The Whole Kitten Kaboodle

We have kittens. And for some reason they like Georgia. I can't figure out why, she's the roughest with them but they still enjoy her presence. We still have a lot to teach them about how to treat animals. Parker has already dressed them up as dolls which is not cool. 

Naming the cats hasn't been so easy. The grey tabby's name was immediate. The minute we took her home from the shelter and took her out of her carrying case she jumped out of the cardboard box. Since then nothing has been able to hold her, she jumped out of any contraption I put together. Her name as determined by Parker is Hopper(initially it was "Hopper Heart" but was later shortened).

Naming the white and gray cat wasn't as easy. She was the least comfortable with us when we first got her and would immediately hiss at anyone coming near it. Soon enough that subsided and she'd let you pick her up and pet her for a while; but when you put her back down she'd look at you and hiss then run for cover. Hence her initial name of "Hisser." Hisser and Hopper - easy to remember. Then her name started changing, nobody liked the name "Hisser." Renaming her became difficult. It started with Parker calling her "Rainbow Heart." I don't know where that came from. I picture a member of the Chumash tribe who had an affinity for people of the same sex. "See that kemosabe over there with the short shorts who's dancing to the Pet Shop Boys? That's Rainbow Heart." 

Then the name morphed into "Bunny." I tried to deflect the name "Bunny" by offering up "Zelda." That didn't work. Then I tried with "Beyonce." Parker partially accepted this offer and renamed her "Bunny Beyonce". As a long-standing fan of Cheap Trick, I call her "Bun E. Carlos".  

We kept them in the extra bedroom when they first got home. Parker made this sign and taped it to their door.

 I broke out my Enigma machine to decode this sign. It says...
Kitten Room
Hopper Heart
Hisser Heart
Owned by Parker and Georgia and Dad and Mom

So far so good with the little ones. The kids love them and they're pretty good socialized young cats. They're venturing outside and having a good time. The shelter was overrun with kittens at the time so we did our part. Plus, if we don't like them I can always drop them off at my mom's house. 

I am So Glad This Didn't Catch On

Random Pics

     "Excellance"?

Dishes...ugh. Unfortunately there's nothing that turns Laura on more than seeing me washing dishes. Can you see my calves glistening with manly sexiness? According to Laura this is more titillating than those men in the movie "Magic Mike".

Just wait until I take up dusting.

This Butter Be Good

Wal-Mart continues to treat America right! behold, their latest contribution to human evolution...



"Wow, I can't believe I'm eating heavily processed hydrogenated oil with petroleum-based preservatives, stabilizers, artificial flavoring and artificial coloring!"

"Wow, I totally thought Anderson Cooper was straight...and informative!"

"Wow, I totally thought "50 Shades of Grey" was well written...and hot!"

In my opinion, butter is natural. It is an animal product that comes from cows. Margarine is synthetic. If you churn and beat the heck out of some milk and cream, you will eventually get butter. If you do the same to vegetable oil, you get vegetable oil and elbow tendinitis.


If I were to name this wonder monstrosity of yellow stuff I'd go with the following...

"The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the butter angels of our nature." 


-Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861

Georgia Turns 4

Our little Georgie turned four on Tuesday.  We had a hula party because she is really into her two piece bathing suit and the grass skirt I pulled out of the "party supply" box about a month ago.  

Here's a rundown of the games we played:

- Guess the color of the skittle

- Musical chairs

- Sunflower seed spitting contest (Scott came up with this one the night before)

- Egg on spoon race

 Bella & Georgia

 Parker set up a table where she had guests choose which lei and skirt they would like upon arrival.

Georgia started counting down the days to her birthday I believe when there were 17 days to go.  I think the 3rd and 4th birthdays are the best because the kids really understand that it's their special day and Georgia appreciated every bit of it.

Georgia Writes Her Name

OK, This is Pathetic...

Parker's best friend Jack got a Kindle Fire tablet. I recently purchased a nice android tablet myself which Parker has been slowly taking over. Parker and Jack are shown here enjoying "Tablet Time". They sit next to each other and play "Lep World" on their tablets until Laura or myself stop them. They could play all day if we didn't intervene.

Who ever heard of "Tablet Time"? Where does she come up with this stuff? 

What kind of social interaction (or lack thereof) is this?

Notice in the background how beautiful that Sunday afternoon was.
This kind of behavior me so angry I'm going into my bedroom and play Atari all night!
I give up, enjoy kids. 

Solvang April 2012

We made our penta-annual trip to Solvang. Along the way we stopped at a beautiful waterfall off of the 101 right before Buelton called Nojoqui Falls. Wonderful place to visit, here's some info on it...
http://www.lotsafunmaps.com/Santa_Barbara/Nojoqui_Falls_Walk_Solvang.html

And now it's time for...

BEFORE AND AFTER

The picture above was taken the last time we visited in early 2007. Parker was a little over 1 years old. The shoe is in front of a shoe repair shop.

Flash forward to the present and it's still there! Five years from now it's going to be much more difficult.

 

 Grandma got some company in bed one morning. 

Parent's Bill of Rights

                                                   

 There needs to be a parent’s bill of rights. There are some things in this world that we are simply entitled to. When I have the time to sit down and formally document the long list of rights I will include the following:

1^st Amendment: THE RIGHT TO A QUICK AND QUIET BREAKFAST

The right is paramount in my attempt to remain composed and in a positive mood. I have a right to enjoy a quick breakfast while reading the morning newspaper. For Laura and I that is difficult. Georgia vehemently disagrees with Amendment #1. She believes she has been bestowed with the inherent right to constantly require my attention in the morning regardless of my condition (late for work, feeling ill, hungover, etc…). On several occasions I have asked her to let me read the newspaper for 5 minutes, which she will grant. However, one minute later she’s back in the kitchen…”Daddy?”…I make direct eye contact with her and await her question. “Daddy?”…at this point I realize she will keep saying “Daddy?” even though I make it clear (through direct eye contact) that she has my full attention. I then have to say “Yes, Georgia?”  Then comes the realization that she has nothing to say or ask, I get a lot of “ummms and aaahhs” and then she makes up something odd right on the spot.

This morning she came up with “ummm…who’s your favorite princess?”

“My favorite princess is you”

“I’m not a princess, I’m Georgia”.

…and so it goes. I guess I try to read the newspaper at lunch.

2^nd  Amendment: THE RIGHT TO DRIVE THE KIDS AROUND TOWN WITHOUT CONSTANT INTERRUPTION

This drives Laura crazy. Like the issue previously mentioned, whenever Laura’s driving the girls around, Georgia requires constant engagement. When I’m in the car with them I try to deflect it as much as possible…

Georgia: “Mommy”

Me: “Georgia, mommy’s driving, talk to me. What do you want to say?”

Georgia: “Mommy”

 Me: “Georgia talk to me, not mom”

Georgia: “Oh yeah…mommy…I mean daddy”

Me: “Yes Georgia”

The next utterance from her is usually one of the three:

1    “I Love You”

           “Where are we going?”

      “Can I have some gum?”

Additional amendments go something like this…

3^rd Amendment: Parents shall receive at least 16 hours of sleep collectively (10 hours for me and 6 hours for Laura).

4th Amendment: After the age of eight, all dishes are to be washed by the children of the household. 

You're A Grand Ol' Flag

Parker burst into our bedroom at 6:30 this morning waving her flag scarf and singing "It's a grand old flag, it's a high flyin' flag...da da daaa".   She then proceeded to go pick out an outfit that would match her scarf to wear to school today.  I told her that today wasn't the fourth of July but she said red white and blue are her favorite colors.

I don't know what has got into Parker lately.  In preschool she would wear nothing but dresses.  I think a single pair of leggings occupied her "pants drawer".  Since she started Kindergarten she would wear nothing but jeans and t-shirts.  That all changed last week when she wanted to wear her fanciest and most delicate dresses to school.  On Monday I let her wear a very fancy dress (black velvet bodice with dreamy-flowy pink skirt).  On Tuesday when she wanted to wear her layered chiffon dress I put my foot down and told her she couldn't wear the fancy dresses to school any more.  They would get ruined.  She tried to talk me into letting her wear her red velvet Christmas dress and that argument ended up with Parker in tears.  She did wear dresses the rest of the week (not her fancy ones).  I was shocked.  I guess this week will be holiday themed outfits.