The Animals

It occurs to us that some of you who haven't been to visit recently aren't up to date on our current assortment of animals. The animal shelter is the best place to get pets. I think they know that you rescued them and give you extra love.

We adopted Oliver "Ollie" the cat from the Humane Society in September 2007. He was supposed to be our spider catcher. I'm not sure if he's earning his keep that way, but he sure is soft and cuddly. He is, however, very adept at catching low flying birds within a 1 mile radius of our home (a.k.a. the location of his food bowl). He likes to wander the neighborhood and sometimes follows us on our walk to school. Once he jumped in another family's car at the school and took a ride home with them. He's a little too friendly for his own good. Hopefully he'll choose to stay with us for a long time.


We adopted Lily from the Humane Society in May when we had decided that we should give another cat a home. But when we went to check out the cats we thought we should really walk a few of the dogs. Now we have Lily. She is very sweet (her shelter name was Sweetie), full of puppy energy, and thinks dining room chairs are a tasty snack. Lily likes to sleep on her back with her legs spread wide. She also has a flatulence problem. We love her dearly.


And, of course, we still have our first baby, Izzy. Izzy is 11. She isn't too happy about all of the animals in the house. All she wants to do is sleep and have peace and quiet to contemplate her live as top dog and all of that contemplation is somewhat disturbed by the three kids and new animals. But she's a tough old girl and she perseveres through adversity.

Juliana Rock Star Moment

Juliana was a rock star for the afternoon at her friend Gemma's 6th birthday. The girls dressed up, got their hair and nails done and generally got their sparkle on. Their rock star moment was complete with a ride in a pink limo to and from the party. Needless to say, the girls all had a great time. Thanks, Gemma!

[Note from the mother: normally I wouldn't consider another child's birthday party fodder for our blog, but since it's probably the only time in her life (at least in the near future) any of my children will find themselves riding in a pink limousine, I've made an exception.]

Pumpkin Patch(es)

We are lucky enough to have visited pumpkin patches in two states this year! We'll aim higher next year - each child will visit a pumpkin patch in the state of his or her choosing.

First we visited Honeysuckle Farm in Tennessee. Honeysuckle Farm features the world famous "Hillbilly Pig Races" and a Cow Train Barrel ride. We also wandered through a maize maze in the shape of the head of Johnny Cash. And, of course, there were the pumpkins.

Next we drove seven hours to visit a pumpkin patch in South Carolina. Actually, we drove seven hours to see Nana and Papa, the pumpkin patch was just an added treat.