The Easter Bunny brought Alex several new dog toys for Pepper. The hope was to find some things she likes to chew to replace her sudden new love of my couch throw pillows. Two of the toys she won’t touch at alls. This elephant I have noticed her carrying around quite a bit. Today she was definitely snuggling with it.
Pets
These three were pretty cute tonight all cuddled up in the big chair:
Ben absolutely loves the sword Kaitlyn brought him from Disney. It has been played with by every person in this house. Tonight I decided to introduce him to the movie behind “Jack Sparrow.” Kaitlyn assured me that she wouldn’t be bothered by the graphics (I did warn her about the skeletons). The littles loved the movie. They watched, danced, and fought swords. It was adorable.
Ben told me he had a new game he wanted the family to play. We put him off a day or two, but he was very insistent. We tried to sell him on just Wade and I playing, but he really wanted the entire family to play. We finally convinced Alex and Teague to show some interest and excitement and we all set down to play “Left, Right, Oink.”
Ben had found my bag of random die. There was a die with “Left”, “Right”, and a “pig face” on the various sides. With Ben’s game, you roll and then either hop to the left, right, or say “oink.” When we asked if there was a winner, he just grinned. We finally agreed that the first person to reach four “oinks” would be declared winner. (Spoiler – Wade wins)
We had our first snow day of the year! We waited all weekend for the snow to come last night. We woke up to white! The prediction was 9 inches. We are guessing more like 6, but we’ll take it. It continued snowing most of the day but the kids got out and played in the yard before coming in for hot chocolate and some electronics time.
Then we convinced almost everyone to join us for sledding.
Dinner was almost ready. The kids had set the table. Everyone left the kitchen and I was finishing up the last few things so we could sit down. Then I glanced over at the table and realized we had one more joining us for dinner.
Kaitlyn slept later than usual this morning. (Why not since she had a morning off from school?) At some point I was walking by her room and realized Pepper was in bed with Kaitlyn. That was something I had never seen before. I stopped to talk to Kaitlyn and she confirmed that Pepper woke her up. We finally decided that Pepper was just going about her normal schedule – which is spend a large part of the day in Kaitlyn’s bed (hoping to look out her windows to the driveway, but only when Kaitlyn remembers to raise her shades). Pepper just didn’t realize Kaitlyn was sleeping in today.
KitKat spent the entire day inside and seemed to move from one napping spot to another.
I checked the mail today and found the sweetest envelope inside our mailbox. It was obviously hand delivered (with no stamp or return address) and inside was a note from a neighbor and a picture of KitKat sleeping on our front porch.
Pepper has lots of not so great qualities, but she does play fetch. We all love that. Pepper tends to be a little particular about what she fetches – a Kong frisbee – yes; a nerf ball – yes; a tennis ball – no. Wade came home today with a new fetching toy. I was a little skeptical because we have had similar toys before. However, today, Wade worked with her and got her to fetch the tennis ball the toy throws. Then we turned it over to the kids. The little kids love being able to throw the tennis ball much farther than normal.
School was cancelled last night and the kids trickled downstairs at all hours of the morning. The rain turned to snow around 9 am. It snowed all day long but the accumulation was minimal, only a few inches. We definitely didn’t get the 8-10 that were initially predicted. My kids probably got too much screen time, but Alex got his server working, I got some computer work done, and everybody had some fun. In the late afternoon, Ben did ask to go outside. I warned him it wasn’t going to be fun snow, but he insisted he needed to take Pepper out for a walk. He went out in the slush for a little while and had a great time.
I was putting away the remains from breakfast and lunch making when I caught Pepper and KitKat having a moment.
Quite often we watch Secrets of the Zoo (filmed at the Columbus Zoo) as a family before bed. Tonight I reached over to grab a blanket out of the basket and instead found KitKat all curled up.
Today Wade turns 44. We did most of our celebrating yesterday because today Kaitlyn gymnastics and both big boys (and Wade) and have handbell practice. We did manage to sit down together for dinner – chicken noodle soup and banana pudding – both at Wade’s request.
Then Ben hopped into the box he has been decorating and asked for a push. I was more than a little surprised when Alex immediately started being the motor for the boat. (It turns out Pepper was the shark.) When Alex got tired, Teague jumped in to take over. Ben was in heaven.
KitKat gets a lot of love in our house. Today Kaitlyn got some extra snuggles.
This was our Saturday. It started with Ben wanting his own chore list. He petered out after about three chores, but he did manage to unload the silverware from the dishwater, empty all the small trashcans, and pick up all the dog toys. Then Ben was “dressed” to go outside with Pepper. It’s his new favorite activity. He takes a dog toy out but then never actually gives it to Pepper. They just run around like crazy outside, but they both seem to enjoy it.
Next up was morning cartoons. We have been delaying them on Saturdays until Kaitlyn gets back from cheer practice. Then everyone finished up chores and disappeared for iPad time or got ready for their playdates. (Kaitlyn is pretty excited that she managed to schedule three playdates in a row this weekend.)
My kids could spend hours playing with the leaf blower. Last night, Ben figured out that Pepper’s ball is the perfect size for some additional fun. Pepper was a little confused why her ball was not being thrown for her.
The video cracked the kids up and after we were back inside they wanted to watch it over and over.
We decided to grill hotdogs for dinner and then ended up spending the entire evening outside. The kids ran around, Wade and I sat and talked. It was perfect. Kaitlyn decided to dig out her bow and arrow and do some practicing before dinner. Then Alex picked it up after dinner – that’s what started the battle. Wade and I got such a kick out of watching the battle that followed. Teague brought his nerf bow down and the kids played forever. The little kids were content retrieving arrows and chasing the big kids. (No one ended up in tears – a miracle.) Why can’t every night be like this?
KitKat was hanging out in my office today when Ben decided to give her some love. KitKat must have enjoyed it because every time I turned around she was arching into his pets. Then Ben wanted to share his favorite lovey with her and she seemed content with that too.
Lately KitKat joins Ben and I during the reading of books before nap time and then she sleeps with Ben all during nap time. I commented today during our books that KitKat must have other things to do since she didn’t join us. Imagine my surprise when I later turned on the monitor and saw that KitKat had joined Ben for the sleeping part of the nap.
She was just begging to have her picture taken this morning.
KitKat got a new pillow for Christmas but it’s never quite found a home. It recently ended up in my office and today KitKat spent the entire day right by my side. It was pretty sweet to have her snoozing beside me all day while I worked.
Pepper is in dog heaven with all the extra people home all day. Teague likes having a constant companion while he does school at home. I do not like all the extra fur on the kitchen floors.
Alex always has a grand plan. Today he wanted to build a rocket. This is exactly the kind of thing Wade loves to help with. They built a coke bottle rocket and we all gathered outside to watch it shoot to the sky! (Then we shot it off over and over.)
It appears that Pepper has managed to teach Ben a new trick.
KitKat is fully recovered and back up to her old tricks.
KitKat is home and recovering from her spay surgery. Right now she is a little groggy, but she managed to remove her cone. We are supposed to restrict her movements so we put her in Pepper’s kennel, but I’m not sure how long that will last. KitKat is a very, very vocal cat.
This cat is literally climbing the walls (and windows).
Today was a glorious fall day. We spent the majority of it outside. Wade did a little yard work. The kids were into all kinds of things, but I loved that they mostly just played.
I walked in to find these two snuggling on the floor.
We are thankful for such wonderful weather! We read books, played outside, played soccer, and eventually enjoyed s’mores by the fire.
Today was a rather relaxed day at our house. Ben spent a lot of time entertaining himself and I enjoyed taking pictures of him while he did.
Madison always loved to swim. We tried Pepper in the pool when she was a tiny puppy but it’s been a long while. We took her over to the pool today to see how she would do. Spoiler – she hated it!
I found Ben hand feeding KitKat on the kitchen table this morning. It was pretty adorable.
I had the cutest ballerina in my kitchen all morning. She went from snuggling a kitten to playing with a vintage parking garage and cars.
Today there was a little bit of silliness, a little bit of driving around, and quite a bit of watching kitten antics.
KitKat is the shiny new toy in our house. Of course everyone wants to hold and love on her. Kittens are the cutest.
We were all happy to be home and so excited to see KitKat again.
Pepper was scared of KitKat initially, but they are definitely tolerating each other. Ben loves having a little fuzzy something to snuggle. He is quickly learning how to be gentle.
I was promised a kitten for my birthday but it proved very difficult in these COVID days to find a kitten. It seems that everyone is adopting kittens and puppies. To make matters even more difficult, we really only wanted one kitten, not two. Because of the demand, most organizations are requiring any adoption to be of two kittens. After months of searching, a friend finally let me know there were kittens at her horse barn. We were so excited to pick one out and we brought it home today! After much discussion, we have named our new addition KitKat.
Today a swan played in my kitchen all morning with magnets. Being Kaitlyn, she decided to switch out the original hairpiece with her pink and white feather one.
Ben loves our robot vacuum. He catches a ride at every opportunity. I find it hilarious so I do nothing to stop it. I’m pretty sure Wade would have a very different view so let’s just not tell him about this…
The weather makes the afternoons so wonderful to be outside! The kids are definitely bored with everything inside and love being outside to run and play. Even Alex is enjoying playing with us outside.
Poor Pepper. She loves having her people around all the time but she can’t stand it when anybody is outside without her. Alex is outside playing basketball in the rain and she is running from window to window in a frenzy.
These kiddos are taking their forced “recess” time pretty well. Pictures show they are actually having fun.
Pepper was supposed to be Alex’s. Pepper voluntarily spends most of the day in Alex’s room while he is at school and after he is home. Alex feeds her. He is really good about taking her out if I ask or cleaning up her messes if I ask. However, as soon as Alex goes to bed, this is what happens.
Last night we said goodbye to the best dog ever. 15 years wasn’t quite long enough.
Granny and Pop came to visit and we saved our Christmas from them to celebrate together. The kids didn’t seem too upset to be opening more presents.
Ben and Madison spend a lot of time together. I shouldn’t have been surprised to realize that Ben has started to imitate Madison. He now purposely dumps his raisins onto the floor so he can eat them like Madison – meaning with no hands…