The luck of the felines

The boys being nice to eachother and playing in their car

The escape artist

A couple of funny things have happened recently. So, the first story. The other day I decided to hop in the shower and told Nick, keep an eye on your brother and let me know if he goes anywhere he isn't allowed. No problem, the door is open so I can hear both of them. Nick comes running into the bathroom to tell me that "Alex got out", I said "Alex got out of the sunroom?" Nick doesn't answer and just leaves. So, I assume he got out of the sunroom and since there is a babygate for every other room or dangerous place, no big deal. About 10 seconds later I rethink that and decide to get out a little early to be safe. I go into the sunroom and the back door is wide open. Alex is laying in the grass and have a grand ol' time. Nick told me it was hot so he had to open the door (as we had the day before). It was hilarious!

Alex playing with Shawnee and eating the grass as I think he already finished off the dog food.

So we have had some absolutely incredible weather lately, a nice cool 75 with a slight breeze. So after watching a little Dr. Oz on the Discovery Health channel I decide we need some exercise. I pull out the old bike and ride on up to Cracker Barrel for dinner and to see Jeff. Nick rode up front per usual on the way up and Alex rode up front for the first time on the way back. It was so much fun and Awesome as I didn't have any problems or difficulty so it turns out I am in better shape than I thought. I usually have to stop or slow down on the way and then the way back after eating is a disaster. Not at all this time (Yay!) and it was so much fun! Alex said hello to every person he saw as well as car I think. He loved it and we will be riding our bikes a lot more this winter!

Our newest biker, still wearing his candy corn diaper cover. And yes, he went out in this exact outfit!

Nick honking the horn with Alex

What a big boy he is becoming!

So, due to the great weather, we have been trying to save some money and energy and keep the doors and windows open. We have screens on everything but our back door. I have been enjoying watching the boys play out there and Alex and Nick just love it, the girls can come and go as they please and it really helps to keep the house cool. So the indoor cat, Jenie goes outside as well and explores but when the door is closed she comes back inside. Yesterday she went outside and decided to jump our 6' fence to explore a little further. I guess she is a little overweight and her body just couldn't handle the jump. She came up to the front door crying and not putting any weight on her back leg. I checked it out and it didn't seem broken but she wouldn't walk on it at all. So I took her up to the Vet's office to get it checked out. The doctor took a look and said that it was at the joint and either a break (requiring surgery) or a ligament tear (possibly requiring surgery or strict confinement and rest). I had to leave her in order for the x-ray to be taken that afternoon (and $200 later). The doctor called that afternoon to advise that it is a really bad ligament tear (worst she has ever seen for a cat) and that she has a call into an orthopaedic surgeon to determine if surgery will be necessary but I can come up to pick the cat up with a light bandage. I went to pick her up and while I was there the surgeon called and said that a conservative treatment plan would be okay and most likely surgery won't be required (if it were, we would likely have to put the cat down). So I was extremely happy and emotional and just ready to do whatever it took to keep the cat healthy if not somewhat of a gimp. So for the next 4-6 months she will be living in our bathroom and not jumping or moving too much. At the moment she is in a lot of pain and pretty pissed off in general. She wants out and has only escaped once. I got a dog kennel for her and some other things to help her stay comfortable. Lets hope she heals okay and is still able to jump at least onto the bed.

(picture of Jenie post accident to come soon)

This puts a slight snag in our plans as we are supposed to go to W. Palm on Monday (yes, again and so soon). So Jeff will be staying home with the cat and dogs and Nick and I will be taking Alex to W. Palm for a visit with Uncle Milton. Not too bad but hopefully Alex will be in a good mood and not have too much trouble with his teething.



Hopefully after our trip we will take the car into the mechanic and see what the crunching and sqeaking noise is while backing up and get all sorts of other things fixed at the same time! Lets pray it isn't too much out of pocket as I don't think we can handle too many more emergencies!

Alex in his wool shorts (just for you Shanda)