Dangerous weapons, and, like, such as...

So... I just have to say Something about a certain person giving a certain 9 year old boy-child a dangerous weapon to have all for himself. I don't care that it was given to him in order to "help" him be better suited for a camping trip... or survival in a rain forest, for that matter.

Before you deem a young child prepared to weild a Foot-and-a-half long bladed instrument; perhaps you should speak to the Custodial parent of said child regarding this decision.

Perhaps the custodial parent would be a bit put off by the thought of her young son trying to cut wood or other random objects with such a dangerous weapon. Why would a machete be the first option for such excursions. Not that a child should have sole posession of something like a hatchet, either; but I think this might have been a better option for the given circumstances.

Also, when said custodial parent has other small, younger, and oh-so-curious children in the house; considerations for safety must be made regarding what is allowed to come into the home.

I am sure the custodial parent loves not being offered a choice in the matter regarding the giving of a dangerous weapon to her child. And I am sure said custodial parent adores the fact that in attempting to relieve the boy-child of this dangerous weapon, the boy deems that as a direct attack on themselves, as well as the non-custodial parent. Leaving one of them feeling a bit backed against a wall, so to speak.

I am so happy I don't have to deal with situations such as the above circumstance. ...Not ever...

Yep... We Did It!!

So...

Yes.

I did it.

After over a year without any of our own pets besides a couple of very short living goldfishes, and soem stray animals my kids tried to bring home...

We got one.

A pet.

A kitty, to be precise.



The concensus is that her name is Maria, and she is about 8 weeks old. She is litter box trained and we are going to eventually get her outside trained so we won't even need a litter box.
I am hoping this newest addition to our family helps the kids feel better. You know, because they say that pets help with anxiety and stuff.

We will see!

Snapshots in the Ol' Backyard

A little while back, I decided that it was time to get some current photos of all of my children.



So after letting them know we were going to do a "Photo Shoot"... and having to convince Xander that we wanted his normal look, not a gangster with a drawn on beard look...



We got everyone dressed and headed outside. We had a bit of a disadvantage dealing with the sun in people's eyes...



We tried a variety of poses, because I was trying to do something creative and have them pose all artsy.



And finally, I captured a couple of them that I really like of all of them together.




We got some individual shots that I LOVE as well, but I will save those for another post on another day...

Aren't my children just adorable?!?!