Butterscotch's Day Out

How cool is this? The kids took Butterscotch out for a walk in the yard during one of the beautiful days we had.

Boston LOVED Butterscotch, and they got along famously.

I am not sure if Butterscotch really understood what was going on at first, but then he seemed to really enjoy his fun in the sun.



Sometimes you buy things and you think, am I really actually buying this? Have I gone completely crazy? That's how I felt about buying Butterscotch's "outfit." But this made made it all worth it.



And just in case you were wondering about the much talked about cat (see earlier posts), he is still getting plenty of lovin'.

When I went to wake Declan up the other day, this is what I found. Ella and I crept around to get the camera and got this shot before either of them woke up. Is that a picture of love or what?

It almost makes up for the bunny incident. Oh, what the heck, it makes up for the bunny incident.

Fun Ride

For Christmas, my mom got Declan a Fun Ride (like a zip line). Today we hooked it up outside. It was so fun! The cousins were here and they were out on it too. Most of the time, I enjoy the ages and stages of the kids, but it was a little hard for Ella that the line was just a little bit too "kiddy" for her.
Mostly, though, they just couldn't get enough!

Joy

Night Bubbles

This bubble looks like it has lightning in it.



The bubbles were so cool on film, and we kept experimenting with the different sized bubbles and different settings on the camera.




It was still so beautiful out even at nine o'clock that night, and the bubbles were out from playing that morning. We had so much fun blowing the bubbles and seeing how the camera took pictures of the bubbles.

Distracted

Last week I was meeting with someone and Declan was with me.

Now, I am the first to admit that as five year olds go, he is pretty intense. He is focused like a laser and interested in mom and mom alone sometimes. At the same time, he is a second child who has always had a pretty intense first born that he lives with, and he has been a willing tag along to many occasions I would never have expected my first child to attend.

Anyway, back to the meeting. Declan was there, and playing as he usually does. The person I was meeting and I decided (after a good solid hour) that we were done for now, and that we would reconvene later. All good. Completely fine. Later, she said it would be good to talk again when we weren't "distracted".

Now, I really like this woman, and took absolutely no offense at what she said. But I couldn't get it out of my head. Let me say again, I used what my friend said as a thinking jumping off point, not as something that I thought she was out of line to say or think.

I suppose my preoccupation with this idea of being distracted, or more specifically not distracted at some later date, by my children is stemming from the fact that I am trying to be more in the working world and have been less with my children, so I am looking at life from a different perspective than I have had for the last 5 years.

But I keep thinking of that idea, so prevalent and casually stated, of being "distracted by children". We say it all the time. I say it all the time. I live a mental state sometimes where I am thinking one thing and get distracted from that thought by my children to play legos or make a snack or pick them up or drive them somewhere.

But if, right now, that driving and snack making and lego creation oohing and aahhing is my primary occupation, then everything else is the distraction.

Or maybe there is no distraction. Maybe these things, life, work, home, office, professional , personal, should be more integrated and we would have fewer dis-integrated families.

In my mind, there is always a part that is considering my children. Maybe this is not something everyone does, or maybe it is a dirty little secret in a post-feminist working mom era that we don't want to admit because it somehow reflects badly on productivity.

So, is there a time I can meet later when I am not distracted by my children? Um....maybe in five years. Or ten. Or when *you* aren't distracted by my children, because I am not distracted at all.

Just in case there was any doubt, Toto was the star of the show. Toto, played by Callie, was the only cast member that they really wanted their picture taken with.

Sunday Dog Pawty

We went to a dog pawty today. It was for small breed dogs. It was so fun, and the dogs really loved it. Everyone was friendly, and Joy and Milo were very well behaved. They have been with loads of other dogs, so they were actually the first to be let off the leash for a run-around. Before we got there, everyone still had their dogs on the leash and there was quite a bit of barking.




Milo doesn't really like to play, so much, but Joy does. There was a cocker spaniel puppy there that was giving her a run for her money. They both like to make new friends.




They love each other best of all. It was cute to see how they would run around and then back to each other for a quick sniff and then off again, Joy kept checking in with her pack after every interaction she had with other dogs.



They are now exhausted, and snoring in their beds. Oh, they are snoring in one bed.