Frisky Cats at Night

"Now I understand." That's what I told Brooke this morning.

Tinkerbell had her kitten Cricket 6 weeks ago, and they have been staying "B"s bedroom when the dogs are in the house. Lately, she has been complaining that she cannot sleep at night because the kitten keeps her awake.

Dad went home when I came home from work last night. I found my bed full of slumbering bodies again. Not an inch did they leave me. Too tired to fight my way in, I crawled into "B"s empty bed instead. It's a smaller bed than mine, but it is cooler in her room. I lay sprawled out, appreciating an entire bed to myself, enjoying the cool breeze on the hot night. I awoke in the middle of the night with Tinkerbell and Cricket both laying on my chest. Neither one are very heavy, but it was uncomfortable. I shooed them to the bottom of the bed and drifted back to sleep. I awoke with a shock when Cricket began chewing on my fingers. After giving her a good scolding, I plucked her off the bed and dropped her onto the floor. I heard the pitter patter of her little paws run across the room. All was quiet, and I fell asleep again. I hollered later in the night when Cricket sank her tiny teeth into my chin. Danged cat! I was a little less polite this time as I helped her to the floor. I was almost asleep again when she chomped down on my bare toes. "Enough!" I hollered right before she hit the floor running.

All night was like that. Every time I got to sleep, or almost, she'd pounce me. My toes, my fingers, my face, my hair.

I think she will be relocating to the bathroom soon, at least at night. Must remember to move the toilet paper.

George of the Jungle

I was in the living room when I heard a loud, single BANG! on my front door. At first I was startled, but the dogs were not alarmed. They still lay sprawled out on the floor claiming a coffee break. By the kitchen door, my 3-4 year old "H" was singing.

"George, George, George of the Jungle

Strong as he can be

Watch out for that..."

Then she grabbed the dog leash that was hung on a sturdy hook by the door. Placing her foot into the handle loop of the leash to use as a stirrup, she yelled "TREEEEEEE!" as she swung through the air with the greatest of ease and into the door. 

Controlling VCR

We were watching tv at my parents' house when their friend Tom stopped by to watch a movie with us. He was having a bit of trouble taming the vcr. He popped the tape in, hit play, and it stopped after playing only a few seconds.  He hit play a second time, and again it stopped after only a few seconds. He tried fast forwarding it a bit through the bad spot, hit play...and it finally worked. He backed slowly away from the vcr and sat down in his chair to watch the show. But the danged vcr wasn't finished. It stopped playing, rewound, stopped, ejected the tape, and the power turned off! He sat there scratching his head figuring out what to try next. I would have messed with him all day, but when I could no longer contain my laughter he turned and saw the vcr's remote control in my hand.

Snoring Monster

I just got back from a 3 day vacation a couple of days ago after visiting my gone-with-the-army husband. Then I had a surprise when I got home last night. My mom said she was helping my 3 year old clean her room when she heard a noise coming from a dresser in my room. Expecting to find a mouse or a rat in my dresser drawer, she sent my dad up to investigate. He was as surprised as anyone when he opened the drawer and found our cat laying in my clothes...snuggled up with a single week-old baby kitten. Good thing that drawer was full of old clothes that I was getting rid of anyway.

Last night my toddler "H" was sleeping in my room because she didn't feel well. We both have colds. She was a little congested and snoring, which made a weird but amusing sound. The cat kept growling and howling at something. I could hardly sleep with all the noise they were making. I realized she was growling at the noise the toddler was making. I picked her up and showed her the noise was just my baby, not a monster after her baby. After that, she calmed down and went to sleep with her little one. After another dose of cold medicine, I finally got to sleep, too.

Blue Blonde

"B" got a new hair color today. She has been bugging me to dye her hair red ever since I colored mine a light red this spring. I told her she'd have to wait til summer. Why she'd want to go from her pretty blonde to red, I don't know. I finally picked one up at the store that washes out in 24 shampoos, and colored her hair today. She emerged from the bathroom a new woman with a medium shiny red/copper hair. She loves it. "H" (almost 4) noticed the new color when she was sitting on the couch with her.

"H" looked her over curiously and asked her, "Is that your hair real?"

"Yes."

"H" asked "Can I touch it?"

 "Yes."

"H" ran her hand through her red locks and whispered, "wow!"

Then she asked, "B"?

"Yes"

"What did you do with all the yellow hair?"

"B" thought she'd be a smart aleck and said, "I threw it away."

"H" jumped off the couch and headed into the bathroom. For a minute I thought she had to potty, but less than a minute later she asked, "All right, "B", where'd ya put it?!"

Aaaaaant...Kellllly

I was up in Washington last week visiting at my brother-in-law's house. My toddler/preschooler speaks rather quickly and it is sometimes hard to understand what she says. She asked her grandpa, "Does aunt Kelly live here too?"

Grandpa didn't quite catch what she said, and replied,"Pardon?"

"Does aunt Kelly live here too?"

"Either you're not saying it loud enough or clear enough." Grandpa bent down to hear her better.

Hailey very patiently and very slowly said,"Duuuuuz...Aaaaaant...Kellllly...liiiiive...heeeeere...toooo?"

Entrails Details

I used to work at a grocery store that had a pizza parlor inside. One night, an old lady came through my line. While I rang up her groceries and her husband bagged them, she chatted with me. She described to me in great detail her ongoing battle with constipation. Some very colorful adjectives, and the lady knows her nouns. And OH! What nouns they were! I don't even want to remember the verbs. After my initial 'deer in the headlights' reaction, I screwed on a smile and tried to be as polite as I could. I mean, what else can you do?