Trimming, Tedious, and Tantrums

This house and household are keeping Joe and I pretty busy most of the time. Saturday Mama Sue came and played with the girls while Joe and I worked in and around the house. Ava is now saying "Ma Sue" just like Cate did when she was about this age. Cate was thrilled with the Halloween cupcakes Mama Sue brought and would not let anyone eat the last one because it was for "my Daddy"-- little did she know he had eaten his fair share already.

My goal for our yard is to make it as unappealing to a family of snakes as possible. Joe and I cleared more brush and hacked away at the thicket. We can't just cut a limb or a small tree and drag it out of our small forest. We have to clip the 15 briars attached to it first. My arms look like the kitten (which we still have) used them as a scratching post. We can tell there has been progress made in the back and will hopefully be able to plant a few pretty trees soon.

We have also started pulling wallpaper down in the laundry room. It only covers one small wall in there, but it is taking for-ev-er! We have tried everything from vinegar to a product from Lowe's, but nothing is working very well. I did manage to tear a rather large hole in the wall. Thank goodness there's only one other room with wallpaper in it and it's a bathroom.






Ms. Ava has learned to pitch a fit, and boy can she throw one. We attempted to have a nice family meal with my cousins Robert and Alyson on Sunday and Ava screamed and carried on until she had to be carried out. She tried a similar stunt at supper at home that night and after a swat on the leg decided to sit in her chair and act like a human being. Mornings have not been her thing lately either. This is a picture of her getting ready for school last week. I got her dressed and she then went and got these sunglasses. She put them on, sat back down in my lap and did not want to be moved or spoken to. Joe and I began snickering and she looked at me over the top of those glasses with a very stern glare.



Ava has begun speaking in full sentences this week. Our favorites: "I love Mama." "I love Daddy." "I sit in my chair." "I get clothes on." She recognizes the color blue, we think, but it's hard to tell because she calls most everything blue. She can count to six and tries to sing along with some of the songs in the car.

Cate is very wound up about Halloween and getting to dress up. She almost destroyed her costume- it has had a few surgeries already. She's been scaring us, sort of. She will walk up to one of us and say, "I'm about to scare you." She then walks off a few steps, turns around, and says, "Boo. We don't scare too bad." Joe was settling her in bed a few nights ago and was scratching her back. "Daddy, wouldn't it be great if you scratched Ava's back? Joe replied, "Yeah, it would." Cate then said, "She's probably not old enough to appreciate it though. That was on Olivia."

They are pretty sweet most of the time and always keep us entertained.

It's seldom that the girls are dressed in anything but pajamas (half the time they don't even have those on), that I thought I'd get a few pictures before school one morning. Cate cooperated. Ava did not.





And we can't forget our first child- Tucker, lying in the sunshine with a much beloved sock.

Tuck and Molly

It didn't take long for Tucker and Molly to become buddies. They play together, nap together and even get into mischief together.





But when you get right down to it, Tucker has been whipped by a Cat!

A trip to Starkville

Well, the game wasn't that great, but Cate had a ball. She knew the cheers this year and wore her cowbell out. We went up into the upper deck to visit Grandpa during the third quarter. She was sitting in his lap, turned around, and asked, "Grandpa, did you hear me ringing my cowbell?" We were sitting 2 decks below him. She was in awe of the homecoming "princesses" and best of all (per Cate), got to splash in the mud in her rain boots. Ava stayed home with Nana. We just aren't quite ready to take the Tornado with us to a game, maybe next season.

Fire Station, Pumpkin Patch, Dirt, and Molly

Cate's class went to the Fire Station on Tuesday. Cate was upset that I didn't make it. "Everybody elses' mama went." She just looked bewildered when I told her that I do have to work sometimes. Another mom in the class did send some great pics though (thanks Aletha).










Thursday Cate's class went to the pumpkin patch at Circle Y. Cate and her class rode the train, jumped on the bouncy toys, held bunnies and chickens and petted goats, played on the playground, and of course, picked a pumpkin from the patch. She was exhausted when we got home, but reported to Joe that she had a lot of fun.

Cate's 3 year old class.


Cate and Maggie petting a goat.
Can you tell she loved the bunny?
Yes, Maggie is holding a chicken.
Riding the "train".




After nap we were playing outside and a guy that is going to grind our 7 stumps stopped by to measure them and give us an estimate. I was busy talking to him and looked up to discover that Ava was piling dirt. Into her mouth. At that point there was no point in making her get out of it, and she got to play in the mud for awhile. Cate wouldn't touch it and was appalled that she had to get a bath with Ava the little mud pig.


Splashing the dirt off of Ava. They would stand up and Ava would say, "One, Two, Thweeee!"--Splash.


We still have the kitten. We are calling her Molly for now. I just couldn't call a cat Judy or Baby Jesus. Cate's okay with "Molly". She stays in the laundry room most of the time right now. Joe gags at the litter box and sneezes if she gets too close and Ava is still terrified of her. She hasn't tried to climb Ava in a couple of days, but every time Ava catches a glimpse of her, she commands, "No Kitty. NO. NO. KIT.TY." Cate loves Molly and is spending a good deal of time chasing her, rolling her one of Tucker's old fuzzed up tennis balls, and pulling strings around for her. It seems that she may be around for awhile and if so, will soon become an outside cat. She loves to torment Tucker. She escapes from the laundry room, which involves scaling the baby gate in the doorway, runs in front of him, and then dashes under the closest piece of furniture. He sticks his head and front paws under the couch or chair and then Molly runs out on the other side, around, and behind Tucker. Once behind him, she swats at his tail and waits for him to turn and face her and the whole thing begins again. We're still not too sure what he would do if he cornered her or we'd start leaving them out together. I feel certain when she's a grown cat, she'll take his nose off if he messes with her too much. She's pretty feisty.

TV

Cate was watching TV yesterday afternoon and a promotion for another show came on.

Cate:"Mama, there's a new show coming on. It's called Hannah On Tanna."

Brainwashed.

Cate: "Daddy, Mrs. Tracie said, 'Go Rebels.'"

"We don't like the Rebels."

"They are bad."

"They are a bad team."

I was in another room and overheard this comment. I did not walk in to look, but I feel quite certain that Joe was beaming from ear to ear.

Any takers?

We have a kitten that needs a good home. She's probably about 8 weeks old, is eating dry food, and has not had one accident in 3 days! Cate wants to keep her, but Joe is allergic to cats and Ava is terrified of her.