kid vs. cat

Sebastian chose a $4 chess set with his birthday money (gotta love this kid's sense of value!).

mostly he acts out the Pixar-short (from the beginning of A Bug's Life, i think) where the old man plays chess against himself. he even fakes the heart attack.

sometimes Snowbell plays too. :)

*back-dated post because last week was...well...not conducive to sitting at the computer. ;)

bereft of photos

Because Sebastian is hogging the laptop where all my photos are waiting....a few random things about the last few days...

~ Our (meaning Savannah and I) official new favourite cartoon -- The Angry Beavers -- irreverent, goofy humour, most of which I'm sure goes over Savannah's head...but the deep, belly-laughs are genuine so who cares? She has evidently inherited my warped sense of humour. Add to it the fact it was initially canceled 'amidst controversy' makes it even more appealing.

~ Emma-dog got trapped in her blanket some time during the night. It's the blanket she cocoons herself up in in her crate and I have no idea how long she was stuck. I had to cut her out of it this morning. I'm torn between hilarity and terror - theoretically she could have strangled herself. Then again, maybe she shouldn't have nibbled holes in it.

~ I awoke yesterday to the gift of a dead mouse in the hallway.  I had no idea we even had mice, although B had pointed out that Snowbell has been adopting a Mighty-Stealth-Killer pose every time she comes in the laundry room. Nevertheless, I prefer mice in context,  ie. in barns and fields, and am none too happy with the idea of one in the house. I resisted the urge to photograph the rodent crime-scene...complete with the other two cats gathered around like innocent by-standers. Methinks it's time to re-anoint my peppermint sachets.

And that is how it went....

Winter Solstice, Charlie Brown's tree and magnetic poetry...*

*note: attempting to document our Countdown has been entirely abandoned.  Suffice it to say, we only missed a few things.....I'm voting for the shitey chocolate calendar next year.

The above picture is the peanut butter and birdseed English muffins that we made for our fur and feathered friends....placed reverently out at the base of the maple tree and around the yard.  I won't mention what became of our Solstice lanterns although there are two soup tins full of ice languishing in our freezer....

Anyway...'twas a lovely observance....gifts by candlelight and a lovely roast chicken feast....prezzies unwrapped beneath our fabulous tree...

As a matter of perspective....B is a former jockey (read: short man)...and those are cardboard spacers I improvised to hold the slender trunk in place as the screw thingies were at their maximum.  It may not have been a tall tree, but, as was repeatedly commented, it was a very full tree.

Savannah once again took charge of decorating it.....due to the elfin nature of the tree, there were lots of decorations left in their boxes this year.

One of the coolest gifts ever (if I do say so myself) was the box of Magnetic Poetry for Kids....we are having a grand old time spontaneously composing verse every time we walk through the kitchen. I'm pretty sure this is how Shel Silverstein got famous.  Keep your eye out for the Kitchen Whiteboard Collection....coming soon to a fine bookseller near you......;)

Weiner love....

Sometimes, a little sausage-dog love, is all a girl needs when she's feelin' blue....