Tails of the Cat Guardians!

Our neighbors recently moved, and when they were cleaning up their yard they discovered that a wild or feral momma cat had had babies in their window well just a few days old (that was back in April)  The poor mama cat was starving to death.  We took pity on it and fed it our left over Easter ham, and then several cans of tuna, and finally dog food (cause that is all we had)  She ate dog food for several weeks, then I decided to break down and buy kitty food.  We made sure that mama cat always had food and water.  As soon as the babies eyes were open, we started to pet the kittens, there were 4 of them, 3 tiger striped and 1 black and white.  Aubrie took it on her self to become the foster mom, and she spent most of her time taking care of the kittens, and playing with them.  They have all gotten bigger now, and we found good homes for them.  We decided to keep the black and white one, and Aubrie named it bootsie,  She really wanted one of the orange ones though :(  I was able to take the whole litter to our local shelter, and have all of them spayed and neutered for a great price....Free, because they are "Feral" or wild.  they want to control the cat population.  They cut the tip off the mama cats ear to show she is a feral cat that has been fixed.  It has been really fun to have a playful kitten around.  today Aubrie fell asleep holding the kitten, they were both curled up on the chair, it was very cute to say the least

Wicket 2000-2010

Today our family said a very emotional/tearful farewell to our faithful companion of 10 years, Wicket.  He was the most Christlike dog.  He loved you no matter what, and always wanted to please you, no matter what.  We Got Wicket from the Humane Society when he was almost 6 months. He was a little cream colored ShihTzu, he was so fluffy and reminded us of the Ewoks from Star Wars, so we named him after a Ewok.  He was so playful and was a fast learner.  If you said to him "Tub" no matter where he was in the house he would go straight to the tub.  He received weekly washings, because I couldn't handle a dirty stinky dog in my house.  He often got comments about how good he smelt!  Wicket had a number of tricks and would do anything for a scrap of food, he was the best food disposal I ever had!  Wicket was very kind, patient and tolerant, especially with little children.  His Eyes were very kind and loving.  Walking with Wicket was never a pleasure! we called it going on a drag!  he didn't like going on walks and so would walk extra slow and we had to drag him along! Wicket was very cuddly and would let me hold him like a baby, and rock-a-bye him.  Funny thing about him is that he Snored! all the time! and it was loud!  Wicket started to get sick in February.  Trying to pick a day to put him down was very hard, we kept putting it off, thinking he would get better, but he started loosing weight and his hair started falling out.  We are almost certain he had sugar diabetes (probably from all the table scraps we fed him).  We will miss the warm greeting when we come home, then snuggles and the warm and vibrant spirit that he had.  Our house will be a lonely without him.  I can just imagine wicket as he went to heaven meeting his bestest friend Annabella (our other dog that died) and being able to run and play and see clearly (wicket had cataracts on his eyes for the past 2 years, and arthritis in is legs for several years as well)    

Wicket soaking up the morning sun, he often times laid on his back.

here wicket is with his head in a beef jerky bag

A bunny, Black Friday and 2 Blisters!

Tim found a bunny at his work living under the cars, Aubrie has been begging for a pet and so we thought it would be fun for her to have a bunny. It is in a cage, and not too much upkeep....Well I think we have cured her of wanting her own pet, she is sick of cleaning up pooh, feeding, scooping up the pee spots, watering and playing with the bunny. She asked me the other day if we could just cut off it's paw and skin it so she could have the pelt, and a lucky rabbits foot...I said "It would be a lucky rabbits foot for you, but what about the rabbit?" So for Christmas she wants a rabbit pelt! where am I going to find that? anyway she lost interest and so we placed a add for a free bunny, within a day we were able to place the bunny with a loving adoptive family, who I am sure will love the bunny for more than it's pelt!

On thanks giving day I wanted to be able to enjoy my meal, I have been trying to loose some of my extra weight for a while and have been working very hard to accomplish my daily goals of keeping within my calorie intake. So in addition to my daily 3 mile walk, I walked another 4 for a total of 7 miles. The bottom of my feet hurt but I thought it was just because I walked extra far, and went to bed, well Michael and I got up at 4 am to hit the stores for Black Friday, we got what we needed at Walmart then headed over to Kmart where we stood in line for 35 minutes nearly freezing to death! then got what we needed and then stood in line for over a hour! Funny thing...While I was in line I was looking at the things I was going to buy, and some of them weren't what I was expecting quality wise, so I dumped them along the way on the displays, perhaps I made someones day because they were looking for just the item I dumped! So needless to say, I was glad for the long line, cause I had a chance to inspect my purchases and save myself a drive back into town. Mike and I went to IHOP for breakfast...I think everyone conspired to meet there after they got done, cause it was almost 2 hours before we got out of there! I got home, went for my daily walk of 3 miles, and along the way my feet really started to hurt, when I got home I looked at my feet and sure enough, the bottoms of both my feet were blistered and very sore. I think I will skip my walk today ha ha!

Valentines, Sweethearts, Black Eye, Science Fair, Ward Conference, Cats and a Dog

You may be wondering what these things have in common? These are events from my week.

If you click on each picture, it will make it full screen, for easier viewing

To start off, Aubrie participated in the school science fair. The question she chose was "Do different brands of apples have the same number of seeds in them?" So we bought alot of apples af all different brands. I was suprised to see that every apple was different. They do not all have the same number. a few of them had the same, but when we cut open another of the same brand it varied. It has something to do with when they are pollinated. she won a Honorable mention on her project. she was pleased with how it turned out. We enjoyed eating the apples, and found that we liked Braeburn the best. Very tart, yet sweet.


Tim Enjoyed the apples with carmel dip

Click on the Science Fair board to view

We have 2 dogs. Wicket and Princess. Well Princess's favorite thing is to play "Come Get Me" or hide and seek. Zac and Aubrie were playing with her on Tuesday night and her Dew Claw (the Claw on the side of her paw like our thumb) was ripped mostly off. We think it got stuck in the carpet as she was running. So off to the Vet on Wednesday for Surgery to remove the joint and nail. Now it cost's x amount of $ to have the dog put under for surgery, and everything you add is minimal, so we had the other claw removed and had her fixed, so we don't have to place puppies on KSL.com in the future (Cleaning Puppy Poo for 3 months is not my idea of fun!) To keep her from licking her stitches, she has to wear a "Lamp Shade" for 2 weeks. She hates it! the vet told us to come back in 7 days to have her stitches removed. I asked him of it was included in the price and he said no, so I decided, that since I have recently passed my Medical Assisting Course I could do it for free, so I think I will save $50 and do it myself! I've decided having animals is not cheap! When the vet told me how much the surgery was going to cost, I jokingly told him to just "put her to sleep" he thought I was serious and told me he couldn't do that by law to a healthy animal. So when did animals start having do many rights? Anyway I think she is enjoying being a pampered pooch. Wicket has noticed how much attention she is getting and wants to be loved too. It is interesting that animals are so sensitive to attention or the lack of.

Saturday was Valentines Day. Tim and I went to the Temple and did Sealings for 20 of my mom's side of the family. It was awesome to kneel across from my sweetheart, and know that I will be his, and he mine for all eternity. Weston Surprised me and Aubrie with a Yellow Rose, and a note telling us how much he loves us. That was very special that he thought of doing that for us. Michael went to he Sweethearts Dance with his special friend Anna. They love to play Wii Guitar Hero together, so after the dance they had a Jam Session. Weston went to a Friends house where we used to live and spent Valentines or "Single Awareness Day" with her. They ate cow intestines, he told me it tasted like cooked manure! I think I will pass on eating that. Today his tummy hurts, I wonder why? His intestines are not used to eating intestines!

Michael Looked Very Handsome and His date looked "Amazingly Awesomeness" as Mike stated

On Friday Zachary came home with a big Bleeding bump above his right eye. He got hit at school by a badminton racket. It gave him a headache all this weekend. It looks alot better today, but he has a purple eye lid and a puffy eyebrow. I told Tim that he got in a fight at school, he asked if Zac won and I said no. He knew I was lying, because he knows that Zac would win! I guess I cannot pull the wool over his eyes!

We have had 2 kitty's living with us since my September. We fell in love with 2 kittens, and decided that it would be fun to have them, but it soon wore off! We had them in our garage, and pretty soon, it started to really stink, so we decided it was time to let them go. We placed a add on KSL.com and within a few hours they were adopted to a good family.

Today was our Ward Conference. The theme was bringing unity into our family. One thing that really stuck out in my mind was that they encouraged families to eat dinner at least 5 of the 7 days of the week. I remember as a child we ate all our meals together, and now with my own family, it seems like we are all on different schedules, and so we don't make the effort to eat as a family. When the kids were younger we always ate as a family, So this is one thing I will try to change in my family. A talk was given about being a kinder person. I think that sometimes we are too busy and caught up in our own personal lives that we are not rude, or thoughtless on purpose. But we need to take the time to do kind things for our family and other people around us. We never know how far a kind word or deed will go, or affect someones lives for the good.

Next week I am hoping for a not so crazy week! I'll take hum drum anytime! Have a great week xoxoxoxoxoxo Lottie