, and we'll have bills to pay over the next several months, it was worth it.  #LiesITellMyself

Sure, we could have gone fishing together, toured the pumpkin patch, or gone out for ice cream, but you can't put a price on this type of bonding experience.  Just look at the joy and love on Libby's face:

Note To Self #1

Games are a fun way to start the morning.

Seven in the morning is too early to call somebody “cheater cheater pumpkin eater.”

You can coax a crying (and sore-losing) 4-year old out of her room with donuts.

If you offer donuts to a crying child, make sure you have milk to wash them down with.

Buy milk.

Purple Haze

Painting is never a fun job.  The finished project is usually amazing, but the end result is seldom enough to motivate me to actually begin painting.  We've been staring at the same two colors for five years now.  I know that's not too long of a time, but it gets old.  When we built the house in '07, our contractor allowed us two colors to choose from.  Not knowing what our decor would be, we settled for two neutral colors--both of them a tan-beige.  It's quite depressing.

Slowly, we've begun working our way through the house, painting a room here and there.  The girls' room is our crowning achievement so far.   I wanted to take some pictures and post them before Libby had a chance to ruin it.  I love her, but she knows how to destroy everything you've worked so hard for and we've worked hard on her room.

Rachel did an amazing job creating the girls' names.  I cut out the fabric for the letters, so feel free to tell me what an awesome job I did too.  Thanks to Aunt Tracy for Elizabeth's butterfly mobile.  It was a baby gift for Libby, but the theme works great with her new room.

The beauty was shortly ruined two days later when Elizabeth did some painting of her own. I'll spare you the pictures, but you must know, it looked like a crime scene with blood all over the walls, doors, furniture and toys.....that is, if the victim bled brown.

There is one good thing to say about painting or, at least, about painting with purple.  Hendrix was stuck in my head during the four to five hours we painted.

He's Crafty

Last year, the kids and I worked through a bunch of Halloween craft ideas we'd found.  I have a lot of Halloween crafts to do this year courtesy of Pinterest, the local library, and Chad (thanks dude).  SPOILER ALERT:  Shameless Plug on the way!

Rather than post them here, I'll be featuring them on my educational website, www.free-math-handwriting-and-reading-worksheets.com.  I'll be posting Halloween coloring pages, activities, crafts, and more.  You can check out all the Halloween Craft Ideas here.

With that said, I'd still like to post one simple idea that I tried yesterday:  Monster Drinks.

No, not those monster drinks.  Energy in a can is the last thing my kids need.  These monster drinks:

A little Sunny D and Kiwi juice, construction paper, and craftiness goes a long way. But what did the kids think?

I think she liked it.

The boy is usually a tough sell though.

Usually.