Here We Go Again

I was single when I bought the house we now live in and one of the selling points of this house was that the lot backs up to a wooded area.  In my single, suburban mind I was thinking "Great! I don't have any neighbors back there".  It never crossed my mind that wooded areas contain woodland creatures.

Yes, this is another animal post.  No, there are no animals living in the garage.  At least not right now.

Matt and Dixie spent at least 30 minutes on Friday evening watching two rabbits in the backyard.  I watched for about 5 minutes because they were just sitting there doing nothing and I got bored.  Matt and Dixie were riveted.

For the 5 minutes I did watch, they were eating, hopping around, and jumping over each other which was  fun to watch.  

But my fun turned to horror when Matt said, "That's it, I'm buying rabbit food".

Here we go again.

Luckily, the rabbits are not babies and there is no chance of capture and housing them in the garage.  Its not a raccoon and they are pretty cute.  And really, once you've had a raccoon living in your garage (part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4) some rabbits in the backyard that your husband may or may not feed and try to befriend are no big deal.

Some of you may be wondering where the Daulton content is.  There's been a change in the editorial review process and any Daulton related posts will now go through Daulton for approval.  For the story and how we came to this decision, you can read more here.

Name That Dessert

We had a discussion the other night about what dessert Daulton took to school for lunch.  We asked him what he had and this is what we got.  I'm going to give you the clues and let's see if you can figure it out.

Its yellow.

Its square.

Its a cake, square cake.

Its like a cake but its stringy when you pull it apart.

Its got bumps on it and "the bumps are very tasty".  (That's a direct quote.)

The bumps are not sprinkles.

It comes in a blue, yellow, and white wrapper with bees on it.

Any guesses?

The final answer is Rice Krispies treat.

Did you get it right?

Yeah, neither did we.  We had to text Daulton's mom to figure out what the dessert was because we had no idea what the dessert was either.

The cake and bees clues really threw me off as I was thinking cake and not rice krisipie treats.  And there aren't any bees on the wrapper, its Snap, Crackle, and Pop.

Image Source: Amazon

Dixie Got A Haircut

I like to think we are great dog owners, we give Dixie love, affection, food, and she's got a great life.  But we don't always get her groomed as often as we should and she often looks like a a ragamuffin.  

The other reason we don't get her groomed as often as we should is because its a big pain to take her.  She doesn't like to ride in the car, so its an issue to get her in the car and then she flops around everywhere since she hasn't figured out how to ride in the car.  And once we get to the groomers, there are new smells to check out and my arch nemesis when I'm with Dixie...cats.  There are several cats that live at the groomers and pretty much go wherever they want.  One time, a cat walked by Dixie and waved its tail under her nose (I'm pretty sure it was just to taunt her) and there was almost a blood bath.

This time, Dixie put on the brakes when it was time to go back.  She refused to walk and the girl had to drag her back, with her looking back at me like I was abandoning her (her being the dog).  I had to hide behind a wall so she would stop being such a pain.  Matt says I didn't have to hide behind the wall, but he wasn't there and I think I was justified.  

I have no idea what happens during the actual grooming.  I pay the groomer so I don't have to be a part of that process.  I assume she's a pain, because I've been told she's been "needy" before by another groomer which felt like a parent teacher conference where I'm told my kid is the worst kid in the class.  As a result, I usually end up over tipping to compensate for her behavior and if we're being honest here, my guilt over my ridiculous dog.

But its all worth it because she looks so cute with a haircut.  The bows in her ears and scarf on her neck make her look like a fluffy teddy bear.  And its impossible to get a picture of how cute she is so you will just have to take my word for it.

Just Relaxing

Just relaxing on the couch with his 7UP and light up wine glass.  He's living the dream!

I don't know where he gets it from.

 

Valentine's Party 2nd Grade Style

I had a chance to go to Daulton's Friendship Party last Friday and help out.  I was introduced to the class as Mrs. Butts and I heard a few kids ask Daulton who I was and was proud when he told them "she's my stepmom" with a smile on his face.  I was in charge of the hula hoop game which required getting 7 and 8 year olds to join hands and pass the hula hoop around the circle without breaking hands and in their case, not falling over and no major injuries.

I have much admiration and respect for teachers.  Being in charge of a classroom of kids from different backgrounds, with different personalities, strengths, weaknesses, and quirks is challenging.  I also admire anyone who has the patience to repeat themselves several times throughout the day.  I don't have that kind of patience.

During the hour long party, I was surprised how often I repeated myself.

No, we aren't going to hula hoop.

You (I didn't know his name), keep your shoes on.

Need me to tie your shoes?  (Commence shoe tying.)

Easy!  Don't throw the hula hoop at each other.

Help each other!

No jumping.  (This was after the teacher sternly told us to stop jumping.)

Everyone hold hands.  Yes, everyone.  (A few of the girls made a fuss about holding hands with a few of the boys.)

No, we aren't going to hula hoop.

Remember be easy, don't take each other out with the hula hoop.

Them:  You are really tall.

Me:  Yes I am.

You, put your shoes on.  (Still don't know his name.)

Stop squeezing hands.  (Why do boys do this?)

No jumping.

How is your shoe untied again?  Can I double knot them?  (I was not tying them a third time.)

I had a bit of a standoff with a girl who kept going feet first instead of head first, which meant she almost fell over every time it was her turn and she would've taken out the person next to her.  She tried the "well she did it so I did it" to which I responded "go head first or you are done".  There was then some intense eye contact and she then complied.

You, how do your shoes keep coming off?  (At this point, even if I knew his name I would only be able to refer to him as "Shoes".)

No, we aren't going to hula hoop.

I really enjoy watching Daulton "in his natural environment" and watching him interact with his friends.  And other than the reading date we had, its only the second time I've been to Daulton's school by myself.  It was also really sweet to see Daulton happy to see me and for me to be a part of his class.

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!

Image Source:  My fabulous friend Hanna

Teaching Good Enough

Sometimes, I just need arts and crafts time.  It feels good to do something with my hands, that's not on the computer, and be able to see the finished project.

I bought a heart punch, Valentines Day themed scrapbook paper, and scrapbook adhesive squares and Daulton and I got to work.  My inspiration came from this post on the Flower Patch Farmgirl and then I saved it to Pinterest.  Check out my post on Beyond The Defaults for more information on Pinterest and let me know if you want an invitation.

Daulton was a very good helper and after I showed him how to work the hole punch, he got right to work.  He only took a few breaks to watch iCarly and later to play Wipeout on the Xbox Kinect (holy crap am I sore from playing that game!).

Once we had about 500 hearts punched out (I had no idea we would have 500 hearts until we had 500 hearts punched out), we started assembling the 3-dimensional hearts and attaching them to string.  Daulton watched me put a few together and then decided he was going to try it.

And then he asked me, "Hey Ab, do they have to be perfect?".

I know he was only talking about putting together a Valentines Day craft, but it felt like one of those life lesson moments.  And after a quick glance at Matt, I could see he felt the same way.

So I told him, "Nope, they don't need to be perfect.  They just need to be good enough.  Do you know what that means?"

He said he didn't so we both explained that perfect doesn't exist but its important to always try to do your best.  Matt said it best when he said, "Do you know the difference between good enough and perfect?  Its in your head."

It was the confirmation he needed that I wasn't expecting perfection and we cruised through the rest of the assembly and he helped me hang them around the house.

Were all the hearts perfect?  No, far from it and I had just as many imperfect hearts as he did but that didn't matter because the project turned out great.  It was a fun project for us to do together and it satisfied my need for arts and crafts time.  And for being such a good helper, he got some heart surprises hanging outside of his door this morning.

Why yes, that is a basket of balls on my fireplace.  They say to work with what you've got and that's what we've got lying around everywhere.  It keeps them contained and easily accessible, everyone wins.

Happy 5th Birthday Dixie!

Today is Dixie's 5th birthday.  Technically, its the day we celebrate Dixie's birth and its the anniversary of when we got her because we don't know her actual birthday.  Dixie doesn't mind, she's just happy to get the extra attention.  And I think the fact that she used to live in a prison allows her to be grateful for her current situation.

Dixie is an interesting character as she's not like a regular dog.  She doesn't know how to play and instead her entire focus in life is getting attention and petted.  If you sit down, she is instantly by your side nudging your hand or trying to jump into the chair with you.  At night, I have to race her to the bed because if she gets there first she tends to lay with her head on my pillow and I don't like that.  The only time she is not focused on getting attention is when she smells an animal and then her hunting drive kicks in.  She pulled me into a tree once as I was riding a bike and holding her leash because she caught wind of a rabbit.  And heaven help us if she sees a cat.

To celebrate her birthday, she received lots of love and attention, had her rubber toy filled with peanut butter, extra treats, and some cheeseburger and fries courtesy of her Uncle Jake.  And yes, I sang her Happy Birthday and made her wear the birthday hat.  I did not hang the birthday banner, but since she can't read I didn't think she would mind.

Neither Matt or I have ever had a dog like her, but she's the best dog either of us has ever had and our family wouldn't be complete without her.

Counting Hits

I came across this video on YouTube the other day and instantly thought of my siblings.  No, we didn't hit each other in the faces with iPads but that's only because iPads hadn't been invented then.

It also brought back other memories of how we used to beat the crap out of each other and count the number of hits received and owed.  My brother would hit me, I would then owe him one hit back to be inflicted at any time.  Being able to redeem your hit at any time was great if you were the hitter and terrifying if you were the recipient.  I never knew when my brother or sister would strike, literally.

The best part of this story is that our grandmother is the one who inspired this system.  We were at her house and someone got hit and tattled, grandmother's response was very simple "well, hit 'em back".

Game On Grandmother.  Game On.

We also would build up a bank of hits and if my sister was out of hits and mad at our brother, I could give her one and vice versa.  It was a complicated and efficient system of retribution.

I know for a fact we drove our parents crazy with it and now that I'm older, I admit that at a certain point I just started making up numbers of how many hits I had.  I'm pretty sure Jacob and Laura did the same.  And the violence we inflicted on each other obviously didn't kill us as we all turned out to be successful adults.

In addition to learning how to fight and stand your ground, we also learned about forgiveness... even though we didn't know it at the time.  You can't be mad at someone for too long when you share a room, bathroom, and living space with.  And you never knew when alliances would shift and the sibling you were mad at would be your partner and help you gang up on the other sibling.  You can't have a successful alliance if you are still mad about the fight you had 5 minutes ago, so you get over things pretty quickly.

There's no point in holding a grudge when you are guilty of the same thing your sibling is.  We all make mistakes and lose our tempers.  Let it go and move on.

So mom and dad, I know we drove you crazy with our fighting but I learned how to stand up for myself, where to hit so it doesn't leave a mark, how to forgive, and to get over it from fighting with my siblings.  It only took 30 years, but lesson learned.

The Last Delivery

When I was a sophomore in high school, I was a member of the Exchange Club which was a service organization and that's all I can really remember about it.  I can't tell you how it came to Ritter or why, but I showed up for a meeting and walked out a member.  I know we did service projects but I can only remember two.  The first was sorting cans in the basement at Little Sister's of the Poor in Indianapolis and I only remember it because the nun we worked for took us down to the basement left us down there for hours with no choice but to work because no one knew the way out of the basement.  (Well played Sister, well played.)  The second project was delivering Christmas baskets.

As a junior or senior (I can't remember which, all I know was I had a drivers license), we partnered with the local Westside Exchange Club of Indianapolis to provide the manual labor for their Christmas baskets.  We showed up on December 22, in a cabinet shop somewhere off Washington Street in Indianapolis and we were quickly put to work assembling baskets with food and toys.

The following day, I borrowed my mom's green minivan and we went back to the cabinet shop to deliver the baskets we had prepared the day before.  

Stop and think about this for a minute.  There was no GPS in 1997-1998.  I didn't have a cell phone, and if I did, I was told to only use it in case of emergency.  And getting lost and calling for directions didn't constitute an emergency.  And since we only had dial-up internet at home, I couldn't have called home for someone to MapQuest them (Google wasn't a verb then) because that would have taken forever.  We had a paper map of Indianapolis and my mom's green minivan.  I'm not even sure where I could get an updated paper map of Indianapolis today.

I know we delivered several baskets that day but I only remember one delivery.  The last delivery of the day.

The paper said 11 people lived in the house, 4 adults and 7 children ranging in ages.  So we loaded up the minivan with the basket and since it was the last delivery, any extra food and toys were thrown in as well.

We found the house and knocked on the door.  The men that came to the door had no shirt on (its a strange detail to remember, I know) and the inside of the house seemed dark.  We told them we were here to deliver their Christmas basket and from out of nowhere, kids start rushing the door jumping up and down and screaming, "now we can have Christmas!".  We handed everything over and wished them a Merry Christmas.

The ride home was quiet.  I think we were all pondering the same thing, those kids would not have had a Christmas at all without that basket.  No presents, no stockings, nothing to wake up to Christmas morning.  And here we were, three girls from good middle class families whose biggest concerns were what dress to wear to the dance and making curfew.  Talk about geting slapped across the face with perspective.

I think about that family every Christmas.  I wonder if they think about us.  I wonder how their next Christmas turned out and if they received another basket or not.  I wonder about the kids in that house.  How did they turn out?  Did they pay it forward to another family who needed help when they got older?  

It was a five minute interaction that will stay with me for a lifetime.

  

Holiday Conversation

While doing some holiday shopping with Matt, we had the following conversation.

Me: What about a fake snake?

Matt: Sure, what color?

Me: Whatever color is obvious that its fake.

Matt: Yeah, that's not going to happen.

I'm predicting an increase in snake stories on the blog.