If we'd had any idea that a kitten could start reproducing as early as Tina apparently can, we would definitely have made getting her spayed a higher priority. She seemed so young that we kept thinking we had time but we discovered about 10 days ago, that that wasn't the case.

I'd never been around a cat in heat before, but it was easy enough to tell that's what was going on. She started getting particularly vocal at night a few nights ago, enough so that it woke Liam up out of a dead sleep and he became frantic to get her to quiet down. We eventually had to put her in the office and close the door which is probably what we'll continue to do until this is over. Which may be sooner than we thought given what happened yesterday.

I had been at the hospital most of the day and got home just before 4:30 pm. I changed clothes quickly and walked down to the pool to help supervise the kids swimming since they'd need to get ready for church by 5:30. By the time I got back home and had fed Decker around 5:45, I started wondering where Tina was. I called out her name but since I didn't have a lot of time to look for her, I just assumed she was somewhere sleeping and I went on to church. 

When we returned around 8 pm and I sent the boys off to the bathrooms to shower, I started looking for her in earnest. I looked all over the house in every hiding place I knew and nothing. When the boys got out of the shower, they started looking, too, but we all came up empty handed. As we sat there discussing where she could be and how she might have escaped the house, Aaron started crying, wondering if we could get another cat since he would now never get to pet her again. I told him not to give up just yet and we all got up and started looking again. On a hunch, I opened the front door and yelled for her, then walked to the back door and did the same. As I opened the door, I'd barely gotten out her name when she brushed past my ankles and calmly walked into the house. Quinn scooped her up, ran over to his brothers, put her gently on the floor, and then instantly started sobbing. Aaron joined in the crying, too. In between sobs, Quinn choked out how now he "knew how parents feel when their kids get lost at Wild Adventures!" Bonus teaching moment!

I celebrated her return with the boys but my happy thoughts were almost instantly replaced with the realization that she almost certainly will be "with cat" now. I didn't see any of the tomcats outside when she came in, but I know they're out there because that's where she came from.

Today started with an opportunity to talk about what it means for a cat to be in heat, and how important it is for her not to be outside during that time since we don't want her to have kittens (they realize that it may be too late based on our reaction but aren't crystal clear on exactly why). She has continued to yowl loudly and stick her fuzzy butt in the air but we've mostly been able to ignore it. The funniest thing happened this afternoon when Aaron got home from swimming to find Tina awake and quiet on her favorite blanket. He started petting her, looked over at me, and innocently asked, "Mom, is her female wore'd out yet?!" 

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Dear Daddy,

I thought I'd start trying to write to you each day so you can keep up with what's going on at home. As you can imagine, things are a little bit crazy with all of us going back and forth to the hospital, but we're doing our best to keep up with things to your satisfaction in your absence. It takes a lot of people to do all the things you do and I'm 100% sure we're not doing them as well as you would do them yourself!

Yesterday, Loys, Quinn, Aaron, and I picked up the mayhaws that had fallen in the previous couple of days. I can tell that keeping up with these is going to be a challenge in the coming weeks but we're grateful for so much beautiful fruit! Aaron complained the whole time that his back hurt. I knew what you'd say if you were there so I said it for you: "You're not old enough to have a back, son!" I tried to get him to visualize the berries as little pieces of Lego. If you threw legos on those tarps and told him he could keep the ones he picked up, I doubt he'd notice his back troubles. It didn't work, but you probably already knew that!

While we were doing that, Liam mowed around the house again. He's doing a great job and might even graduate to the riding lawnmower this summer if you think he's old enough. Now that he's gotten over his mental block that driving the Kubota before he's 16 is illegal, maybe he would also be up for the riding lawnmower. :)

It was an amazingly beautiful day yesterday--bright blue skies, strong breeze, temps in the 70s. You would have loved being outside. This morning is no different except that it's even cooler. I think they're actually getting snow in the northeast so I guess we can thank whatever front has moved in up there for our cool weather.

I texted Blaine this morning to see whether either of you had gotten any sleep last night and he said you didn't. That it was actually a pretty bad night for you but that you had just been given some drugs that had knocked you out. He was grateful to be listening to you snoring! I heard a big truck go by on the road this morning and for a minute, it sounded a bit like the Kubota. That's the sound I can't wait to hear again.

It looks like today will be the day for the big surgery--I wish I could remember how Blaine put it: that Dr. Fredericks was mustering the troops or something like that. It looks like you'll have him (your neurosurgeon), a general surgeon, and a plastic surgeon all there working to get everything back under control. Uncle Herman has volunteered to hang out with the boys this afternoon while I go to the hospital and sit with Mama and everyone else during the surgery. Sitting there has more to do with us making ourselves feel better than helping you in any way, but it's hard to stay at home when you know that someone you love is being operated on.

The boys are up having breakfast so I'd better close this for now. We're going to try to do some school work this morning and then they're going to make you some artwork for your room. By the time you get to read this, you will already have seen what they created.

Words can't express how much I love you. How much all of us love you. Be strong and we'll see you when the surgery is over.

Love,

Mel 

P.S. Loys gathered 10 eggs today.

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Sent from my electronic thingamajig

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Liam and Quinn participated in their first southwest Georgia Pinewood Derby race this morning and they both placed fifth. Not bad for their first time on a wood track! After watching races all morning, we agreed that our wedge car strategy will need to be adjusted for the type of track and elevation: skinny cars next year for sure!  

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"Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction."

On a day very much like today--sunny, cool temperatures, threat of rain but blue skies with a cool breeze--I married Loys in an outdoor ceremony that could not have been more perfect (well, aside from the broccoli bouquet, but I'll tell that story another day). 

We included the quote above from Antoine de Saint-Exupery on the front of the program that we passed out at the wedding. Literally surrounded by our family and friends, Loys and I said yes to each other and to "looking outward together in the same direction":

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The road has taken us lots of places--a few where we would never have chosen to go--but I have been blessed beyond measure to have walked all of it with a man of integrity and honor. I am so thankful for you, Loys, and the family that God has given us. I love you more than ever.

Five years to the day after the wedding photos were taken, this little guy came into our lives:

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Happy birthday, Aaron! You made a special day even more special!

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I mentioned glue line drawings in my previous post, and today we tried our hand at them. The glue drawing was more difficult than I anticipated it would be. I'm anxious to see how they dry. The next step (tomorrow) will be for us to trace around the dried glue with a black Sharpie marker on the white ones; we don't have to do anything to the clear glue on black construction paper. For the white sketch paper, we'll color with watercolors (watercolor pencils, I think) and for the black construction paper, we'll color with chalk pastels. It should be interesting to see how they turn out!

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I spent an hour or so this morning with the boys drawing in MeeMa's garden. We'd all noticed her beautiful amaryllises over the weekend, and we all decided to try our hand at drawing them today. I haven't scanned the boys' work yet, but here are some snapshots of them drawing and a couple of the ones I did myself. I really want to do some glue line paintings using the amaryllises, so I may decide to wait to post their drawings until we've done those.

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Last summer, when I knew we would be moving to the country, I was anxious to plant an herb garden. I love to cook with fresh herbs and since we were making a clean start in a new place, I figured what better time to plant the herb garden of my dreams? In my mind, it had paving stones set in elaborate patterns, with sections for this and that--beautiful as well as functional. The reality of the situation hit me when I realized that our house would be smack dab in the middle of a pecan grove, where the trees would be sprayed seasonally, sometimes with things that I might not want to get on the tender shoots of herbs that I'd be feeding my family. I tabled the idea for the season, and figured that maybe I'd just plant an herb garden next to Daddy's vegetable garden the following spring (safely away from any chemicals that might prove harmful), even though I'd had my heart set on a kitchen garden that was right outside my back door. 

When Mama generously offered me the use of a tiered planter the other day and suggested that it might be perfect for holding herbs, I gladly accepted. I didn't have time to pull it all together until today, when Quinn joined me on a treasure hunt around the property, looking for pots to put the plants in. Although we tease both Mama and Daddy mercilessly about their inability to throw anything away, it comes in handy at times like these. When we moved, we chunked a lot of this type of stuff and so it was fun rooting around in the storage room next to the chicken coop and finding treasures like this:

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Sent from my electronic thingamajig

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I woke up the boys this morning with "Happy Valentine's Day!" in the hopes that it would get them moving a bit faster. It didn't, really, but as I made my way back and forth between my room (getting ready), the kitchen (getting their school stuff ready), and their room (cajoling the 3 of them to get up), I did eventually encounter each one of them in various stages of dress. Quinn stood outside my room smiling in a sweatshirt that was at least 2 sizes too small and announced happily, "Happy Valentine's Day, Mom!" giving me a huge hug and a kiss. Apparently this was before he headed back to the kitchen and saw what was waiting for him on the dining room table, though. I try not to give them lots of candy and sweets as a rule but I did cave in and ask Loys to buy them each a big candy bar on the way home from work last night which I then custom-wrapped with a special heartfelt Valentine's Day message. I also made handmade cards for each boy, listing out what I especially loved about them. It was nothing much, but I hoped they would feel loved. I put both the candy and the cards at each of their places at the table so they'd see them first thing in the morning.

Fast forward about 10 minutes from my happy Valentine's Day greeting from Quinn, during which time I was in my bathroom finishing getting ready for the day, praying that the boys were eating their breakfast so we wouldn't be late for our co-op day. When I walked out of my room, I saw Quinn looking quite sad in the hallway leading from his room.

"What's wrong, buddy?" I asked.

"I don't know, Mom," he said, his voice quivering. "I just feel sad."

"Why do you feel sad, baby?" I answered. "I don't want you to be sad."

"I feel so sad because it's Valentine's Day and I forgot to get you a card!" he managed to choke out, in between sobs of genuine sorrow as he threw his arms around my waist and gave me a huge hug. I stole a glance over at the kitchen table and saw that the boys had found their candy and cards, at which time he apparently made the connection that he had neglected to get a card for me. 

I knelt down beside him, wiped away his tears, and told him that I didn't need a card to know how much he loved me, trying to assure him that it was quite alright that he hadn't thought to give him one. Seeing that it was little comfort to him, I reminded him that Valentine's Day lasted all day long, and that if he really did want to make me one, he had plenty of time to do it later. He looked at me with his little tear stained face and gave me a brave smile, nodding that he understood, and I gave him one more squeeze as I told him how very much I loved him.

It's truly a great feeling when you receive a heartfelt card from someone you love who cared enough about you to send you something personal. Honestly, I would never have dreamed that discovering that someone wasn't thinking of me would feel anywhere as good as it feels to know they have. However, I'm quite sure that it will go down as one of my favorite memories of Quinn ever. And further confirmation that this boy has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know.

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Well, it took 5 months, but the goldfinches have finally discovered the sack hanging from a tree in our backyard. I've been watching them in the front yard for the past few weeks, silently hoping that they would make their way to the back yard and discover it. They never seemed to show up in the back yard, though, until today. It was Quinn who noticed them enjoying the nyjer seed--just one at first, but up to 3 at one time (and I'm sure more will come once the news spreads).

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My cousin Stacey wasn't the only unexpected visitor to Mayhaw Lane this afternoon. I loved seeing these guys as much as I loved seeing her. 

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It's been a year now since I received my iPad for Christmas, and since I figure some of my friends may have received one as a gift recently, too, I thought I'd share some of my favorite apps. These are basically the ones that I use on a daily basis, and all but one are free.

Bible (Free)

This is quickly becoming my go-to Bible. I love the fact that the iPad is small enough to take anywhere, and with this app, I have access to any number of versions of the Bible that I might want to check out. I often find myself switching from one version to another in the context of a Bible study or sermon, just to see how different passages have been translated.

DirecTV (Free)

This is a killer app. Obviously, you need to be using DirecTV but if you do, it's a must. The interface is basically 3 columns: currently watching, live TV streaming, and guide favorites. You can configure the streaming channel to display what's currently playing on a wide variety of channels. If you see something that looks interesting, you can watch that show directly on your iPad. Guide favorites shows what's currently playing on the channels that you set, and so if you want to switch your tv to one of those shows *or* set up recording for that show, it's just a simple press of the button. You can also use the search function to find shows happening in the future and set them to record. It's been invaluable to me as a tool for setting up recording because it's much simpler than tracking down the tv remote and going through the menu system there. Also, I can set the tv to record something while members of my family are watching something completely different--I don't have to interrupt what they're watching to hurriedly set up another show to record before I forget! I can't say enough good things about this one.

My Fitness Pal (Free)

I became hooked on the Android version of this app last spring, but they've recently released an iPad version of their calorie/exercise tracker. The user interface is great and they make it easy to keep up with the ins/outs of your calories on any given day. No matter where you update your stats--online, on your phone, or through the iPad--they are always synced. Nice.

All Recipes (Free; upgrade available for $4.99)

I've used All Recipes for many years now online, but I love being able to access their database from my iPad, because I keep it docked in my kitchen. It's super simple to find a recipe and refer to it while I'm doing the cooking, avoiding the necessity of having to print out the recipe on paper (which I then have to figure out where to file). The free version of this app is adequate, but I did choose to upgrade so I could save all of my recipes in a recipe box. It's got some neat features like "Inspire Me" where it displays photos of recipes that you can then click to read more about, and "Featured," where they feature 12 recipes that are generally related to the season. For example, the ones there now are titled "New Year, New Start" and are healthier versions of standards. One more note: All Recipes has another app called the Dinner Spinner that's super fun to use. You may want to check it out, too (designed for iPhone/Android). 

Pandora (Free)

This works just like the website does: pick a genre of music and get an instant stream of it delivered straight to your device. Again, the upside of this for me is that I generally have my iPad docked in the kitchen and so this expands my music options while I'm busy in that part of the house.

ABC Player (Free)

Admittedly, I don't watch that much TV. But it seems like the shows that I do watch happen to be on ABC more often than not. You have to wait a day until after the original air date, but this app basically brings you ABC's lineup to your iPad: find your show and you can watch back episodes on demand for free. I was able to keep up with Dancing With the Stars last season by using this app!

This American Life ($4.99)

This is my favorite radio program, hands down. I have no idea when it actually airs in my area, though, because I've set up iTunes to download the most recent podcast and I can access older ones using this app. The way I use it most often? I love finding interesting-sounding episodes just before we're going to be traveling in the car: by using an adaptor, I can listen to up to 3 episodes (1 hour each) without being connected to Wi-Fi. And when Loys and I went to Orlando ealier this week, we were able to download 3 new episodes at our hotel room before heading back home (because we got free wi-fi there). The app has a feature where you can press a button to play WBEZ live on your iPad (this is the home station for the show), along with a countdown clock to when the next episode airs. As I type this, it looks like the next episode will air tonight at 7 pm Central time: "Where Your Crap Comes From." Sounds like a winner to me! :)

So, that's my shortlist for iPad apps that are not child- or school-related. What's on yours?

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Well, our trip to the Citrus Bowl is already becoming a distant memory (I can't seem to recall who sponsored it at the moment--oh yeah: CAPITAL ONE!) and even though it's old news now, I wanted to post these few photos to the blog just to remember some of my favorite things about it:

1) Loys got to enjoy a Runza. And because he gets SO excited about these tasty midwestern treats, so do I. That was fun. 

2) I took Loys' picture with the Huskers coach, Bo Pellini. Well, a cutout of Coach Pellini, but it looked fairly real. Watching Pellini argue with the refs during the 2nd half of the game turned out to be the best entertainment for Huskers fans since the team pretty much fell apart then. Watching him yell at the refs--who deserved it, by the way--was fun.

2) We saw an escalator and the Goodyear blimp, which reminded us of how much the boys would have loved seeing those things. That was fun. It was good to think happy thoughts of our children all the while knowing that they were being well cared for and we were getting a break from them.

3) We went out to a yummy Greek restaurant called Zorbas and had an amazing dinner, including perfectly fried french fries SPRINKLED WITH FETA CHEESE. Divine. Enjoying those was very fun (I even shared some with Loys, who doesn't even like feta. They were THAT good.) They also had two for one sangria margaritas so of course we each had one of those. Getting a deal on a combo made from two of my favorite drinks was cool. Fun!

So in spite of the Huskers losing the game and not getting to see the two friends I really wanted to see the next day (next time, Thao and Barry!), we had a fun trip. Next time: Legoland!

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Decker and Tina seem to have made peace with each other:

As they say in Casablanca, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

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