Close Encounters of the Furry Kind

Alright, this is a good one.

Let me start off by saying I don't usually get too upset when I see bugs, reptiles, or even small critters. I don't run away screaming. In fact, I get onto Elizabeth if she acts too "girly" around bugs and insects. That's not the kind of women we are.

However, I can see where some women (and, frankly, some men.... You know who you are.) feel a wee bit paniced at the sight of bugs and vermen after two encounters this week.

I LOVE to thrift shop. It's a thrill for me to get something ugly for just a bit of spare change and make it beautiful. I frequent the clean thrift stores frequently. Some of the, shall we say, grosser ones don't get my business as often. I was looking for some cheapy glass ornaments that I could spray paint to make a wreath, so I went to a particular thrift store where I knew I could find some for about $.25 a box. Let's just say this place is a little on the dirty side. After finding what I needed, I flipped through a few clothes racks on my way out. I was flipping through a skirt rack, when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a leaf (or so I thought) on a skirt. Just as I started to slide the hanger over, that "leaf" scurried up the skirt! It was a mouse. A very much alive mouse! Eek. I didn't scream, but boy did I freeze in my tracks. I certainly wasn't expecting THAT! I asked a frozen Mallory if she wanted me to move the skirt so she could see the mouse, and she quite confidently told me she didn't. I then went to check out. When I was finished, I told the saleswoman, "Oh, and you might be interested to know there is a mouse in your skirt display." She didn't seem like she was a lady that liked mice very much. I wished her luck on that one, and headed out to my (clean) van.

Now, on to encounter #2 - the same week! We were met by a welcome committee when we returned home from church today. Who was there to greet us upon arrival, you ask? A. Full. Grown. SQUIRREL. Holy cow!!!!!

Everyone went into the house while I was still in the van piling things in my arms to carry into the house. I heard Ross say, "A squirrell! And it's dead!" Guess what? No it wasn't! It was very much alive indeed, just perched upon my curtain rod. It's head was making those rapid and rigid movements as it checked us out checking it out.

Some will wonder how it got into our house. Let me explain. When we moved in, our house had a wood stove. After much consideration, we felt like with very little children we needed to have it removed for safety reasons. In the living room, I capped the metal piping (what is it called, anyway?) with a plastic lid. I have never climbed onto the roof to cap it off up there. So that poor little thing had to have been so scared when he tried to climb on the roof and fell two stories through my obviously non-squirrell-proofed chimney.

Back to the story. My very strong and brave husband (who would NOT have been so had it been a snake!) got a broom and told me to do the same. We opened all the doors in the house and made our way to our visitor. That sucker took a flying leap from the curtain and landed a good ten feet away on my couch. Let me tell you, THAT'S WHERE I WAS STANDING, and I let out a holler like a woman giving birth to a ten pounder! Okay ladies. Now I can kind of see where you spaz out when you see sweat bees and ants. I'm beggining to relate.

About this time, Elizabeth is hiding behind Mallory, using her as a human shield. Ross and Drew are running around with excitement, Edward is taking charge, and I'm beginning to laugh like a crazy woman. So about this time, I'm thinking, "BLOG. Gotta get some pictures." Out comes the trusty camera. I also pulled out the video camera because I'm thinking this little buggar just might win us $10,000!" So, I make Edward stop every few seconds so I can get just the right shot. I know! Pretty smart of me!

Anyway, Mr. Squirrell jumps from one room to the next. Then where does he go? Upstairs! That's where our bedrooms are! Luckily, all the doors were shut, so he comes right back down. He was like a pinball, pinging from room to room, under couches and tables, up on curtain rods, behind the furniture. Finally, I saw him run away, and we think he ran out the back door. After much searching, we never found him. But, we did find my cell phone that has been lost for two weeks! Hooray! Something good DID come out of this craziness.

Now, like I said, we are pretty sure he ran out the back door. No one actually saw him do it, but we couldn't find him any where. Wouldn't it be something if he's just been hiding all this time and comes to snuggle up in bed with us tonight?

And, while all of this was going on, Drew kept saying, "THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"
And Ross suggested that we mount it. He said we could let Stella (our puppy) take care of the squirrell. Then we could chop it's head off, put it on a board, and hang it on the wall.

Oh, only at our house!

A First Visit From The Tooth Fairy

Mr. Drew has just experienced his first loose tooth. Being the cautious boy that he is, I pictured his tooth would have to get so loose that it fell out in his sleep. I imagined he wouldn't let anyone touch it. I was wrong! He worked on it for about two weeks. He came home from school yesterday, and he had it super loose. He let me wrap string around it. One tiny yank, and it was out. He was very pleased that it didn't hurt at all.

He cracked me up when he said, "I can drink with my teeth together now." and "This is the first time I ever tasted my lip." What a funny guy. And all night he would say things like, "This is the first time I ever took a bath with a missing tooth." or "This is the first time I watched TV with a missing tooth."

And the Tooth Fairy barely remembered to do her job. She cruised in here about 10 minutes before it was time to wake up. Whew! That was a close one!

She's a Big Girl Now

This probably falls under the category of TMI, but this news is worth celebrating! I think (hoping I'm not jinxing myself!) this girl is 99% potty trained! Wahoo! After abandoning ship earlier this summer, we attempted round two last week, and she has done great! I even let her sleep in her undies last night, and all was good this morning. The first few days we had a lot of accidents, but that comes with the territory. By day four I was venturing out to run errands. She is doing so, so great! We are thrilled. Congratulations, Mallory!

Boo Crew

Halloween 2009

Ross, the shark eaten boy
While perusing the Internet for costume ideas, Ross found a similar, store bought costume with a price tag of a mere $60. Knowing that this mom usually makes the costumes, he said, "I'll be that." I'm glad he has confidence in my abilities. I had NO idea how I would pull it off, but I think it turned out pretty well. The gray fabric is so cool! It feels really rubbery. The best part is I got it on sale for 50% off at Hancocks! I think I paid $8 for two yards. The hardest part for Ross was only being able to use one arm, as the shark got the other one.


Madame Fortune Teller

Elizabeth came up with the idea of being a fortune teller. I thought it was pretty creative. We later found the same idea in FamilyFun magazine. We had all the jewelry and the scarf and skirt. I picked up the lovely shirts at a thrift store for a couple bucks. The hardest thing to come up with was a crystal ball. All of the clear sphere shapes I found were made of glass. Then it struck me. A hampster ball! $8 spent at the pet store and we were set!

Elizabeth was so funny. She got ticked off any time someone said she was a gypsy! The nerve!

Mr. Roboto

Drew decided on a robot this year. I knew we could easily pull this off with things around the house. We had the shiny silver lemay pants in the dress-up box. I covered the cardboard boxes with fabric (again 50% off!) and then gadgets from the garage. I just had to spend $6 on dryer vent tubes (what are those things called, anyway?).

Part of the reason Drew wanted the big robot head was so he could more easily hide his face anytime he saw a scary trick-or-treater. The poor boy is terrified of Halloween.

By the way, he won a costume contest. He was pretty happy about that.

Miss Mermaid

Mallory was adamant on being a mermaid this year. It worked out well because I had saved a cute mermaid idea from FamilyFun. I found a large green/metallic robe at a thrift store. Not sure what it was. Maybe a Statue of Liberty costume? Anyway, for $2 I knew I could transform it into a mermaid costume way cheaper than by just buying fabric. I added a little purple tule underneath for a little more girliness. And Elizabeth had the purple shells from a Build-A-Bear costume. They fit Mallory perfectly. The funny thing, though, is that they annoyed her so she ended up pushing them down to her waist like a belt.

Bird Attack

And I can't let the kids have all the fun. I have to get in on the action as well. This was a last minute thrown-together idea. That teasing was really fun to get out of my hair later that night. Edward and I wanted to be Dora and Diego for the church party, but Elizabeth was on the verge of tears at that idea. We decided against tormenting her... this time.

For the church party Edward threw on an outback hat and wrapped a large snake around his neck. I didn't get a picture because, well, I have four children to keep up with.

The kids are already planning what they want to wear next year.

JDRF Walk To Cure Diabetes

Our Walk To Cure Diabetes turned out to be a fantastic experience.

On October 10th we travelled to Kansas City, MO to participate and do our part to raise funds for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). It was C-C-C-FREEZING!!!! It was 37 degrees the morning of the Walk. It was so hard to feel warm for the rest of the day.

We had a total of 31 walkers on our team, Ross's Gator Crusaders. We felt truly humbled and grateful to everyone that travelled far to join us in supporting Ross.

I am not an emotional person, but I couldn't keep it together that day. It was very inspiring to see so many people (thousands) there to support the same cause that is so close to our hearts.

Back at the end of August, our family set a goal to raise $1000 to donate to JDRF on Ross's behalf. As of today, we've donated $4,448.31. Out of the 385 teams in attendance, only 17 raised more money than Ross's Gator Crusaders. We are more than grateful. Words can't express the humility and gratitude we feel. We are almost finished with our huge list of Thank-You notes!

Edward is ready to start our fundraising efforts for next year. He wants to double what we did this year. Whew! Me? I need a little break. This has consumed me and my time over the last two months, but it has been absolutely worth every second.

Watch Out For Flying Snakes!

Yesterday while at my parents' for our weekly Sunday dinner, we had a humorous situation arise. I was in the house trying to get Mallory to nap, while the big kids were outside playing. Elizabeth came into the room and was spazing out. As I threatened her to get out to keep from disturbing her sister, er, I mean calmly asked what was wrong, she told me, "MOM! IT'S AN EMERGENCY!" I asked what wrong. She relayed the following story:

She saw the puppy rolling around in something and went to investigate. It was a snake. A smallish, dead snake. She screamed and Ross came to the rescue. She told Ross to get a stick and flip it over the fence. He got a stick and picked it up. He flung it as hard as he could over the fence, and it landed IN THE NEIGHBORS WINDOWSILL! Oh my goodness, I laughed when I heard this.

I asked if they got it off, and they replied the couldn't reach it because the window was too high.

I chuckled and said I would take care of it when I finished with Mallory.

About an hour later (after I woke up from my accidental nap), I found Edward outside playing with the kids. I asked him if he heard the funny story, and he had. I asked him if he removed the snake, and he replied, "NO WAY! You know I hate snakes!" So this time it was Mom to the rescue. Just call me Stephanie Erwin.

As we told my dad the story, he said, "You should have left it at the neighbors!" Ross replied, "That's what I wanted to do!" I'm sure the neighbors would have loved opening their window to find a dead snake on the ledge.

Are we the only ones that these wacky things keep happening to?

Lizzy's New Glasses

Elizabeth has been telling me for a while that she thinks she needs her eyes checked. Being the attentive mother that I am, I just basically brushed her off. She came home from school a few weeks ago and told me how the third grade class had vision screenings. She told me she got to take hers twice and a second school nurse was called in especially for her. Uh-oh. I checked her backpack for a note from our beloved school nurse but didn't find one. I reasoned that if she did indeed need glasses, I would have received a note from school. Two days later I got one in the mail. Oops! She tested at 20/50 in both eyes! Yikes!

Elizabeth was VERY upset that she failed her vision test. Being the bright young lady that she is, she's never failed a test before. We had to repeatedly explain that she couldn't control failing this kind of test.

We made an appointment at the eye doctor. She was nervous for days about having to take that test again. Luckily, her anxiety lessened as she saw all the cute and trendy glasses on the wall. She was thrilled at the prospect of being able to choose her own glasses. We went to America's Best Eyeglasses where she was able to get two pair for only $70! She chose this cute pair and a fun, whimsical purple pair.
She loves her new glasses and looks darling in them. I had to laugh because she kept saying, "I can see!" and "The floor looks so close now!"

Right before Ross's diabetes diagnosis, he, too, kept telling me he thought he needed his eyes checked. And again, I just brushed him off. Turns out, that was a symptom of type 1 as well. Hmm. How about that? *Insert nervous laughter* So, if Drew or Mallory ever tell me they need their eyes checked, I guess I should pay attention!

Nothing A Little Paint Can't Fix

I've been inspire lately by some of my favorite crafty blogs (Be Different...Act Normal, Make It And Love It, A Soft Place To Land, Crap I've Made, and Mod Podge Rocks just to name a few!). I see the cute things they make or repurpose for next to nothing, and I think, "I can do that!" After 12 years of using some of the same decorations, I think I'm ready for a change.

I love to visit my local thrift shops and usually do so at least once a week. One man's trash is another man's treasure! You never know what you'll find! I found each of these pieces last week. Each one was $.25 to $1.00. All I did was use a little spray paint, and viola!

Every thrift store will have some cheesy pumpkins like these at this time of year. They all had these lovely faces, so I spray painted them entirely with the intention of using the solid sides.

L-O-V-E how they turned out! The cream colored paint pulls each mismatched piece together. 100% improvement!

I'm please with the festive, simple fall display for my entertainment center!

Check out these golden lovelies! The mirror was actually more hideous in person, if that's possible. While I was standing in line to purchase it, an older gentleman commented on the beautiful mirror that I was getting for a steal. Yep!

Ahh, much better.

For about $2.00 they finished off the spaces on my wall quite nicely!

Finally! A Proper Place For My China!

I love Craigslist. I found this beauty on it for $50! My dear, wonderful, handsome, frugal husband is not quite as fond of our wedding china as I am. I wants to hawk those puppies. Therefore, he has been unwilling to humor me all these years by buying me a beautiful piece of furniture to house and display my beautiful china. So, when I found this treasure on Craigslist with a lovely price tag, I knew the itty bitty amount of money in my ebay account just found a new home in some woman's pocket.

This hand-me-down painted bookcase previously housed my china. And for about ten years before that, my china sat in the same boxes that I lovingly packed it up in after our wedding. It stayed in those boxes through four moves.

So here's to you, Gorgeous China. You finally have a lovely home to house all your loveliness!

Family Visit

We were recently able to travel to visit family for a special occasion.

Our nephew, Edward, was baptized! He wraps up the four cousins that turned 8 and were baptized this year.

Some of the crew

As evidenced, there was a lot of fun with cousins the entire weekend.

This bunch found a playhouse in the dog house!

Sunday before church, we were able to visit one of our church's historical sites. This group of kids were troopers during the tour.

Oh, No! It's Kanye!

Check this out! It's hilarious!!!

http://kanyelicious.appspot.com/www.felkerfamily.blogspot.com

You can do it too by going here.

Let's Keep Politics Out Of This

Drew likes to play with our puppy, Stella. And because she is a puppy, she can get pretty rowdy. She's getting really big (25 pounds) and STRONG! Last night they were being especially rowdy together. Drew had had enough of Stella, so he called her a name - an ugly, rotten name. He usually says, "Stella, you're an idiot!" when she accidentally hurts him. This time he said, "Stella, you're a democrat!"

I was howling!

Isn't It Lovely?

No, I'm Not Turning Into A Hoarder....

We've moved all of the contents of our kitchen into our dining room because I'm finally getting a new kitchen!! Hooray! I've hated these ugly, outdated things since I first saw them. But since they were still functional, we kept them and spent the money on other things that were more necessary (such as a new hot water heater, patching a leaky roof, replacing toilets. You know, the important stuff). We refinanced a few months ago, and I asked my sweetie if we could get a little more to update the kitchen. To my delight, he agreed!

I didn't take any before pictures, but here is what those old, yucky things looked like.

Here is what my new kitchen looks like... for now. I hope to post the finished product by this weekend!

My Second Blog

On October 10th, our family is heading to Kansas City to walk in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk to Cure Diabetes. We have set a goal as a family to raise $1000 to donate to JDRF. To help us get to that goal, I've created a second blog with instructions on how others can help! My new blog is http://www.gatorcrusaders.blogspot.com/. Our team's name comes from Ross's obsession/love of the Florida Gators.

I've also created a video about Ross. Hopefully it will help others get to know him a little better, and therefore donate on his behalf.

Uncle Aaron, you've asked for warnings in the future if a tissue is required. You might want one for this. :)

Turn up the volume and enjoy!

Funny Things I've Heard This Week

Mallory is getting to an age where she says some really funny things. And Drew is just a funny kid. He's witty and clever. Here are some of the funny things they've said this week:

Out of the blue while we were swimming, Mallory yelled out, "I LOVE SWIM DIAPERS!" and then she went about her business.

While shopping at the grocery store she said, "Mommy, I love corn and I love you."

Stella, our puppy, was chasing her last night and getting too rough. Mallory yelled, "Aaghhh! She ate me!" when Stella puppy-bit her.

And Stella was getting too rough with Drew the other day. He told her, "Stella, don't charge me for the crime."

And this is the funniest thing he said to me. Several times this weekend he talked about the baby brother or sister of a kid at his Kindergarten. He keeps telling me, "Mom, there is a baby who comes into my school who's face looks just like Michael Jackson's. I'll show the baby to you if I see it." It must have really made an impression on him because he's mentioned it about 5 times over the weekend.

First Day of School

The three big kids headed back to school on August 13th (happy birthday to me). I was ready for it about two weeks before. The boredom-that-leads-to-constant-fighting was grating on my nerves. Of course the kids weren't as happy about going back. I don't know too many kids that say they are ready. My days are so quiet now! I've forgotten what it's like to entertain just one!

Mr. Drew started Kindergarten. He dreaded it all summer. At least once a day he would ask, "Mom, will you please home school me?" Uh, no. Unless the circumstances are dire, that will not be happening.

Anyway, miraculously, about a week before school began he started saying he was actually looking forward to it! He's had a good attitude these first few days, although he has said a few times that he doesn't want to go. I'm thankful that we got our first choice of teacher, our beloved Mrs. Peppers, and his very best friend is in his class.

Elizabeth started third grade. She got the same teacher that she had last year. Mrs. Miller moved up to third grade. Her best friend is also in her class!



Ross started at a new school this year. With the new diagnosis, I've been a little nervous for him, but it's getting better. The staff is wonderful so far, and he really likes it. He switches classes, and so far his math teacher and his music teacher (a miracle in itself because he has hated music in the past) are his favorite.

Here's to a good year!

Sunburns

Two days ago, we went to the pool for one last all day swim before school started. I slathered everyone with sunscreen including myself. Later that night I realized the side of my leg was on fire. Sure enough, I missed a big strip down the side of my leg. It looks ridiculous (Don't worry. I've spared you the pictures of my thigh.), but not quite as ridiculous as these guys:

I've actually had a sunburn similar to this as well. One year when we went to Florida, my mom smacked a handful of sunscreen on my arm, and I didn't rub it in. You could see a white handprint on my arm for a few days.

This guy's seatbelt mark is hilarious.

Float Trip

On Saturday, Edward and I took Ross and Elizabeth on a float trip on the Current River with a group of 33 of our friends from church. We had our canoes reserved for about a month. I wasn't so optimistic when we arrived at the river, and it was seventy-three degrees and raining. Couple that with sixty degree river water, and I knew it would be a cold day. Surprisingly, it didn't turn out too bad. We rowed for about an hour in the rain and fog, but it quickly lifted. It stayed pretty cloudy most of the day and got to a high of seventy-eight degrees. Edward and and I were relieved the sun wasn't just blazing down on us. That part of the trip was pretty enjoyable.

I have really mixed feelings about our trip. While we had a great time with our family and friends, I was shocked and repulsed by the behavior of nearly everyone else on the river. All of the party people who were two sheets to the wind were either oblivious that we had fourteen children (ages 7 - 14) in our group, or they just didn't care. Only once during the day did someone in one of the rowdy groups yell out to another to watch the language. My skin crawled at each vulgar and vile thing I heard. If I heard it, my two kids heard it as well, and that makes me really mad. At the beginning of the trip, the kids would say, "Mom! That person just said a cuss word!" By the end of the trip, they just plugged their ears as they saw groups with alcohol. And not only did we hear awful language, we saw really inappropriate behavior as well. I mean REALLY inappropriate behavior. I was at the front of the canoe so I would just tell the rest of my family, "Don't look to your left."

I cracked up because at one point during the day, we passed an especially obnoxious group, and Ross said, "It smells like Busch Stadium." And it did!

If we try to organize another float trip next year, I don't think I want our family to go. I don't want my kids exposed to that environment, and frankly I don't want to be exposed to that environment. I think I might go again if we went on a weekday. I'm sure there will still be some unsavory characters, but I wouldn't think it would be so bad.

There was one episode that had me laughing hysterically Saturday. To my friends that know about my bad habit of laughing when someone gets a little hurt - it was one of those times. As I said, I was in the front of the canoe. Elizabeth, Ross, and Edward were behind me. We were coming up to a crowded spot in the river, and of course I had a front row view. There were two guys that had tipped that were trying to get their canoe up out of the water. We were headed straight for one guy that had his back to us and his legs spread apart. He was slightly bending over. We were headed straight at him. To me, we were going in slow motion, and there was nothing I could do about it. I felt my giggles coming on as we started to take aim. Sure enough, the pointy nose of our canoe goosed him! And the current made us keep going. He yelled, "Whoop!" and had to stand up on his tip-toes. We literally lifted him up onto the nose of our canoe. By this time I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe! I managed to wheeze out a "sorry," but I don't know how sincere he thought I was. He managed to get himself wedged off our canoe and helped push us on our way. I don't know how much of it he remembered the next day, but I have a feeling he might be a little sore on his back side. When we floated far enough away that I didn't worry about him hearing us, I was howling with laughter. I couldn't even catch my breath. I couldn't even paddle. I couldn't even move. When we got further down the river and caught up with my sister's family, they asked what was going on. They said they could hear me laughing way down the river and knew something good was happening. It. Was. FUNNY.

Lunch Break

You can see some of the fog.

The fog was actually pretty neat.

Harrison & Emmy (nephew & niece)

Emmy & Grant (niece & nephew)

Elizabeth & Emmy