I Go Mamaw's?!

As one season fades, another blooms. Jax is now in mamaw and papaw heaven. Don't get me wrong, he's always loved them, but now, he really understands what mamaw's and papaw's are all about. In the past few months, Calen has begun to transition easier. Jax's transition has become more difficult.

For the past three weeks, Jax has randomly made plans to go to mamaw's. It could be at 8:30 in the evening, in the car, first thing in the morning when he gets out of bed, or while at the store. It is, "I get my socks shoes. Go to Mammmmaaawwwwww's!" He's even had me call a couple times so he can ask, "Mamaw? I come to your house? Okay." Hands me the phone, "Mamaw said I come to her house. Okay?"

So he's going to mamaw's all by himself. For 3 nights and 4 days. I have a feeling Sunday night is going to be a little difficult. Just a hunch based on prior experience. It kicked in around the same age for Calen. I expect lots of crying and protesting for the next several years. This time next year...there will be two. Hey, what are grandparents for?

Calen's Blog about the Zoo

This past Friday I got to go with my church to the Knoxville Zoo for "Bedtime with the Beasts." We got to the go to the zoo, take a nighttime tour after the zoo closed, and got to the spend the night in a little building in the middle of the zoo. It was a wonderful trip! I just love animals, and on our tour I learned some interesting things.

Since most animals in the zoo are not nocturnal (which means active at night), they were asleep. Who would want to to see animals sleeping?! We did get to see a couple of the noctural animals at night. The next day we went a skunk, bat, and raccoon exhibit. These animals are nocturnal and in the day they would sleep. Who would want to see that, right? That wouldn't be fun for people who come during the day. So they flip flopped the time of day in this exhibit. To do this, they have this light on a timer. The lights were off in the day so it was dark, and the animals would think it was night and come out so we could see. Then at night, the lights would come on the animals would sleep.

We learned that people actually went in to feed some of the animals. Other animals, like the lions and tigers, they had to feed from outside. But, everyone has to go into the cages to clean them. These people got special shots that last for a year. They do this so if a raccoon and skunk has rabies and they get bit or scratched the people wouldn't get sick. That's a really good idea!

They also have a beaver exhibit at the zoo. If you look really closely their teeth look like candy corn because they orange at the top and white at the bottom. I didn't come up with that, another boy did, but I thought it was pretty cool.

There was this bird whose wings get longer than our arms! Like 15 to 20 feet long!! I forget the name of the bird, but it would eat dead animals (that means it is a scavenger). It will stick it's head in the animal to eat the meat inside of it. That is gross. Did you know that it doesn't have any teeth, so it uses its sharp beak to pull off the meat and swallows it whole.

Another neat bird that I saw was the screech owl. This poor owl had lost one of its eye. There is something bad about a owl, they don't pay any attention to a car's lights. Then they get hit by the car and can die!

Did you know they also have some ferrets at the zoo? Ferrets are not related to rats even though they look like one! They can shape their bodies like a ball very easily. They also do not like be kept in cages. Ferrets are very friendly, but will get scared around loud noises.

Two more interesting exhibits that I enjoyed were the red pandas and the gorillas. Red pandas look a lot like a fox. Even though they are red, they are camouflouged in the wild. This is because the moss that grows there is the same color as their fur. I learned that if you stare at gorillas they will think you are challenging them. Also, only baby gorillas get along with each other, but that is only at first. The bigger gorillas will fight with each other.

Never a Good Sign

Sometimes you see something and immediately you know it isn't a question of "if" or "is." You know what I'm talking about. The question that pops into your mind is "how big?". This is one of those moments. You spy a size 5 footprint in white powder on the floor. You follow them into the pantry where you find...

"What's going on in here?!" "I'm just rowin' (rollin')."

Everybody has to a sidekick... might as well be a cutie with a smile that can melt steel.

Think this will hold up in the court of law? Oh, well, it will in this house. GUILTY!

There's a saying that imitation is the best form of flattery, um, not if you have to clean up after it.

Climbing the Walls

Literally! Jax shows off his new skill of climbing up the walls. Here are some pictures of Jax being Jax.

The best part of mommy selling cakes? Licking the spoon!!!

New News

This past week I took on two new tasks. A new school year and my first bridal cake. As for school, I think we have finally hit our stride. I had read and heard many times that the first year is just really about getting your feet wet, the second year things start coming together, and by the third you've found your groove. While our first two years were very successful, I have found some truth in that advice.

I quickly noticed a change in our attitude. I was much happier to get back to the homeschool routine, as was Calen. He didn't complain about anything, he said several times he was looking forward to the next day, and he was bummed on Saturday to hear there wasn't any school. Jax and Riley are more involved, too. They hang out around or on the table more asking for paper and pencils. They are trying to sing he geography songs with him, and asking to help. I find myself with more confidence and a higher comfort level. I know what we're doing and where I want us to go.

My second new task was the bridal cake. It was really fun to design, and actually, I sketched out six different options to choose from. The one with dots and scrolls was the winner. I really enjoyed it, but there were a couple things I wasn't pleased with. Then with my worry-wart self, I started to stress that they would notice what I noticed. This was followed by images of bridezillas. I've never watched the show, but the commercials for it were enough! Now that I know that she enjoyed the cake, I look forward to doing it again, especially since I already have several designs already complete.