Tolerance part II

Okay, so apparently I am not as tolerant as I thought. Over the course of two or three days Dan has found and killed 5 or 6 black widows. Now, I realize that mostly these spiders get a bad rap. Yes, they are poisonous but they will retreat normally instead of bite, and even if you do get bit you are probably not going to die. They normally only bite if they are cornered...like if you stick your hand in a hole or something where they reside. I'm not going to be sticking my hand in any holes any time soon, but my kids, especially the baby, have no problems doing this. In fact, Dan found 3-4 black widows where Cole regularly plays. Oh joyful. That makes me soooo comfortable. Oh ya, he found two egg sacks as well...and they were empty. Ya, that really makes my day. Anyway, we only come outside now when the baby is napping, and I won't come out at night anymore where I can't see things. This is severely going to cut into my Internet time, but sigh....it's probably for the best. So much for tolerance.

I Bit the Bullet

Well, I succumbed. We did it, Dan is officially a Vet now and he can stop saying, “I don’t know if you knew this or not…but I’m a Vet.” He would always say that when we would argue about getting an animal. So, yes we got a pet. Five to be exact. Wandering around in Wal-Mart I took Dan to see the fishes. I didn’t know they had them there and found them yesterday. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did. Five fish have now joined our family. Dan says if they are still alive by Christmas we are getting a dog. I told him no way, but really, if that’s the bet, I feel pretty safe in saying we still aren’t getting a dog. I also made it quite clear that while I would help the kids remember to feed the fish, I would in no way be responsible for changing the water and cleaning the tank. Dan agreed, and we’ll see how long this lasts. But I’m not cleaning it. Yuck. Anyway, it all went a little overboard. I thought we’d buy a glass bowl, buy the 14 cent gold fish and be on our merry way. Nope. A five gallon fish tank complete with all the fixing and five non-gold fish later we left the store. We did draw the line at a frog. It probably would have gotten eaten by the dragon fish. “Dragon fish,” you say “What is a Dragon Fish?” Well, it’s a pretty cool looking fish and that’s what started this whole thing.
The Dragon fish is Dan’s. He named it Mr. Wiggles. I elected to get a crab. His name is Siddy. Kember got a “stripey fish” that we couldn’t get a good picture of (look for the little fish under Caden's big one), and named it Kaycee (yes, after her Pullman friend) or Daughter. She said that she named it both names and can go by either. Okay then.
Caden got a Blue Gorami and named it Joey (yes, after his cousin…do you guys just feel so privileged?) No, it isn’t blue. It’s white with two dark spots.

Cole got a Raphael cat fish. I thought it was a sucker fish and I really wanted one to help keep the tank clean, but now I don’t think he is one. Ah well. Dan said it was still a bottom feeder so it’s okay. We named him Bob in honor of the other fish we had when we got married (which died not long after we got it…and had a black growth on it that was probably cancer), the horse Dan’s family has, and to any Bob’s we now know.

After convincing Caden he didn’t want a fish that looked just like Kember’s we moved on to the tank decorations. Kember wanted a hideous rainbow colored rock thing. We suggested something else instead. She finally got excited when she found the log that has pink flowers on it. Caden really wanted a bridge. I think he thought it was a slide for a while. Ehh, he could have chosen worse.
The kids were sooo excited. After we watched them for a while Dan and I were getting ready for bed and the kids would come running to our room to tell us something the fish did. They get worried that Bob is gone (he likes to hide in the log) and that Mr. Wiggles, which Kember calls Dragon, is going to eat the other fish. They both tell the fish constantly to be nice to each other.
We might have been a little too excited. After we put everything together and introduced the fish into their new home Dan started to read the instructions. Turns out we didn’t do much right. Well, we’re off to a great start. We’ll see how long the excitement lasts. I’ll admit I was very into this process and just as excited as the rest of them (though I will also admit that I harbor many doubts). In the mean time…we’re pet owners! Look at us go.

Tolerance

Tonight I’ve discovered something about myself. Either I’m desperate to have the internet and that desperation has led me to be okay with things that normally I would never be okay with, or two, I’m growing up and realizing that ehh, they are just bugs. So to get the internet I sit on my porch or driveway so I can pick up the signal from the college (totally legal by the way). I can’t get the signal from inside my house, whatever. Anyway, once it gets dark here the crickets start chirping and the cockroaches start roaming and the little bugs (please keep them little) start flocking towards any light they can. Well, I was sitting on my porch tonight when I noticed a bug crawling in my general area. I took a minute and decided that it was a cockroach. Eh, whatever. Every once in a while my attention would get drawn toward movement on the ground. I decided that movement was a cricket. Mostly we tolerate each other. We don’t invade each other’s space and we give a wide berth to each other. I flick the flyie bugs off the computer screen (I mean if I am desperate for the internet, maybe they are too and just can’t resist even though we have our own spaces). I shake my foot if something crawls on it (just little something…nothing big like a roach or a cricket) and I continue on my merry way. In fact I noticed that I was surrounded by six crickets when I was finished. Those were the only ones I could see. So I gently stepped around and over them while I made my way to the door. There I noticed two more crickets either mating or eating. Well, they weren’t bugging (hehehe) me and I got to be on the internet. I suppose there are worse things.

Laundry

So again, this is random, but I wanted to post it while I was in a good mood and remembered it. (ooo, and I'm posting this sitting on my driveway. I finally got hooked up to the college server...we'll see how long that lasts :)
One of my favorite things to do with my kids is the laundry. Yes, you read that right, the laundry. They are just so cute helping, and yes, they really do help. Here's our laundry process. Once the laundry comes out of the drier (they help before that, but it isn't really helping) I dump the clothes out on my living room floor. They they each pick which basket they want and they help me separate the clothes into each basket (because I'm picky and I hate folding one of Kember's shirts, then one of Dans pants...I want to fold all of one thing first). They sorting is rather fun. They throw things, if I mix something up and put it in the wrong basket they say, "Mooommm, this isn't mine...this is baby's!" Oh, so sorry. Then they fix it. That takes a bit of time. Then I ask Caden to find me all his shirts, pants, and so on. They I ask Kember to do the same. They once they are all organized I hand a stack to Kember and say, "K, put this in your top drawer." Then I give one to Caden and tell him to put them in which ever drawer they go in. Anyway, they run to their bedroom and then they run back for their next stack. Kember can even help me fold things (when she wants too). I get a great deal of enjoyment out of this ritual when I let them actually help me. I wonder if I could figure something out like this for the dishes.

Starting Over

This has nothing to do with anything (especially this post) but here it goes. So I realize that the picture I have on my blog is a wee bit out-dated...like missing one of my children out-dated and that child is almost a year old. Hmmm. I suppose that most mothers would fix that picture quickly after the arrival of a new one. I wonder what this says about me (other than I'm lazy, because we all already knew that). Well, maybe I don't want to know. So much for deep introspection. Okay, on to the post.

Starting Over Again
Well, it’s official. We moved into (well closed) our house on the 20th of May. Which would mean that we have been here for three and a half months (When I originally typed this it was closer to three and a half, not four, I can do the math). We’ve been in our callings for about two months (give-or-take). It’s apparently time to start over. Fun stuff. The stake switched the boundaries last night. Before the meeting all the talk and gossip about this I figured it didn’t really matter much to me…I mean, look at the length of time we’ve been here…not long. Well after they showed the boundary changes I decided I must have settled in here a little better than I originally thought. I’m thankful that I know at least one of my friends is in my new ward with me. Our old ward is no longer. They got rid of two wards, and ours was one of them. Well, hopefully there will be loads of people around my age with families in this new ward and Dan and I will make tons of friends. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens and what new callings we get. I’ve decided that I’m hoping if my calling can’t be in Relief Society than I would love a calling in Young Women’s. I know, I don’t get to choose, but there you have it. Knock on wood and all that sort of stuff. Let’s start over!
Speaking of starting over, I decided that the disaster that was my hair from the girls weekend (see older post) when I had it dyed, needed to change (boy that was a long run-on sentence). So, my visiting teacher, who I guess isn't my visiting teacher any more because of the changes mentioned above, used to be a hair dresser (is that what they are called? I go frequently you can tell). Her daughter is thinking about someday going to hair school and they volunteered to do my hair. Rock on. So, since we are starting over in a new ward I'm starting over with my hair. I like it. I'd post a picture, but I haven't taken one. It's brown. Picture my old not really blonde hair. Pick the darkest shade and then go one or two shades darker than that and there you have it. See, who needs a picture? Seriously, we're thinking of getting the internet and then I'll maybe post one, but no promises. So, here's to starting over with things. Rock on.