After the events of this weekend, I am beginning to feel like I live in a zoo!
It all started Friday night when my daughter spotted a young raccoon hanging out by the birdfeeder. We watched it meander across the front yard looking half drunk. About half an hour later we noticed it was at the edge of the pond that is in the alcove outside my kitchen bay window. The raccoon very carefully balanced itself on a rock and leaned over to get a drink out of the pond, when suddenly, it fell right in the pond, head first.
Saturday morning, we noticed this same raccoon hanging out on the back steps. It was not one bit afraid of us as it let me get really close for a picture opportunity. My husband decided that it shouldn’t really be near the house and started to lure this raccoon out to the woods. Have you ever heard a raccoon? Oh my! They make the funniest little noise and my husband perfected it pretty quickly. Here was husband walking towards the woods calling the raccoon like a scene out of the Pied Piper or “Are You My Mother?”
The raccoon headed toward my flower bed and decided to get comfy. We have a spare rabbit hutch and the goal was to get “Stripes Jr.” into the hutch. We decided to lure it towards the hutch with a peanut butter sandwich. It’s too bad these animals really are dangerous, because it is so darn cute. Here is my first ever YouTube video of Stripes Jr. eating peanut butter (and if you listen closely, you’ll hear my voice at the end).
We did end up luring it to the hutch and my husband got it into the hutch. The little guy has been hanging out in there for the last day and we will most likely release it way off in the woods away from the house. The girls are concerned if we take it to Animal Control that it will be no longer.
Later in the day we went into Petsmart for rabbit food and spent at least an hour checking out the cats and dogs brought over by the local shelters. Somewhere along the way, while I was checking out the Chow, my husband fell in love with a black lab named Raven. Now, we already have a Rhodesian Ridgeback, 2 cats, a rabbit, and a raccoon in captivity – do we need another animal? NO! We walked out of the store with rabbit food, and no additional pets. I was in the clear. Or so I thought.
This morning my husband headed off to run a few errands and somehow managed to end up back at Petsmart. He even took Raven for a walk. Talk about a sucker! He called from the store and let me know how much he liked this dog and I stuck to my guns. The kids found out about the second visit to the dog and all four of them (hubby & 3 kiddos) have been begging me to change my mind all afternoon.
Somehow I just got completely over-ridden and they called back the organization that has Raven. It looks like we will have another new addition to the zoo tomorrow!
I am having a contest and group writing project at Weary Parent this week. You can win cash, too!! All you have to do is write a post about the best advice you ever got as a teen and took to heart. It can be funny. It can be serious. It can be a list, a story, a confession – be creative! Just keep it tasteful – Weary Parent is a family-oriented site. (I reserve the right to not post entries that are inappropriate)
Thinking back to my teen years, my parents weren’t really the advice-giving kind. Instead of advice, my parents gave me opportunities – opportunities to learn, experience, and make my own path. That was probably the best thing they could have ever done! As a result, I have never really been afraid to do things on my own. I have traveled to Europe by myself (staying with friends and relatives once I was there), bought a house when I was in my twenties, and had the courage to start my own business rather than return to work full-time when my first child was born.
When it comes to my own children, I want to give them the same opportunities, but I do have advice for them. I want them to know how important a good education is and I continue to tell them daily, that hard work leads to greater opportunities in the future.
With Sunday being Father’s Day here in the US, I’d like to take some time to recognize some of my favorite Daddy blogs and bloggers who are great Dads!
Rory at Hamelife – Rory writes about communication between parent and child and is obviously a great Dad. However, I do like his latest post on Male Pasttimes.
Steve at Cymru66 – You must be a good Dad if you answered my call for Father’s Day ideas
Steve of Babblz – afterall, he created a site for all the parents of the blogosphere – a site where we can submit posts and vote on them in true Digg style.
And, of course, my husband would be on this list, but he doesn’t blog (yet – wait until he retires). Thanks for all the great things you do for us as Moms and kids all year long!
Friday was the first day of summer vacation for my kids so I let them sleep in, slack off, play with friends, and have their first sleepovers of summer. Starting tomorrow, the freeloading is over! While I don’t expect my kids to work the day away, they are all certainly old enough to help out and they need to learn these things anyhow.
I have created a fun chart in Microsoft Publisher that I will update weekly. The chart has each child’s picture, a rotating job of the week (one that has to be done daily), and one major chore each week day – with one “free” day each week. The rule will be that before friends can come over or we leave for an outing, these things must be done. None of the chores should take more than 10 minutes anyhow. UPDATE: This summer chore chart has been revised using MS Word – get the new version of the summer chore chart. This would also be a fun project done on construction paper, draw lines for the grid with a ruler and let the kids cut out chore pictures from magazines.
Last week while speaking with a friend, the conversation turned to body image and weight – mine. See, back in the day, before I was married or had 3 kids, I was a pretty fit chick. As a kid I did lots of sports and as a young adult I ran 11 miles every Sunday morning, swam for an hour a few nights a week, rode my bike everywhere and ate pretty healthy. Thirteen years later, I still feel like that same person, but when I look in the mirror I see something different.
From the time I got married, I stopped putting myself and my activities first. Once I had fallen out of the exercise habit, it was one that was extremely hard to restart. There have been “spurts” throughout the years where I have tried to reestablish my habit, but somehow Motherhood has always intervened.
So, my friend has challenged me to come up with a list of 10 reasons why I must now put myself first. Since I know many of my readers are probably in a similar situation, I am sharing this list with all of you.
10. I have run out of excuses.
9. My kids are now old enough to join me on a walk – they can all ride bikes or scooters.
8. My very kind neighbor just gave us a brand new recumbent stationery bike that they salvaged from a house his wife was selling.
7. If I work out I will lose weight and inches which means a good excuse for new clothes – or I can wear some of my old favorites
6. I am ready to throw my perfectionist, all or nothing attitude out the window. Fifteen minutes is better than none – so if that is all I can do one day, then do it!
5. I sleep much better at night when I exercise
4. I will feel better about my body image
3. My heart will be very grateful
2. I have put the rest of my family’s needs first for the past 13 years – now it is my turn
1. Because if I don’t make fitness a priority, no one else will!
I know what to do, how to do it and all that good stuff – my biggest hurdle is making fitness a priority. How about you? What are your biggest obstacles to achieving your goals? Is it time to put yourself first?
Saturday morning, we noticed this same raccoon hanging out on the back steps. It was not one bit afraid of us as it let me get really close for a picture opportunity. My husband decided that it shouldn’t really be near the house and started to lure this raccoon out to the woods. Have you ever heard a raccoon? Oh my! They make the funniest little noise and my husband perfected it pretty quickly. Here was husband walking towards the woods calling the raccoon like a scene out of the Pied Piper or “Are You My Mother?”
I am having a 
Last week while speaking with a friend, the conversation turned to body image and weight – mine. See, back in the day, before I was married or had 3 kids, I was a pretty fit chick. As a kid I did lots of sports and as a young adult I ran 11 miles every Sunday morning, swam for an hour a few nights a week, rode my bike everywhere and ate pretty healthy. Thirteen years later, I still feel like that same person, but when I look in the mirror I see something different.
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