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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

I flipped him over and was surprised to see that HE was also a SHE!

Some days I just crave boredom. Really. With all of my being. Some mornings I lay awake in bed fantasizing about wandering through the house in my pj's with my hair messed up and no make up on, or taking a casual bubble bath in the middle of the afternoon, or settling down next to the fireplace with a hot apple cinnamon tea and a good book to read.... undisturbed for hours.... imagine that! Then that darn alarm clock starts BEEP, BEEP, BEEPING and ruins a good thing. Out of bed I stumble and stub my toe on the dog crate, waking the pups who immediately begin yapping excitedly to be let out for their morning nature call.... and so my day begins. Today was just as hurried and hectic as any other. Once I got my precious kiddlings out the door and onto the school bus I hopped into the van to make an early morning pick up. I"ve decided to breed lop ear bunnies this year instead of the larger Californian rabbits we had last year and I was picking up my new breeding pair this morning. When I got to the woman's work place too pick up my new furry friends, she handed me the box - o - bunnies while she gathered the rest of their supplies from her car. I peeked into the box to see two sets of long ears and puzzled peepers staring back at me. It was so cold out I closed the box immediately and fastened the seat belt around it to keep my cargo safe on the ride home. I thanked the woman for her furry gift and headed home to set up the happy couple's cage in hopes that they might be encouraged to produce a litter of little ones in time for the Easter season. I hummed along with the tune on the radio and silently wondered why they hadn't had any bunnies for their previous owner? The woman said she thought they were still too young, but they looked plenty old enough to me. Oh well, I was sure some fresh straw bedding and a warm heat lamp would help to set the mood for bunny making.  Once we got home I began to prepare their cage in the garage. I scrubbed it clean and made sure everything was ready. I lined the cage with new straw and put the food dishes and water bowls in place. As I was wiring up the heat lamp I heard the telephone ringing in the house. Grandma came to the door with the phone in her hand, extended toward me. "It's the school" she said with a hint of concern in her voice. "Hello?" I queried cautiously. The school secretary on the other end of the line gave me a run down of the morning's event's that finally lead to her calling me at home. "Nicholas, fell down in the wet slush and now his pants are soaked right through. Can you please come to the school and bring him a change of clothes?" she asked. "What?" I said aloud. "It's only 9am. How did he get wet anyway? Wasn't he wearing his snow pants? I CAN'T drive into town right now. Are you sure he fell in the slush and got wet and he didn't have an accident or something - he DID wet himself this morning you know..." I rambled on and on, my mind a whirl of activity trying to fit this "unplanned inconvenience" into my schedule somehow. "Nicholas is right here, would you like to speak to him?" She asked. "Yes, of course." I replied curtly. "Hi Mom." Came a low voice I recognized on the other end of the line. "Hi Nicholas, what happened? How did your pants get soaked?" I cut to the chase and asked. "A kid pushed me down and I got wet. I need to change my clothes." he said sullenly.  "Nicholas," I asked impatiently "Where are your snow pants?" "I forgot them at home." he said quietly. "I see. Even after I warned you three times on the way out the door to grab your snow pants so you would stay dry - you managed to forget them?" I replied rhetorically. "Nicholas, I have a full day of things to get caught up on today and driving back into town to bring you a change of clothes isn't on that list (when you shouldn't have gotten wet in the first place - and wouldn't have if you had listened to me and did what you were told.)" I sighed. "I have to finish up a couple of things and I will be there as soon as I can." I hung up the phone and slammed it down onto the shoe rack. I picked up the broom and grumbled as I attempted to sweep up my mess hurriedly. 'The furry darlings will have to wait a little longer to get the grand tour of their new home' I thought to myself as I raced around tidying up the garage and putting things away. I nearly fell down the basement stairs as I rushed down to get a change of clothes for Nicholas. On the way back up my toe caught the edge of the step and I lost my balance and tumbled toward the door. Good thing there was a box-o-bunnies in my way to soften my fall. Thank God no one was hurt.... just a little panicked and worried. Off I ran with the change of clothes in my hand. The telephone ringing in the distance caused me to turn back to the house in time to see Grandma at the door holding out the phone toward me once again. I reached for the phone and breathlessly answered "Hello?" "Hi Mom, it's me Shane." my eldest son said cheerily. "Hello Shane, what can I do for you?" I asked, wondering if he had somehow fallen into the slush and gotten himself soaked too. "Mom, I am out of my medicine and the secretary said I should call you to tell you to bring some." he informed me. *Sigh* Good thing I hadn't left the house yet - this driving back and forth could have been an all day adventure. "Okay buddy, I'll drop some off at the school for you. Love you, bye..." I hung up and quickly made for the van before the phone could ring again and add more to my already full to-do list.  I backed out of the driveway being careful not to get stuck in the snow that had accumulated at the edge of the road. Suddenly I realized that I didn't have my glasses on! No wonder I can't see anything. Then if that wasn't enough, I noticed that my cell phone was not in the van either.... Gosh, I must have left that behind too.... it's gonna be on of those days I know it! After I made the mad dash back into the house for the forgotten glasses and cell phone I drove straight to the school. I dropped off the dry clothes to Nicholas, and took the medicine for Shane to the office. I left the school and was half way across the parking lot before I realized I was also supposed to speak to the principal about an issue Daniel was having at school. So back to the school I went to do my motherly duty. When I had finally covered all my bases I headed back home to rescue Grandma from the Baby (who was in a mood because she was feeling a little under the weather today). The roads were ice covered and slippery. I slid right past the driveway!
Once I recovered my driving ability and got parked I retrieved the 25kg bag of rabbit food from the trunk that I had forgotten to unload earlier. I hiked the huge bag on top of my shoulder and walked gingerly toward the garage. My right foot slipped out from under me and skated across the ice causing my legs to split apart in a terribly uncomfortable fashion, then down I went onto one knee on the ice. I landed hard enough to know there was blood and bruising involved. I didn't cry..... I didn't even say those bad words that pop into your head and almost out of your mouth before you can hold them back in situations such as this...  I simply froze there in that awkward position, trying to gather enough strength to lift myself and the 25 kg bag of pellets on my shoulder, into an upright position. When I was able to stand again without toppling over or losing my cool, I went right to the garage and unloaded the bag of bunny food onto the table.... praising God that I even had knees to bang up in the first place. I continued to set up the cage for the rabbit couple that would soon occupy it. I adjusted my ear muffs and shivered against the cold blustery breeze early in the day and I thought of my poor husband so far away from home on a missions trip..... on a warm, tropical island surrounded by sand and palm trees and the salty ocean air.... and I thought about how unfair life seems sometimes.....
So I shook it off and repented for thinking all those bad thoughts in that split second of time .... and resumed my task of making everything 'perfect' for the rabbits to encourage them to ... you know..... reproduce! Finally, the moment of truth. I took each bunny out of the box carefully and welcomed them to their new home. Just before I set them in their new cages I needed to check which was the girl and which was the boy so the kids could come up with suitable names for them later. I flipped the soft brown one over and had a look.... just as I thought, a girl. I put the other rabbit, a black and white one into the cage and  took him out again. I better just make sure....... I flipped him over and was surprised to see that HE was also a SHE! Oh no.... no wonder they never had babies before... they couldn't, they were both female and the previous owner didn't even know it! I should not have been so surprised... this was exactly the kind of day I was having.... and it was only eleven o'clock in the morning.

*Here's a few funnies from Our House to Yours *

* Latoya was looking at a library book she brought home from school called "Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life." She ran to me excitedly with her open book in her hands "Look Mama! Poor People!" she exclaimed and she pointed to the picture of cavemen squatting around campfires with no clothing on. Hahahaha.
* "Mom, I have more 'hot ollies'?" asks the Baby. (hot tamales candy)
* Little Susan is in kindergarten. She goes to school on "A" days, not "B" days. One harried and hectic morning I neglected to check the calendar and sent all my kiddlings to the bus stop for school. I received a phonecall a short while later from the school letting me know that I had sent Little Susan to school on the wrong day - it was a "B" day. I raced to the school feeling pretty guilty for making such a stupid mistake. Little Susan was very forgiving about the whole mix up. "Mama, I just thought all my friends took the day off." she said.
* Shane was reading the bag of chicken food as my husband unloaded it from the jeep. "Laying Crumb.....for chickens" he read "Why do they call it 'laying crumb?' Cause they lay in it?" he queried.
* Nicholas and Daniel were playing around in their room and messed up their older brother's bed. I asked the boys to straighten the bed then thought that the sheets needed to be changed anyway.... "Just take the sheets off all three of your beds and put them in the laundry then put these clean sheets on the beds okay boys?" I directed. "Sure Mom," they agreed less than enthusiastically. The next night as I was folding laundry I came across one of the sheets and was puzzled that I hadn't yet found the other two. The following morning I conducted a thorough search of their bedroom thinking the sheets may have gotten shoved under a bed or down beside the mattress. I couldn't find either of the missing sheets... nothing in the closet, nothing under the beds.... I double checked the laundry room and no sign of either of them. This was a mystery. The next morning I caught up with all three of my boys in their bedroom and asked Nicholas and Daniel where the two missing sheets were? They both looked at me with a blank expression on their faces. I rephrased the question. "Boys, when you took the sheets off the beds where did you put the dirty sheets?" Nicholas looked at Daniel and Daniel looked at me in confusion. I tried again. "Listen, I asked you to take the sheets off the beds and put them in the laundry and then gave you three sheets to put on the beds, WHERE are the dirty sheets?" Then before either of them could say a word the answer hit me. I walked across the room to the corner of Shane's bed and pulled back the corner of the sheet - only to reveal another sheet underneath, I pulled back this sheet and revealed the third sheet under that one! Of course.  Everything made perfect sense in my mind. The boys had taken Shane's sheet off the bed and put all three clean sheets on his bed. You might wonder why they would do this but they really believed that this was my instructions to them. This was "Central Auditory Processing Disorder" at it's finest. Did I mention that nothing my children do ever really surprises me anymore? LOL.

Subscriber's Stories
Introducing another area of the tank.... Subscribers Stories! Do you have a funny or cute story to share? Want to have it included in the "Subscribers Stories" section of The Fish Bowl? Just email me your story and I'll include it in a future edition of the Fish Bowl. Please include your name and email address with all submissions.

* My son wanted to make me breakfast in bed this morning for valentines day so he made me a bagel with a bite out of it and it was only dropped on the floor once. LMAO! Sound familiar Mom?
Submitted by Mike R

* Gabby was witnessing to all the children in the hospital waiting room and telling them not to be afraid because God is on their side.
Submitted by Veronica A. of Windsor

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Blessings to you - from my Fish Bowl to yours :)
Lucy

Friday, February 10, 2012

Stop This Ride I Want To Get Off!

With tears streaming down my cheeks I lean against the bathroom door and let me body slide down it's length and onto the cool ceramic tile floor. A long frustrated sigh escapes my lips while the low rumble of the bus pulling away reverberates in my head. It's only 8:30 am and I feel like I'm losing it already.
It began the evening before when the kids went out to play in the freshly fallen snow. It was the only real significant amount of accumulation we've had this season and they were so excited to roll snowballs across the yard anticipating the many snowmen they would create. Certainly no play time outdoors would be complete without spending time in the "Forest", the small area of pine trees at the back of our property where the kiddlings like to play for hours creating new games and having many "adventures." It's the place where all imaginations thrive and grow!
It had been so mild and wet prior to the snowfall so undoubtedly there was a whole lot of mud hiding under the fresh white stuff. Rest assured my kiddos found it. You have to wonder what goes through their minds at the precise moment there left foot pops freely from their boot while that boot is magically sucked under the cold dark mud. In a perfect world the precious child would gasp with surprise and wonder and would precariously balance on their opposite foot while lovingly calling out to their more-than-eager-to-please sibling for assistance in retrieving their dislodged boot..... but in MY world things are much different. Here's how it PROBABLY went down... Kid A likely threw a snowball at the head of Kid B who in turn gathered two or three not-so-innocent siblings together and joined in an evil plot against Kid A to exact revenge on him for said thrown snowball. Kid A, having more than a couple brain cells likely realized the dire straits he was in and quickly planned his route of escape through the "forest" (the land of hidden mud holes and wet places.) Kids B, C, D, and E
probably surrounded his only logical exit (along the wide open, unobstructed path) leaving Kid A with no other choice than to dart between the trees in search of safety. Ultimately landing him in the very large, hard-to-miss-seeing-it, mud puddle. Where both boots would get "themselves" stuck fast while Kid A's body continued to run forward until the bitter cold under his barefeet ('cause of course the socks came off too) happened to register some degree of feeling to his brain making him aware of the problem down under.... a lack of protection from the elements on his lower extremities. By that time the other Kids in pursuit would have caught up to him and taken advantage of the situation.... by bombing the poor child with a barrage of snowballs. Kid A, being a little O.C.D. and needing to complete everything in a specific order, (with snowballs flying past his head) would sulk back to the spot his boots first left his body, and would shake each one out and put them back on, being sure to tuck his pants back into the tops of the boots (to keep the snow out) all the while whining loudly about how "not fair" life was and how "everybody" is "always" out to get him.  And then those terrifying words that usually put a stop to most sibling "fun" would be heard..."I'M TELLING MOM!" Everyone freezes in their tracks as the snowballs are dropped to the ground. It was the oldest one I'm sure, who likely reminded him that he, Kid A, would be in just as much trouble as the rest of them for all the mud that mysteriously fastened itself to his clothes. So a truce is called between them all and they go about playing some other sort of war game in the snow and forget about their wet, muddy, and cold body parts, because no one remembers those bothersome things in the heat of the moment. Until.... they hear the "Time to come in, it's supper time!" call booming from the house. It's HER!
And she's not going to appreciate the wet muddy mess they've gotten themselves into - although they had a marvelous time in the process. Panic sets in and they begin wiping at their coats and snow pants in a furry. Trying to shake off or at least cover up any visible "dirties." They move toward the house in a cluster, trying to hide their own mess among the mass of coats, snowpants, scarves, mitts and hats. They are oddly quiet and helpful toward eachother in removing outer clothing and putting their boots on the shelves. The older ones take the hats and mitts downstairs to the "drying place" in the laundry room while the younger ones get cleaned up for supper. After a few moments all are settled around the table for the evening meal. With pink cheeks and sweaty hairlines (and a few absent socks) the air is filled with chatter about the school day, the bus ride, plans for tomorrow and on and on....but no mention of their outdoor adventures. It isn't until the next day that I discover how much fun they really had.
It is one of "those" mornings. You know the kind. Where everyone is running behind, nothing is right and most of them are grumpy and complaining about something. The bickering back and forth in the morning is overwhelming today for some reason and Latoya (who goes into a vegetative state and cannot talk or move when feeling stressed) is not cooperating and is functioning at an all time SLOW pace this morning. Infact, HERE COMES THE BUS! I start yelling to no one in particular but to everyone at the same time. "GET YOUR SNOW PANTS AND BOOTS ON, NOW! let's go, the bus is here, move it, move it, hurry up!" Nicholas and Latoya are wandering around in the garage without coats on while the other children are falling over eachother to get their boots on while racing out of the garage and down the driveway toward the waiting bus. Latoya is sobbing with one sock on and a naked foot poised in mid air over a waiting boot. "Wait! Hold on... where's your other sock?" I query rather loudly. "I don't know." she sobs as snot slides down her face and she swipes at it with the back of her hand. "Wait here!" I demand. "At least get your other boot on and grab your coat. Nicholas, where is your coat?" "I don't know" he mumbles unconvincingly. "What do you mean 'I don't know'?" I shout as I run down the stairs to fetch another pair of socks for Latoya. The other kiddlings are all on the bus and it's waiting at the end of the driveway for the two missing children, that Shane has assured the driver are coming. As I grabbed the socks and spun around to fly back up the stairs to send them on their way something catches my attention out of the corner of my eye. Next to the washing machine, stashed under a pile of dirty laundry is a familiar looking sleeve... that we've been hunting for already this morning but have been unable to find. I uncover the the hidden treasure to discover the two missing coats. "WHAT IS THIS?!?" I bark incredulously. I am shaking inside with disbelief. Here I have wasted my time hunting all over the place for two missing coats so my darling kiddlings will be warm and dry and make it to the bus on time and despite my best efforts the bus has arrived, the coats could not be found and the children are not only late, but are holding up the rest of the kids causing them all to be late .... and NOW I FIND THIS?!?! Latoya and Nicholas look up at me sheepishly. "Our coats were wet and muddy...." Nicholas began. "I can see that!" I bellowed. "Why didn't anyone tell me the coats needed to be cleaned  lastnight? I could have washed them and had them ready for this morning! But now there is no time!" I ranted on and on as I dug through the box of small clothes I was donating to the second hand store, and found Daniel's old Buzz Lightyear coat and tossed it to Latoya, "put this on!" I demanded and I shoved her back pack toward her and the new pair of socks I had gone
downstairs to get for her in the first place....."Put these on in the bus!" "But this is a boy's coat...." she whined at me. "WHAT?!" I shouted louder than I should have..... "I don't care if it's Curious George's coat - put it on! You were the one who got your coat muddy and wet and HID it in the basement and didn't tell me so I could clean it for you.... now put the coat on and get on that bus!" I countered. "Nicholas wisely accepted the hunting jacket I handed him without a word. He put it on and raced toward the bus. "Put your hat and mitts on!" I called after him. "Hurry up Latoya.... GO!" I urged her loudly. She walked slowly down the driveway toward the waiting bus, shoulders slumped, back pack dragging on the ground (the scraping noise telling me that the bottom of the bag was already torn open and a book threatened to evacuate the bag at any time) and sobbing the whole time about the coat being a "boy's coat." Oh the drama. As I watched her board the bus in that "poor me" fashion I caught sight of another irritant.... the snow pants... the whole pile of them.... sitting right there on the floor.... no one grabbed their snowpants like I asked. What else is new, I know. As the doors on the bus closed I reached up for the button to close the garage door  "Have a great day! I Love you!" I called out to my precious babes as the bus took them away......
*Here's a few funnies from Our House to Yours *
* "Mama, are these Granny - Mae apples? asked Little Susan (Granny Smith apples)

* Papa had lunch with us one noon hour. While preparing to eat he bowed his head in prayer and asked a blessing. When he was finished, Little Susan piped up and asked "Is that in Spanish Papa?" LOL.

* The Teenager (my right hand girl and a great source of help) was assisting me in showering her little sisters. Little Susan made a remarkable observation that still causes us to giggle. To the Teenager she said..."We're little girls so we have little boomies (boobies), when we're teenagers we will have a little bigger boomies like you, when we're adults we'll have much bigger boomies like Mommy" She said with wide eyes.  Then her expression changed to one of sadness or thoughtfulness - I couldn't quite tell. "But then when we're older like Grandma we'll have little boomies again." She concluded.

* "Mama, look at the Turkey Vouchers!" little Susan exclaimed. (turkey vultures)

* While watching the "Grinch" over the holiday Shane remarked that he "likes the real people version better than the laminated version."

* Little Susan ran into my room breathless and anxious to inform me that she "fell on Buzzy (our pup) but he didn't squeak!"

* Daddy asked "what time is it?" And I replied "8:43 am." "What is that in military time?" he inquired further. "8:43 am SIR!" I was quick to respond.

* Shane hollered to me from the livingroom, "Mom, can I make a Oh My Gami?" (oragami)

* The Baby likes to wear her EAR MUFFINS outside when it's cold.

* Little Susan was showing off her skills. "Look Mama, I can do a backwards Crap (crab) Does crap start with a B or a P?" She asked. "It starts with a C." I corrected. "No," She replied. "At the end." "It ends with a B." I informed.

* Shane was filling us in on his day at school and telling us how everyone had to bring in canned goods to get into the school dance. He said "Everyone brought a can of good things."

* Latoya, our fashion diva has gotten particular about her hairstyle in the morning. "Can I have a little bit of hair at the side of my face mama?" she asked.

* Nicholas tattled on his big brother, "Mom, Shane is hyptonizing the dog!" (hypnotizing)

Subscriber's Stories

Introducing another area of the tank.... Subscribers Stories! Do you have a funny or cute story to share? Want to have it included in the "Subscribers Stories" section of The Fish Bowl? Just email me your story and I'll include it in a future edition of the Fish Bowl. Please include your name and email address with all submissions.

* "Oh my! Gabby just asked if the dinosaurs were alive when I was little!"
Thanks to Veronica A from Windsor for this submission

* Babysitting Logan tonight and Kobi asks if Logan is gonna be sleeping in 'the baby kennel' tonight.. I chuckled and looked at David then David asks 'the kennel?' and Kobi replies 'yeah, ya know.. The baby kennel that is in your room that our baby is gonna sleep in when it comes!'  Kobi I think you meant to say crib.
Thanks to Stephani S for this submission

Join our mailing list and receive notification EVERY TIME we post a new entry! Just enter your name and email address in the "Follow My Fish Bowl by Email" section on the right - Weekly updates will be delivered right to your email inbox :) You will never miss out on another one of our contests, product reviews, or giveaways again!
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May your day be full of opportunity! Make it count :) 
Blessings to you - from my Fish Bowl to yours :)
Lucy