Muffinshire Newsflash

Shocker!!! A routine vet visit today revealed that Norma the kitty is actually.... Norm the Tomcat.

(Um, don't tell Butternut, who seems quite *fond* of him these days.)

So, Muffinshire faces a conundrum that only you, dear reader, can assist with.

It was bound to happen.

I just didn't think she would notice so *soon*.

Ana: Mama, where did Bambi's momma go?

Saving Graces.

About six months ago, I started keeping a Holy Hour again. Back when I became Catholic, one of the first things I did was sign up to pray before Jesus in the Eucharist for an hour every week. Then, when Dan and I started dating, we made our weekly holy hour together. Well, when we moved to Marshall, not having Eucharistic Adoration readily available, we let that part of our spirituality stop.

Now that I've started again, I realize how much it did for me. Today was the first day that I left Toby with Grandma while I made my way to church to say "hi" to Jesus (that's how we explain it to Ana). Without a hungry baby with me to soak up my attention, I had one of the best "chats" with God that i've had in a long time. While I did most of the talking, as usual, I did manage to shut it for a minute and boy did God have some serious pointers to make.

You know, things like "I've been missing you in the confessional, Joy" and "What's with the all but absent prayer life?" and then my favorite "I want you to do more than just look at me and think about me, I want you to *imitate* me in your life."

Help!

Thank goodness for God's mercy.

While I'm here, I've got this great gratuitious fanny shot to share.




And here is Ana in the garden this morning. While I finished weeding the strawberries, she watered the peas. This lasted for all of 3 minutes. But it was a *valuable* 3 minutes.

One of those weekends.

You know, one of those weekends when you:

1) Get way more done outside that you ever thought possible (with the exception of manuring the strawberries. but that can wait).

2) You and your child come down with a awful as heck cold that puts both you and her out of commission. But then you remember that you can't *be* out of commission because you're the mom.

3) You find your beloved family pet acquired his golden tail without so much as a goodbye or even a hint of illness, leaving the family heartsick.

4) Wake up from your afternoon nap (still sick) to find that your little girl smeared poop all over the sunroom windows and is now shoving her brown sticky hands in your face saying, "poopy, mommy!"

5) You get a letter from a long lost friend only to find that you and he both have a little boy and BORN ON THE SAME DAY! How cool is that?

You know, one of those kinds of weekends. Major ups, and major downs.

Sigh.

I know we're overdue for some family photos. So, here are some rather comical photos of Ana in her various sleeping positions:


Yes, sleeping standing up.


Here Dan is sporting a smile because he finally gets to watch the DIY network and not The Jungle Book for the tenth time.


And Tobias taking a much needed nap. I can't get enough of these kinds of pictures because pretty soon he'll be way to heavy for me to comforatably carry him for the duration of his naps in this carrier. The advantage of this one is that he can be carried up high, and he can peek over my shoulder when he's awake and explore the world. In a few months, he will tear my shoulders apart with his girth and I will have to carry him in the beco which puts his weight on my hips, but then he can't rest his cute little face on the back of my neck because he'll be too low. Oh, if only this were my sole worry

Teachable Moments (by Dan)

We buried Stewart today. Even though Ana is only two, we wanted to make as much of a teachable moment out of this as possible.

After telling her that it was time to go and say good bye to Stewart, we went out to the meadow to see him. We explained that all living things need to die sometime, and that it's just the way things are. She wasn't at all bothered by the sight of him laying there, and seemed to understand that there was something different between him in that state and him as a sleeping cat. She was a little concerned when I laid him in his grave and started putting dirt on top of him ("What's daddy doing, mama?") but took it all in stride. After I was done, we all had a big group hug (sniff, sniff) and waved bye-bye to Stewie.

As we walked away, she said, "Stoower got a bang-bang."

Yes. She may never remember this day, but at least she had a glimmer of understanding....

Stewart, R.I.P. (by Dan)

Stewart the cat is dead. He'd been missing for a couple days, and just this evening we found him lying in the alfalfa field in front of our house where he loved to romp. There were no signs of injury, so it must have been the culmination of some unknown illness (he was only 7). Looking back, there were occasional hints that his health might not be in the best shape. But with Stewart it was always hard to tell.

Stewart was our "engagement kitty". Some people come home from getting engaged with just a ring. Us? We came home with a ring and a cat. After Joy finally let me propose to her on the bluffs of the Mississippi (ask her about that sometime), we went for a quick hike. Coming back to the parking lot, we were greeted by the sweetest little kitty. As we enjoyed the moment, the vending stand operator nearby yelled out to us, "Want a cat? He's a stray, and needs a good home." Joy turned to me with those eyes of hers, and well, like I could say "no"....

They don't come much friendlier than Stewart. They also don't come much more neurotic. He loved people. And insisted upon being with them all the time. We'd go for walks, and he'd follow us like a dog. When he was an indoor cat, if we shut a door, there'd invariably be that paw reaching underneath it to say, "let me in!" And now, on the farm, he finally got his wish to be an outdoor cat, but still insisted that the house should be his, too. We've got claw marks in our window screens where he'd jump up and hang on for dear life, just to make sure we knew he was there.

For all his annoyances, he was a great cat. And was especially perfect with kids. He didn't care if Ana pulled his hair, yanked his tail, or tried to sit on him - it was all good fun to him. What saddens us the most is that he won't be a part of Ana and Toby's childhood memories. Ana at least got to know and love him (she'd go outside and yell, "Stoooower!"), but she will certainly forget all about him. Shortly after getting engaged, Joy & I had the happy realization that he was the first addition to what would be our family legacy. But I guess it just wasn't meant to be...

So, with due credit to Martin Luther, who penned this remark upon the death of his beloved dog, here's my slightly modified version, for Stewart:

Be thou comforted, little cat. For you, too, in the Resurrection will have your golden tail.

Dan's Favorite Apologist: "Jesus is an Elephant".

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Facts of life.

I've been trying to pin down why it is that I've been enjoying having two little children so much, when with Ana it took me a year to adjust. And I think I've finally figured it out: I have let go of all the parts of my former (pre-children) life and have let my new life (one that involves children 24-7) take root and grow it's own garden, so to speak.

You see, with Ana, I think I tried to hold onto my writing and reading ambitions so much that I couldn't enjoy just being mommy. Without knowing it, I was making myself miserable because I couldn't be happy just being mommy or just keeping up with my professional life (or whatever that was). Now that we have another little one, I really didn't have a choice but to drop those parts of my life out of pure necessity. And it is sheer bliss. Now I don't mind the daily laudry and the constant messy kitchen. Now I can give all of my energy to enjoying Toby's first smiles and nursing Ana when she's not feeling good.

There will be plenty of time to read Jaroslav Cupcake later.

Warm up.

It's become warm enough here at the shire that we were able to spend the entire day outside on Saturday and prep the garden for summer. Dan ran the tiller over most of it, while Ana, Toby and I planted some peas, onions, cilantro, lettuces and spinach. I have dreams of tasty salads and snacking on the peas while perusing the rest of the garden.

Cut to the rain dance.

It was such a splendid day, Dan and I were reminded why we moved out here. And how we want to spend all of our Saturdays.

No comment.

I probably shouldn't admit this publically.

It must be the combination of an awfully easy baby, an awfully easy toddler, and an awfully helpful and understanding husband.

But I'm already dreaming about our next child.

Peas. Pod.