Cat lover?

I would call myself a "cat person". Not a crazy take-in-strays and hang cat pictures on my wall type, but I like cats. Unfortunately, I don't have one, as Shann claims to be allergic.:) Nevertheless, I love their personalities; I love that they're unpredictable - they can be aloof or affecionate. They're really rather independent, not as needy as dogs... precisely why many people prefer dogs! But I also love when they knead and purr, and twine around legs. Cats seem contented and in control.
Anyway, this is my question: Since I really do like cats (and hope to have one again some day), why is it so incredibly tiresome to me that Caden and Alyssa are constantly pretending to be kitties?
Caden is always saying in a high squeaky voice, "mommy, I'm a kitty!". Even Alyssa, out of the blue, will crawl up to me, meowing. They want me to pet them and scratch their ears. I can even get them to eat otherwise despised foods if I suggest that kitties would love it!
You would think this would please me and perhaps help me through this catless period in my life. But no - I'm annoyed! Why is that?

Medium-sized boy

After church, yesterday, we went to a couple's house for lunch that we don't know very well yet. I knew that they had 4 children, older than ours. So on the way, as we talked about it, Caden became somewhat concerned that they wouldn't have toys that he would like. "Do they know how big I am, mom?" He said this several times, and I'm wasn't sure what he was getting at. Was he trying to say that he is big, or that he isn't very big?
Then he said, "I'm a big boy, but I'm still kind of little." I thought this was funny, like, 'don't get me wrong, I'm a big boy and all, but you have to protect me, because I'm not that big!'
As it turned out, their youngest was Caden's age, and he had plenty of toys that Caden was interested in! Caden and Caleb had a great time playing with trains, cars, and 'guys'. :)

Comments

I just changed my options, so anyone should be able to post a comment on the blog. So if you've tried before, and couldn't, please try again. I'd love to hear what you have to say!

the vacation is over

Last night, I was in the car with Caden and Alyssa, on the way home from church. Caden asked if he could have ice cream when we arrived home. I said, "no, buddy, its almost 9 o'clock, it'll be bedtime when we get home". He said, "But we have ice cream every day!" Hmm. Now, he just got home from a week-long visit with Grammy and Poppy. Interesting. I explained that we do not have ice cream every day as it isn't very good for our bodies, etc. We went on to talk about other things. It got quiet for a minute, and he sighed, "my life is so sad". I asked him why. "Because I don't get ice cream." Oh my. Its rough coming home to mom.

still more...

Caden and Alyssa colored on their pumpkins with markers! Now this event will be remembered for posterity due to all the colors permenently on Alyssa's jacket!

Shann's is the spider. I'm sure he'd like me to point out that his was voted the best overall. Mine is the moon and star - I didn't realize until I was done that I seem to have made an Islamic pumpkin. Oops. I was going to do more stars, but ran out of steam. In case you're wondering, the second from the right is supposed to be Conan O'Brian. Anyone see it? I'd like to point out that several of these (not mine) were made with help from patterns. :)
So fun. Thanks for hosting Jay and Amy!

more pics from pumkin carving

Not a good picture of anyone...
Jay and Amy (and Baby)
Jesse and Andrea
John, Michelle, and Luke

The Annual Gardocki Pumpkin Carving Party

before carving, we filled up our bellies with fallish desserts; pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, apple crisp, pumpkin dip with ginger snaps, hot cider, and pumpkin pie! Oh, and brownies. :)

Andrea and I
Trying to get Baby (the dog) to sit still for this picture didn't quite work. Alyssa kept her smile ready, though!
What a pumpkin!

We're back!

Shann and I had a great time of relaxing and reconnecting in the Blue Ridge Mtns last week. We hiked, biked, golfed, and went horseback riding. Thus, I was sore all week! But it was fun. I'd post pictures....but I still don't have a working camera.

Caden and Alyssa also had fun with Grammy and Poppy in Harrisburg. We left our vacation a little early so Shann and his Dad could put in new flooring in our house! Faux-hardwood! It looks beautiful, and I'm very happy with it. I'd post a picture....but I still don't have a working camera.

Vacation

We're going on vacation...by ourselves! Caden and Alyssa will be staying with Grammy and Poppy, and Shann and I will be relaxing in the mountains of Virginia for a few days. We're hoping to hike, bike, play tennis and golf, maybe horseback ride and boat. As you may have guessed, we're not 'lay around' sort of vacationers. We like to have lots of activities! So being that we basically know nothing about this resort, we're not sure what we're getting into. Should be fun!

So no blog updates for a few days. See you next week!

Were did you go, baby?

Hee hee, couldn't resist posting this picture from 3 years ago.

It seems ages and ages ago. Only having this one little baby boy. He seems so far gone sometimes when sharing some philosophy or another. At other times when he is cuddling with me, the baby doesn't seem so long ago.

I know the glimpses of the baby will get fewer and farther between, and then soon after I'll be wishing just for a glimpse of the little boy in the face of a teenager.

I didn't mean for this post to be sad, but sometimes its amazing how quickly life goes by.

Sesame Place

We recently went to Sesame Place with some friends. It was a gorgeous day, and the kids were old enough to enjoy most of the rides. We even enjoyed the water park! It would have been a perfect day for Alyssa had it not been for all these big, scary, furry monsters scattered throughout the park. In the picture with Big Bird, she was ok looking at him, but when we got in front of him - she was not a fan of him being behind us where she couldn't keep an eye on him!
Then below, she is blissfully unaware that we're about to be eaten by him!

Last time we were there, Caden was about Alyssa's age, and I distinctly remember him, running away from Bert, screaming. :) Why do we put them through this, you ask? This is fun! Can't you see she is having fun?

snippets

Shann and I were talking in the van the other night, and I heard just snippets of Caden explaining a few things to Alyssa.

"When we get older, I'm going to have to get a job, and you'll stay home and take care of mommy, ok?" Alyssa: "yeah".

"...and we'll both get married... and we'll each have a kid..." Alyssa: "yeah".

Well, I guess its all worked out. I wish I'd heard the rest of his plan.

Apple Picking

We went apple picking this weekend with some friends! It was such a gorgeous day! This is the first time we've done this as a family! Caden and Alyssa had a great time eating themselves silly. I noticed Alyssa, at one point, eating the whole apple - including the core! Yum. This first picture was a tree among the others, but the apples were teeny - crab apples I guess.

Look how many are packed together on this tree!

"Oh, the Lord's been good to me. And so I thank the Lord For giving me the things I need: The sun, the rain and the appleseed; Oh, the Lord's been good to me. " - from the Johnny Appleseed Grace song.

Chocolate Wind

Doesn't this sound lovely? We have a chocolate factory very near our house, and we frequently step outside to the smell of chocolate. Sometimes burnt-smelling chocolate! But the other day, there was a warm breeze stirring around us, that smelled deliciously of (unburnt) chocolate. Caden dubbed it chocolate wind.