Boss Jewell- Our New Cat

Red Jewell

As many of you know, our black cat, Red Jewell, died in October.  He was the smartest, cleverest, sassiest, bossiest cat.   He ruled this house like an English lord over his serfs.   We loved his attitude and I have missed him terribly since he died.    A few memories of Red Jewell…

-He sucked his tail like a baby sucked it’s thumb.  If he was happy & content, he started sucking on his tail.   You would think this would be cute but it was slightly obnoxious at 3am, curled up on the pillow next to your head.  We had to start locking him in the laundry room at night to keep him out of our bed.

-He went through a period of being totally *obsessed* with my gold jewelry, especially necklaces.   If I took one off and left it out on the counter, he would grab it and take off with it.   I eventually had to start locking up my jewelry in my jewelry box to keep him away from it.   One evening I heard a racket coming out of our bedroom.   Somehow he had figured out how to get my jewelry box open and managed to get 6-8 necklaces off the hook and around his neck.  He came trotting down the hallway, draped in gold necklaces, as proud as can be- he looked like Mr. T.

-He was the smartest animal I’ve ever known- definitely a genius cat.    Because he was so obnoxious at night, we would lock him up in the kitchen (at our old house) at night.  The kitchen had bi-fold doors with a small hook at the top- he figured out that if he threw himself at the door hard enough he could bounce the hook out of the latch.   Then we got bi-fold door locks that screwed the doors shut- somehow he managed to unscrew the locks and get out.   We tried tying the door shut & he figured that out too.   He was a houdini. 

-A few years ago, after we moved to our new house, the children were playing in the backyard.   A copperhead snake came out & got within about 5-10 feet of them.    Red knew that the snake shouldn’t be so near the children!   He threw himself between the snake and the children and attacked it- the kids came running for me and Red was just wild to kill that snake.   What a smart boy he was!

-Red Jewell did not think that his feet should ever touch the ground while he was in the house.  He preferred to be carried, held, waited on & served as much as possible.   He was happiest when he was being held by one of us.

A few years ago we took in Kip’s mother’s cat, Princess.   She was a nice, fat, sassy girl and we enjoyed her very much.  She died on Christmas Day this year.   So for the first time in 12+ years I was catless, which is not a happy state to be in if you are a true Fairchild.

Boss Jewell

I told Kip that I wanted another cat because a house just doesn’t feel like a home without a fat cat to sit in your lap and be bossy!     I’ve been searching for a cat on and off for a few months but I had a long list of criteria- either black or tuxedo, male, affectionate, not a “hider”, good with kids, etc.      Mary & I stopped at Pet Depot one evening and they had about 20 cats, 10 of them were black cats!    We spent an hour or so getting each one out of his cage, playing with him and assessing his personality.

It was quickly clear that this was the right cat!   Super affectionate, happy to be held- I even thought initially he was declawed because he never tried to scratch me or Mary.   He never tried to wiggle & get down.    I took the baby back to spend time with him to make sure he would be good with her.   The animal shelter lowered the fees to only $20 and that included all of his shots, he was fixed, etc.   They even gave us coupons for free catfood, etc.     We brought him home that day!

4/23-  Here is “Boss” Jewell.   Although the kids are undecided- some want to call him Jaspar (which is a type of black jewel) and some want to call him Felix (after the cartoon)- they can call him whatever they want, Boss is his name as far as I am concerned.

He spends quite a bit of time sleeping with Nathan. 

He had been at Pet Depot the longest of the cats.  He was a favorite of the volunteers but they said no one wanted to adopt him because he was all black and many people consider black cats to be bad luck.   What nonsense!   Their foolishness is my good luck though because they missed out on a super nice cat!

4/27- Lyra screeches “Kiiiiieeee!  Kiiiiieeee!!” and “hugs” him a little to tightly.   When I took this picture I was holding the gate open so he could get away from her.   He could care less- he laid there for 20 minutes while she mauled on him & he was perfectly happy.    He’s been dressed up in dolly crib sheets, hauled around in a doll stroller, carried & petted & squeezed and has never clawed, scratched or bit even once. 

Just a Tuesday

Tuesday, 3/20/2012- nothing special this day, just  a regular day at home.   I took a few random pictures I thought I’d post.   Kids building with legos, drawing pictures & Nathan with some goofy fake teeth he won at a bowling alley.

Swinging, Stools & Lyra Talking

The weather this winter has been amazing.    A few little cold spells here & there but the majority of the time we’ve had warm, sunny days often getting into the 60′s and 70′s.  Notice Mary isn’t even wearing tights in the picture below.     Although it snowed (only time this winter) on Sunday night (2/19) by Wednesday it was positively hot out.   I turned the heat off, opened all the windows and the kids spent about 5 hours playing in the sprinklers and wearing their bathing suits!

2/17/2012

2/21 

Lyra made a discovery today.  She has discovered the power of the stool.   She’s started hauling it around and using it to climb up and get into mischief.     This is the first time I caught her doing this- not sure what she wanted on top of the washing machine though.   Since then it has become a regular occurrence.

I want to be sure to write this down so I don’t forget.   My sister had recently commented to me on how silent Lyra is- almost 2yo and still not talking at all.   She has a few words that she VERY rarely will say.    On 2/7 we went for a nature hike at a local park and it was like a light switch was turned on her head when it comes to language!  That day she said “backpack” and “map” a whole bunch of times.    When Mr. Hicks came for piano lessons two days later he commented on how he couldn’t believe the difference in Lyra from just  week prior.    Before she was so silent- no talking, no babbling, etc.   All of a sudden, after Tuesday- she started babbling up a storm.  She has a lot to say, even though we don’t know what she is saying!   She babbles away and is even saying a couple of words here and there.    She’ll pat your head and say “duck, duck” (for the game duck, duck, goose), she continues to say backpack, map, night night.   The other day she said, clear as day, “hello Daddy!”.      She isn’t talking in full sentences yet but she is on her way!

Catching Up! January 11-31, 2012

It’s high time I got this blog caught up.     I’m going to condense all the pictures from the last three weeks of January into one post.   Here we go!

January 11, 2012- Bowling

With the rising cost of living, especially the price of groceries and gas, it can be hard for a family of six to afford going out anymore!    I have discovered two great websites- Groupon and Restaurant(dot)com.    In November I was able to buy a four pass bowling coupon for $10!  That included a game of bowling for four and shoe rentals- the normal price is $30.   I set it aside until after the holiday rush quieted down.    Restaurant(dot)com sells gift cards to restaurants and they often have great deals.   I was able to purchase a $25 gift card to our favorite pizza restaurant for $2!     We had a great afternoon out- the kids enjoyed their first time bowling.  Kip is a great bowler- he had 2 strikes and 8 spares.   I did not bowl as I don’t really care for it- I enjoyed watching everyone else and keeping track of Lyra.

January 16, 2012- Morning Glories- sleepy girls in the morning.   Savvy, 4 years old and Lyra, 21 months old.

January 17, 2012- Park Day

I’ve lived in the South for 22 years and I don’t ever remember a winter this warm.   We have consistently had sunny days in the 60′s.    Consequently, we’ve been packing up lunch and heading over to the new playground 4 miles from our house pretty often.    Such fun to meet with other homeschooling friends for fellowship and encouragement.

January 20, 2012- More Park Days & First Pigtails

Lyra has had her first pig tails and oh my, she is SO cute!   Of course, she is also very busy so it has been nearly impossible to really get a good picture of them.  I made several attempts while she was eating lunch- they aren’t as good as I’d like but they’ll do.   She is also an absolutely WILD baby- she loves to rough house- you cannot throw her high enough, swing her hard enough- she laughs & laughs & laughs.   She is so fun!

Eating her lunch at the park!

January 21, 2012- Build A Bear

Nathan has been asking and asking to go to Build A Bear, probably for over  a year.    He was given $30 and a $10 B-A-B coupon for his birthday so off we went.

With the coupon, there was enough left over to do a second animal.   Nathan chose to make Lyra a soft bunny.   He is giving it to her for Valentine’s Day.   Sweet, eh? 

January 21, 2012- Black Eye

Lyra fell while playing in the living room and landed on the scope of Nathan’s rifle.   This is shortly after it happened.   There was almost a perfect circle around her eye.  It looked pretty bead the next few days but I wasn’t able to get a good picture of it.

January 28, 2012 Sisters- Mary playing with and dressing up Lyra.

January 31, 2012 My Two Seven Year Olds

Because Mary & Nathan are exactly 11 months apart (2/3/2004 and then 1/3/2005), I always have one month each year where they are both the same age.     Here are my two seven year olds.    I know Nathan’s hair is atrociously long- I took him to get it cut a few days later.

I had to post a picture of Nathan and his “hicket”.  I am not sure what the proper name is for this tool but it is Nathan’s favorite tool of Kip’s.  He hauls it all around the yard digging stuff, etc. with it.    Every day he asks me – “Mom, can I take my hicket outside and play?”

Love this picture of the two of them!

A Day In the Life- January 26, 2012

From an email I sent to Kip’s Aunt today.   I know I’ll enjoy looking back on this in 20 years. 

Here is a snippet of today- I thought you might find it somewhat amusing to look back and remember how it was with little kids in the house!     Showered & dressed by 7:30am.  45 minutes to check my email, eat breakfast, switch laundry, monitor Mary & Nathan’s chores and do the breakfast dishes.  8:15 we are all heading upstairs for 30 minutes of getting the children dressed, hair fixed, make beds, clean rooms, etc.   8:45am Bible study with the kids.  9:00am- Lyra goes down for a nap.  I spend the next 1 hour & 15 minutes trying to get Mary and Nathan through their language arts, phonics & math and do Savvy’s preschool work.   Get Lyra up at 10:15 and spend the next 30 minutes reading history out loud (we are studying the 1850′s right now).    Then downstairs- send Nathan out to the backyard with Lyra.  Direct Mary & Savvy to clean the living room.  I start the bread for tonight.  Then they go outside & I bring Lyra in.  Lyra & I eat lunch.   Then I put her in the living room & fix lunch for the 3 older kids.   While they are eating lunch they listen to their Suzuki Piano Music and I read aloud to them from the Burgess Bird Book for Children (we are studying birds for Science).    While I pick up lunch I am supervising Mary & Nathan practicing their piano (8 songs each).    By now it is 1:15pm.   Put the younger two girls down for a nap.   Older two kids sent outside to play.   While they are playing I fold laundry, sort mail, check email, put spaghetti sauce & meatballs on the stove to simmer, sweep & mop the floor, get the rolls fixed and rising.   Call kids in for snack and to wash faces.  Piano teacher arrives at 4:00pm for lessons.  While they are having lessons I get the little girls up, make croutons from scratch for our salad,  assemble a salad and cook the pasta.   After lessons our piano teacher stays for dinner.  He leaves around 7:30pm.  I take the girls upstairs, put Lyra to bed, listen to Mary read to me & Savvy for 20 minutes and then put them down.   Then sweep & mop the kitchen floor for the second time today.  Meanwhile Kip & Nathan are out in the garage painting his pinewood derby car for the race on Saturday.  I just sat down and I never did get to cleaning the three bathrooms (maybe, hopefully, tomorrow?).     WHEW!!!