Santa needs to call back his deer so that they don't become a hood ornament on our van. Yes, I know that Santa has Magical Reindeer, not the deer that are living in our area (SuperStar is an avid reader and this must be stated). The other night when I was leaving STL my thoughts went to how dark is was out (it was after 7pm) and that most of the initial driving would be safe, but that once we passed Springfield it would be all country roads and that we had already seen deer running right into a car on a trip. My figuring was that during the final stretch home I would need to be careful - then as soon as I crossed the river into IL, right outside of Collinsville a deer ran across the road!! Didn't see another one the rest of the trip, but I was totally ready just in case (meaning I was totally paranoid the whole trip - was that reflective light really the eye of a deer?). We made it home though - safe. Then the other day the bus driver said there were deer in the road down the street and to be careful. So I have been. Until last night. No, I didn't hit a deer, but I almost did. I was sleepy, meeting a friend to go shopping, driving the windy road to town (we have no street lights on the 5 miles stretch), noticed the blue snowflake lights on a house and then all of a sudden I noticed the reflective lights on the side of the road - only this time they were deer eyes - she ran into the street startled by me - I slowed down (because of my deer fear I have been driving slower - much to the dismay of others on the road behind me) - then she started back off the road, back on the road, and then off the road completely and into the brush. The gigantic truck behind me stopped (probably some guy marking the spot in his mind so he could off the poor deer/dear later) and sat there (then again maybe it was someone more startled then I was - although they were never in harms way). Then today I saw another deer on my way home during the daylight. Where are they coming from? I am sure my local friends know all the reasons they are migrating toward people (heck, probably so they aren't in the hunting areas and killed for sport) - they probably aren't shocked to see them, may not even think it is totally cool like we do, but still.............these deer have got to smarten up. Is there not a deer training center somewhere. I have a vested interest in this deer problem. Our family is directly linked to them emotionally (G'Sell = gazelle = antelope = deer). As a child every year we went to the zoo and our dad would make us stand next to the Gazelle sign and have our photo taken. So really we need some suggestions and we should start a support center................

Our Thanksgiving

This was our first Thanksgiving in our new home - away from our family - making the meal ourselves. There were definate downsides to being here without extended family - we missed everyone, not as much food diversity (although the leftovers are things we really like) and it was kinda quiet. There were also upsides - we didn't feel like giant pumpkins at the end of the day, we never put our shoes on (Spidey hardly even wore clothes) and Babers didn't have to skip a nap - so less Holiday Hangover the next day. Regardless - we missed being with everyone.

Turkey Time!!

It is Turkey Time!! These are cookies I did for the Kindergarten at the kids school. 80 of them for their big Feast today. Our holiday will be tomorrow and we are ready. We have our free range Amish Turkey in the fridge ready for BigGuys cooking plans - something about wrapping it in bacon and then pouring maple syrup over it or something. I have diced 27 cups of bread, 4 cups of celery, 6 cups of mushrooms and 2 cups of onion for the stuffing (ready to go). There is a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie waiting on the counter and sweet potato casserole sitting in the fridge to be baked (I had all this done by 10am today!). Tonight the kids are going to make Challah bread and then shape it into turkeys and bake them for tomorrow. Then tomorrow we will have a much lighter breakfast, do the final baking, watch some TV, do some crafts for the next holiday and sit around and enjoy one another. Sit around and enjoy one another. What a novel ideal. For the past 13 years BigGuy and I have been rushing from parents house to parents house (except the year we went to GA for the holiday and that wasn't our home - so it was still being somewhere else) - eating at least 3 times and a few of the first years 4 times through the day. This year we will actually be hungry for the turkey dinner!! We will need crafts and activities to entertain the kids because they won't have the cousins to entertain them (that part makes me tear up - Spidey was in tears when he found out he would be seeing CuznM or CuznG. We will see them all soon though - and next year we will have a finished basement so maybe we can host some of the family (not all of you) here for it (no promises that wasn't run by BigGuy first). Regardless - we are looking forward to a down day. Most likely we will be bored by 11am, but we will suffer through - be Thankful for each other, for all of you, for our home, for the gifts we receive everyday and for the fact that we are pretty much done shopping for the gifts you will recieve later. We will take lots of pictures too. Love to all reading this and Happy Holiday!!

If BigGuy had a Hammer

Well, BigGuy does have a hammer - he just wishes he could go down and use it. Only he is afraid that he will get in the way. On a daily basis we have about 3 men hammering away - on Friday BigGuy wanted to join in - I think - he said he did - he could have asked to join, but he never did - so maybe he wants to just in spirit. Soon enough he will get to do some of the work that we bargained out for pricing. There is so much noise in our house lately that I don't even know how much noise the children are making. When some shattering noise occurs I don't run down the steps. I also don't walk around in my pj's and I am generally showered by 7am. The work in the basement started last Tuesday. The jackhammering lasted a day (that was a treat) and then the hammering has continued (much liked in comparison to jackhammering). One plumbing glitch occurred - or rather it was ongoing and it was found because of the work on the house (yea!) - there were no extra costs because of it and now we know that our sump pump works and that our home is no longer sitting in water. Babers is getting used to the hammering - although he still prefers to sit on the furniture as high up as he can get (kitchen table is preferred by him) because it keeps his feet off the vibrating floors (from hammering). As we cleaned to get ready for them to come in we realized that in only 5 months we have accumulated big pieces of stuff and relaxed out of the boxes with our own stuff. So back into the boxes - most of the big new stuff was left by the old owners (things we fancied keeping) - we lost a garage bay, but we will get it back before snow and stuff comes (yea for snow!!!). I will wait another week to take more pics. Tony is going to be doing electrical the rest of the week and the dry wallers won't come in until the week after Thanksgiving. Then we will update you all on the progress. The bathroom is going to be huge - anyone want to come and stay?

Danny

Yesterday was a very sad day for us. Danny, our hammie, passed. This isn't going to be a funny post - I know that some may feel a hamster is a disposable pet, and honestly we struggled with the cost of things that we needed to do to find out what was wrong with him. He was our pet though and we realized also part of our family and was worth the cost. I was taken by surprised how much he had touched us. When it was obvious the medication wasn't helping him in any way we scheduled to have him anesthetized and the doctor was better able to diagnose him. As we all suspected once the growth became larger, it was cancer. He had cancer in his right testicle and then it metastasized to his face causing a tumor that was more obvious there. Although he was still eating (less, but I was putting fresh fruits and veggies in to entice him) and moving around easily - he wasn't running in his wheel any more and he was sleeping much more. The growths were causing him pain and the doctor said his quality of life would change quickly and he was in a great deal of pain. He suggested that it would be better to let him out of the pain then let him live out his days. So that is what we chose to do.

Once the kids were home from school I sat down with them and talked to them about the illness and the choice that BigGuy and I had made. We talked about cancer and what the medication would do for him in releasing him from his pain and ending his life. They cried, I cried. We had an appointment for the procedure later in the evening so they took some time to make cards for him (we are a card making family) and talked about how they wished he could have grown to be a grandpa. Once BigGuy was home we headed to the hospital and spent some time holding him. The kids choose not to be in the room, but we could hear them in the waiting area talking about him to other people. At one point they were telling a man there about what was happening. He asked them if they would be getting another hamster and there was a pause and you could hear Spidey say, "No, he was the only Danny there was" - so it is nice to know that they valued him as a family member and he wasn't a disposable pet. SuperStar asked me to promise that when we go to heaven we will buy him from the pet store for our family. Of course I made that promise. I heard her telling Ben that he would be going to the children's part of heaven to make someone without a pet happy. We did a lot with him - hamster races, he watched tv with us sometimes (more before Jake - who totally loved Danny), he watched me craft and he would chew on spare pieces of paper, he escaped his cage and hung out in the corner of the basement, he was so huge that he would burst his hammie tubes, he was just a sweetie.
Two summers ago we spent months eating enough Ben & Jerry's (it was a struggle) so that we could make him a habitrail using the pint containers. Turned out pretty cute. When he was in his hammie ball walking around the house he would follow me around. It was funny - then he would just stop at my feet and hang out.
So we will definitely miss Danny. He was more my sweetie then anyone elses, but Danny was also very much the kids baby too. No one is asking to replace him - so that sends a message to us that they see him as a family member that can't be replaced and that is a warm thing to us.
Danny the Hammie ~
Delivered by the Easter Bunny 4/2006

Bucket Head

Every morning BigGuy gets up and takes a shower - alone - in the bathroom by himself (maybe a child wanders in, but generally no one lingers). Every morning I take a shower - after BigGuy is off to work and the older kids have gotten on the bus - and Babers is unattended. He likes to loiter around the bathroom while I am showering. While our masterbath is open to the bedroom (meaning we have no door to close) the smaller room with a toilet has a door. In the past Babers will wander into that room, close the door and then knock on it as a game - only the light is off and it probably doesn't seem very funny to him after he has shut himself into a dark room - yet I am in the shower and can't reach him without getting out - so I do, cold, water dripping on the ground, let the baby out of the dark room. Finally I have gotten bright enough to remember to close this door before showering. So, this week he has been more eventful during my showers because he has no dark room to torture himself with.
Monday - this was the day that while showering I heard things falling. Glass items. I peeked out and there is Babers with his hand extended up over the top of my dresser running his hand along and blindly knocking things to the ground. He would then investigate them, coins, earrings, pictures, and go back to knocking more down. I shouted to stop - he smiled and continued. I finished quickly.
Tuesday - this was the morning he decided to open and close the cabinets in the vanity. We have a double with two sets of drawers. Clank, bang, clank, bang - very relaxing - clank and then silence. I peeked out and saw that he was pulling everything out and placing it around on the floor. I asked him to stop - he smiled and continued. I finished my shower early again.
Wednesday - this was Karma at work. Babers came into the bathroom with Jakes squeeky toy. It was fabulously relaxing, much better then the clank and bang the day before - SQUEEEEEEEEK - SQUEEEEEK - over and over. In bounds Jake looking for his beloved toy (this really is his favorite - constantly squeeks the darn thing and I have no idea how Babers even got ahold of it). Babers held it out (because we all know not to mess with Jake and this toy), Jake grabbed it and ran away - Babers after him and I am expecting to hear a scuffle and to have to get out of the shower. Nothing. Silence. A few minutes later I heard thump thump thump - silence - thump thump thumpidy thump - I peek out. Babers is near the window wall of our bedroom, it is trash day and all the trash has been taken out so he has his empty trash can from his room placed over his head - this is a tallish plastic can and it goes over his arm reach and to his knees - so he can't get it off his body. He is blindly thumping into things trying to get to me for me to help - not crying though so I am just watching. Karma baby. He is thumping along the wall, into furniture - I call out his name - he cirlcles around trying to figure out where my voice is coming from - thump thump thump and finally PLOP. He topples over and crawls back out of the trash can.

It all made the mischief from the other days more bearable. Too bad I don't keep a camera in the shower because him under that yellow trash can thumping was too funny!!

For SuperStar

We're here to end it,
I said & she said, No,
we're here to begin it
& then she turned &
opened her arms
& everywhere I could see,
there were people,
like bright birds, calling
with a thousand voices
& suddenly I understood.

Here is where it begins.
With all of us, together
giving our daughters
a world worth loving
for a lifetime to come.
~ StoryPeople

The last week or so StoryPeople has sent out stories that seemed to be in reference to the things that touch our lives. One my friend, SS, and I even emailed one another to say "hey that was so dead on" and laughed about. Anyway, this one made me think of SuperStar. This week we started our Girl Scout adventure. There were so many things that happened this week - regular everyday stuff, our first party here at the house and then all the Halloween hoopla and parties, plus getting ready for our schools carnival this weekend. So when Thursday pulled up at the house I had pretty much forgotten that there was an hour and a half long meeting to be held where I was to captivate the attention of eight young girls (I am apparently not to refer to them as little and honestly a few of them were just about as tall as me). I was in the midst of making 100 cards to donate to the country store at the carnival when I realized I needed a snack, craft and get to know you game for the troop. A week earlier I told my co-leader "no problem" about covering it all because she was busy through the week with special work projects. Silly me. So off to figure out what to do - cheese popcorn, apple cider, a charades game (hoping the girls weren't shy) where they act out their "favorite" things, and some shrinky dink type material and permanent markers to make name tags with were all pulled out to cover the meeting. Fortunately they were thrilled with it all. We made a list of "favorites" to work with for the year, did the name tags and each girl was amazed when I heat gunned their design and shrank the tag down to size (and they each put theirs on right away to show off), snacks were a nice change of pace from candy and we ended the evening with some charades - that they were begging to continue and begging to not have to leave. It was nice, it was encouraging and on the way home SuperStar told me she was proud that her mom was the leader and so much fun. That makes the whole thing worth it. Then this StoryPeople came through and it reminded me of just how worth it. The only thing I could do to improve upon the story is to change it to "daughters and sons", because I am sure I will be doing some goofy Boy Scout thing eventually.

Three Little Pumpkins