Puppy!

Meet Gingersnap:

We had a little 7 week old, four legged visitor for 3 days. CUTE CUTE CUTE! This puppy belongs to Paul's sister - and they were out of town for a bit, giving us the opportunity to puppy sit. As much as I loved having her here, I was happy to give her back. There is not a lot of time to properly care for a pup right now! It was fun chaos while she was visiting. Joey and Demeter-kitty were a little ticked off & if animals are capable of sending dirty looks our way, they did!

Jake's back!

After we moved into this home, June of 2008 we were welcomed by our neighbor kitty, Jake. Amazingly outgoing and friendly - sweet sweet kitty. Fourteen months ago he disappeared. His owners had no idea what happened and the whole neighborhood thought the worst, that he had been killed. Last week our neighbors got a phone call asking if they were missing a cat. It kind of stumped them, because Jake was kind of forgotten about. But, lo and behold, Jake-kitty had been found! He was found in a box, taped (!) shut with the word, "STRAY" written on the top of the box. Someone had dropped him off at the Petco, near Costco, North of here. The manager of Petco heard him meowing, had a kitty rescue place come get him and because he was micro chipped, Jake is home! Much fatter (someone had obviously been feeding him) and with bubble gum stuck on his back, but pretty much the same Jake.

He purred and purred as he let Ryan pet him yesterday.

We're thrilled to have this orange bundle of purrs back!

These were taken when Ryan was 11 months old.

Doctor Ryan

The doctor is in!

Ryan's other Halloween costume, this year.

Thank you Lindsay for the pictures!

Obviously he works in a rural setting and takes whatever transportation necessary to get to where he is needed. :-)

"Ryan do it!"

Oh how often I hear that now. I am trying to keep an upbeat attitude about my two year old, but he is exhausting me. His melt downs have increased by such a huge number that I have been questioning what I am doing wrong. Napping is not on his agenda - there has been a nap strike for about a week now. I suggest quiet time too, but no go. There is a lot of screaming going on right now. And I may be imagining this, but I think Kathryn senses something is amuk and she is not happy either. She needs to be held constantly and not just cuddled, but rocked, talked to, etc. Both Paul and I are tired. Right now it's kids - 1, parents - 0. I'm not liking that so much.

I am back at work, as of this week. It's good to be back in the sense that I get to use my brain for what I am good at. I thrive off of being organized and efficient. I had to let that go when Kathryn came home. I have come to terms with just going with the flow of the house, but it's really nice to use my skills and help others. Work is absolutely crazy right now. If you know a nurse, hug them. They are getting yelled at, stomped on and driven down because everyone is worried about H1N1. We're doing our best!

Paul has now hit 10 months of being unemployed. Yuck, yuck and more yuck. I cannot believe it's gone on this long. I do kinda like having him home now though. :-) But, I have put off a lot of stuff, waiting for that second pay check to come in, like taking Demeter-kitty and Joey to the vet for their annual check ups. All of our home improvement dreams just sit in a pile in our minds, since there are no funds for that. I am exceptionally grateful that we have made it ten months and financially are still going.... well not strong, but steady. We are still keeping our fingers, toes, arms, legs.... crossed with hopes a good job comes his way.

Ryan as a frog, trick or treating. He loved this outfit and asked to put it on again today. Too funny.