WE HAVE BABIES!!!! part III

On the way home from Schweitzer I started getting sick with a viral infection in my chest which nearly put me flat on my back for almost 5 weeks.  This has been the first week that I haven't been hacking my head off.  The first Sunday after we were home from vacation as I was too sick to go to church and spent the day in bed, the boys decided to cheer me up by bringing me a surprise. They were darling baby bunnies!

This is Sam's bunny, named Chewy (Chewbacca). Who we have found out is quite the escape artist.  We have had a hard time keeping him contained in anything, as he is a skillful climber.  I knew bunnies jumped, but climbed?  He could scale the sides of a very large wire dog crate to get to the ceiling of it which had a slightly larger grid and then squeeze out thru the holes.  We could not for the life of us figure out he was getting out every day until we caught him in the act!  Luckily he never went very far, just uphill to our neighbor's lawn to feast on their grass, and then would merrily hop back when Sam came home from school and would call his name.

The black bunny is Jared's whom he named Zion (apparently after a band) and is a very mellow, sweet little guy.  Very different personality than Chewy.

One of the boys friends, Tim was given a bunny for Christmas- they had no idea she was pregnant at the time. Surprise! She had 10 babies, and Tim has been distributing them among his friends.  So now Jared, Sam and each member of their posse has their very own baby bunny.  Charming.   I am mostly amazed at how big their feet are for such a small creature.

This is a picture of the bunnies in a shoebox- so you can tell by comparison how small they are-

They have been a lot of fun to watch and interact with- much more so than the guinea pigs.  They are a lot tamer than the guinea pigs, and a lot cleaner.  They are just like cats in that they are constantly giving themselves (or each other) a bath with their tongue.  They have darling tiny little pink tongues.  The cutest thing is when they clean their ears- they grab one ear in both paws and bring it down the side of their face and around in front to lick it clean. The only problem is that we are not sure of the sex of these two.  Apparently sexing bunnies isn't all that easy, even when they get older, as their "private parts" look pretty similar. We need to find an expert to help us out before they get any older.  Otherwise everyone in Jared's posse is going to be getting a second addition to their bunny herd!

SCHWEITZER

Over Mid-winter break the boys and Chuck and I went to Schweitzer ski-resort for a week.  We used one of Uncle Richards' time shares and stayed in a condo near Sand Point Idaho.  The condos are right on Lake Pend O'reille with a great view of lake and snowy mountains. It takes about 40 minutes to drive to the slopes.  We could stay closer, but this timeshare has a lot going for it- indoor pool, 2 hot tubs (one indoors, one outside) indoor tennis courts, pickle ball courts, basketball court,racketball courts, work out center, billiard room, ping pong tables, dvd rentals, video games, small grocery store.  Everything to keep the boys and Chuck entertained when not on the slopes.

View from condo-note ski resort

The view from the ski slopes down to the lake was just as gorgeous!

There was certainly plenty of snow, great skiing- deep powder.  I swear Schweitzer is the best kept secret!!  No one on the slopes- you just ski right on the lifts.  No waiting in the terrain parks, the half pipes,boxes and jumps are just wide open. The perfect place for someone like Sam who is just learning to snowboard.  Wide open slopes to practice without fear of being run over, or running over someone else.

The best part of all was a knock on our door late Tuesday night-

Rachel, Nate and Evelyn came for a surprise visit!!

We were so shocked to see them- Nate took some time off in the middle of the week to drive 9 hours from Rigby, Idaho to surprise us.  It was wonderful to see them.

When we weren't skiing- we were recuperating from skiing

Like sitting in front of the fire doing Sudoku

napping

picking one's nose

checking the blogs that I follow and relaxing

making brownies

playing with Evelyn

and the most important......family bonding

and when we weren't recuperating from skiing, we were prparing to go again

waxing snowboards

Nater fixing Sam's broken binding

We took the time to do a little sightseeing as well, in Dad's new Subaru Outback that got us everywhere we wanted to go, no matter the weather

Sandpoint has two things I dearly love- Starbucks for yummy hot chocolate and the world headquarters for Coldwater Creek clothing store.

With hot chocolate, new clothes and my family around all is right with the world!!

WE HAVE BABIES!! part 2

 

Finally!! these piggies were born on Tuesday 2/8.  The fact that there are 4 of them explains why mama was so HUGE. Mom is a solid red abyssinian (meaning she has cowlicks sticking up all over- crazy hair). Dad was a long haired red with some white stripes. It looks like the black baby (Jamal-according to Jared.  Isn't that racial profiling?)has cowlicks too. I am amzed by how easy this birthing process seems to be for these moms (sows).  I left the house Tuesday at noon- no babies.  I came back 3 hours later- babies. The babies were all dry, no umbilical cords dangling, running around.  Mom was skinny again and not showing any signs of wear.  Even her bottom was pristine, no blood, no redness, no swelling after giving birth to twice her own weight in babies. One would almost think the stork left them! I am still puzzled how an animal who is suppossed to have litters of between 1-6 babies (kits) only has 2 teats.  I guess that is why these piggies are born with teeth and able to eat solid food immediately, cause there is always a line of babies waiting their turn to nurse.

I know this picture is a bit fuzzy but it shows the relative size of one of the babies from this litter when it was 5 days old.

This picture shows the relative size of this litter and a kit from our last litter 11 days before. It is amazing how fast they grow. They are constantly eating- especially once they stop nursing, which they seem to do after about 10 days. They get very vocal right away too.  Although their permanent home is outside, we brought the moms/babies inside due to cold temperatures. The babies have already figured out that the sound of crinkling plastic wrappers or produce bags mean they are going to get a treat.  Even from the next room if they hear anyone rustling around in the refrigerator they start making all sorts of racket, chirps and whistles especially, hoping for a carrot, red cabbage or their favorite is parsley.  But in truth they aren't picky they will eat just about any fruit or vegetable.  The only things they don't seem to like is green beans (go figure) and citrus fruit which is odd because they have really high Vitamin C requirements.

PARENTAL ADVISORY





Jared and Sam have a lot of things to keep them entertained here at home.  They have the computer, xbox, airsoft rifles, cell phones and their ipods.  The latest addition to their stash of toys is a dart board given to Jared by Nate and Rachel for Christmas. I noticed that it has been hung in a number of different places in Jared's bedroom in an effort to find the perfect spot that gives them just enough throwing distance.  It somewhat worries me that it is so close to the light bulb on top of the lamp, but on the other hand, it shows their prowess that the bulb is still intact. Jared did, however, come and ask me a couple of days ago if we had any more dark blue paint........

WE HAVE BABIES!

One of our guniea pigs, Peaches (short for Peaches and Cream) had 2 babies!  They are adorable!  The mom is the white and red piggy in the background. Unlike any other rodent that I am familiar with, baby piglets, known as "kits", are born with hair, eyes open, already have teeth, and running around. Although they do nurse for the first couple of weeks, they don't need to as they are eating solid food from the first day.  They are totally self-sufficient newborns.

The other piggy named Tulip has not yet had her babies, and she looks like she is about to explode.  She is huge!  It is almost painful to even look at her. She is nothing but belly. She has gotten to the point that her back legs can't support her weight independently, so although she can walk normally on her front two legs, her back two work together and hop like a bunny. Poor thing is ravenous all the time and eats night and day.  She will push everybody else out of the way to get to the food.  She is also the most vocal of all the guinea pigs I have ever had. She can get really loud to let you know she is out of food.

We have been keeping the two moms and babies inside for the last week, to monitor the deliveries and try to keep the babies warm as the temperature is getting down to freezing at night.  The other 4 pigs are just fine outdoors in cold weather- we just make sure they stay dry and have lots of hay to burrow into. I'll post pictures when Tulip becomes a mom.

ROAD TRIP

This last weekend, Chuck, Jared and I took a road trip to Portland.  I had gotten Jared tickets to see the stand-up comedian Brian Regan as a Christmas present and we have been planning this trip ever since. Brian is such a funny guy.  The kids introduced me to his Youtube clips a couple of years ago, and I love his type of humor. He had another comedian from Seattle as his opening act by the name of Kermit Avelo (spelling?) who was good as well. It is so hard to find stand-up comedy that is family friendly, most comedians these days seem to use a lot of profanity and off-color material.  These two guys were squeaky clean!

We had fun riding Portland's light rail system "MAX" everywhere we needed to go and not have to worry about parking.  We visited lots of funky shops, art galleries and restaurants. We had good weather for sight seeing (no rain) and walked until our feet ached. I visited Benessere Olive Oil and Vinegar Shop and came home with some luscious souvenirs.  I bought two bottles of basalmic vinegar: a black balsamic flavored with black cherry, and a white balsamic flavored with peach. Both soooo yummy!  I also picked up a bottle of olive oil flavored with lime.  It will make the best salad dressings.  I am looking forward to experimenting with them all.

Jared has been having fun with the new Nikon camera Chuck got him for Christmas and takes it every where he goes. He took lots of amazing pictures down in Portland, including the ones above.  He has advanced digital photography this semester at school and is excited to have a new camera to play with.

It was a great weekend, but it was nice to get back to my own bed.

US AGAINST THEM

Us girls have got to stick together!  Kitty (K-2 or Kitty 2.0) and I are feeling overwhelmed in our male-dominated household. The week before Christmas, Sam, one of Jared's good friends from school moved in.  Now, because 2 of the "posse" live here, our house has become "party central" for most of Jared's friends.  Most afternoons I will find 4 or more 17-18 year old boys downstairs killing zombies on XBOX.  Now that Becca has gone back to college for the winter, I have reclaimed my "office" (actually her bedroom), and Kitty and I spend most afternoon/evenings holed up in there in my favorite Papa-san chair against the testosterone onslaught. Notice Kitty is sticking out her tongue, showing her disgust with the situation.

While I am known to grumble and complain, I actually love having a lot of teenagers around.  I love to feed them and give them a chaperoned place to hang out.  When they all start to call me Mom, it feels wonderful. However, I do have my days when it feels like this:

 Sam has been very enjoyable to have around.  He appreciates having a roof over his head and regular meals on the table.  He is the type of kid that will load the dishwasher without being asked. His bed is neatly made every morning before he leaves for school.  If he finds clothes in the dryer when he wants to use it, he will take them all out and neatly fold them into stacks on the counter. So far, he has been a joy to have around.  He and Jared have started taking my dog route every Wednesday afternoon when they get out of school early at 12:30 to earn money. 

Sam loves animals and is lobbying Chuck persistently to let us get another dog, (he doesn't yet realize just how hopeless that is).  He has taken over the care and feeding of our 6 guinea pigs (3 male/3 female).  Sam has spent a lot of time and energy building them a bigger enclosure outside, after the piggies started to tunnel out of the cage that I had made.  Two of the ladies are pregnant and getting bigger by the day. All of us are anxiously on "baby watch".