Our family is expanding yet again!




No, not the way you might think.

This weekend, we welcomed.....Fred The Cool Dude...into our happy little Zoo.



It was no secret that Alex desperately wanted a turtle for Christmas. We promised him one for his birthday in February, but when it came right down to it, they were just too expensive and we feared that we would have to invest in a great deal of equipment along with more than $100 for the turtle that he wanted.

But this turtled found him...or rather...Amanda and her friend while they were out playing on the edge of the pond. Fred was hidden under the sand...He appears to be a North American Soft Shell and he has had a small bite taken out of his out shell along with some scratches. It looks like he might have been attacked by another turtle or perhaps a duck? Though the girls were initially interested in Fred (whom they wanted to name Fred the Fredburger... they eventually handed him over to Alex, who has loved poor Fred 1/2 to death all weekend.

No one could have been happier about finding Fred than Alex (except perhaps Aidan)...and no one could have been unhappier about this little turn of events than Thomas (who isn't really a friend of amphibians and reptiles and has balked over Spiderman and the Green Goblin our water frogs for 5 years now... hehehehe!). He worked all weekend and came home Saturday night planning to tell the boys to put Fred back outside.

Instead, he was met by two very happy little boys who excitedly showed off Fred. Within minutes, Thomas was telling them that they could take care of Fred for the summer and then turn him back into the pond.

We have set up as natural of an environment as we can for Fred. Its' fun to sit and watch him bury himself in sand or swim in the water. I'm only concerned because I haven't yet seen him eat. We've tried worms, ants and floating turtle food. If I don't see him eat soon, I will release him because I don't want him to die.

He joins:

Loopy; the first cat that we rescued.


Fluffy; who found her way to us through some friends. Amanda insisted on naming her Fluffy even though she has short hair. She has eaten herself into her name though.


Scouty; the last cat that we rescued. He sleeps with me under the covers almost every night!


and Molly..who is pictured here doing what she does best...


We also have two African clawed frogs...but I couldnt' get a good picture of them!

Last week was so busy. The highlight of the week for Alex and Aidan was the school carnival on Friday night. Aidan of course went dressed as Superman. I think he had been wearing that same outfit for 3 days straight....day and night. I had to eventually pry it from his grubby little hands to insist on a bath, a change of underwear and get his costume CLEAN!


Zoe was sick again at the end of the week. This is really getting so old. I can't wait for this cold/flu season to finally end. I had to cancel an appointment that I had made 6 weeks ago because I couldn't take her to my sitter. She was up half the night before the appointment throwing up, and she had a fever. This tranformed itself into an upper respiratory infection by the end of the weekend (with continued low-grade fever) and Aidan has had a fever since yesterday. Today he also seems to have the upper respiratory stuff.

How on EARTH do moms with small children work?

Andrew's big news is that he was accepted to the private prep school that he applied to. This application process has taken nearly 4 months and has involved him filling out an official application, writing an essay, getting letters of recommendation AND getting his transcripts from the middle school as well as his Iowa and MN Comprehensive scores sent in. I Kid. You. Not. The culmination of this little *pretend we're a university that you are applying to* experience was his interview last Wednesday.

I was able to be in the room while they talked with him about his interests (academic and *just-for-fun*). True to his little professor form, he decided to grace them with an overview of his class schedule...starting with homeroom. He detailed each class, what he had started learning at the beginning of the semester, what projects he had been working on, his likes and dislikes, his conflict with his language arts teacher, etc...

Truthfully, I was mortified. I couldn't get him to stop talking no matter what I said to him (and despite kicks under the table from me!) The interview concluded though and the school director asked to speak with me while Andrew continued talking with one of the teachers who was evaluating him.

I expected her to tell me that now that they had sat with him one on one that they realized that they couldn't take him after all.

Instead (and in great contrast to how our current school district has handled him) the director told me that they had evaluated his test scores and recommendations and...that his test scores blew them out of the water. They want him to skip 7th grade pre-algebra altogether next year and move straight into the 8th grade class. In addition, they will be putting him into one of the higher german classes and will let him progress in language arts at his own pace.

She is convinced that with academic nurturing and direction that he will really excel, and she commented that his current frustration with school and motivational nadir is clearly because he is not being respected or challenged.

Go Andrew Go!

His letter of acceptance arrived on Saturday, and...he was surprised and excited. He is on his way!

Amanda has had a great week. She seems to be finding solid footing with new friendships and is....happy for the most part. It's great to see her feeling more confident...but her new friendships have resulted in some akward conversations for me. I have never really been a big fan of the fashion trends or make-up...but I also remember how imporant having the right clothes and look were in middle school. I wanted to raise my children to believe in who they are and not...what they look like...but I realize that both are important...and that the *outside* is as important as the *inside* sometimes.

So surprisingly, I am encouraging her to fix her hair nicely and to dress the part of who she wants to be. It's uncomfortable to me, but I have acknowledged to her the role of appearances...and she has taught me...the importance of appearances. Her focus on how she looks and how I don't wear make-up or dress up usually has made me take a look at how I present myself to the world. I don't think my outsides really match my insides and it is something that I'm really going to work on.

Amanda did, however, find a copy of an intake form that I had filled out for her when we considered having her see a psychologist during all of the social problems she was experiencing. Initially, her reaction was to be angry...though really...I didn't say anything negative or *bad* about her at all. We had a long talk about how everyone has strengths and weaknesses and so I asked her to fill out an evaluation on me.

Enjoy:
Legal Name: Mom

Weaknesses: spends too much time online, is embarassing (as in...I don't wear make-up when I pick up her cool friends and I ask all of the wrong questions when they are in the car with us...sigh) , a little over-protective.

Strengths: very nice, works hard, helps out with social krap, understanding, sensitive, a good friend, buys the best birthday gifsts (ahem mom, my bday is coming up and I want giftcards to old navy, wet seal, target, claires, aeropastale and jcpenny's...PLZ!) Can deal with stress without breaking down, talented singer and creative.

Additional Information:

Mom can be embarassing and signs her kids up for things that they don't want do do...for example: german school and kung fu. She is also known for spoling Zoe and barely taking Amanda shopping and being waaaay too over protective and stealing gum.

Comments: Mom has something about her that draws her to friendships. People see what a good friend she can be.

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