Now, For a Little Bit of Sadness

It is with a sad heart that I write today.  Our sweet cat, Peavey, is gone.  I think I'm taking it the hardest, which seems sort of ironic as I was the one who had the least amount of patience for him, but there it is.

Two weeks ago, Thursday June 14th, Peavey asked to be let out, like he usually did in the mornings now that the weather is nice.  As he walked past me I noticed he seemed MUCH too skinny.  There was a huge gap between his neck and his collar.  Part of me thought it was from shedding his winter coat, part of me thought it was too much for that.  I determined to have a closer look at him when he came back, maybe even take him to the vet.  Only, he never came back.

We told the boys this past weekend, when it became pretty apparent Peavey wouldn't be rolling back in.  Zeke took it the hardest and was holding back some tears.  Until Deacon mentioned getting a new pet, and then all the saddness was gone and plans for fish filled their heads.  (When at the doctor's yesterday she asked Deacon if we had any pets in the house and he said, "Well, we used to. But Peavey went away and now we're going to get fish.")  Sometimes I overhear them talking about where the cat might be.  "I think he's in Arizona with Daddy."  "I think he's in another house." After a particularly windy day, "I think he got blown away back to Alaska." "I think he's taken up with the bears and is terrorizing people around post." (That last one was Josh.) I think he found a nice cool, quiet bush somewhere away from here and died.  Finn doesn't understand and still walks around yelling his name sometimes.  It breaks my heart a little.

Peavey was a good cat, who saw more of the world than most humans get to.  He was sweet, with a great purr.  He could be a little obnoxious, but who isn't from time to time.

Peavey clearly favored Deacon.  I know I've told this story to a bunch of people, but I want to write it down here before I leave you with the picture montage video thing I made for him.  When I was pregnant with Deacon, Peavey would come home from being outside around 2 or so in the morning.  He would come in the window we left open in our "closet", walk to our bed, jump up, lay across my belly and purr.  A few seconds after he'd start purring, Deacon would wake up and start kicking.  Then the 2 of them would be there kicking and purring at each other for a solid 1/2 hour before Peavey would wander off and Deacon would settle back down, so I could get some more sleep.  They've been good buddies every since.

And now, that video I mentioned.  It's a bit long (5 1/2 minutes) so I'll understand if no one watches the whole thing.  I did find a neat quote that I felt summed up Peavey pretty well, that I put at the end, so watch some, fast forward to the end, watch the whole thing.  It's all good.  Also, I don't have the rights to the song, but it's a live version of Lynard Skynard's "Free Bird".  It seemed the most appropriate.

We love and miss you, Peavey.

The Day Deacon Turned Five

You guys.  Deacon turned 5 yesterday.  FIVE!! How did we get here? It feels we just brought him home from the hospital. Now, here he is - five.  And what a day we had celebrating his fifth birthday.

It started when he got up (clearly).  We started the day by giving him our gift as Josh had to leave yesterday afternoon for another trip.  He opened his gift, MagnaTiles, and then the 4 boys proceeded to play with them for the rest of the morning and a good part of the afternoon, really.  I guess they were worth the money.

The rest day went like normal.  Around 3:15ish Josh's dad showed up for the party we were having later, and that was good because he got to see Josh before he left at 3:20, and I had another adult here to stay home with Zeke and Finn while I took Deacon to pick up his birthday pizza.  By the time we got back, just about everyone else was here - Josh's mom, my mom and the twins.

We let the boys freak out over having visitors, then we had some pizza.  While we ate my dad and Karen got here.  After pizza, it was time for presents.  We also had some stuff for my dad as it was his birthday yesterday too.  Deacon made out like a bandit.  I need to turn 5 again.

After presents it was time for cake and cookies (my friend Heather made the cookies again)!  Deacon picked a chocolate cake but couldn't make up his mind on a frosting so I did half chocolate, half pecan and coconut.  The ones on the plate are cars and trucks.  He insisted on having them frosted even though it meant you couldn't really tell what they were.  They were still good.

When cake was finished we were going to go to the water park but unfortunately yesterday was a cool, cloudy day, so instead we played in the back yard with his new Captain America shield, then went to the playground as people started to leave.

Even though it was time to start getting ready for bed when we came in from the playground, I let the boys watch an episode of Scooby Doo since Deacon got that for his birthday and was excited to watch one.

Today I took the sweet boy in for his 5 year check up.  He did well.  He's 43 1/2 inches tall, which places him at 60% for height and he weighed about 46 pounds, which put him at 80% for weight.  He IS a solid kid, so those percentages don't really surprise anyone.  What DID surprise me is that he failed his hearing test in both ears.  I'm not entirely sure the nurse had the plugs in all the way, and the doctor said he had a little fluid in his ears, so I have to bring him back in 8 weeks to have them retested. 

Otherwise, he is a perfectly healthy kid, with a VERY active imagination.  Josh said the other week, "If I could spend an hour in anyone's head, it would be Deacon's, and it would be an hour well spent."  He comes up with the wildest things and he keeps us laughing.  He's also become a bit bossy since school ended, so I'm trying to nip that in the bud.  He still loves wearing hats, and pretending he's anything from a pirate to a super hero to a fireman to a cowboy.  Deacon is also very much into Transformers and super heroes right now, Captain America being his current favorite.  His favorite movie right now is "Despicable Me" - those minions crack him up every time (me too for that matter).

Deacon is a great kid, and we love him to pieces.  I cannot wait to see what amazing things he's going to do with his life as his grows.  Happy Birthday sweet boy.  I love you!



Now That School is Over...

Last week, Zeke graduated from Kindergarten on Tuesday.  He still had a full week of school to go to afterwards, but he graduated last week none-the-less.  I had no idea his graduation was going to be such a big deal, or I might have gone better prepared (as in, I would have brought my actual camera instead of my phone).

They held the graduation in the gym/auditorium.  They set up risers and all 3 Kindergarten classes were there, singing songs, doing their little play, and getting their diplomas.

They also did superlatives for the kids, and since they're in Kindergarten, they made sure there was enough categories so every kid could "win" one.  The biggest class had 23 kids, so there were 23 categories.  You knew they were reaching when they called out ones like "Jazziest Jump Roper" and "Terrific Shoe Tie-r".  The classmates vote on who they want to win each category and the teachers tally up the votes then call the winners at graduation.  Zeke won "Nicest Smile".  He also got a "Perfect Attendance" award - only 4 kids did.  The kid LOVES school.

Afterwards there was cake and drinks in the cafeteria.  This is when Zeke insisted on giving his teacher (pictured below - she's adorable) the gift he picked out for her (which I made, and is also pictured below).

Yep, he picked a giraffe, and then insisted it be blue - apparently he knew that was his teacher's favorite color.  Good job, Zeke.

Not to be outdone, Deacon graduated from Pre-School on Friday (which was his last day of school too).  Since Deacon's class only had 4 kids in it (well, 5, but one boy will be too young for Kindergarten next year, so he didn't go to the graduation), they grouped his class with one of the full-day Pre-School classes.

I love that they wore caps and gowns (he got to keep the cap).

They also sang some songs, "got their diplomas" (they had one rolled up piece of paper tied with ribbons that the teachers "handed" to the kid for the photo-op, but held on to to "hand" to the next kid), had a sweet story read to them by the 2 teachers, and followed up the ceremony with cake as well.

We were a bit wiser with Deacon, and gave his teacher (who truly was wonderful - we really lucked out with great teachers this year) her gift at school that day, well before the craziness of the graduation.  Again, Deacon picked out the project and the colors, and I made it (this guy I am SUPER proud of).

All of this made for a crazy busy week, but also a very sweet (and I'll admit, very emotional) week for our family.  I'll leave you now with a video of Zeke singing "First Grade, First Grade" in our kitchen (all the other songs and videos from both graduations are up on YouTube [you should be able to click Zeke's video here and be taken to our YouTube "page"]). When he first sang this song at home, it was seriously all I could do to NOT cry.  My sweet boy is growing up so fast.

And now to enjoy our summer vacation!

A Letter. To a Bird.

To the Bird who thinks he's Justin Bieber (you know who you are),

First, let me say that I am super impressed with the myriad of chirps that you know.  It's like listening to one of those car alarms that goes through 6 or 7 alarm sounds before it repeats.  This leads me to believe you are a mockingbird.  Now, I have no problem with your melodies.  As I said, I'm impressed with your range and your variety. Also impressive? Your volume.  You actually managed to wake up my husband from a sound sleep.  There aren't many things that can do that.

However, what I do have a problem with is the hour at which you decide to serenade me (or your lady bird friend - whichever).  While I love listening to your songs, but I don't love listening to them at 2 o'clock in the morning.  I mean, seriously? Who does that? Who starts singing at 2 o'clock in the morning, at the top of their little lungs, and continues singing for 3. WHOLE. HOURS?!?  Sigh.

Now, if you were to start at 2am and go for 15 minutes or so, fine.  Whatever.  I can get back to sleep after that.  If you were to start at 6 and go for 3 hours, fine. Whatever - it could be a nice way to wake up.  But when you start at 2am and just go on and on like you're performing a full on concert with the Biebs, that's when I take umbrage with you sir.  Do you really have to sing so loudly?  I have the window closed, the fan on, and you STILL sound like you're singing from the top of the pillow I've placed over my head to try to drown out your songs.  Seriously.

I'm sure you think you're doing me some sort of service, providing music for my nighttime slumber, but let me assure you sir, you are not.  You are hindering my slumber. Let me rephrase that.  You aren't hindering it so much as you are completely destroying it.  Here's how it goes.  I fall asleep around 11.  At 2am I'm having some sort of dream which is ended when I'm woken up by "Chirp! Chirp! CHIRP!! Chirp-ity-chirp-chirp-CHIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRPPPPP!!! chirpchirpchirpchirp. Like baby baby baby OOOOOHHHHH! Chirpity-chirpity-CHIRRUP!!" I get up, I shut the window.  It doesn't help (because you're so loud). I lie there listening for a few minutes, trying to re-appreciate the talent you have, until appreciation turns into annoyance.  Then I put my pillow over my head, which helps a little, but only until all the heat that usually escapes from head gets caught in the pillow and warms my head back up.  Then I have to remove the pillow from my head until I cool off again, but by this point I'm emotionally heated as well.  And so it goes for 3 hours until you make your final encore performance, leaving me an hour to regain my sanity enough to try and get SOME sleep before I have to get up.  Not cool, Bird.  Not cool at all.

Last night I think you moved to a different venue (tree on my street) as you weren't as loud as usual when I heard you singing this morning, and that I do appreciate.  However, I'm sure that whoever's house you were outside of didn't appreciate it.  Maybe over by the gym, or down by the main gate where no one lives would be a better place to be?  Actually I think the gate is the perfect place for you.  The guards there have nothing better to do at 2am than to listen to you sing.  You'll have a captive audience as they aren't allowed to leave the gate!

All joking aside, Bird, you've gotta go sing your way-too-early-in-the-morning songs somewhere else.  Otherwise, I might be forced to do something drastic.  Like run up and down the street in my pajamas, shaking all of the trees until I figure out which one you're in then throw things at you until you leave.  Or, I'll send my cat out.  Don't be fooled by his apparent uselessness.  He'll cut a bird.  Don't let it come to that.

Sincerely,

The Girl You're Keeping Up All Night