Unwanted Houseguest

8-29-06

We had a fun experience last week of having a lizard in our house! It ran in one morning as Maggie, Josie & I were on our way to Target. I wasn't quite sure that I saw it right but I got a cup and tried to trap it just in case. It was so fast that I couldn't find it and had decided that it was just my imagination playing tricks on me, until ...

As we were getting ready for bed later that night, John came in our bedroom and said that he'd seen it in our kitchen and that he'd scared it so it ran under the dishwasher. I decided that I didn't want it to leave the kitchen so I went and barricaded it in until we could get it out the next day. We went and bought some sticky mouse traps the next morning thinking it would just jump right on, but it didn't . By the next night I couldn't stand it so I had John take the grate off the bottom of the dishwasher to see if he could see it and maybe vacuum it out. As it turns out we found lots of other surprises under our dishwasher, but no lizard. I talked myself into the fact that it had probably found a way out and we'd never see it again, until ...

4 days later Maggie & I were putting groceries away in the fridge when she noticed that on one of the sticky traps there was indeed a lizard. As it turns out, imaginations are a funny thing-- because I really pictured it bigger than it actually turned out to be, unless there is another lizard in our house that we haven't caught yet! We documented the capturing and threw it in the garbage. It is still alive in the picture. The kids really thought that a lizard would make a good pet, I figure we may as well have a mouse! So, that's what you get for living in a bottom floor apartment in the desert. I'm sure it could always be worse ...

Where's the Sun?

8-25-06

We had a huge storm on Wednesday night. It started around 6:00 p.m and did more damage in an hour than any storm I've seen since we've been here. There are still roads closed today due to the chaos. Down our road there were 11 power lines that blew over, some on top of cars, and 2000 people were without power until they could get them repaired, which they're still working on today. We also saw trees that had been uprooted and we saw blown over street signs, cacti, palm trees, and roofs as we drove around yesterday. Someone on the news said that it was a tornado, but they're still investigating that since tornadoes don't happen here-- of course it would be just my luck! There is a trailer park about 1.5 miles north of us and 150 out of 600 trailer homes were damaged beyond repair. So it could've been a tornado since that is where they're most likely to strike! The only damage we had was our fence that is about to fall over and the round casing blew off our light that is right outside our fence. It's interesting to see all the work it makes for maintenance crews and City workers. It rained yesterday and it's raining again today and I know that there are fingers crossed in the hopes of no more flooding!

Who needs a swimming pool? This is a local park in a housing development by our apartment.

What you can't see in this picture is the sheet of dust and rain that were blowing so hard. I didn't quite capture it how I'd hoped. You can see the way the wind is blowing and that our light bulb is still going strong! It was actually only about 6:30, so it looks dark, the storm clouds were so dark-- but the sun is still up and it was bright outside around 7:00 as soon as the storm passed.
This is a picture of our fence that is now about to fall over. The wind was actually blowing the other way, so it would've blown into our porch instead of out, the way John is holding it.
This is a picture I got of only 1 small tree that blew over in our parking lot. The maintenance people have already cleaned up the larger more hazardous trees that came down.

We're missing the sunshine. We haven't been swimming in so long because it storms almost every day. The amount of rain this season is triple what it was last year so there's speculation that we'll have a colder winter. So that means it will be in the 60's instead of the 70's, right?

Introducing ...

We just wanted to introduce a new member of our family, her name is Bitty Baby. She's been with us now since 8-15-06, the day school started for Johnny. Bitty Baby fits in well, she eats with us, talks to us, and goes everywhere we go. We're grateful we have enough room for her in our home, she sleeps in the same bed as Maggie and fits perfectly in the dolly car seat and stroller, where she spends most her time. She is still a little small for Josie's baby swing and high chair, but it doesn't seem to bother her. We're adjusting to the fact that she needs to help make Maggie's bed in the morning as well as get dressed into as many outfits per day as Maggie does. It's a good thing we've had as much practice with girls as we have had to now add another, if only she'd keep up on her chores! We really like her and we're glad that she's making Maggie happy and keeping her company!

Josie Ann

This is a current picture of Josie. She is our sweetheart! We never could've imagined the change she would bring into our family. The kids have so much fun trying to make her laugh, and they clap and celebrate when she rolls over, or finishes a jar of baby food. She loves to watch them play and gets so excited when they interact with her. We've battled with chronic ear infections and frequent colds since we've had her, but her temperament is so patient and easy going, you'd almost never know. It is hard to believe that she is already half-a-year old, the time sure flies! She is definitely our "baby" and we spoil her as such, so we hope that eventually she'll learn to sit up and crawl and walk! We love her and we're glad she's part of our family!

First Day of Kindergarten
8-15-06

We officially have a kindergartner! Here are some facts from Johnny's first week of school:

Backpack: Star Wars
Favorite Lunch: Chicken Nuggets and chocolate milk (who would've guessed?)
New friends: Hunter & Brandon
Likes: Recess and drawing his own pictures
Dislikes: Using the big, fat pencils

So far so good! He loves going to school everyday, especially since he got the Skechers shoes he really wanted! Hey, all the money they spend on advertising really works! We're sure proud of him and Maggie will follow along soon. In the meantime, we're reading lots of stories, playing lots of Polly's and counting down the days until we get to see Aunt Tyra and Grandma and Grandpa Peterson at Disneyland! Nothing better to look forward to than that!