The Great {Dead} Possum Battle of 2008

]This is the most disgusting thing ever, and I'm simply dumbfounded by it.

A couple Saturdays ago, I went to the store. In the middle of the alley was this large, furry dead possum. It was big. I made a mental note to call the village hall on Monday (closed on saturday and sunday) to let them know and get someone out here to take care of it.

That Monday morning, I noticed that the possum was gone. Or so I thought. Tuesday, while driving by one of the driveways on the alley, I saw the dead possum in the driveway. Um, ok. I didn't think anything of it, except to shake my head, because now that it was on private property, the town won't do anything about it.

A week goes by. The possum is getting pretty disgusting. I make a point of turning my head away so that I don't see it.

Yesterday morning, I turn my head, and what do I see? Dead possum, THE dead possum, in this other neighbor's driveway. It is barely recognizable as a possum anymore. Ew.

My kitchen window looks down the alley, so while I'm washing dishes, I'm also watching who is coming and going, lol. Today, I watch the guy with the possum in his driveway come home, pull into his driveway, go into his garage, grab a shovel, and then toss the barely recognizable (and still very dead) possum across the alley.

Seriously? Would it have been so hard to just call the village hall in the first place?

I have to admit that part of me is laughing. These people are arguing over a dead possum. *sigh*

I have a new kit coming out this week. Here's a quick, up close and personal peek at it:

It has glitter, acrylic, and rusted elements. It debuts on Thursday, I'll post then with the full size image.

Bunnies And Shots And Billy Bob Teeth

Evan and Dylan got shots yesterday. We're playing catch up, so Evan needed four and Dylan needed three. Dylan did great, until his last shot, and then he cried, which set Evan off. Poor Evan, he screamed through all of his. Dylan went back to school when we were done, but Evan missed school entirely, which he cried over. Cody's hit the point where he's starting to not want to go to school, but school is still fun for Evan and Dylan.

Evan's pre-k class has a class bunny named LuLu. LuLu is a boy bunny. They named LuLu before they knew what gender he was, hence the girly name. Today, Evan came home with a framed Easter picture of him and LuLu. His blue eyes just pop in this picture, which makes me wonder what camera his teacher has (note to self: ask the next time I see her). There's also a picture of Evan in this week's paper from the pre-k boot camp (family night, where the kids got to play and have fun). He's riding a bike, and just looks so happy in the picture.

And I posted about this in my last post, but I have pictures of Cody's latest gap. Last year, when all he wanted to do was lose teeth, he lost two. Now, he has four gaps in his mouth, which makes him look pretty funny.

He handed me his tooth and told me that I owed him money. I think that is what bothers me about this whole 'knowing the truth' thing. It's not that he knows, its that he gets a kick out of knowing while I just want him to go on believing in the tooth fairy and santa claus and the easter bunny. Plus, now that he knows the truth about one, will he still believe in the others? Am I going to have to include my 7 year old in hiding the easter eggs this year or am I going to have to include an eight year old in wrapping the santa presents?

So, my resolve to complete my current projects is going great so far. I started with the Noro socks, and while I've added new patterns to my queue at Ravelry, I have not started anything new. I've added a few inches to the leg of my Noro socks, and once I reach where the stripe pattern in the yarn repeats, it will be done and I can start the second sock. I'm hoping to have them done by Cody's birthday, but if I'm going to think realistically here, I'm such a slow knitter that it could be May before I finish them.

Post Halloween Candy Hangover

We went, we got candy, we survived.

And now comes the real fun of Halloween- the arguing with Mommy over how much candy they can have on a daily basis. Oh joy.

I have a ton of candy- leftovers, as well as what the boys brought home. When I can get a minute alone, without the candy monsters, I'm going to get a picture of what is left of their haul.

I'm one of those moms that encourage the candy feast on Halloween night- because after that, the candy is being put up and they'll only get a few pieces a day, for as long as they remember we have it. And, of course, Mommy has been dipping into the treats (although, to be fair, the boys were more than willing to share the chocolate and the orange and black peanut butter things with me).


I tried to keep Cody's costume as gore-free as possible (but you have to have a little gore, he was a zombie, ya know). We saw some cute costumes last night- one little girl was a cowgirl, complete with horse (her legs were the horse's back legs), we saw some cats, some witches, a Dumbo, a really cool alien costume, and lots of vampires and ninjas.

We saw some cool pumpkins, as well. I didn't take my camera, otherwise I would have gotten a picture- but this one house had turned their pumpkins into black cats. They painted the pumpkins black, and glued felt cat ears to the tops. I am so doing that one next year. I also have an idea for headstones for the front yard- a house down the street just made theirs, and I'm pretty sure that I have some plywood in the garage that I can use to make headstones next year.

Today, I'm taking down our decorations and throwing our pumpkins away. I don't have any Thanksgiving stuff (although I might have some out in the garage), but I'm not going to look for that stuff until this weekend, and besides- whatever I have are indoor decorations. It looks like my house will be holiday decoration free until after Thanksgiving, when I can start putting out our Christmas stuff.

Fright Night

(credits for the above picture: paint brushes by VBrush, swirly brushes by Truly Sara, banner by Jan Crowley, font is Porcelain)

Our pumpkins are carved, our costumes are done, I've got my bat tattoo on (see above), we have candy to hand out tonight (if we are home long enough to get any trick or treaters).

And wouldn't you know it- the time is just crawling by. I'm horrible about this- I love Halloween. It's such a fun night. And- to make it even better- this is the first year that I actually have a child wearing a truly scary costume.

My oldest is going as a zombie. We had fun making his costume yesterday- lots of dirt (because he just crawled out of the grave), lots of blood, we got to destroy a perfectly good shirt (I bought a cheap one for this).

Evan is going as Superman. No surprise there- he's still really into superheroes.

Dylan is going at Clark Kent- or, in his words, 'Superman's pahpa'.

Cody and I were looking at his make up for tonight. I told him that he'd have peeling skin and that he'd look really cool. I forget how literal he can be- he just looked at me with these huge eyes and said 'But I don't want you to peel my skin off.' Um, dude, it's all make up and it won't hurt you a bit.

We've all been sick and now we all have colds. And of course this is one of those weeks where Dylan and Evan can't stand each other and are fighting constantly, and over the silliest little things. Yesterday- they are argued over a MOUSEPAD! If they argue tonight, I'm cutting trick or treating short because I'm not dragging two whiny brats angels through the neighborhood tonight.

Loose Teeth, Birthday Butts, And He's Three!

Last night, while I was sitting on the couch, watching 'my shows', working a Suduko puzzle, and half listening to the kids' talk in the dining room, Cody shouted 'OW!'

There I was, thinking 'oh great, one of his brothers has hurt him and now he's going to come and tell me allll about it.' Well- he did come and tell me all about it, but the 'ow' didn't mean 'one of my brothers punched/pushed/kicked/bit/all of the above me', it was 'ow, my tooth is loose!' Cody's so excited- this is his very first loose tooth. It wasn't long before he showed up at my side again and showed me that another tooth was loose (I'm not sure if it's really loose or just loose because the actual loose tooth has given it some wiggle room, so we'll see).

I told Cody that if it falls out when I'm not around he needs to keep it. And Dylan, the four year old who doesn't go to school and hasn't lost any teeth, pipes up with 'Yeah, for the tooth fairy!' Cody's eyes glowed- I think that he just thought the fact that he had a lost tooth was amazingly cool enough, add in the excitement of actually losing that tooth, along with the promise of money from the tooth fairy and it became just The Coolest Thing Evah.

He thought that he'd lose the tooth last night- I had to tell him that sometimes it takes days for loose teeth to fall out and that he might have to wait awhile.

Evan has learned a new song- Happy Birthday. Yesterday, I overheard him singing Happy Birthday to Cody's butt, of all things.

Speaking of birthdays- today is Evan's Birthday. He's three years old today. The past few weeks we have talked about birthdays and how much fun they are. Today, he's wearing his new sweatshirt from Aunt Jess and his Birthday Boy ribbon. It's so hard to believe that he's actually three- the last three years have just flown right by. We're having cake tonight, but other than that, I don't really have much planned for today, except a quiet day at home.

Tagged by Justine- twice, in fact, lol!

I'm going to do the music one first, just because it's easier to narrow that list down than it is to narrow down the weird things about me or my pets.

1. Wings of a Butterfly by HIM
2. Sweet Sacrifice by Evanescence
3. Lips of an Angel by Hinder
4. Next Contestant by Nickelback
5. Control by Puddle of Mudd
6. Paint It Black by Rolling Stones
7. Ball and Biscuit by White Stripes

And now for the five weird things about me or my pets.

1. My cat, Monkey, is a blanket licker. Cats have ways to comfort themselves, just like people, and Monkey's way of comforting himself is to lick the nearest blanket.
   
2. I can't eat macaroni and cheese made by someone else. I have to make it, because I don't follow the directions on the box correctly and nobody else has been able to get my secret way of making mac and cheese right. Oh- and I won't eat any mac and cheese unless it uses the powdered cheese.
   
3. I'm obsessive over hanging underwear on the clothesline. You don't do it unless you have three lines. Underwear is hung on the middle line, with sheets and blankets hung on the outside lines. I've been tempted to go and change where people hang their underwear on their clothesline because it bugs me so much (not that I would ever want to touch some stranger's underwear, that's just, ew).
   
4. I only eat the pink and yellow Starburst.
   
5. I eat raw hot dogs (and didn't know that this was weird until my sil said something about it).
   

I can't think of anyone to tag, so- if you read this, consider yourself tagged. :D

Grasshoppers, Soccer, And The Playground

I haven't been around much lately. It seems like I've been on the go constantly, but when I look back at what I've done these last few weeks, it doesn't look like much.

So- today I'm sharing pictures. All but the first one were taken today. The first one was taken a few days ago- I'm sharing it because I think it's really cool.

This little guy lives in our backyard. He spends time sitting on our back fence (there was a pink blanket sitting on it when I took this picture), and he's been chased by Rosie. I love the contrast between the pink and the green in this picture and I'm loving the detail that I managed to get with my camera. Can I just tell you that it's so nice to have a really nice digital camera?

Now- for today's activities. Today Cody played his second game of soccer this season. We're back to where we were last fall- he doesn't want to run and play the game with the other kids. I have a ton of action shots of the other kids on his team, and him just moping along in the background. The thing is- he really likes soccer and really likes to play soccer. He's just too shy to actually play the game on the field. So- we're going to work on that.

I call this one 'Dazed.' Sometimes I wonder about my son... This one was taken right after this one...






I love this picture, however. I think it turned out great, and you can't tell that I was all the way across the field from him when it was taken. It also doesn't look like a soccer picture.

Sometimes, you just don't want to hear what they're saying... I'm not sure what she was saying, but I thought that this was hilarious, especially since Cody doesn't like girls (and apparently, this little girl has a crush on Cody).

He spent the entire game playing defense (can't imagine why....). He was even goalie during one quarter...

Yep- he spent most of his time as goalie inspecting the net.

After soccer, we played on the playground for awhile, which is where I got this shot of Dylan:

He surprised me with this one (because I'm not sure that I would have let him do it if I had caught him doing it in the first place).

He Said What?!?!

Be warned- there will be graphic language in this post. I'm sorry about that, but it's part of the story.

I picked Cody up from school yesterday like I do every Thursday. He gets in the car, and I asked if he had his spelling test back. He said 'You're not going to be happy with me.' So- I look in the bag, thinking that he failed his spelling test, while telling him that I'm not going to be mad if he got a bad grade, we'll just have to study harder. Sure enough- he did fail his spelling test (poor kid). But- that wasn't what he was talking about.

Yesterday, my normall sweet, somewhat angelic little heathen said 'fucker' in school.

Yes- you read that right. My six year old son said the f-word. I made him talk to Mike about it (because he certainly has never heard me say that word). Mike told Cody that he needed to think up a punishment for himself and he had six minutes to do it. Cody chose to give up the computer for a week. Mike added that he couldn't go to the carnival one day this weekend.

Evan's birthday is coming up. We've been talking about his birthday party and what he wants. While the boys were eating supper yesterday, Cody and Dylan started telling Evan what he should do for his birthday party. Cody wants a chocolate cake- but Evan's original vote was for a pumpkin cake. Dylan thinks that Evan needs to have a Spongebob birthday party- but Evan originally wanted a superhero birthday party. I finally had to tell the two of them that if they talk Evan out of whatever it is that he wants for his birthday party that I'm letting him plan their next birthdays (that shut them up, lol).

The First And Second Days of First Grade

Cody started school yesterday. His school has what they call a 'clap in' every year. On the first day, they line the halls with parents and teachers and everyone claps and cheers as the students walk to their classrooms. It's supposed to make them feel good about learning, I think that they just enjoy being cheered and applauded (at least, the first and second graders do, when this becomes boring, I don't know). It fits with the local parent mentality, but I'll get to that in a moment.

While doing this clap in, and the subsequent picture taking a few minutes later, I noticed something. You could tell the scrapbooker mom from the regular mom.

The regular mom- one or two pictures, taken in one or two places.

The scrapbooker mom- these are the moms that are saying 'ok, let's take a picture of you hanging up your backpack, let's take a picture of you sharpening your pencil, let's take a picture of you glaring at Mommy because you realized that you are the only child whose mother is still in the room and the teacher is waiting to start class....'

Growing up, I knew that the kids in this town were a little on the snobbish side. You get used to it, and figure that things will even out as you get older. Nope- wrong. What happens is that those kids I grew up with became the type of parents that I can not stand. And I had to deal with them today.

Our school has a circle drive, which is the only place where students can be picked up and dropped off (except for the bus riders). It's a huge pain in the read end to pick up or drop off students because it's very narrow and there aren't enough parking spots. Drop offs are hell. Literally. Because these parents, who believe that their children poop gold nuggets, can not let that precious child walk more than ten feet to the door. So- they sit and block traffic while they wait for one of the three prime drop off spots to open up. And then they nose in, take the spot, even though their mini van or SUV does not fit in that spot. Which means that they are still blocking traffic, and when it's time to leave, they can either a- back up into the passing lane or b- wait for the person ahead to pull out.

I droppped Cody off at 8 this morning. I didn't get home until 820. I live a half mile from the school. It took me twenty minutes to get out of the drive because people don't want to make their child walk. Tomorrow, I'm parking on the other side of the three prime spots to drop him off, at least then, when they're blocking traffic waiting for those spots to open, I'll be able to just get out and leave.