Evening Pets

The house is quiet.  The kids are in bed.  And the pets are chilling.

 

 Little Moozie didn't want to sit still for the camera.

Until she was much closer to me.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

The Grandmas came over early afternoon and joined us for a candle light service at church.

I think the kids' favorite part of the service is holding their candles up while singing Christmas carols.

We drove home and had a few moments to relax before making a lasagna for dinner.  So we got a few photos on the stairs while there was still some good light coming in from over the front door.

Loved that the kids were sweet and cooperative!

Until they had to irritate each other.  :)  Because that's always fun to hear your sibling squeal!

We had the typical stragglers at the dinner table.

Although, both kids were excited to be allowed to open one Christmas present after dinner.  

Even if it was one that Mommy picked out.

Can you tell by the look on his face he thought the one present he would be opening was expected to be more exciting than new pajamas?

The Beanarina was slightly more excited.

Although her pajamas were a bit long and wide.  Skinny kids have such problems fitting into normal clothes for their ages!

Once the kids were in their new pajamas, we took off for an hour drive looking at Christmas lights with the Grandmas.  When we got home, it was late and the kids didn't get into bed until close to 9pm.  Two parents stayed up late to wrap all the kids' presents before relaxing on the sofa for awhile.

Little Moozie stopped in to clean Little Horse's face.

And then he was left in peace and quiet to enjoy the Christmas spirit and flashing lights.

Then we had a trouble maker in the house (it wasn't Chloe, she was already fast asleep!) shaking the tree.  Can you see her?

Jezzie climbed up the inside of the tree almost to the top.  She was eye level with me when I snapped this photo.

And before we knew it, Norad said Santa had arrived in Atlanta a few minutes prior.  We didn't want to chance Santa not coming because we were still awake, so we closed our laptops and hurried upstairs.  It wasn't long before we were under the covers, closing our eyes and we heard prancing on the roof.

Ernie on the Go

Tonight this boy was busy.  He was exploring everywhere downstairs.

He couldn't quite make it into Maggie's water bowl.

Ernie tried to go behind the sofa, but didn't fit.

This blind boy tried bumping into my shoes a few times before wandering on his way.  (That's my camera strap hanging down and blurring half my photo.  Whoops.

Ernie found another way beyond the sofa and squeezed underneath it.  He is not so scrawny as when we first brought him home, but has a little more weight to gain.  Easier to see from this viewpoint.

Ernie didn't stop to rest at all, he was moving fast from one room to the next.

He checked out every baseboard and table or chair leg.

And then he bumped into Dylan and started sniffing him out.

But our sweet Dylan is known to be a bit of a Nancy boy and took off quickly.  Dylan still isn't sure what to think about Ernie and if he can be trusted.

Ernie even managed to climb up a few of the stairs, which was great to see.  He is really getting so much stronger.  Yay Ernie!

Meet Ernie!

One of our karate friends mentioned to Todd that he had a neighbor searching for a new home for their ferret.  Todd relayed that to Kelley, which was taken as consent.  In less than a week, we had a seven year old ferrety boy named Ernie joining our family.

Ernie has adrenal disease, which has robbed his tail of any hair.  He also has neurological issues, so his back end gives out on him while he's walking.  But he is the sweetest boy who is content to nap in a lap and give kisses to the hands that pet him.

Owen Picks Out a Hamster!

We picked the kids up early from after school so we could take Owen to the pet store to pick out a hamster.  Owen was super excited and Chloe was thrilled to come along.  The boy could NOT wait to get inside and look at all the hamsters.

He was allowed to walk inside the 'animal hut' to hold the available hamsters before making a decision.

After holding this first one, he said quickly she was the one he wanted.  I asked Owen if he would like to hold another and see if he liked the other hamster better.

Owen went along with holding another hamster, but stuck with his original decision to bring home the first hamster he held.  He called her Rumblebuffin, which is the name he had decided on over the past week.  Rumblebuffin is the name of one of the giants in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe that we had just finished reading together.

After we bought her, we snapped a few pictures.  Nothing like having your little sister intruding on your moment.  ;)

We had some darting and dodging to get solo pics.

Owen finally agreed to take pics together, but at that point Chloe was still a little irked at his earlier evasiveness.  I love the folded arms and the facial expressions.

And now we have full cooperation with real smiles.  Sigh.  I love it when they are kind to each other and can be friends.

 But it doesn't always last for very long.

Sometimes they just have to be separated to be happy.

Chinese Dinner Out

Todd had a tennis match and I didn't feel like cooking, so I took the kids out to dinner at Chin Chin.  It has also been a dreary, rainy day so the pool didn't sound like much fun.

The restaurant didn't have milk, so the kids were thrilled they could choose between Sprite or Fanta orange.

Chloe ordered wonton soup to come out before her dinner.  She loved it.  He was intrigued and asked to try some.  Owen loved it and then ordered his own bowl.

While he was eating his soup, he couldn't stop telling me how delicious it tasted and asked if we could have wonton soup at his birthday party.  Owen went on to tell me that the next time he gets sick, we should take him to Chin Chin because soup is good for you when your sick.  Chloe didn't rave to the same extent, although she did eat hers all gone. :)

After dinner, the server brought us orange slices.  I did not set a very adult example and soon had two little copycats.

Once we finished with those, we went outside so the kids could sit on the bench and watching the passing traffic while Owen ate his little doughnut.

From Chin Chin, we went to Old Navy to take advantage of their $10/item on children's clothing and shoes.  Then we went to PetSmart so Owen could look at hamster cages and hamsters.  He has been promised a hamster for his eighth birthday, which is just over a month away.  Every morning, he wakes up talking about it.  The hamster is a constant topic of discussion to/from school, over dinner and also at bedtime.  It consumes this boy with excitement and anticipation.  He is on a quest to decide on an appropriate name.  Now.  He thinks he will be getting a girl hamster, since he hasn't seen any boy hamsters at PetSmart when we have looked.  We will see.  He has a month to decide on a name and drive himself nuts thinking and planning for all of the details. :)