Monday, April 18, 2011

Just call him The Saver


A few days ago a baby squirrel was attacked and almost eaten by two dogs passing by. The owner was able to wrestle the it from the mouth of his dogs. He tossed the squirrel back into my yard. Apparently all of my kids and the neighborhood kids witnessed this entire ordeal. Just seconds after all the commotion of children yelling and running both to and away from the injured squirrel my fiance was pulling in from work. After piecing together this almost frantic story from a handful of children he found the squirrel and brought it into our house. I though that this was going to be as simple as calling animal rescue and waiting for them to show up and do what it is they do in this situation. However my fiance had different plans. He was going to nurse it back to health himself.

I was not quite ok with that plan but if you could see the look in his eye. He loved this squirrel probably almost as much as our children. I had to buy a small cage for it that evening. It was either that or it was going to be sleeping in a shirt pocket hung at the end of our bed. Squirrely (that is what my fiance named him) is still here with us. He has recovered from his traumatic accident but is now like one of the family. He plays with the kids and watches tv and is kind enough to eat all the food the kids drop on the floor. He even goes to work with my fiance. They are like peas and carrots. I am sure that he will someday get his animal instincts back and we will have to release him in a tree across the street. Until then he sleeps in flannel shirt pocket that I am currently wearing. He is really starting to grow on me and we will all be sad to see him go.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

30 confirmed RSVP's



My step son and my middle daughter are two weeks apart. We treat them like twins in some respects. Especially when it comes to their birthday parties. I have always had them on the same day. I am sure when they get older this will be less acceptable for them. Until then double parties it is. I live directly across the street from a giant park with a convenient pavilion where I have had all of my children's birthday parties. It makes everything less complicated and easier to cart things around before and after the party. Mother nature ruined my plans this year. Who would have thought that they would be calling for a Nor'easter the first weekend of April. Sure as hell not me and the other thirty parents that RSVP for their child. I had no plan B nor did I have enough money to take them to a party place. I looked into hotel conference rooms. No luck. Luckily I was able to get a giant room at the local business college. I went an hour or so early and set the room up to house 30+ kids and almost just as many adults. The night before I baked 65+ cupcakes. We played Limbo, pinata, and the sun came out the last part of the party and the kids were able to play at the YMCA playground. I was not in fear of my safety until we played pinata. As luck would have it that day both my wiffle ball bats were out of commission. The only thing I had left was a metal softball bat. I made sure everyone stayed back out of the danger zone but I had no choice but to lead a small blindfolded child into battle. I had more than a few close calls. I made it out without any injuries. The pinata lasted thru all the kids. So everyone got at least one swing. Then I let my two oldest step daughters take it down. I should have moved faster cause once that candy hit the floor it was like the carpet came to life. Children were everywhere! I barely made it out with my shoes on. After two hours all the parents came to pick up their kids. I am sure more than a few were surprised we were all still standing. We ended out evening by taking all of my kids and my nephews to see Monster Trucks. We had our own private catered box. They all had a blast. It is surely a day they will never forget.