Cats

I like cats, but I am allergic to them so I stay away from them. Lately, they seem to be invading my life. We have always had stray cats on this property, but they have never been a bother, and since they catch the mice I have never  been bothered by them. About a month ago, we inherited a cat, Jack. He is a really nice cat. He was suppose to be an outside cat, but he had other ideas. So one cat around, no big deal. Then when Mike's sister moved in, they brought their two cats. They are also suppose to be outside cats, but they also don't agree with that. I spend a lot of time throwing cats outside.

Two days ago, I got in my car and found cat poop all over. Gross, the kids had left a door open. I became vigilant to keep the doors closed so another cat wouldn't get in my car. That night I had a nightmare that I was getting into the car and cats kept jumping into the car, and I would throw them out, and they would just keep coming. The next day, I go to get in my car and there is more cat poop. The cat is still in the car.  I removed all the seats, searched everywhere, no cat. While driving to boise, I hear a cat meowing. I'm really starting to loose my mind. Where is the cat? When I get home I park the car and lock it. Later, I peek through the windows and a see a small black stray cat walking around in the car. I try to let it out, but it climbs into the dash.  We tried trapping it, and that didn't work. We left the door open all morning. I hope he left. He has been in there for three days. I am tired of the cat poop.  I have vowed to trap and remove all of the stray cats. They just can't stay.

More Fun

Today, Merek peeked his head in the kitchen to tell me he was muddy. I couldn't help but laugh.

One of our chickens laid this egg today. This is it next to a normal egg, it is hard to see how big it is in this picture. It is at least 2x as big as they normally are. It is so big I can't close the egg carton. Corbin is surprised it didn't get stuck in the chicken. 

Just Because

We will have new house guests soon. We have been wanting to rent out the mother-in-law quarters, but didn't want to rent to a stranger. Well, Mike's sister was looking for something less expensive, so this is going to work out well for both of us. She moves in on Wednesday. Needless to say, Mike has been working really hard to get it finished by then. (I'll post finished pictures when it is done.)

On a side note, Rylan wanted to drive the lawn mower. (He thinks he is grown up.) So Mike stopped what he was doing to give Rylan a driving lesson. 

Bye Bye

Nana is moving to Texas today. We are really going to miss her and DJ.

Impromptu Camping Trip

We realized that we hadn't gone camping yet this summer, so we pulled the kids from school and went on an impromptu camping trip. We had a lot of fun.

 Mike putting up the tent, in rock hard dirt.

 Starting the camp fire.

 Camping with 5 kids is a LOT of work. Even if it is just overnight. The packing, freezing and hungry kids keep mom and dad busy. Trying to get everyone to settle down and go to bed, and then keeping them in their sleeping bags, because it is freezing outside. Madi woke up in the middle of the night, just as happy as can be. For hours I worked at keeping her happy and inside  her sleeping bag, and quiet enough not to wake everyone else.  Just when I thought I had her asleep, she would pop her head up again. I was so happy when the sun started to rise and mike got up, and took her out of the tent. When everyone got up and had some breakfast we got in the car and headed to a nearby hot spring.

  Madi had no problem jumping right in.

 It was cold outside. Probably about 43 degrees when we got there.

 Hot Spring water slide.

 Hot Springs shower.

This is a cooler pool by the river.

Just Because

 

Poor Merek

Merek seemed kind of off all day. At church he cuddled up to me and didn't move. In nursery, he laid on the floor most of the time. While I was making lunch, he laid his head on the counter. After lunch, I made him take a nap, and he took a long nap. The rest of us were outside enjoying the evening, when Mike went inside for something. He came out and told me Merek was up and sitting in the chair downstairs, and I needed to go look at him. It was so sad...he had been up for a while. He had thrown up on his shoulder and the chair and didn't want to move because it would get on him. He was sitting perfectly still waiting for someone to discover him.  Poor baby.