She's Not As Innocent As She Looks

Neither She -- Nor She

So, after school today Lilly may have raised her voice a tiny bit and spoke to Abigail in a horrible voice. She was demanding to know where her bracelet was that Abigail had had in the morning before she left for school. My guess is that Abigail didn't like her tone and she hauled off and smacked Lilly (really hard) right in the face! I was stunned. Lilly cried. It hurt no doubt. Both girls were put in time out. Lilly for being rude. Abigail, well for smacking her sister in the face of course.

Oh the sibling rivalry begins so young. Is this seriously how girls fight? I never had a sister, but never expected this! Boy, oh boy we are in trouble... or more like girl, oh girl, oh girl are we in trouble!

He Promised

I decided to pick Lilly up from school yesterday since it was rainy AND because she asked me too, AND because she was up at 5:45 am and I did not want a repeat situation of Lilly falling asleep on the bus again. So I arrived at school a tiny bit early. Early enough that I saw all of her classmates and her sitting lined up in the hallway waiting patiently for the bell to ring while they all sang along with her teacher to Alice the Camel. It was super cute, anyways... once Lilly saw me she wanted to know why I had come to pick her up and when I told her all three reasons she said she had changed her mind and that now she in fact wanted to ride the bus home from school. Once I convinced her to ride with me she said I should never pick her up again. No problem Lilly! LOL So, right in front of the school gate was a huge puddle. When I say huge, I mean gigantic. It was inches deep and probably about 5 feet wide. Lilly saw this and said "That is a big flood Mom! Look there!!" I said "It is a big flood Lilly, you are right." Then Lilly says "But Momma, I thought God said he would never ever flood the whole world ever again?!" My response "You're right baby, he did promise that." Lilly asks then "Then Momma, why did he flood it again?" Momma's response "Baby, that is just a great big puddle. God will never flood the whole world again, He promised us that." Lilly "Okay Mom. I get it now." I guess all those stories I am reading her are actually sinking in. Perhaps I am doing something right as a parent.

Mouser

There was no doubt in my mind that when we moved into an old country farm house we were bound to have mice. No question at all. Let me tell you though I am shocked at the amount of mice this house has been blessed with. From the very first night we were here we were hearing, and seeing evidence of mice and so we got our mouser. Meet Smokey...

Isn't he cute? And, a good mouser he is. OR a good mouser he was, until he started going outside. Let me tell you, I had huge reservations about this. I have never let any of my cats outside in my whole life (all 4 of them) and never thought I would ever let one out. Country living caused me to change my opinions (as has litter changing -- mind you it took his awhile before he realized he could do his business outdoors) about outdoor/indoor cats and hence, when the escape artist exited the building on too many occasions and I could do nothing to catch him, I finally let him be. He always comes home and until recently he never spent a night outdoors. Yes, until recently. He has now spent two whole nights outside, or at least in the sun room. Because you know, this mouser is a smart kitty and he lets himself out the screen door and then lets himself in by climbing though a small whole in the bottom of it. SMART kitty! Or, is he? Silly cat has caught and eaten a whole lot of mice. He even catches them outside before they get in which is saying a whole lot. The problem? Well, I went to bed early last night and woke for a bathroom break around 11pm. I decided I would go online for a few minutes to see if i heart faces was allowing links yet (they were)! This was great! I got adding my post for this weeks entry when pitter-patting, scurrying across my living room floor, a tiny mouse. I yelled a little. "Smokey! Where the hell are you?". This yelling caused Liam to wake (Sorry Hon!) and he went and fetched the cat from his comatose state from Charlie's bed and put him in the direct vicinity of the mouse. Well, Smokey being the smart (AND LAZY) kitty that he is sniffed for about one and a half minutes and went straight back to bed. My feeling on the matter is that he is getting much to much fresh air in the day time and sleeping too much at night while he should be mousing. I think if he wasn't so cute I might fire him! Something seriously grosses me out about a mouse in the living room. I can handle them in the laundry room, and the basement but the living room is crossing the line.


Dear Mice,

I knew you would be lurking in our household and have fully accepted that. Please do us a favor though and stay out of any room where my children play and where we walk with bare feet. You are crossing the line. Also, if you could please only come out when Smokey is wide awake so he can catch you, we would be forever grateful.

Yours truly,

The Momma of this household



Dear Smokey,

Start catching mice again for Momma inside the house at night and make me proud! I will love you so much more then -- promise!

XOXO,

Momma

i heart faces -- Blue

I remember my very first entry at i heart faces. It was the green entry. Seems like forever ago really. Anyhow, I struggled with this one a little bit this week. I had many 'blue' photos to choose from, all of which were much better quality than this one, but I decided I would go with the more obvious 'blue' photo. I really wanted to make the category known this week because that is what they asked. I know it may not be the most creative shot and my subject's sweet face is blurred and behind a mess of hair (she was in desperate need of a hair cut). But, there is indeed a face in my photo and I was feeling brave {grin}. Hope you think it is as fun as I do.

Head on over to i heart faces and check out the other blue entries. I am excited to see how creative people got this week. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! It's a bright week ahead, I can feel it!

Blessings,

Warning -- Picture Overload!

Seriously, Frution Berry Farm is the best! We paid $10.00 for entry for all five of us and got to go on a tractor ride around the farm and around the huge corn maze. As you know from any previous posts of ours, mazes are not totally our thing, so we didn't do the maze. I just love the pumpkin patch there and love that you can wander it and pick any old pumpkin that you want. It is also awesome for photos. I am surprised by how few places we have found that you can walk in a patch to get your pumpkin. Everywhere we have gone always has pumpkins in a big bin to pick from. What kind of pictures can you get doing that? Boo! LOL

Anyways, we did not buy any pumpkins today. If you didn't notice from our decorations we already have too many pumpkins. Mommy just couldn't miss an opportunity to take some fall pictures and the girls did have fun trying to pick up the pumpkins. We did buy some gourds (sp?) though and when we went to pay for them the lady asked it we did the maze. When we told her no she immediately gave us our admission back. Are you kidding me? Check it out folks, seriously. We went for free and paid only $5.00 for 20 gourds! You only pay admission if you want to go through the maze. We did try the maze last year and it was CRAZY! We had to cheat to get out and you totally were not suppose to. It was hard! Anyhow, enough words for this post already... enjoy some pictures. Oh, and check out Tessa that little sweetie. She went crazy over that pumpkin!

Day Three and Four

I will add some more pictures from Lilly's school days here after. I don't feel at all like grabbing my camera and adding photos to the computer right now. Lazy? Yes. Tired? For sure. So there! So day three when well for Lilly, or at least we would have expected it to. When I met Lilly at the bus stop she came running into my arms sobbing. I had to hold back tears myself and try and get to the bottom of what happened. She was tired! Her cheeks were all flushed and she kept telling me over and over how tired she was. Was your day at school okay Lilly? Yes, I'm tired {sob}. What about the bus ride? It was too long. I'm so tired {sob}. This went on the whole walk home (which is only up the driveway), into the house, and even after washing up and a bathroom break. All Lilly wanted to do was lay in bed with Momma and cry. I felt terrible. I was worried she hated her new classroom and her teacher was mean. I worried someone picked on her and she would never want to go back to school again. I heard a lot of how she missed her old teacher (two days is long enough to cause a bonding relationship at her age) and that her bus ride was SO LONG! Anyhow, she did tell us she liked her new teacher and she indeed had a good day. Phew! So, when I walked her to the bus on Wednesday (let me share with you that Lilly asked "what kind of punishment this was" that she had to go to school again so soon) I said in front of the bus driver that maybe she should sit closer to the front on the ride home. He asked why and I explained how upset she had been from Monday's ride home. Mr. Super. Nice. Bus. Driver. Man. told me Lilly had fallen asleep on the way home on Monday, hence the tears and disorientation and complaints of being tired! Ah ha! It all makes perfect sense now! I'll also have you know that I did ask Lilly if she had fallen asleep on the bus and she said she definitely didn't! Uh huh! LOL Don't always trust your four year old.

What a relief! Day Four, indeed without a hitch! She smiled hugely when she got off the bus and was so looking forward to taking Daddy and Mommy to her school for the open house on Thursday. I had already met Lilly's teacher so, it was mostly for Liam. Mrs. Olhman really couldn't tell us an awful lot since she had only known Lilly for two days except that on Wednesday she totally refused to eat the lunch I packed for her (and she choose) because it stunk! Okay, maybe a little hitch.LOL Man, oh man she cracks me up! I had already known this information of course because of the sandwich being sent home in her lunch bag and her telling me right away that since she had to eat her orange for lunch instead of snack that she had to get a snack from the office for after lunch recess! Another tid bit, as we walked into the school and by the office (during her school open house) the principle popped her had out, smiled and said "Hi Lilly!" After four days of kindergarten even the principle knows my child. Either she is a bright light (which I totally think he is) or she is such a trouble maker and the principle thinks we don't pack our kid with a proper lunch!

i heart faces -- Candid

How could I have not grabbed up my camera for this moment between a little guy (my sweet 2nd cousin) and his Grandad? This little guy is usually a serious one who is mesmerized by the camera, so when I got this totally candid shot I was thrilled by the outcome.

Head on over to i heart faces and check out the other candid photos now. Wow, that sounded kinda bossy! I promise though, they will not disappoint.

It's That Time Again!

My favourite time of year!

An Apple Picking Kinda Day

Fall is here in deed.

It was an apple picking kind of day.

We all packed in the van and headed to Wampoose.

Cause it was an apple picking kinda day.

We picked us some apples.

We posed real pretty.

We put our youngest in the apple barrel.

And Mommy snapped a ton of pictures like always.

We even tasted some apples...

then paid for the goods.

It was a beautiful day. An apple picking kinda day!

Turn up the Heat!

Seriously! You would think it was fall or something. Man, oh man it is cold in here. And us being as lucky as we are have a heater that will not function. The girls are all snug and cozy in their warm winter jammies and I will be freezing in my bed tonight... or will I? Our good (scratch that) great friends Carla and Jay, hooked us up with an electric heater about an hour ago (Jason and Liam are still outside talking to one another at 11PM) and I have it going now making me all toasty and warm. Off to bed soon to crank that thing. Tuesday cannot come soon enough when they come to maintenance our furnace!

Okay, I may just be a little tiny bit of a wimp here, but country life is much colder than city life. Could have something to do with those old, very old farmhouse windows. Brrrr

Hope everyone else is toasty warm tonight. Enjoy your weekend all!

Without a Hitch -- Day 2!

Lilly went off to her second day of Kindergarten just as excited (if not more) than the first. It was awesome too see her hop right on the bus like she had been doing it forever. I am so proud of her! Liam was home a little early yesterday so he was there with me and the girls to meet her at the drive when she got off the bus. We both thought she would be beyond thrilled to have Daddy there to greet her too. Instead she came across the road again with her bus buddy smiling hugely, gave me a big hug and kiss, looked at Liam and said "What are you doing here?". Not the reaction he hoped for. Then he proceeded to ask her about her day and she couldn't get away from us quickly enough skipping far ahead of all of us. We are beginning to discover that you just have to let Lilly tell you things at her own pace or she will avoid you like the plague.For example, I found out two days before Lilly was to go back to school (almost a full week later) that Lilly had done arts and crafts on her first day of school. I swear it all just kept coming out the whole week. So much to absorb for one little mind! We did feel though that her second day of school went off without a hitch. She is crazy excited to go back again on Monday, even after she found out last night that she will now be in a different classroom with some bigger kids, have a new teacher and be in a new J/K and S/K split. That is my girl... so amazing. You are truly amazing Lilly and a bright light in your lives.

Love you so much! We know you will do wonderful in your new classroom and your new teacher will adore you! Did I say how much I love you?!

i heart faces -- Contemplative

Look at this little study. She is such a happy baby but she definitely doesn't miss a thing. I often find my self contemplating what she is thinking!

Head on over to i heart faces this week to check out the other entires. There is even a 'just for fun' pet week again. Here is my entry for that...

I may or may not have a total LOVE for donkeys and of course contemplative babies!

Play Catch Up? Maybe Later

It is surprisingly quiet in my house right now.

Enjoyable doesn't cut it.

All girls are sleeping.

The kitty is sleeping too.

Liam and Charlie are out.

I am all alone.

No t.v.

No noise.

Just cars driving by and crickets.

And maybe a mouse in the cupboard.

Kitty wake up!

I need to play catch up.

But, not now.

Maybe later.

I am far to busy enjoying the quiet.

She did Great! Surprisingly I did too!

Please click on the images to make them larger.

She did it! And, she did it great! Lilly headed off to her first day of school today and everyone held it together -- yes, even Mommy! I was a little surprised with myself but seeing her smile that way sure did help. I know she will do wonderful in school.

So, she sure had a crew seeing her off this morning. Gramma, Mommy, Daddy and her two little sisters walked her to the bus stop and she got on without any hesitation at all! I hopped in the van and headed to her school to see her off and she was so thrilled about her first bus ride. She said it was long though! She was obviously anxious to get there and the normal 2 min drive was more like 15 - 20 min after all the other stops! Anyhow her teacher was there to meet her so we said goodbye at her doorway. I cannot wait to see her at 4. I know she is having an awesome day -- I can feel it :)

My little girl is all grown up and off to kindergarden! {sniffles} Just kidding. No tears!

A Labour Day Fishing Adventure

Well, I thought I was going to enter in i heart faces this week and decided against it today. Last week Lilly and I went to meet her new teacher on Wednesday and I did take a few pictures before we went but nothing too extraordinary. Lilly doesn't officially start kindergarden until Wednesday. It is so close I could throw up! I am getting more nervous by the hour. I didn't know I could feel this way but I am seriously beginning to freak out a little! I know she will do great but Momma is having some sickness for her boy! LOL

Anyhow, here are some pictures from our evening fish tonight. Lilly and Abigail both caught their first fish and Lilly even caught a small bass! I have to admit that the girls were very into the fishing for the first two catches each and then they wanted nothing at all to do with fishing after that. It may or may not have something to do with Daddy's over excitement and Mommy trying to get them to hold the fish themselves for a picture... probably not though :)

We took a bathroom break at one point tonight and Liam stayed fishing with Tessa behind him in the stroller. He got giggling so hard when I got back telling me the people on the other side of the locks were talking about him badly. They could not believe he was fishing on shore with a baby behind him in a stroller paying little attention to her! What a dead beat Daddy! Shame!

Anyhow, I am tired and have my boy Declan first thing in the morning. Hope this gets us all caught up... well it almost does. I forgot one more thing... sweet Little Tessa sported a funky rash on her hands and feet after a fever for a few days... turns out she had hand foot and mouth virus! Fun fun fun! I know it sounds horrible, but in fact it is just a cold and she is all better now :) Goodnight All!

My Kind of Camping Continued...

So here are the pictures I promised you all. The girls LOVE being at the campground. I only wish I was brave enough for an adventure like that ourselves. I am kind of like my Mom in the fact that she and I think Camping is so much work! It doesn't seems like any kind of vacation at all when you have to make your own food and clean your own dishes every night! Plus let us not forget the long walk to the restroom for the middle of the night piddle! LOL So, when my in-laws come and visit, it is the perfect time for us to all just get a good taste of the camping life I just may like (in the future)!

Here is my sweet sister-in law Katherine. The girls (especially Lilly) love this girl... Look at her, how could they not?

Trying to give kisses to Uncle Nick is easier than it looks. He is mush when it comes to his nieces!

I seriously cannot get over this girl. I am so afraid I am not going to get a regular smile out of her anymore. All my future pictures of her might look like this!

Momma and her first -- both a little tired. I was thinking the first night after Lilly slept at the camper that Nick was definately a fair trade (but not better one) because he woke up just before 7am like Lilly does every day! No sleep in for me :)

The girls had a blast at the camper and Abigail even had her first sleepover! Lilly stayed there Saturday night and both girls stayed Sunday night! The girls are both recovering from a long long weekend and resting it up. Lilly has her first day of school on Wednesday! Ahh!

Thanks so much for having the girls stay with you there Gramma Liz and Grampa Keith and Katherine! They love you very much! Nick they love too, but he got to live in the lap of luxury this weekend here at the Porter residence :)