Froggie, Allie and Izzy

So we're pet sitting for another homeschool family. Homeschoolers usually have strange pets probably since they're more interesting than your run of the mill dog. Don't get me wrong, they usually have dogs too and spiders, snakes, lizards, guinea pigs, rabbits, turtles and so on but this family has a poisonous dart frog. Ya, you heard me. Crazy, I know. He is really cool looking and of course he's a "look only" pet. He has to be fed wingless fruit flies. I know what you're thinking. Do I sit there and have to pull of the wings of each fruitfly before I feed it to this frog? No, they are bred that way so they don't have wings. You do have to dust them in a calcium powder first and then tap them into the cage. The cage has to be misted twice a day and you have to use spring water to fill his little pond. Our tap water contains chlorine and it would kill him since he drinks from it and sits in it for part of the day. He has real plants in his terrarium so they have to be watered every few days. He also has a heating pad on one corner of his cage and two heat lamps that are temperature controlled. That's just one of the pets we're watching for three months. I know, three months. That's another thing about homeschoolers, they like to go on three month long road trips across the United States so they can see every historical landmark possible. I have to admit, it does sound kind of fun to me. The problem with these trips is who will watch all of the pets? Another homeschool family of course because we see it as an opportunity to learn. We get to learn how to take care of strange animals and it gives us an opportunity to think beyond ourselves. Justin loves reptiles and amphibeans and his friend is the one going on the three month long car trip. All the animals are in his room and yesterday he came downstairs and said it was a dream come true. He said he wants his whole house to look like his room when he grows up. With terrariums and heat lamps and creepy crawlies all around. He really wants a snake but I have a rule. A rule which I have broken during this pet sitting experience. We can only have pets that if they got out of their cage I would not be creeped out. I seriously doubt this little teeny tiny dart frog would be able to escape from his huge terrarium so I'm not worried. So on to the other pets. A crested gecko called Izzy. He's really cool looking and will jump from one branch to the glass. He did it last night when I was checking on him and it scared me because he jumped right at me. He has to be fed baby food mixed with crested gecko powder formula from a spoon. I know, crazy again. I guess he's a finicky eater. Well I know all about those because I have several of those in my house already. The only difference is they're human. He did really well yesterday and licked the spoon almost completely clean. He didn't run away from me or bite my finger. Good thing ha? He has a fountain that has to be filled regularly. The fountain provides humidity. Aside from the baby food thing he's pretty easy. There is also an alligator lizard. He looks like a miniature alligator hence the name. He just needs a few calcium dusted crickets and water in his holder every day. Very easy. No heat lamp, no baby food, no wingless fruitflies. Piece of cake. Well maybe not that but still pretty easy. I hope none of them die on us, especially the poisonous dart frog.

Cookie

My niece's cat got a little frisky with a neighborhood cat before she had a chance to get her fixed and was blessed with kittens two months ago. We picked up our new kitten from her about two weeks ago and we absolutely love him. He's your typical kitten-furry, sweet, cute, playful and has very, very sharp claws. At first, he pooped all over the carpet and the house but we finally got him to go in the liter box. We placed a bunch of small liter boxes around the house especially where he would go the most. We also watched him like a hawk and immediately picked him up and put him in the liter box if we thought he had to go. It worked. He hasn't had an accident for a while. He likes to eat our older cat's food and our older cat likes to eat his food. Well this just won't work because they both have sensitive stomachs. We finally moved Gabby's food outside since Cookie doesn't get to go outside and Gabby can't stand him right now so she won't come in if she sees him. They're working out their differences and hopefully one day they'll be friends. She just needs reminders that she's our first born cat and we love her the most. So the name. We named him Cookie because when he was a newborn he kind of looked like an oreo so we were going to name him Oreo but we changed it to Cookie. Breanna is convinced his name is Cookie Oreo Mero. So cute. He likes to be held like a baby when he's sleepy so he can take his nap in your arms. He also likes to perch himself on Bryan's shoulder like a parrot and take a nap there. It's adorable. He sleeps in the garage at night otherwise he would be up all night playing and keeping kids from sleeping. He's a good kitty and he does just fine when we leave him home alone. So far he's been a very good pet. We're still trying to deal with the massive amounts of fleas that two cats can cause. It's getting under control. Have you ever bathed a cat? Not fun but we managed. We dusted our carpets, washed our cats in special flea shampoo, put flea control ointment on each cat and use a flea comb on them almost daily. It's getting better and he's worth it. He's attacking my feet as I type this. Ouch!!

Battle of Midway Dinner in San Francisco

Every year the navy puts on a special commemorative Battle of Midway Dinner. If you're not familiar with the Battle of Midway it took place during WWII halfway between here and Japan. It was the battle that turned the tide for us and we started winning the war. Marcus has always been very interested in the military and until recently has wanted to be a marine. After spending several years reading about the military and all that it requires he has changed his mind. Now he wants to go into film. I'm not surprised. We've always told him to do whatever he wanted to do because we don't want him to do it just because we think it's a good idea. My mother-in-law and father-in-law are good friends with a retired Navy captain and when she found out that Marcus was interested in the military she invited them all to this special dinner. It's a black tie event so last year we got Marcus a tux and all the accessories-bow tie, cumberbun, cuff links, black dress shoes and socks, all the things most 13 year old boys do not have in their closet. The tux was huge on him last year when he went the first time but this year it barely fit him. He did look handsome though. The thing about 14 year old boys is that they give you attitude. I remember giving my parents attitude when they wanted to take my picture so I know it's part of the deal but I still don't like it. I was embarrassed and felt like everyone was looking at me. I'm sure he feels that way too but I still wanted a good picture. It's not everyday that your boy is in a tux. This year Lauren, Marcus' cousin went with them. She's 23 and an absolute doll to be around. I love her and her sisters dearly and I was glad she was able to go to. Maybe she'll find a nice man in a uniform there. Oh I do hope so.

History Park

Yesterday we went on a field trip to History Park in San Jose, California. I had never heard of it before but my friend who is always doing research found a website for it and thought it would be a fun place to visit. Since we homeschool we do a history co-op together. We use a certain set of books written by Genevieve Foster and they were written in the 40's and 50's. I love them so much and history makes sense and is interesting now. I was so bored in school during history class and I still don't understand why they don't teach history chronologically, it makes so much more sense that way. We finished our recent book so we thought it would be fun to go on some historical field trips on our normal co-op days, Tuesdays. Originally we were going to go to Columbia, a gold rush town in Northern California. Supposedly you can pan for gold and visit old time buildings like a candle making shop and the old candy shop. It's closed on Tuesdays so we decided to go to San Jose instead. History Park is a little town where historical buildings and houses have all been moved into one area. They had an old post office, fire house, gas station, dentist, blacksmith shop and lots of houses. Unfortunately we didn't arrange to have a docent ahead of time so all the buildings were locked and we couldn't go inside but we could still walk around and enjoy the town. The ice cream and candy shop were open so the kids were happy. After we walked around the little town we headed to Happy Hollow Zoo which is right next door. It's an old zoo but it's been completely redone. The kids loved it even if they were a little old for it. I used to take my boys to the zoo every year but once we had Breanna we stopped doing it so I didn't feel bad that the boys had to go to the zoo with their little sister. After the zoo we walked back to our car and had to walk through the Japanese Friendship Garden. That was awesome. It was so beautiful and we definitely want to go back so the boys can film there. Marcus has a movie making co-op and he's always looking for great filming locations. We decided the moms would have a picnic and knit while the boys film. Sounds good to me. Overall, a lovely day with friends exploring just some of the great things this area has to offer.

Justin turned 11!

Eleven years ago my heart was healed when my second child was born. I had a miscarriage before being pregnat with Justin and was afraid I wouldn't have any more children, but God blessed us with Justin. He is so creative, so full of life, has so much character and always keeps us on our toes. He wrote the book on being the middle child. I'm the baby and so is Bryan so we don't really understand this middle child thing and we don't tend to be too compassionate to his cause which probably just adds to the situation. I see so much of myself in him and I am constantly reminded that I still have a lot of work to do. He is rarely satisfied with what he has, always wants more, is always asking for more, wants a better explanation, wants it done his way. See, I told you he reminds me of myself.

He comes up with these great characters and will dress up and act the part. He does get shy when I try to take a picture or record any of it. I just want everyone else to share in the joy. He makes me laugh so much when he's in character and he constantly amazes me with his artwork and creativity. He can be very resourceful when he needs to be and often times he'll come up with some pretty cool costumes that he designs and makes out of cardboard, duct tape and paint. He loves to play with his legos but that seems pretty common among boys his age. He'll get a lego set, come home and put it together in record time. It'll stay that way for a while and then slowly migrate to the lego bin. Eventually he'll create something new out of the pieces. He loves to get the lego figures and found a website where he can order all the little accessories for the figures. That's what he wanted for his birthday so he made a list after spending days online perusing numerous websites. He also wanted a rubix cube cake. Sounds simple enough right? No. It was so hard to frost because the colors kept running together when they would touch. I accidentally added too many lines but everyone liked the cake, especially Justin and that's what matters. We just had a small party with the kids from our writing co-op since they were going to be here anyway on his birthday. They had a great time but of course it wasn't enough.

Marcus turned 14!

Yikes! I have a 14 year old! That went amazingly fast and I know the next 14 years will go just as fast if not faster. Marcus is a great kid who is very creative and loves to have fun. For his birthday this year he wanted to go to Universal Studios instead of having a party. That was fine with us so on his actual birthday we had donuts for breakfast (his favorite) then Bryan took the boys to see Ironman2. Breanna had speech therapy so I took her to that and then we went to the mall, just the two of us girls. She really wanted a pillowpet so we purchased one and I had to stop at Gymboree to see what was on sale. I love that store and all the matching clothes. It makes my heart happy. After a fun time at the mall we came home and so did the boys. Justin and Breanna had Outdoor Explorers at Sienna Ranch in Lafayette so we had a very quiet afternoon to just relax and do what we wanted. My dad picked up Breanna and Justin from the ranch so we took Marcus out to dinner. That was funny. Marcus used his birthday money to get an iTouch so he was on that, I was on my itouch and texting on my phone and Bryan was on his Blackberry. From the outside we looked like a very distant family who doesn't communicate. What those outside people don't know is that we interact with each other all day long every day. Bryan has been home from his job for almost 6 weeks now since his company was bought out. We're enjoying having him home and it's like Saturday everyday. I actually lose track of what day it is and it always feels like the weekend around here. We've adjusted quite well since this is the third time we've done this. The kids and I do school in the morning and then we head out for our afternoon activities every day. Bryan will help with the driving if he's home. He's also been working for another company on a contract basis since while they can't afford to hire him full time. Every little bit helps. Anyway, back to Marcus' birthday. After dinner he wanted to rent Where the Wild Things Are because he wasn't able to see it in the movie theater. That's a very strange movie. We spent the rest of the evening just hanging out taking it easy. Overall a very nice day for everyone. Way less stressful than putting on a huge birthday party at our house. Now Justin will turn 11 in a few weeks and we'll see what he wants to do for his birthday.

Pixar

So we had an opportunity to tour Pixar Studios in Emeryville and we would have been just plain dumb to pass it up. What a chance of a lifetime and perfect for all my boys (Marcus, Justin and Bryan). The tour was exciting from the moment we drove up to the gates that say Pixar. We parked and couldn't believe we were actually there. Both my boys and my husband love to make movies, watch movies, review movies, talk about movies, if it has to do with movies, they love it. Just walking up to the entrance to the building was fun since they had the big desk lamp from the very first short that Pixar ever did and the huge bouncy ball. The lobby had Buzz Lightyear and Woody made out of legos and it was lifesize. There were pictures of Toy Story all over the place, huge wall size watercolors. It was all decorated in Toy Story since Toy Story 3 is coming out soon. Upstairs was all decorated in Up since it just won an academy award. We were able to go in a screening room where they show the families of Pixar employees the finished movie before the public sees it and we went into a working room where the artists bring what they've been working on and show it to the director. It gets picked apart so they can then go back and work on their piece. We were able to see all the art that was upstairs too. It was all Up artwork and we could see how the artist was portraying a certain feeling or mood depending on the colors, shapes and tones used. After the tour we had lunch in the Pixar cafeteria while we asked questions of our wonderful tour guide. So fun. So cool. So amazing.