Samantha and Girl Scout Cookies.

Samantha is completely focused when she is selling something. We went from house to house selling cookies. She drags her brother along for the cuteness factor, and three legged Tucker for the pity factor so she can sell more cookies. SHe has dragged me out in blizzards to sell cookies because people will feel sorry for her and buy more. She went up to an elderly neighbor's home, all the while saying, yeah, old people are suckers for cute little boys. C'mon Josh, ring the bell! She cracks me up, although I do wonder what she will be like as an adult. Yikes! I told Matt's dad about Sam's selling, and he was very amused.

Sam is very polite with the neighbors and keeps very good track of the kind of cookies and the amount of money. She really does all of the bookkeeping and paperwork herself. I am very proud of her.

And if anyone wants to order any cookies, we are in business!

Ratticus Deux

Yes, there are now two rats. I didn't think it was possible, but Angelika got Hermione out from under the fridge and into a box. Hermione is now in a bird cage in Samantha's room. I am concerned that the bird cage is not secure enough for our bright and determined Hermione, but it was the best I could do on short-ish notice. Angelika tells me that Hermione had a short detour through the walls, but she ended up safely caught in the end. I hand fed both of them tonight to help get them used to humans and appreciate our care. I think some very quiet time is in order for both, and I must say, both Samantha and joshua are cooperating very nicely. THey are desperate to pet the rats, but are respecting the rat's boundaries very nicely. I am very proud of my children. I do not think they can keep up this will to behave, but I appreciate the effort they are putting in for now.

Matt got home tonight. I had hoped that Josh would keep quiet. You think about the rats? No, that wasn't it. I did sort of get permission from Matt before bringing them home. No, this was about Joshua telling me he forgot about Matt while Daddy was away. I asked Joshua to keep this to himself, but no, he just had to share that little nugget with Matt almost the second Daddy walked in the door. Poor Matt. What a homecoming. We all really did miss him, but five year olds are not the most eloquent speakers in the world. Matt got the most gorgeous t-shirt for Samantha, and sweatshirts for both of them that fit perfectly. Good job!

Ratticus

Our friends, the Leventhals, bought two rats. One ran away fro Oliver and hid under the fridge, and as a joke, Angelika told Sam she could keep the rat if she could get it out from under the fridge. Sam almost got her, but she is very elusive. She was so excited about the rat, we bought one yesterday. Yes, we now own one white rat, one cat and one dog. I hope they all get along. I hope it isn't sick or anything. Sam would be devastated if it died right away. She has named it Carrot, for the rat's love of carrots. It seems like a friendly little thing. I hope Talia the cat doesn't terrorize it.

Matt in England

Matt has been in Ireland the last week. He attends a show, Phantom of the Opera, in a few hours in London, England. We miss him very much here. Joshua in particular seems more prone to upset and both of them refuse to sleep in their own beds. [sigh] Joshua simply must tuck his toes under something. I don't know why his toes must tuck under something, but they must. I am well reminded of when his toenails need trimming, I can tell you that.

We are off for a busy day today. Samantha is training for cross-country skiing season, so we will leave in a few minutes for that. I bring Tucker with me now, pretty much everywhere. Joshua comes too and we will walk on the edge of the golf course near the river and the trees. Lots to sniff for Tucker, and lots to explore for Joshua. Samantha will be running like mad the whole time. Then we get Dim sum at Great Wall in Bedford and head to Samantha's riding lesson. After that, I am hoping for a *peaceful* afternoon with a fire and maybe some s'mores. I said *peaceful* and hopefully, *quiet.*

I hope your days are all good too!

Ella died

I think most of you know already, but in case you hadn't heard, Ella died last week. She went outside and we found her a couple of hours later outside the kitchen door. She died quietly and quickly from an apparent heart attack. We have all been reeling to adjusting without her. Josh, with his five year old sensibility, says he is doing fine with Tucker, thank you very much. THank you God for his resilience. Samantha, being older, is pretty heartbroken. Ella was her first word. Sam's first step was to get up and steal Ella's bone, and yes, she chewed on it too before I could get it away from her. Ella took all of this with a benign sense of love and care that I could never have imagined in a dog. One day, in the midst of my fatigue and Samantha's terrible two tantrums, I was about to blow my stack. Ella got up from her bed and sat next to Sam on the couch and looked at me. I looked at her, and realized I needed to step back and breathe for a minute. So I did and when I got back a minute later, Ella was back in her bed and I sat down with Sam and we snuggled for a few minutes and the world was right again. I never forgot that look she gave me, and It has often served as a reminder to me to offer love instead of anger.

Ella was cremated so we can bury her in our backyard. We haven't been able to do it yet, but hope to soon.

Joshua was very curious about what was going on with Ella, so he went out back with us to help us carry her body to the car. He patted her body a little, and then he was fine. Sam is avoiding the whole thing as much as possible. To each his own.

I should also note here that Tucker has gone through quite a bit in the last month as well. He had a few tumors removed to have them graded, and the area on his foot swelled and cut off the circulation to his hind foot. He had no circulation for two days, and it just never got better. He did very well, but we were dealing with what amounts to a rotting foot for two weeks before we and the surgeon decided it was time to remove the leg. The children have been very careful with him and are great with him only having three legs. Tucker needs frequent walks to rebuild his leg muscle after begin so sick, so we all walk around the block together. When I can drag the kids away from the TV. It has been a lot for everyone, but they all seem to have adjusted fine.

Legos

For some reason, people seem convinced that the thing a five year old needs most is Legos. let me assure you, that is not the case. I am the only one able to interpret the instructions to build anything like the picture on the box. Even Samantha, our very bright nine year old, was having a hard time interpreting the pictures. Joshua does love to play with the end result, an off road vehicle tweaked by Samantha to have a computer to drive when chasing invading aliens, and she also created a quite terrifying alien ship and mother ship, Well. Okay. So maybe it does work with 5 and eight year olds and I am just feeling grumpy because we inevitably lose that one piece that is crucial to making the all important all-terrain vehicle, and I get to listen to Joshua scream his head off because he can't play with that toy he has completely forgotten about until I opened my mouth and said I can't make it because I can't find the one piece. So, maybe the lesson here is that I should not talk about these things and instead just quietly retire the set when it is no longer useful. I'm a genius!

I also step on those little tiny things. It hurts, and then I am annoyed at the gift giver, which makes me feel guilty because I am supposed to be grateful for the gift, not annoyed.

Don't get me started with transformers. The person who created those was an evil genius. All children want them. They play with them, completely transforming them, then give incomprehensible directions for putting the device back together. So the child cries because it can't transform. I think toymakers are demons.

On a more pleasant note - and I do apologize for this rant. The children have had two hours of fun play destroying aliens this morning.

Samantha cantered and galloped on Madame Allbright on Saturday. She looks marvelous on the horse, and Ellen, her instructor, says Sam has made huge strides in her skills. Matt has some video of her riding that I will try to nag him into adding when he can. He is traveling again this week, so maybe not anytime soon.

Josh's fifth birthday

I have no pictures. He had a party at home with twenty young children and 8 parents. Matt was working, of course, because it was Wednesday. What had I been thinking? He was around at noon to help me track down the pizza delivery guy, thank goodness. Samantha wrote out the schedule for the party, decided on the piñata and how to decorate it, chose the theme, picked the decorations, reminded me to buy the cake and what to say. She did a great job designing the party. But during the party she stayed in her room with Oliver the whole time. The parents were wonderful, very helpful and just pitched in to get things done and make sure everyone had a good time. It was really fun, in the end. And I have wonderful memories of Joshua seeing his scooter for the first time. He took to it like a duck to water. He is very good about wearing his helmet and pads. He just wants to use it everywhere, in the malls, restaurants, sidewalks, dentist. he is very cute.

Josh had his annual physical, and his dental cleaning on Friday. He looks great, and Dr. Pangburn says, "Perfect" I love Dr. Pangburn. He knows how to manage all of our family quirks and give our children such good care. A superhuman feat and he seems to have fun while he does it.

Samantha spent Friday with Marie and Marie's daughter, Ashley, at Canobie Lake Park. She went on every ride, and only didn't love the Corkscrew. Yes, the corkscrew, which seems to be exactly what it sounds like, straight up, then twist really fast down. Can I turn green now? She informed me quite proudly that she ate dinner then went right on a roller coaster and 'DID NOT' throw up. Good for you dear, and great for everyone around you. :-) Ashley is 21 and a sweetheart of a lady who loves the fast rides as much as Samantha and happy to join in the fun. I was glad to see Sam be able to take a break from her family and just be silly for a bit. Marie said she was a great guest, except for the never wanting to go home part. Marie, with my permission, stayed until the park closed, 10:30 pm. I think Marie is an angel.

The other day Josh and I had lunch at Dunkin Donuts. Josh loves the egg and cheese wraps. Mine are not as good, he loudly tells me every time I offer to make him some. We walk in, Joshua perks up at the sight of the two young children at a table with their mom. He walks over to say hello while I order. I turn around to see the whole table entranced as Josh sings his current favorite song, Beetles and the bedbugs, eerie meenie mini mo!!!! The mom was laughing. What am I going to do with him?

Sam starts school next week. Kesher starts on Tuesday, 6th, and Stratton and Kesher on Thursday. Cheerleading is on Wed. and Friday. Stratton is hosting three grades from Thompson this year, so I expect some disarray in the beginning, but it will be fine. The Stratton building got a pretty facelift this summer, and all new paint on the inside, as well as infrastructure repairs, like new windows, hot water heat instead of steam and each room is its own heating zone. The building looks beautiful! Mr. Brown retired last fall, so Samantha will have an interim principal for the next two years. She seems great.

Happy fall everyone.

Busy day

We are hitting the pre-teen years with Samantha, and the truck obsessed years with Josh, so we have to be pretty creative about finding things they will both agree to. Samantha refuses to go to the reservoir. It seems that is no longer the cool place to be. Joshua doesn't want the Waltham YMCA because he can't go down the slides. So Matt took them to see the Smurf movie, clearly vying hard for that Dad of the Year prize. He did lay down the law about no candy at the movie, though.

THought I would share some random sayings around the house. "tickle me, tickle me now! It is fun to have fun, but you have to know how!" Usually that is said when naked with both arms in the air. Could be either child. Joshua is particularly fond of the next one, although Sam is seen to giggle at times: "Fee fie Fo fum, I smell Tucker's stinky bum!" I think I came up with that one, much to my embarrassment, but I also have been seen giggling after Josh says it. Sorry. THe next one is a ditty I sing when doing laundry. They sit on the dryer and I sing: "Sittin' on the dryer and it feels so good. Tushy nice and warm like I knew it would [wiggle butt] Clothes inside going round and round [hold hands and move hands in circles] Mommy says it's time to go upside down! {I pick them up and turn them on their head. Only Joshua now, but I did this with Sam until a couple of years ago.]

Life is short. Try to laugh along the way.