The bonding has begun!

It's true.  The employees have become pets.  I'm not happy about it.  Well, maybe a little.

 



Here THEY are!

Yes, they.  We have not one but two cats now.  Really, though, I challenge anyone to go to the animal shelter and NOT bring home as many animals as you can.  I count myself lucky that I don't have a dog.  When we couldn't decide which cat to get, Brandon thought we should go look at the dogs while we thought about the cats.  Really?  I'm SO lucky they keep the puppies in another room. 

Brandon was supposed to pick out a cat (any cat) and bring it home from work yesterday.  But after about 30 minutes in the shelter he called me and said he needed me to come help decide.  I really wanted to make fun of him but I didn't.  So once I got there, he explained that we needed to meet all of the cats so that we were sure we got the right cat.  It had to be a cat that would put up with Peyton's playing and also be a good hunter.  I conceded that he had a point and went to meet the cats.  All 186 of them.  We narrowed it down to these two and decided we would get the cheaper of the two.  They were both free.  So when I picked the black and white cat brandon said 'lets just get them both'.  So we took our cardboard cat carriers and shook our heads all the way down the concrete hallway to save our cats.  My cat (the black and white one named, Bella) got right in the carrier.  No protesting, just plopped right in there.  By the time I had my carrier closed, I looked at Brandon and saw that he had his hands above his head and the cat was headed down the back of his shirt.  We were in separate glassed rooms so I couldn't hear how this all went down but I'm pretty sure that somehow the cat climbed up the front of brandon, over his head and down his back.  I almost fell over I was laughing so hard. 

Finally we got the cats into our cars and drove them home.  Ryan had picked up Peyton and he was waiting for us with his face plastered to the glass when we arrived.  He was SO excited to meet the cats.  That lasted about three minutes, though.  The second they sniffed Peyton's toys, the novelty had worn off and Peyton went after them to save his toys.  There were lots of shouts of 'My Toys!' and "Get Out Of There!".  It was pretty funny but eventually Peyton decided that he could share his toys with the cats.  Peyton and the cats are not best friends yet but Peyton DID ask if they could sleep with him in the tent.  I think there's hope for them yet.  (they did NOT sleep in his room)

Bella (the name the shelter gave her but I think it fits, I'll probably keep it)

She is very sweet and could probably live the rest of her days being held.  She might not make the best hunter but she sure makes me happy.   I always wanted to carry Joey around when he was a puppy and now I can carry this one around if I want!   She plays with the other cat well, though, so I really have no doubts about her hunting.

Brandon named his cat Pistol, as in Pistol Pete, but I like Pete better.  I think I'll call him Pete. 

He is very sweet too.  He's not as cuddly as Bella but he likes to be held, too.  He just always wants to see what's going on more than cuddling. 

I couldn't get a picture of Pete without my underwear in it as well so I'll have to put up another picture later.  I think I need to clean up my bedroom....

We all had our caves this weekend

It has been too cold to play outside

and I've grown tired of the dump-all-the-toys-in-the-floor-and-leave-them-game. 

So I pulled out the tent.  Peyton and his imaginary monster friend played in the tent all afternoon. 

The monster doesn't have a name.  Its just 'Monster'.  He is friendly- but he bites.  He is brown.  He likes to eat tickets from Incredible pizza.  (The proper way to feed him is to throw the tickets at him so he doesnt bite you)  He is small enough to be carried in two hands and he fits inside a Capri Sun box.  If you put your hand inside the box, he might bite you.  He will follow a trail of tickets if you want him to follow you to a different room.  He likes to read books.  He likes to camp. 

The monster was sleeping right there by Peyton's head.  Did you see him?  I didn't. 

(I saw Woody but Woody isn't a monster.  I asked.)  And, yes, Peyton really is sleeping. 

 And here is my cave.  While Peyton and the monster played in the tent on Saturday I cleaned out the office.  (Mom, can you believe it??)  I'm having a tiny little panic attack right now thinking about the things I took to Goodwill this weekend but I'm thrilled with the usable office space.  I didn't take a picture of it but there is actually a wide open space in the middle of the floor where you can... walk around.  I managed to fit our food storage, my 'closet' and the drying rack in there, too.  I didn't fit the ironing board in there but I might still figure that out. 



And, of course, Brandon's cave was the garage. 

The 68th Day

For 68 days our house has been animal-free.  Well, pet-free.  It turns out our attic is full of mice.  Or maybe its just one big mouse.  It lives with the anaconda up there.  (And the guys wonder why I have to harness my chi everytime I go up there.)  Saturday night Brandon and I were watching a movie in the garage when we heard something walking around in the attic.  Did you get that?  We HEARD something WALKING AROUND up there.  We looked at the ceiling then looked at each other and immediately decided to get a cat.  Later I remembered why we didn't have a cat in the first place.  We had dogs that DID NOT tolerate a cat in the house and we didn't have a suitable place for a cat to live outside.  Well, those reasons no longer stand up.  I DO NOT want another furry animal in my house but, apparently even more, I do not want mice (or snakes) inside my house, either. 

We decided to go to the shelter the next day but Sunday proved to be too busy and Brandon practically passes the shelter on the way home from work so he said he would bring one home on Monday.  I gave him the following qualifications:

1.  Young-ish (needs to be up to the challenge)
2.  Short-haired
3.  At the shelter for the longest period of time
4.  Black (that was Peyton's choice)

So while there is a list of things I am NOT looking forward to today, I am ecstatic at the thought of a feline employee. 

(Don't you love how I made you read through my thought process just to say 'we're getting a cat'?)  :)

Day 1 in Chicago

Warning:  If you were not part of the Anderson Trip to Chicago, you will probably find these pictures slightly boring.  Or maybe a lot boring. 

This is Chicago downtown traffic at 3:30 on a Tuesday afternoon.

This is Chicago downtown traffic at 4:30 on Tuesday afternoon. 

Notice the skyline.  It has only moved fractionally closer.  Alan DID try to warn us.  

Day 1 in Chicago started happily cold.  See?  Smiles and pink noses. 

The famous Cloud Gate.   

If you look really closely, you can see Brandon and Peyton watching the ice skaters

in the middle of the picture a little to the right. 

Buckingham Fountain.  In the cold.  Notice all the people!? 

All of the people who skipped Buckingham Fountain knew that there was sleet coming.  (and also that it was late November in Chicago).  We didn't.  When the sleet started to hurt our faces our little family took shelter under the counter of a closed concession stand and waited out the weather.  Brandon even gave Peyton his coat.  What a good dad!

The Field Museum was awesome! 

Brandon and I particularly enjoyed the 'largest collection of mummies'. 

Peyton loved the 'largest collection of complete dinosaur skeletons.'

This was a robotic dinosaur exhibit that Peyton specifically wanted to see. 

About 3 minutes into it he said 'lets get out of here'! 

I guess thats what we get for taking tourism advice from a 3 year old. 

The exhibit actually was cool, though.  The dinosaurs could 'see' you and would react to you.  See the screen to the right of the dinosaur's head?  You can see what they see.  I understood why Peyton was scared of them, though.  It was just a little too "Jurassic Park" for a preschooler.

--

And that ends my Chicago pictures.  Really.  Brandon and I went out all but one day and explored the town but it was too cold for me to take my hands out of my gloves and take pictures.  We will just have to go back in the summer!  The inside things were very fun too, though.  Did I mention that we were actually visiting family there??  We got to meet baby Grace and see her parents and grandparents.  Peyton was a little disappointed that she didn't play with him but his Mae Mae and Pawpaw wore him out.  Its good to have family in Chicago!

Monday Countdown

I'm shamelessly copying this from my sister-in-law, Sara (The Sara Adventure), who got this from her friend Jennifer (This is Who I Am), who got it from her friend Candice (Bookish Penguin). I wanted to write but had nothing in particular to write about except a singularly disgusting car ride across town with my boys on Friday. So I found this and thought it would serve as a better blog post. (That's not true. I have a little shame. I did ask permission.)


Five Things I'm Grateful For

1. My family, big & small
2. A good job
3. My comfortable life
4. Bedtime stories with Peyton
5. A heater in the garage

Four Things I Can't Stop Thinking About

1. Peyton's sheer joy in discovering Christmas for the third time
2. The mouse I found in my beloved BBOP (Big Bag of Popcorn)
3. Winter break is almost here!!
4. I have to go to the grocery store again.

Three Things I Want To Accomplish This Week

1. Finish cleaning the car seats
2. Figure out what to get Brandon for his birthday (and Christmas, while I'm at it)
3. Resume my pre-Thanksgiving gym-going routine

Two Things I Am Working To Be Positive About

1. Cleaning out the office
2. Not spending Christmastime with ALL of my family
One Random Thing

1. Childproof locks on car doors are not always your friend

For the record, I also have a comfortable sweatshirt.

The mouse is back.  Or, most likely, a family member of the original mouse is back.  I don't care to believe that the mouse I disposed of in the trashcan while still breathing is, in fact, back inside my house. 

Either way, I found a mouse inside my beloved BBOP.  The big bag of popcorn.  I loved that thing.  You know how people have a pair of comfortable slippers or an old, soft sweatshirt?  That bag was my comfortable thing.  I loved that it was always there!  The other night was the kind of night for a nice bowl of popcorn.  My canister in the kitchen was empty so I took it to make a withdrawal from the BBOP.  When I unfurled the top of the bag I thought I heard a little extra crunching noise.  I wasn't sure so I just left it for a minute before sticking my hand inside.  Then, just for good measure, I whacked the side with Peyton's golf club.  (not hard enough to break the bag but hard enough to scare something that might be inside).  Sure enough, I heard the scratching of disgusting little mouse feet and saw its little head pop up.  Not wanting it to escape as long as it was contained, I speed-dialed brandon to come inside (from the garage) and dispose of the thing.  I would have done it myself except I can't lift the bag.  (That's an excuse.  I can't lift the bag but I also seriously doubt that I would have picked the thing up knowing the mouse could possibly chew his way out while the bag was clutched to my body.)

So finally Brandon arrives to save the day and I'm standing guard at the doorway wielding a golf club and shouting 'no!' every time the thing jumped up (it made me feel better).  Brandon looked briefly amused (and I kind of see why...) but went over to close the top & remove the offending mouse.  No sooner did I say, "careful, I think he'll be able to get out soon", did the evil little thing jump out and haul across the floor.  Bah!  So close!! 

So now my bag of popcorn is gone and I have a mouse loose in my house.  Traps are set but I plan to get poison tonight.   His relative never fell for the traps.  I actually caught the other one in the kitchen by scooping him into an empty baby wipe containter with Peyton's golf club.  I'm SOO glad Peyton likes to golf!