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Harris' Kindergarten photo

burpin' the 'bet (mama's proudest moment)

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big guy turns 6!

so....the big boy celebrated his 6th birthday this past weekend!  time is flying!  it was a very relaxing party, with just 9 kids (including ours).  'twas a swimming party at the J.  and the theme was....military.  oy.  the dude picked out a tank transformer cake.  and camouflage party favors, plates, and napkins.  and i didn't even try to dissuade him.  i figure if i try now...he'll certainly become a republican.  oh...and just yesterday, he picked out a magazine at the grocery store.  Gun and Ammo.  yikes.  i'm guessing he's getting his fascination with all things that kill from the Morans.  as long as he learns how to be safe...i guess i'll just have to deal.

so...back to the party.  here are some pics!  enjoy!

also, there are many other pics from the party and July here.

just call him "spike"

so....lice has arrived in Toby's new class.  to combat it...as a preventative measure, we've used LiceIce in Toby's hair every day this week.  so far...so good.  he doesn't have it...YET! 

cowboy Harris

so...today was Western day at gymnastics camp at the J.  he actually wore boots and his hat...ALL DAY LONG!!!  so funny!  guess those are his "pardners!"

Harris at camp!

Harris' last day of UT's Child Development Center was Friday, 13June.  I wish I could say he was sad.  He wasn't.  I was....I mean...come on...he'd been there since he was 8 months old!  For the last 5 years of his life, I knew he was safely ensconced in those walls! 

On Monday, 16June, he started summer camp at the JCC.  For the first 3 weeks, he's in their gymnastics camp.  And then, he starts Camp Shalom for the next 6 weeks, ending with one more week of gymnastics right before school starts in late August.  He is LOVING camp! 

Here's a pic from week one:

handsome boy!

bat-o-rama

Sunday:  a dead dead dead dead (dried up, way past maggot stage) squirrel was at the bottom of the stairs (assumption that kitties dragged it in).  Cindy removes it so that I don't go into cardiac arrest.

Monday: parts of a dead dead dead dead squirrel were left for my viewing pleasure in the moms' bathroom (assumption that kitties are very thoughtful, once again).  Cindy removes it to bathroom trashcan, saying that it's so dry that it won't smell.

Tuesday: I arrive home to Cindy walking around our yard looking for dead animals, cuz there was a dead dead dead dead squirrel at the bottom of the stairs AGAIN.  She is looking, she says, before I venture in the house to protect me from freaking out.  Upon checking our bathroom...she realizes that the trashcan has been dumped out...and that what she saw downstairs...was just the same old 4Xdead squirrel she'd put in the trashcan...NOT (thank the LORD) a new 4Xdead squirrel.  sheesh!

Wednesday: 5:30am...I walk into the kitchen to make the oatmeal for the boys (my daily routine)..and see an animal on the floor.  I RUN up the stairs and awaken my beloved...who rolls her eyes at my neurotic-ness...and goes down to check it out.  It's not there when she gets there...cuz it has FLOWN to the drapes.  yes...it's a BAT!
She spends an HOUR looking for it, while I am PARALYZED with fear.  Boys awaken and think it's cool...but I keep them at a distance.

I get to the office and immediately google "bats" and call Bat Conservancy.  I may have misunderstood, but I think I hear them say that their science officer will COME TO MY HOUSE AND FIND THE BAT...so, I call her at home (the number they gave me) and wait.  and wait.  and wait.  (and go to meetings for work).  Cindy runs home at lunch, looks for it for another HOUR...and opens the window (at my stupid suggestion) for it to fly out.  and then I call Bat Conservancy back at 2pm....and speak to the science officer at work, where she fills me in on the fact that no...she can't come GET IT.  But she's awesome, and tells me where to look.  Of course, at this point, I'm ready to sell my house "as-is," and just walk away.  She suggests I call 3-1-1 and get Austin/Travis County Animal Control involved.  So, I call them..and the 3-1-1 operator tells me that they will only come out if I have the bat in hand.  to test it.  And...they suggest that I call a pest control company.  Well...since I work at UT, for the department that manages renovation projects...and some projects are for bat exclusion (yes...we apparently have them on campus)...I call the company we use.  And lo and behold, this woman says they can be at my house at 4pm.  BLESS THEM!  So, I go to daycare to pick up Toby (Harris is now at the JCC summer camp, and Cindy's responsibility to pick up)...and we head home.  As I'm pulling into the driveway, the bat exclusion contractor calls to say...that they've called the State Health Dept...and NO...they cannot come to my house...cuz it's out of their jurisdiction...cuz, well...the bat could be rabid...and it's been in a home...and there are animals (2 cats, 1 dog) and kids (3 and 5 years old)...and two moms possibly exposed.  She said I'd be getting a call from the State Health Dept doctor soon. 

So..I'm sitting in my driveway, wasting $4 gas in 103 degree heat...with a 3 year old in his carseat...when I actually get a phone call from the Austin/Travis County Animal Control people...who say that the contractor had called them...and YES...they DO come out to get bats...and will even LOOK for it for me.  and that 3-1-1 was WRONG, and had given me bad info.  wow.  COME ON DOWN, I say.  and I wait.  of course, I've called Cindy about 3,000 times by now.  and she's now on her way home with Harris. 

I did venture around the back of the house..and closed the window.  Cuz I'd now been told that they HAVE to have the bat..for testing..or else...

I was also told by Animal Control to call Disease Surveillance...since bat bites are sooooooooooooooo small...that we wouldn't even know that we'd been bitten.  um...sure.  and that immunizations are in short supply in Texas...but it's possible that if we DON'T catch it...that we'll need to manage our risk by getting the shots.  5 of them.  for $800 each.  and if we do catch it, and it's positive for rabies...we'll need it too.  fuck.  we never even came in contact with it (that we know!). 

then...the State Health Dept guy calls me.  very nice guy.  but he scares me even more cuz he gives me the phone number of another doctor in Temple...who will apparently give my family physician the authority to order immunization from the manufacturer, if we need it...cuz again...the state is in shortage mode.  niiice.  He also says that 3-1-1 was wrong...and that I'd been given wrong info.

Cindy gets home.  goes into the house.  gets a box.  and finds the bat.  i get her something to cover the box.  and two bricks, to keep the lid on tight.  and we sit in our driveway...and wait...for an hour or so.  Animal Control comes.  and says that really...she wouldn't have searched our house.  that she would have looked cursorily.  but not torn things up (what i would have needed) looking.  that if she hadn't found it...she would have left.

oh..and she tells me that they will euthanize the bat.  sever its head.  and send it to the lab, where they will determine if it's rabid or not.  then stupid me...tells my sensitive 5 year old, who has just had a unit on bats at daycare, where the class adopted one.  and he freaks out and says that he is going to blow up the lab cuz they are mean mean people.

 

Thursday:  we take our cats to the vet for rabies booster shots.  and i got a call from the 3-1-1 manager asking for the misinformation I received...and an apology.

Friday:  i take the dog to the vet for her rabies booster shot.

and now we wait...for a week, to find out if it was rabid.  Probably, I'll call Blue Cross to find out if I'm going to be paying $800/person for the shots (and since Cindy can't be on my insurance, due to marriage only being legal between a man and a woman in this state)...even if it is covered, we'll likely be paying for her shots...IF THE BAT IS RABID (which it in all likelihood, won't be..because according to Bat Conservancy, bats really are not a high risk for rabies).

 

so...

How did the bat get into our house?  did the cats drag it in?  was it weak?  sick?  did it fly in from the attic (our attic was open on Saturday)?  do we have an infestation?  do we need bat exclusion?

moral:  when you see a bat in your kitchen at 5:30am...call 3-1-1 immediately.  or animal control. 

if you are still reading...i'm sure you've already noted the irony that my name is Robyn. 

much love, Batman

p.s. pics to come...trust me..we took many!

p.p.s. oddly enough, i was just on the phone with Harris' best friend from daycare's mom (who manages the UT System's insurance program)...and just as she had told me that rabies vaccine IS covered by blue cross/blue shield...my cell phone rang...and it was Austin/Travis County Animal Control....

the bat...

WAS NOT RABID!!!!!

holy schmoley!

Mother's Day

well...(i know you are kinda freakin' out right now cuz i've now posted TWICE in the same quarter!)...let me start by saying that Mother's Day is just a very weird holiday when there are two moms in the same family.  add to it...that both of us have living moms....

so...i thought i was so cool...and ordered gifts for both of our moms...and for Cindy (from the boys, of course!)...the Thursday before Mother's Day.  AND...i thought i was even cooler cuz i planned on having them delivered the Friday before Mother's Day (aka the day after i was placing the order!).  i knew that Cindy's mom would be at work...and i knew my mom wouldn't have yet left for Miami, where she was going to be my brother Matthew's caretaker for a few days after his tonsillectomy (at age 36, no less!). 

well...Friday came and went....and i realized i hadn't gotten a confirmation of delivery from the online company.  weird.  so, i mentioned it to Cindy...and lo and behold...in all of my "high-and-mightiness" of ordering at the LAST MINUTE, what i thought was foolproof....i double-checked my order...and realized that i'd picked the WRONG Friday.  i picked the Friday that was a week later.  goofball, moi! 

anyway, we planned a very very nice Mother's Day family outing with our best buds, the Caldwells.  we drove to Marble Falls, and ate at the Bluebonnet Cafe (home of ridiculously high meringue pies)...and then went berrypicking at Sweet Berry Farm.  that day was the first day of blackberry season.  so, we were able to pick blackberries and strawberries, and to dig up red potatoes!  it was quite fun...for about 5 minutes for Toby.  he got bored very quickly...and wanted to go see the animals.  so, off he and i trotted...down to see the horses, donkeys, chickens, and goats.  he had no fear!  he kept pulling up weeds and shoving them into the horses' and donkeys' mouths.  he even pulled up a strawberry...and fed it to a horse (although we didn't pay for that one!).  we had a blast!  we got home with quite a few blackberries (mostly unripe...but don't tell Harris!)...and some very small strawberries...and quite a few really nice potatoes.  didn't know quite what to do with the berries, knowing that they'd go bad in a day or two...so, i mashed them up in a pot...and since i had no sugar...(and they were not very sweet)...i added splenda...and basically turned them into a puree, which i froze.  not too bad, actually!

here are a few pics:

Spring update

so....it's about that time of year again...for an update on our family.  we've been busy as usual.  so, where to begin?

Toby in the spacecraft that we got from uncle Howard/aunt Suzu about 2 years ago that we finally put together!

Macy, Harris, & Hunter on the Ohana class trip to the Zilker playground.

well...in the last few months, our wee guy had a birthday!  yes...Toby is now 3!  poor guy was so confused!  he had a birthday celebration at school on his 3rd birthday, the 28th of March.  then, that night, we had a "family" celebration at home.  and then on the 29th, we had a big birthday party at home.  most of his classmates came.  there was plenty of sugar!  and lots of running around and playing.  it was a great day! 

 

so...also this spring...BOTH little guys are doing gymnastics...and LOVING it.  Harris has amazing upper body strength.  it's kinda freaky! Toby loves it so much, that he's having a difficult time remembering on what piece of equipment on the circuit he's supposed to be on.  he just runs around and plays.  it's quite hilarious! 

we drove up to east Texas 2 weekends ago to hang with aunt Kelly's parents.  the boys had a blast fishing!  unfortunately, the fish weren't biting...much.  oh...and thanks to life jackets...cuz Toby fell into the lake.  the water was quite shallow, and we just reached in (thanks Kelly!) and pulled him out.  but it was quite cold.  Harris was reallllly into fishing...and Toby was reallly into taking his minnow "for a walk."  he kept pulling his fishing pole out of the water so he could touch the fishie.

this past weekend, we went to Houston to visit Aunt Gugi and Uncle Jay for Passover.  the boys had a blast "swimming" in the hot tub, riding their bikes, and hiking on the trail at Little Thicket park. 

back at home...Cindy's been working in her spare time (between her job and her classes at ACC) to replace the carpet in our 4 bedrooms with laminate flooring.  she's done 2 so far...and it's a great improvement!  we took the oppportunity to move the boys into the former office...so, now they are sharing a room.  Harris has done an awesome job of sleeping in his bed all night.  Toby..not so much.  must work on that!

AND....a big milestone for Harris....he lost his first tooth!  and had his first visit from the tooth fairy.  thanks so much Mere for the awesome tooth box!

that's about it for now...upcoming activities include cousin Drew's high school graduation in Breckenridge, CO over memorial day weekend; a trip to Port Aransas with our good friends, the Caldwells in early June; Harris starting JCC summer camp in mid-June...and finally...Harris will start kindergarten in August at the Austin Discovery School.