Hermes

Hermes is our neighbor's cat (one of four- he is part of the PuppyKittyHedgehogChicken House Zoo Crew).  He likes to visit us pretty regularly, and particularly likes relaxing on our porches and chatting through the screen doors with Pongo. 

Sometimes dinner gets interrupted by impromptu kitty petting sessions.  And even Andy thinks he is pretty cool.

He and Sylvie are good friends.  He leads her around the yard like a dog, and she gleefully follows him wherever he goes (he even climbs up into our swing set clubhouse on occasion).

Here's a little video of him being is cool, cool self:

And here's another one of him trotting around the yard, keeping an eye on the activities of everyone in the family:

The Pond: 2.0 or "How the Cooper Family Grows"

When we moved into our house ten years ago we were (erm, I was) delighted by the little pond and waterfall in our front yard.  Two goldfish were its happy occupants, and all was well.  Then a sneaky raccoon moved in, the fish disappeared, and the pond began to leak.  A lot.

As Andy so delicately put it, the pond became a "mosquito cesspool".

This spring, I decided to rectify the situation.  Since Andy has repeatedly vetoed chickens, bees, and a pony, I knew the only way to increase my brood was by way of the pond.

A long weekend of rock moving, digging, and building (being supervised by Hermes the Cat):

A new liner, lots more rock rearranging, and some planting, and we finished with this:

A running waterfall, two filters, and lots of "floater plants" to aerate and clean the water, and all that was missing was....fish!

I was still a little leery to add fish to the pond considering our local wildlife situation, but when I took Sylvie to the pet store to check out our options, I decided that something had to be done.  Small (runty) goldfish are apparently kept as "feeder fish" for other bigger fish, and are packed 100 to a tank until they are eaten.  I figured that even if my new fish only survived for a few weeks, a short life in a pond was going to be way better than a REALLY short life in an overstocked tank.

When it finally got warm enough to bring our pond tempt into the acceptable range then back to the pet store we went.  Based on our pond size, we decided to stock it with three "feeder" comet goldfish, three "feeder" minnows which will devour any mosquito larvae in the water, and (ahem) a pair of cheap, small Koi (that were NOT part of the original plan) but that Elsie fell in love with and subsequently named YellowWhitey Fish and Sunshiney Fish. 

They should all coexist nicely, and since they are all significantly faster swimming breeds than the Fancy Goldfish we previously inherited, they should be better suited to avoiding predators.

We added a broken pot and some carefully arranged rock "bridges" to provide cover and hiding spots if the neighbor animals do come crawling.  At $13, though, I think the fish have already provided enough joy and entertainment to be worth the investment (even if it is short-lived).

They are happily exploring their new home, zooming around like lightning and finding lots of places to hide.  I managed to catch one (really bad) picture of one of the Koi as he swam under the pump hose (the white in the lower left corner) and one little goldfish (the orange in the center).  They look huge, but they are actually only about 3" and 1" respectively.  They might grow, though!

Sylvie and Sylvie.

Every day fun at the Puppykitty House!

What better way to celebrate St. Patrick's day, than with face paints, puppies, and Irish pride? 

Spring is coming!

Puddle walks, rain boots, and sunshine, oh my!

Crappy Dinner Party Fridays

A group of mama friends and I get together with our kids every Friday night for crappy dinner parties (no cleaning, no special trips to the grocery store, nothing complicated) with our kids. 

This last week was so beautiful (65F!), we all brought bikes and spent the afternoon and evening playing in the cul-de-sac, splashing in puddles, and burying dinosaurs in the last of winter's plowing snow piles. 

A picnic dinner, lots of desserts and wine, lots of dogs on walks, and even a stray puppy rescue made this one of the best in recent memory. 

Sylvie's 2nd birthday- blowing out candles like a pro and other videos.

Because Grandma wanted another video...

Elsie at school.

Clean up girl.

Twenty minutes after putting Sylvie down for her nap, I hear singing coming from her room...

"Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere!

Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share!"

(Or rather, "Keen-up, keen-up, evy body evy where!

Keen-up, keen-up, evy body do or tare!")

 

When I open the door, Sylvie smiles and yells, "Mama, it's cleaning time!  I clean up!" 

She'd picked up all the books on the floor and stacked them into a huge tower on her stool.  

I lean in to give her a hug, and she says, "Mama, I clean up.  Now pizza time?"

We compromised on a bagel.

And here she is, thirty minutes later.  Notice the half-eaten bagel clutched in her hands :)
 

Poop, belly buttons, and other New Year miscellany.

The scene:  Two girls, a large amount of poop floating in the tub, and Elsie isn't 'fessing.

Mama:  Elsie, I'm not upset that you accidentally pooped in the tub, I am sad that you lied about it.

Elsie:  But I didn't poop in the tub!  Sylvie did!

Mama:  Well, there is A LOT of poop in here for Sylvie to have made, plus it is full of clemetine pulp.  Sylvie didn't eat any clementines today, but you had two at lunch.  It just makes me sad when you lie to me.

Elsie:  But, Mama, YOU lied to ME! You said you LOVE cleaning poop, and now you are pretending you don't like it!

Mama:  I don't remember every saying that I love cleaning poop...

Daddy:  Elsie, I am sure Mama didn't say that.  No one likes cleaning poop.

Elsie:  Yes, mama did say that!  Mama lied to me!  That's why I pooped in the tub.

***

The scene:  Elsie and Mama learning Spanish together on the computer.  After approximately 20 minutes...

Elsie:  Mama, when we are done learning this, then are we going to be Spanish?

"Chasing" around the empty stairs and halls of the mall over the Christmas holiday.  The mall walkers found them very entertaining!

***

The scene:  Elsie removes Mama's socks for no apparent reason, then leans in close...

Elsie:  Mama!  Your feet DON'T SMELL!  Did you know that?

***

The scene: eating scrambled eggs for lunch, with the promise of three chocolate chips each if they finish their protein.

Elsie:  Mama, my tummy is all full.  It says it doesn't have any more room for eggs.

Mama:  Oh, that's too bad.  If it doesn't have any room for protein, it must not have any room for chocolate chips, either.  

 Elsie:  Oh, no, Mama!  I put my eggs in my stomach, and it doesn't have any more room.  I put my desserts in my belly button, and THAT still has lots of room!  If I ate the rest of my eggs, though, then my belly button would be full, too, and I wouldn't have room for dessert!

Elsie teaches Sylvie (and Rover) about headbands.  Sylvie is not impressed.

Twinkle

Much requesting, ridiculously hard to catch on film!  Enjoy!

Holiday Fun

Playing Ball with Pop

Sylvie had a great time with her cousins, aunts, uncles, and of course grandparents, she is still learning to throw but loved playing ball with pop!

Family Movie Night

A quick photo from one of our favorite family traditions, Family Movie Night.  It usually involves an animated PG as entertaining to adults as to littles, and some homemade pizza.  Though in this case, How to Train Your Dragon was accompanied by Andy's famous Flat Pancakes, per the 4 1/2 year-old birthday girl's request!

A new farm!

On one of the last beautiful fall days, the girls and I adventured to a new (to us) local petting farm.  Elsie insisted we all wear overalls and stripes, because "That's what farmers wear."  All right, then!

We loved the new farm!  We enjoyed a walk through a pumpkin patch, a corn maze, a tour of the animals, a hayride, and a picnic lunch at the playground.  Our morning in pictures:

Elsie and little B, a friend practically since birth.  Aren't they cute together?

Traversing the "small" corn maze with Miss A and B.  We had to find pictures of five birds before exiting.  It was way too hard for Miss A and I to figure out while trying to keep three little kids from disappearing into the rows of corn!

We finally found them all, AND found the exit!  Sylvie leads the way!

Sylvie had trouble remembering not to climb into the animal pens.

Luckily, the animals all seemed very pleased to make her acquaintance!

Sylvie especially loved the goats..."Hello, goaty!  Goat!  Goat!  Hello! Pet me?  Pet me, Goat?"

We got to hand-feed the goats.  Elsie was very proud that 'her' goat figured out how to eat pellets out of her cup instead of being fed by hand!

Sylvie preferred to feed the goats by hand, one pellet at a time.

Elsie loved the giant slide at the playground.

The tractor-tire obstacle course was also a big hit with both girls.

Sylvie tried to climb the fence between the petting farm and the playground to get back into the goat pen.  Twice.

Elsie preferred to play on the numerous climbers and slides.

We spent at least 40 minutes playing in the gigantic "corn box".

We had a great time, and I am sure we will be visiting often next year!

Winter fun with the girls!

Enjoyed a warmer winter day, made a snowman there

Also had fun getting there and back.

More 2014 Halloween Fun

A picture of the costumes at ballet class...mostly princesses and fairies, but Elsie did mix it up (a little) by being a "kitty fairy."  Sylvie photo bombs the shot to run and get a hug from her big-kid friend, A.

Elsie and I spent Halloween afternoon making gourd people and animals.

These were some of our favorites.

Elsie made a nice pumpkin!

Making the rounds...a giraffe (it was warmer than the princess outfit Elsie picked for her), Andy the Wizard, and Belle (with a warm coat).  The unexpectedly cold weather put a damper on our costumes!

We trekked all the way to a friend's house, then went inside to warm up and meet his son for the first time.  Sylvie liked Justin (the boy), but greatly preferred Purr-purr ("Pooper") the cat.  Bilbo Baggins, Teddy, and Bitty Kitty also made appearances, as did Lila the Dog (Elsie's favorite), but Sylvie seems to like the little Persian the best.

We took a quick family photo before we headed home.  We didn't make too many stops on the way- Sylvie decided after just a few houses that "I no like it" when it came to Trick-or-Treating, so she mostly stayed warm under blankets in the wagon.  Both girls enjoyed handing out candy when we got home, though, and Elsie was very impressed by the pile of "garbage" (candy wrappers) she personally produced in one evening!