Opossum

I told you that we get a lot of critters at our place, never a dull moment. Today was no exception to this. I had been super busy all day. Kalan was sick with the stomach virus, bless her heart. No details needed about all that goes along with that. Once she finally settled down I had to start on the treats for the lock-in at church tomorrow night. I always look out the window while I'm washing dishes and this time I see an UGLY opossum coming up out of the pasture. This is unusual because the are nocturnal creatures. This opossum was on a mission. They can be very aggressive and carry rabies. I ran and got Josh's pistol, I unloaded all 9 rounds at the opossum, luck thing. He ran only a few feet up a tree, I knew as soon I left he would be back looking for food. So, okay...I know this is a little overkill, but it was the only rifle I was comfortable shooting. I got the .270 out and killed it with one shot. Please no hate mail...lol I don't kill harmless animals, these are not harmless. We have dog and cat food in our storage room in the garage, if they get food from one place they come back and are vicious. They can and will kill small pets, like our cat. They have been known to attack humans; my kids feed our animals.

On a brighter note...I am super excited about the lock-in tomorrow night. I made 45 cupcakes and over 100 rice crispy treats...there will be no lack of sugar! I will definitely blog about it...stay tuned.

Unlike me...

If you have been reading my blog lately, I told you that I would be doing a "Catch Up" of 09. Well, I went back through all of my pictures and I did not take any pictures of kids at Halloween 09. Why you ask...I don't know. I can't remember why I didn't take any. That is so unlike me. I am usually that mom you see just trying to get that perfect shot, even when the kids have clearly had a meltdown or are in no mood to be photogenic. I am the one who has a camera for every event, both great and small. I guess I had a mental lapse. I have tried to remember why I wouldn't have taken my camera with me. Josh said I told him that Mia and Mindy would be taking pictures and I wasn't worried about it. Yet, again, that does not sound like me. I like to feel as though I am cataloging my children's life in photos. I have my photos in my photo library in chronological order and even sub grouped by events. I sat down at my computer at home last night and went through every folder! Couldn't find any pictures from Halloween 09. I then got out my camera, and thought, maybe I had forgotten to get them off my memory card. Not the case. I will admit defeat. I guess that Josh was right...maybe I did say I would just steal their pictures. Anyway, it's a mystery to me. I am going to steal some pics form Mindy and put them up of Halloween 09. After my Halloween post I will put up my Ka-Ka's most important moment form 09 and that should conclude my 09 rewind. I feel I have touched on all of the memorable moments from 09.

Basket Case

My children never cease to amaze me with the things that they do. Sunday night Josh and I had folded clothes in our bedroom and were taking each pile to their rightful owner; we came back to this. Nathan in one of the empty baskets. He was watching TV while chilaxing. As you can see (in the bottom pic, sorry out of order again), he's way too big for the basket. I cannot see how he thought of this as comfortable. Josh put the other basket over him and kicked it off, see above pic. I know that most of these are blurry, but he will not stay still long enough for me to get one good one.

He thought it was the funniest thing when Josh picked him up, suggesting to throw him out. I just love how he has his arms behind his head...he really makes me smile :)

The basket gave him static!

My little Basket Case!

Big Love

Okay, this is my second addiction, well actually it was my first. I have been watching Big Love since season one. The show is now in it's 4th season! I can not get enough of this crazy story line. This show has more twists and turns than a gymnast, seriously! I have it DVR'd so I don't accidental miss an episode. The bad part is this season, though very short, is quickly coming to an end. ONLY 2 EPISODES LEFT! I don't know if I can wait until next year to find out what's going to happen to the ever growing Henrickson family. I do have to say that I am going to miss Amanda Seyfried who plays Sarah Henrickson. I don't know who they will get to replace her or if they are going to write her character off. I'm sure it will make for some excellent TV drama!

I have my theory as to how they will end the season this year. I believe that somehow the Henrickson clan will not be outed as a polygamist family. If they did what would the show be about? I do think that they will have to watch over their shoulder for Hollis Greene and his cronies. You don't just cut a sociopath's arm off and him forget about ya! I do believe Alby will go crazy and maybe off his first wife. That JJ has got something up his sleeve, but I can't quit put my finger on it yet. I guess we will have to stay tuned.

My New Obsession

I only have a few T.V. shows that I watch, but this is one of my new favorites! I am totally obsessed! I didn't start on the series until the second seasoned had already aired. My sister, Mindy, had the first season on DVD and suggested that I watch it. Josh and I both where kind of sceptical at first because the accents were so over the top and I thought that might get annoying, but I have grown to love them. I was so hooked that when I heard there was a book series I ran right out to Wal-Mart and bought the series. I have to give it to Mrs. Charlaine Harris and the whole "Southern Vampire Mysteries: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel" Series. I could not stop reading them. I am a total Team Eric fan (see above picture)! I am now patently waiting for the re airing of season two on HBO starting March 21 . I have already pre-ordered the second season from Amazon along with the latest installment in the "Southern Vampire Mysteries: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel" Series, "Dead in the Family" which I will receive May 4. If you already watch "True Blood" and decide to read the book series, don't be surprised or disappointed if they have changed some things around.
Parental Warning: This book series and HBO series is not for anyone under the age of 21. Very adult content.

Kalan's 7th Birthday Bash!

Kalan had all of her little friends at the house for a sleepover. She had just recently busted open her chin. Side bar: she tripped over Nathan in the hall which required 4 stitches in her chin.

This is her cake I made. This is before I started making my own icing. I still think it turned out really cute. The only reason I stated making my kids cake was due to their crazy requests. I refuse to pay $80 for someone to make a cake that will be devoured, and I only paid $150 for my wedding cake. Okay, I'm off my soap box, for now.
Kalan wanted a round cake with black and pink poka-dots. I used four cakes to get it this high...lol It was tall. I used jar icing and before we could cut the cake, icing was oozing out from each layer.
I didn't have any icing to write on the cake, other than white so I improvised and wrote on each dot on the top. I even hand made her "Happy Birthday" banner. She wanted zebra print. Like I said crazy requests. She had a great time with all her little friends and everyone stayed up way past their bedtime.
Sorry these two pics are out of order.

WHOOOO

We always have some kind of critter roaming around our place. This was the most interesting one, since the black mother bear and her two cubs 2 years ago. This fella showed up the week after Christmas. I had just got finished fixing all of the kids some lunch when my dad came up on the four wheeler and told us to look at the fence in the back yard. At first sight it looked like a deer hide had gotten stuck in the fence. Daddy said it was an owl. There is no telling how long it had been stuck like that. The dog didn't even bark at it and the cat was scared of it. I have never been that close to an owl before. It's feet are huge! These creatures are so beautiful. I know it looks like it's eyes are open, but when someone touch him his eyes opened up and they are neon yellow! A little freaky!

We called the Game Warden, Brad. Josh, Brad and my dad had to cut the barbwire and cut the skin on the the owl's wing and push the wire out. None of us can figure out how the wire ended up inside the bird's wing like that.

They finally set him free. Brad took him to a rehabilitator so get him well and set him free. So we all felt like we animal rescuers.