Roscoe and other things

Chuck and I decided to keep Roscoe for awhile. Cats seem to love the Roach Hotel. Even strays are drawn to our deck on a regular basis. Roscoe is doing well. I can't tell if the diarrhea is clearing up because he does his business outside. He is eating a lot and looks great so I guess I won't worry for now.

We ordered a new tent and sleeping bags this week in anticipation of the camping season. I can't wait to see them and give them a test run when the weather improves. The bags keep you warm down to 20 degrees so I suppose we could go anytime. Or not.

Kelsey and Brent have a Wii Fit and invited me over last night to try it out. The first thing you have to do is submit to lessons on health and then have your stats checked out. I learned I am in a healthy BMI range but could lose a few pounds. I am also unbalanced and really slow on the games. I'll get the hang of it, eventually. The skateboarding and obstacle course were fun and I wasn't too bad at the hula hoop. The most difficult thing about playing Wii is keeping Charis and Blaise happy at the same time. Charis resents it when we do things that exclude her. We decided it takes several people. One to entertain Charis, one to hold Blaise when he fusses, and one to play the Wii.

Cold winter morning

The cold snap is coming to an end. I hope. Although it has been more of a grind than a snap, lasting way too many days. I am sitting here dressed and ready to go to church. My plan was to try out the Sunday school for the first time, but our cars did not cooperate. My car, good ol' Cosmo, just wouldn't start at all. There is some kind of energy leak and if Chuck remembers to charge it overnight, it's fine. So, I got into Chuck's really dirty Jetta. It started all right but when I went to adjust the seat, it wouldn't lock. Chuck came out and he couldn't get it to lock down either. First time for that! Well, I couldn't very well drive with a seat sliding back and forth so I came in to wait while my battery charges and will just go to the church service.

Brent and Kelsey and the kids are in Garden City for the weekend and Roscoe has come to our house for a visit. He has been the model kitty. He doesn't whine or beg, just sits quietly in the kitchen until I come in and rub his head. He has had a diarrhea problem for a while now and his behavior has been off. Perhaps there have been too many changes in his little furry life. He lost his best friend, Obi. His best person for cuddles is busy with a toddler and now a new baby. He refuses to use his litter box in the house so he has had to stay out doors much of the time. He will only stay in the kitchen at their house. Here, he does use the litter box and I have been giving him lots of attention. He does stay in the kitchen when he isn't eating or outside but otherwise he seems pretty normal. I don't have to worry about him tripping me up on the stairs because he doesn't go downstairs. I hope he is ok. He looks good and is eating and drinking.

Christmas fun 2009

Here are a few pics of our good times during the holidays. Ari with Santa was taken at Thanksgiving at Botanica. He and Charis were all excited about seeing the big guy, but when the moment came, Charis wouldn't sit in his lap, but managed to tell him what she wished to get for Christmas. Ari did brave the lap, but couldn't get a word out. Keira was not interested. The big kids had fun being pulled around the gardens in Charis' new birthday wagon.

We dressed the kids up in their K-State duds and attempted to pose them for a picture. This was successful for the most part.

We all had fun at the "jumping place", as Charis calls it, a big room filled with big inflatable toys. It is a workout chasing and hefting kids around that place.

There is a high energy with three toddlers loose in the house. On New Year's Eve, the adults sat around the table upstairs talking and drinking wine while the youngsters ran free downstairs. The next day, Ari pulled a small toy out of one of the tv speakers and there were broken chips everywhere, including Chuck's easel. Fortunately, they didn't try to paint a picture for Papa. Good times.