Phew!!!

Okay...so I've been really, really bad about posting. I will try to do better. I promise.

This is the kids' third week of school. That doesn't seem possible. I've already gotten a call from Daniel's teacher about getting homework done. It's frustrating when he "forgets" his assignment notebook or doesn't fill it out completely. I really think they should have one starting in second grade but whatever. At least he's got his teacher wrapped around his finger. Hannah's doing really well in first grade. She LOVES her teacher and seems to be loving the challenge that comes with more the tougher academics of first grade. Jacob loves being high man on the totem pole. In fact, tomorrow he has hall duty in the morning. One of his fourth grade friends told Jacob that having hall duty was "tight." I just thought that was seriously funny. Translation for Dad...cool or awesome. Gotta keep up with the current slang. :)

Hannah's been really enjoying soccer. Her coach is fantastic and the kids really love him. She's getting really good at dribbling the ball and keeping it away from defenders. First game is in two weeks on the swanky new fields in Overland Park. Their team name is the Shamrocks because they wear green jerseys. Hannah was mad that they weren't the Green Lightning. I don't know where she got that from but she was convinced that was their team name.

Most of the moms on Hannah's team play on a recreational soccer team of their own. I was asked to join said team. Like an insane lunatic, I said yes. Our first game is next Monday. This should be seriously funny. I haven't played since high school. I can't keep from laughing as I type this!!!

Hannah's team also has a winter basketball team. *sigh* Seriously??? Of course, she wants to play. And she wants to play soccer again next Spring. And softball next summer. Oh, and there's no way she's quitting gymnastics (she told me that). How funny is it that of the three, she's my athletic one?

Jacob's looking into the violin mentoring program this year. Basically, the high school kids come to teach the elementary kids for 1/2 hour a week (private lessons) for FREE. Since they get community service hours out of it, they can't charge (they do in the summer since they don't get the credit). He's excited about the private lessons. I'm trying to figure out how to put another 1/2 hour into my week.

Daniel is...well...Daniel. He's just enjoying living life and drawing. He's been filling up notebook after notebook of drawings. He's been creating various characters in anticipation of a comic book series he's going to write when he's older. I hope he does.

Making Herself At Home

Little Bella has decided that she loves the stairs. Unfortunately, she likes to go up and down them on the outside of the rail. She also thinks it's a good place for a nap.

Bella's adjusting really well to our crazy zoo. She endured a full day of not just my kids but their friends as well. I really think she enjoyed playing with them all. She's never felt the need to hide and needed to be in the center of everything. I think we got a good one.

Here's little Bella Swan on the stairs. She's going to give me a heart attack!

Not a Replacement

Meet Bella.



We adopted her this evening. I had no intention of getting a kitty today but she just wanted to go home with us so much. So, here we are. She's 13 weeks old (and very big already. I think she's going to be a big girl.) and she's a little love bug. As we speak, she's sitting in my lap purring. In fact, I don't think she's stopped purring since we first picked her up. Oh, and yes, her name is after Bella from Twilight. Jacob's idea and I loved it. I would have preferred Rosalie, but Bella's good. It'll be nice to have a cat with a normal name. I certainly wasn't thinking about that when I named Guillermo. He was unique, though.

So, Bella hates Oriana and has already landed two paws full of claws in her nose. She could care less about Peaches.

I need to get some new batteries for my camera so I can take better pictures since the phone takes really crappy ones. But here she is. Our new girl. I still miss Guillermo.

Okay...

So life without Guillermo kind of sucks. I always knew that I'd miss him but I didn't realize I'd miss him this much. :( I swear I've seen him at least five times today.

The kids and I went to Petsmart today to see if they had a little marker stone for his spot. Of course we went in to see the kitties up for adoption while we were there. Daniel fell in love with this cat that was about 18 months old and looked like Guillermo but with white paws. The love ended when the cat hissed at him. Hannah was all over this little 10 week old black and white cutie that was just the sweetest little thing. He so badly wanted to come home with us but I just couldn't do it. Sue told me 3 days...Dad told me a week. I've decided that I just might be ready when I can look at the sign for the cat supplies in the pet store without crying. Yeah, I ran out of Petsmart crying like a blubbering idiot. And that's okay. I just need my friends to stop texting me to say that they found me the perfect kitten up at Wayside Waifs...okay, so it's two kittens. LOL! Oh well. Stephen means well. I just hope I don't show up to find a kitten sitting in my chair at TKD tomorrow!

RIP Guillermo Cat

This was quite a rough day. I certainly didn't expect to be burying Guillermo this afternoon, but we did. I was just happy that I found what was left of him before the kids did. Luckily, they didn't see any of it. Mike was really good about going to get him from our neighbor's backyard and digging the hole and doing it all without me or the kids seeing it.

Jacob was very upset. He had just told me last night that Guillermo was his best friend. He said that he was feeling guilty because he'd been very hard on Guillermo for watching the hamsters. I told him that he shouldn't feel guilty at all.

Hannah was sad because she felt like she should be. She understands that Guillermo's not coming back but she's just not all that sad about it. Which is just fine. I wouldn't expect her to be overcome with sadness. I can just tell that she sees me sad and thinks that's how she should feel. She's too precious.

Daniel just wanted to see what was left. We didn't show him, of course. That's not to say that he doesn't miss Guillermo but he's all into the gross and disgusting right now.

I just wish we could have buried him under the black-eyed Susans in the backyard. It was his favorite spot to sit on warm summer days. There was just too much clay to dig a proper hole there so Mike placed him under the rose bushes on the side of the house. The kids all went around and picked different flowers to place on his little grave. It was so sweet. Even their little friends, Kellan and Mikayla, joined in and placed flowers down.

A little later, I'd gone out to check on the site and I noticed a fluffy little cat toy had been placed on the grave. Jacob later told me that he thought Guillermo might like one of his favorite toys. A little later, I noticed that two other little toys showed up (a catnip squirrel and a neopets toy). We're going to look for a little stone to place there. Not anything creepy that says his name but just a little something.

It's shocking how quiet the house is without him. It hurts to go into the bathroom and not have him yelling at me to turn the water on. Or to go into the kitchen and not have him begging for more food because the dog's eaten it all. Just sitting on the couch and not having him jump up in my lap is wrong.

I do have to say that I'm really glad I let him eat what was left of Daniel's chocolate ice cream last night. Normally I'd have brushed him off of the table but I just kind of figured whatever last night.

I miss my grouchy little guy. He was my first baby.