Cat Drama Island

As you may know, we added a sweet little kitten named Carl to our home in early December. We already had two very sweet cats, Trixie and her son Reebok. That was BEFORE Carl came to town. Now we have a contstant state of growling, hissing, and much pawing and clawing.

Carl wants to play and be friends with both Reebok and Trixie. Reebok has learned to somewhat tolerate the jumping on the back and general craziness from Carl. As you can see in the picture, they have even taken a nap ( for about 10) seconds together. We all know Reebok can kick Carl's booty any time he wants, but I think he kinda wants to be buddies. Foolishly, Carl just can't help but start a fight by biting Reebok's neck or plain ol' ambushing him as he walks down the hallway.

Then there's Trixie. She hates breathing the same air as Carl, and most of the time Reebok. She can sense the alliance between the two of them. It can be a juggling act to sequester each cat from the other. Mostly, this means that Trixie is closed away in the front living room and Reebok is hiding out in a bedroom somewhere. Carl, therefore, is free to terrorize and delight the rest of us.

Publisher In the House

Once again, our 2nd grader has been published in the Appeal Democrat. This time her holiday jokes were printed on Christmas Day. We sure hope you enjoy them, as she made them up herself. "My holiday joke is right here. Knock, knock. Who's there? Donut. Donut who? Donut Open 'til Christmas! And I have one more for you. What do you call an elf that steals gift wrap from the rich and gives it to the poor? Ribbon Hood!"

Great Job, Megan! Keep up the good work!

Snow What?

This afternoon we took the kids to play in the snow east of Nevada City. We all had a really good time, and I think the kids did too. Megan had told me that she had never been "real sledding" only on cardboard at Grandma Karen's house when she was "little". So, we packed up the sledding toys, some hot cocoa, and extra changes of clothes along with the 5 kids in two cars and headed off. We found a wide spot in the road to park and found an ATV offroad access road that made for a nice low slope. There was laughing, screaming, and warnings from behind the trees of "Don't eat the banana colored snow!"

After a lot of sledding and some snowball throwing, it was time to get out of the wet jeans and underwear and get a cup of cocoa. It was a short but sweet trip, and I think we should do it again this winter. Sure was fun to hear them laughing and having such a good time being rowdy and loud and knowing they weren't bothering anyone!

Funny Accents

Where do silly accents come from? Why do they sneak up out of nowhere and just overtake us? Sometimes they get a life of their own and don't know when to leave. Kevin has been putting on an accent each night lately. Ok, just for the last two nights, but it is a little concerning. Last night was Italian and tonight it is an Okie drawl. It doesn't help that we watch COPS every night. There is a direct correlation between the region of the U.S. that the episode is filmed in and Kevin's new "personality". I think we'll have to select his programming a little more carefully. It IS very entertaining, though...

No Knives at Pizza Hut???

About a month or so ago, Kevin, Megan, and Thomas called me at work and said we were going to meet at Pizza Hut in Yuba City for dinner. We ordered our pizza, and when it came it wasn't cut all of the way through. No problem, right? I mean, any other eating establishment would have the proper cutlery to do the job. So, I send Megan to the counter to get a knife. Big mistake.

Apparently, they couldn't see her at the counter and the employee that was working was doing something out at the tables. (Mind you, we were one of just 3 families that were even in there.)
Anyway, I went up to help Megan at the counter and the employee asked if we needed help. I told her that the pizza wasn't cut all of the way through, could we please have a knife? Seriously, a plain old plastic knife would have been fine. BUT NO... they didn't have ANY knives. For real. It was ridiculous. How expensive are plain ol' knives anyway? I think they are 4 for a buck at the Dollar Tree. For real metal knives. That would cut through pizza.

So, be warned. If you go to the YC Pizza Hut, take your own camping utensil set with you. It may come in handy.
Again. CRAZY.

Megan's Mysterious Bumps

Megan has a rash of bumps on her arm. They itch but aren't fluid filled and haven't spread much in 3 days. I really don't feel like going to Urgent Care today, so if anyone knows what it might be, can you let us know? She's a cute girl, but we could do without the spots. Even though the kids say I am a doctor sometimes, this is out of my realm of expertise. Once we know what it is, I can come up with a billable code, though.

Ringing in the New Year

Well, 2008 was quite a year for our family! First of all, we had not one, but 2 weddings... ok, the same people got married twice, but both weddings still count. Next we had a graduation, a surgery, and of course the moving process to contend with. So, the fall of '08 was spent getting kids settled into new schools, new bedrooms, and dealing with 5 kids sharing a bathroom in the morning! We did quite well, actually, and mom and dad are very proud.



New Year's Eve came to the Potts' house in festive form. Grandma Alice came over for tacos, snacks and games. Yes, she played Wii bowling with Megan and laughed the whole time. Joey came over that night to stay with Megan and Thomas. He always adds a pleasant attitude to our mix, and we love having him over. In addition to the Wii, we played Scrabble and Yahtzee turbo until the wee hours of 8:oo. Then it was time for our sparkling cider toast, and off to bed within the hour. We had big plans for an early start to 2009.



Meanwhile, the Smith kiddos were at the "Tall House", aka: their dad and Krista's house. They had a good time with some friends and Grandma and Grandpa. They also played video games, but stayed up waaaayyyy later than we did at home. They were staying in town on the first, so they could party all night.



The alarm came early on 1-1-09. We got up around 5:45 and headed to San Francisco. Grandma Alice had given the family a membership to the newly remodeled and reopened California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. We got there in plenty of time to stand in the cold with everyone else who got up early on New Year's Day. The new building is amazing and we had a great time. We saw the wonderful show in the planetarium, learned about wolf eels, saw leafy seadragons, and the T Rex skeleton. We made sure to save some fun for next time. What a great gift idea that we can use for making memories and learning all year long.