Pippen vs. Dora

Pippen is such a little clown.  He spazzes out, makes his tail fluff out to racoon size and tears around the house pouncing on anything that moves.  Absolutely cracks me up!  Bella was playing dolls downstairs and Pippen decided enough was enough for Dora the Explorer.

Dora never stood a chance.  And yes, I know in the video I hand Dora to him, but it was after he initiated the attack and I was laughing so hard I had to go grab the phone to video him before he grew bored. Crazy munchkin cat.

Hummingbird Rocket in Flight

Here is one of the little ladies who has been chowing down at our all-you-can-eat sugarwater buffet.  I'm still working on getting good shots.

Happy Birthday to Pippen

Our little Pippen turns 1 year old today.  He's such a goofball and loves to snuggle.  And he is so sweet with Bella, even though she isn't very sweet to him most of the time.  Happy Birthday Pipperdoodle!

Hummingbirds

My stepfather bought me a hummingbird feeder for my birthday after noticing hummingbirds feeding on some flowers in our yard.  We filled it and hung it outside where we can see it both from the porch and our bedroom and we've been thrilled to watch a little hummingbird couple start making good use of it.  They make this funny little chirping sound when they come to eat that almost sounds like a squeaky hinge, so even if I'm reading a book, I usually hear them come to the feeder and am able to look up and watch them.  Even more interesting is watching them eat and then go perch in a nearby tree.  They move so quickly and are so tiny, that I have never seen (or noticed at least) one perched before.  I managed to sneak a shot of one late in the afternoon.

I look forward to trying to get more shots of these little ones.  Wish me luck!

Have you ever seen a hummingbird perch?

Moving Part 2.5 - The Drive Down

I got so wrapped up in the drama of the past few days that I forgot to mention that the ride down was largely uneventful, which is good considering that we had a 3 year old, a dog, and a cat with us on a 13 hour drive.  Pippen roamed around the car, changing positions and laps the whole time.

 I'm sure Josie was jealous.  Well, at least until this:

Then, I'm pretty sure she was glad to be in her own little area in the back.  I'm very grateful to Vinny for driving us all down and flying back so I didn't have to drive alone.  His original Sunday flight got cancelled so he didn't get to leave til Monday, which was nice for me too.  I can't wait for this week to be over so he can come HOME!

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Fetch

I can't tell you how much Pippen loves his 'da bird' feather toy.  He used to make himself literally breathless he would play with it for so long.  And he finally chewed through the string itself.  It's easy enough to fix, we just haven't done it yet because he loves the feather by itself too.  Anyway, the title of the post sort of speaks to what is getting ready to happen here, I just thought it was too cute, especially with his little munchkin cat legs.  Yes, that's right, our cat plays fetch!

Vinny was sorting through some paperwork. (Yet another of those pre-move necessities that just takes time and energy that we often don't have at the end of a day)  Apparently he'd been doing the fetch thing for close to 30 minutes before I noticed and grabbed the camera.  Tenacious little guy, our Pippen.

What's your cat's favorite toy?

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After almost 2 months of battling a respiratory infection, Pippen was finally well enough to have his manhood removed, be neutered.

I have a sneaking suspicion that he's just planning his revenge.

Bella's Beloved - Skippyjon Jones

Shortly after we got Pippen we discovered this little series about a siamese cat named skippyjon jones.  Basically, this cat thinks he is a chihuahua, not a cat because he has a big head and big ears.  Then he proceeds to get himself into all kinds of silly pretend situations where he saves the day.  We have 3 of the books pictured here.  

We don't have Mummy trouble.  And there are tons more in case grandparents are looking for good gifts (HINT HINT).  Bella just adores them.  And so far all of the ones we have gotten have come with a CD where the author reads the story.  Which is nice because there are a few places where he sings and it's awfully convenient and makes you look like super-mom (or dad) when you can sing the words properly.

Obviously, Pippen shares some resemblance to the main character, so we've been calling him Pippyjon jones, Mr. Fluffernutter, Mr. Kitten Britches, and a few other names Skippyjon gets called in the book.

What are your kids' favorite books?  Or what were your favorite books when you were a kid?

Animal Instincts - Pippen in a Tunnel

Pippen + Tunnel + Ribbon + Josie cameo = Uber CUTE!

Bella's Beloved - The Barrington Playground

On Sunday, it was pretty nice outside. (Of course, 'nice' is relative...it was sunny and in the lower 50's)  But any hint of spring and the New Englanders are out in force.  So I took Bella and Josie to the Barrington playground to get out some energy and soak up some vitamin D.

The place was packed.  Josie was a huge hit and was a very good girl.

And Bella had a blast too, especially once I finally convinced her to try the swings.  They have these cool swings that feel sort of like a roller coaster because of where your center of balance is.  (Warning: if you're prone to motion sickness, this video may not be for you)

I'm looking forward to many more days over there as the weather gets a bit warmer.  What's your favorite outdoor activity during the spring?

Hurry Spring

I am so sick of the cold weather!  We finished up our firewood last week.  We went through a full 3 cords this year plus a little bit that was left over from last year.  And even though the heat is going, I just can't seem to get warm.  Today though, the sun is shining brightly and it feels like spring is on it's way.  We even have these little beauties in the front flower bed:

Pippen and Josie seem to be feeling it too.  I let Josie out to run around the backyard, and when I asked her to come inside, this is what she did:

Pippen also tried to follow her outdoors, but he's still getting over some crud so I'm not ready to let him explore there yet.  So he enjoyed the sunlight from inside:

What is the first thing you look for to tell you spring has really arrived?

The Origins of Pippen and Josie

aka: how we went from a 2 dachshund house to a no pet house, to a 1 cat, 1 dog and 2 fish house

So I promised this story, if nothing more than for posterity's sake.  In about August, we finally heard from the dachshund rescue group we got Logan from that they had found a foster home for Caidie and Logan.  We loved Caidie and Logan.  Still do.  But Bella was really hard on two little dogs under 25lbs who had arthritis and couldn't get away from her.  So we realized that it was the best thing to do for their sake.  About a month later we heard that they were placed with a retired family in upstate New York and they are being pampered to their hearts' content.

It was the best possible outcome we could have come up with for them.  So for about 4 months we got to experience what it would be like to be pet-free.

With the advent of this whole 'me staying home and doing the Montessori thing,' I realized that we would have to allow pets in our lives again.  One of the activities in the curriculum is a discussion about what it means to be a plant vs. an animal.  The little sheets give you a run down of what materials you'll need.  Most of them are things like, '3 cups, a pouring container, and some dry grain' or something like that.  This one, however, says that we will need several animals and plants.  HURRR?  Excuse me?  "Several?"  Really?  So I thought I'd get Bella several fish and a live plant in the fishtank.  Problem solved.  Christmas brought her an aquarium with 2 goldfish and a real live plant.  Of course, the gold fish did nothing but hide behind the plant the best they could, but there we have it...several.

Over the course of the holiday break though, it crept into my head that perhaps fish alone were not 'animal' enough to really drive the point home, so I started looking into cats.  I read perhaps a bit too much on I Can Has Cheezburger and had gotten quite enamored with both scottish folds and munchkin cats.  After some research I found that Scottish folds also have some other genetic anomalies besides the cute ears that can cost a ton of money in the long run, so I ruled that one out.  Munchkins seemed to get a pretty decent bill of health.  So we I found a great breeder in Pennsylvania  who bred munchkins that had point patterning (like siamese cats).

 In the meantime, Vinny was trying to convince me that we should get a cat from a shelter.  I agreed to look, but I was set on the point pattern.  So he sends me a chat message one day and says he's on craig's list and they have the cutest Jack Russell terrier on there and can he have him.  I told him to bite me.  A few minutes later he sends me a link and says...'oh oh oh...there is a siberian husky, free to good home and I really want her.'  Thinking he is just totally messing with me I snap back some snarky message.  About 30 minutes later he asks if I ever looked at the link and I told him no, because he was crazy.  After going ON and ON about this dog and how perfect she was, he ends with, "And I LOVE her!"  Now, those of you who know Vinny know that this is just not something that he says for anything.  And he rarely asks for anything.  So I felt obligated to email the people and at least meet this dog.  I got an email back saying they already had a bunch of interest in her but they would let us know if it didn't work out.

Now, when I tell you Vinny was upset about this...it's a huge understatement.  He was downright distraught.  To the point where I started looking into Siberian Husky breeders.  (BTW, we found an amazing Husky breeder in case anyone is ever looking)  I was to the point where I was ready to put down a deposit on a future litter, but of course wanted to make sure that the craig's list Husky (We didn't know her name at the time) was truly gone first.  So I shot the folks a quick email and got back a reply saying that they hadn't found her a home yet and giving me their number to call them.  The next thing I know, we've arranged for them to come by and bring Jo-C to meet us.  You should have seen the look on Vinny's face when I told him that this dog was coming over in 30 minutes.  You could have run cities off the solar power that grin was giving off.  I even managed to get in a super quick house cleaning courtesy of his adrenalin rush.  They brought her in and it was all over from there.  She never left.  She just fit in too perfectly.

A slight spelling change of her name made her our Josie.  A few days later we went and picked up Pippen, and now here we are!  Things aren't always perfect.  Exhibit A:

But they're still pretty great.  We got rid of the crate and Josie isn't destructive at all around the house.  She's crazy excited to see us if we leave her longer than an hour, but no damage.  And we worked really hard with her and have her comfortable enough with the crate that we can put her in it if we have to, like when we have a house showing and aren't around to be able to take her for a ride with us to get her out of the way.  She's great with Bella (can't wait to show you roller-sledding) and sleeps with us at night.

Pippen is a total doll.  He loves to play, loves to snuggle.  He's very gentle and is basically my dream cat, not to mention a total cutie pie.  He's battling a respiratory infection, so he sneezes a lot, hoping he'll be over that soon.

We're trying to keep Bella from over-snuggling him and stressing him out, and we're maybe 50% effective.  I think if he'd just give her a good wallop one time, she'd be more cautious about grabbing him, but he refuses to defend himself around her.  So, we just keep trying.  I guess that's why the lesson said several, because each one provides it's own set of challenges, and kids need to learn about them all.

How about you?  How did you decide on and/or end up with the pets you have?

Stay at home mom

Back in December I made a pretty big decision, to start staying home with Bella. I almost went cold turkey, but somehow managed to regain some sanity. Or maybe I gained a little in-sanity, because now I'm going to school one day a week, and I'm home with Bella the other 4 days a week.  The one upside to doing both is that I have a good excuse anytime I fail at one or the other.

But, as with most things, I dove in head first. (That explains a lot doesn't it!?) We chose to get a 3 year curriculum program from North American Montessori Center that will take us through age 6. We converted the back sunroom into a classroom, and cordoned her usual toys that don't fit the Montessori model into the playroom. I'm hoping to blog more about this homeschooling journey soon. For now, here is a photo of Bella, very proud of herself, after successfully completing a clothes pinning activity.

And because I dove in head first, I got a bit of a concussion (like how I stuck with the whole pool diving metaphor?). I was grumpy, the house was a mess, I found myself still in pjs at dinner time, and realized that I hadn't left the house in 4 days. Oops.

So I'm getting my feet back under me. Trying to take smaller steps and feeling better about the whole thing. Hopefully keep you posted on that front, but I'm proud to report that I managed to put on actual clothes today and got some on Bella too, YAY!

We also got a new cat, and a new dog. Post to be done soon with the full story (can you tell my new resolution is to blog more?). But suffice it to say that our new additions are providing much entertainment, a lot of laughs, and a lot of frustrations. Here they are, Pippen and Josie (cat and dog respectively), who will likely get a few posts of their own here and there.

Vinny's car finally kicked the bucket (or rather...became so decrepit it wasn't worth fixing), so we also have a new car, which Vinny is immensely pleased about.  It's a 2011 Acura MDX.  He had it all of about 2 weeks before he knocked the side mirror off backing out of the garage.  But it is back in mint condition again, and hubby is happy...what can I say about that, other than 'life is bella.' :)

The Navy finally got back to us about where we'll be moving in July. They tell us they won't know anything official until congress approves a budget (so needless to say we aren't holding our breath for the official letter), but we are told that their plan is to send us to Camp Lejeune, in North Carolina. We're thrilled to be moving closer to our NC family, but sad to be leaving our RI friends and our MA family and friends. I'm nervous about the whole thing. I've logged a pretty ridiculous number of hours looking at houses in the Camp Lejeune area. We're using spring break in a few weeks to go down and look at houses and hopefully relax a bit.  I'm hoping for a bit of warm weather too.  Very tired of the snow we've been under up in Rhode Island this winter.

An upcoming move also mean our house is on the market.  We're going to attempt to sell it, but may end up renting it if necessary.  What that really means, is that until further notice, the house has to be able to be clean and presentable in an hour or less.  So the elves have been put on high alert and we're actually attempting to clean up after ourselves.

And last but not least, a snapshot from our life.

(And for those of you who notice that she's shirtless...I said I got clothes on her today, I never promised that they all stayed on for the whole day)