Frog Ate Fish

Well I knew this day would come yet I did not expect it to come so soon. One day this week I walked in with Kassi to feed her fish, frog and crab, and we discovered her frog had a very large and round belly. After further investigating we discovered the smaller of the two mollies had gone missing... Now I knew the frog was going to eat the fish eventually, given how big he is getting. I did not however realize it would be so soon. A few days later the frog's rather large and round belly has subsided and he looks as though he has packed on a little more bulk. As for plans to replace the fish there are none at this time. I think it would just be a death sentence for them and we've had such good luck with the frog and crab I'd really hate to take a chance of them getting sick from a new fish. So now it is one fish, one crab and one frog, who by the way ribbit's even loader as he gets bigger.

Kassi's New Request

Kassi is very much like me and loves all animals. I am pretty sure she would be very happy if we could have our own zoo. Frequently she will say she wants this animal or she would really love to have this animal. A few weeks ago it was a guinea pig. She wanted and needed, so she said, a guinea pig. So Wes and I were about to give in to this thinking a guinea pig might not be bad. At least we could take it camping with us, and wouldn't be hard to have someone else watch if we were going to Billings or on a vacation. Just as we are about to decide that yeah we could handle this maybe it would be a birthday present next fall or maybe when she got a little older. Which we told her and she said okay so when I'm six. We agreed that would be a good age.
Little did we know she may have been okay with getting the guinea pig when she is six she had a plan...

Since we agreed on this she now says she really, really needs a bird. She says please and begs and pleads to get a bird. Here we thought she had one animal that she really wanted and we came to a consensus that we would wait. Oh no, not this smart little girl. She is willing to wait until she is six for the guinea pig, but in return she wants a bird right now.
So as we talk about this I explain to her that the new puppy will be here in a couple of months and it may not be good to have a new bird and a new puppy at the same time. In my mind I'm thinking this could be interesting a dog bred and trained to hunt birds and we will have a bird in the house. That poor dog will be on point all the time! I guess I did have a hound and a rabbit that played together and would curl up together to sleep so it could work. Anyway I guess we agreed to letting her have a bird. I do think we will wait until next fall though. Give the pup a little time to adjust.

What we will do for our babies! I listen and watch Kassi and think of my poor dad. I was the same way. I always wanted every stray, every orphan, every bottle fed calf. Why can't I just say no to Kassi...well for one she is my baby I would give her the world if I could and also because my list of pets as a child included; several cats, dogs, horses, cows, fish, insects, birds, baby barn mice (yes I fed them with a very small syringe), baby raccoons, newts, salamanders and I'm sure I am forgetting something. So I thank my dad for being so patient with me and my love for animals.

Lots of catch up...

Other than Kassi's portraits it has been awhile since I have posted many pictures and random doings of my very intelligent two year old. (I know I have very proud mommy syndrome.) So here are a few picture updates from the last month or so.



We were finally able to have Christmas with Casey and Jack. Kassi was so excited and not just because she got to open more presents, but because she absolutely loves it when they come to visit. She gets so excited when she gets to see any of her cousins.

This game is a preschool version of Yahtzee. The box says it is for ages four and up. Kassi has it figured out and we play if almost every day. The dice have characters on them and try to get as many of one character as you can, before your opponents do. It has a score board with rows indicating each character and columns with numbers indicating the number of the character you roll. Then you put your corresponding character piece on the correct spot and add up the tallies when done. Kassi knows how to keep the score and place the pieces where they belong and she usually wins.

Opening presents is a big deal. You must open them very slowly and really study the contents and play with them before moving on to the next present.

We found these great foam stickers and Kassi was able to make her very own Valentine's. So if you happened to get one of these this year they are Kassi originals! Sorry though we won't be sending these out next year. Even though they are just foam the post office didn't like them and we paid almost $40 in postal fees to get them out.

The story goes something like this..."Mommy, my blind dog is freezing." "Do you think she is really that cold." "Yes I need to cover her up. Daisey stay." I am ever so glad that the poor old blind dog is not only the most patient heeler in the world, but the most patient dog in general.

Kas followed her poor old blind dog around for the better part of an hour making sure she was covered up. She wanted her to stay in one spot so she would hold onto her collar and pull her back if she went to leave. Occasionally saying"it's okay chubby" or "gotta help my blind dog."

The above scene plays frequently. Kassi has grown so attached to the old dog. With her age and sight now being completely gone when we go out of town my folks dog sit for us. The other day LuAnn and I were talking about how she was going to take Daisey home while we were gone. Kassi started bawling telling her "Grandma you can't have my blind dog don't take her she is mine." After several minutes of trying to explain that Grandma was not "taking" her dog LuAnn was able to get Daisey loaded and Kassi was okay with it. The next day we were in Billings and Kassi started crying. When we asked her what was wrong she said she didn't want Grandma to keep her dog and that she loved her and various other things. Again we had to explain what Daisey was really doing at Grandma and Grandpas. Each day I watch the little girl love on her dog, worry about her dog and become more and more attached, and I become more and more afraid of the inevitable...Daisey is at least 15 years old. As we get closer to the arrival of the new puppy I keep hoping that she will be as laid back as Daisey and willing to tolerate the many things that Daisey does. Being pulled and pushed around the house, shouted at, directed on what to do every second, laid on, hugged, dressed in bracelets, necklaces, blankets and being loved by a two year old.

My posing beauty!

Valentine

What a wonderful day today was! Not just because of the beautiful flowers, yummy chocolates and card that made me cry (happy tears of course)...but because I got to spend it with my wonderful family. An entire day with the three of us. Breakfast at home, lunch downtown, a great supper with good friends and up until right before Kassi fell asleep an entire day with the three of us. Even though Wes is on call for the City this week and as always on call for the Fire Department we made it through a day with no calls, that is up until just a little bit ago. So for me this was a wonderful day, holiday or not. It was perfect!