Pet Show

Today was the Children's Pet Show. Thunderstorms forced the show to be inside this year. The girls once a again wanted to enter the Best Costumed Pet and Owner category. This year we settled on the Wizard of Oz theme. Alexa was Dorothy. Chloe the lion, and Cabbie the tin man. They won third place.

Alexa also entered Cutie (her hamster) in smallest animal. She won first place again this year. Apparently no one is smaller than a dwarf hamster.

Cutie also won third place in the cutest rodent category.

Pet Show

Today was the annual Children's Pet Show. The girls we excited to have two pets to enter this year. We entered Cabbie,of course, and even let him remove the E-collar he has been sporting for four days. Alexa also wanted to enter Cutie. Cabbie was entered in the Best Costumed Pet category. This year we were inspired by the Peter Pan play Chloe saw at school. We had

Alexa was Wendy,

Chloe was Peter Pan,

and Cabbie made a lovely Tinker Bell.

There were a lot of entries for this category again this year. The girls came in second place with first place going to a girl in the flippers, swim suit, and scuba mask. Her dog was wearing a swim suit. They had a lot of fun.

Alexa entered Cutie in two categories- Smallest Pet and Cutest Rodent.

Here she is talking to the announcer (the man in the bird hat)about her hamster. She was really nervous to talk in front of the crowd. But she did it and took first place in both categories she was entered in. She was really proud of herself.

Cutie Adventures

Alexa decided that Cutie should test the grass outside today after she cleaned her cage.

I think she was a rather annoyed hamster as the ball didn't really move on the grass all that well.

She seemed to prefer the wood floors inside.

This Is for You Mom

The other day I was talking to my mom on the phone. I was telling her the story of how the kids sit in the bath tub (with no water and clothes still on) and play with the hamster. "Oh, I would love to see a picture of that." Well, it has taken me awhile to get some, but here they are mom.

Cutie can sometimes be a little nippy. Alexa likes to be extra cautious and wear gloves just in case.

There. Good fun for all. Now who needs cable?

I'm Calling It

I wake my kids up at 6:00AM. That is early by any standards. I get up at 5:00AM. That is unbelievably early. The funny part? If I am going to be out sick I have to call for a sub by 6:15AM. No kidding. That means if one of the kids is not feeling well I have 15 minutes to determine if they are just grumpy and whinny or really sick. I woke a rather reluctant Chloe this morning and she very soon began complaining about a stomach ache. As any mom will tell you the, "stomach ache" can have a lot of possible causes from serious to avoidance. With Chloe it can be especially hazardous as her stomach aches can often be the first symptom of a bladder infection. While we have been working hard with a lot of yoga, diet, and physical therapy to help this issue, we are still not out of the woods yet. With only a few minutes to decide, I hedged my bets and called in for a sub. Luckily things at the doctors checked out OK. This afternoon I set Chloe up to work on her reading assignment her teacher gave her via email (don't you just love technology?).

Alexa got a head start on her chores this weekend. Taking advantage of not having to go to daycare today, she got her hamster cage scrubbed out.

I bought some gloves for her, unfortunately the smalls are still huge. Apparently you can't buy rubber cleanning gloves in children's sizes.

Cutie gets to run around the bathtub while her cage gets all clean.

She finishes off by giving her fresh pine bedding.

It was a rather peaceful Friday.

As They Roll

Alexa's hamster, Cutie, has been living with us for about month now. She is becoming relatively friendly, and the kids like to sit in bathtub with her (without any water of course) and let her run around on them. It works well as a playpen for her as it lets them play together without the risk of her escaping. We decided to add to her exercises routine a bit by purchasing the hamster ball. Alexa wanted one from the moment she got her, but I had her hold off until she got more use to her surroundings. Last weekend we stopped by the pet store to purchase a ball. Alexa picked out the purple glittery one feeling sure that is the one Cutie would prefer.

She does seem to like it; racing around the house. I read the instructions to Alexa, and she is dutifully following them. Don't use near stairs (as she could fall). Don't leave her to play in the direct sunlight (as she could over heat). She follows her around the house saying, "Oops no sunlight for you that's not on the Cutie menu." "Let's not get stuck under there. I'll move you over here."

Cabbie find the hamster ball rather interesting too. This is the closest he has been allowed to be with her and he isnt' exactly sure what to make of her.

New Pet

Alexa has been saving her allowance for the last four months. She committed herself to buying her own hamster. Anyone who knows me well will know how humorous a thought this is as I have no love of rodents of any kind. However, it is her money and I do see a lot of value in having your own pet to take care of. Last week we went to the pet store to see what a hamster costs. She discovered that she had more than enough money for one, so this afternoon (frigid temperatures and all) she got her hamster.

We set the cage up on her dresser in her room. As you can see she is pretty excited.

Hamsters are quite hard to get a picture of, but after a few attempts I was able to get this one.

She is yet to be named as Alexa hasn't settled on one yet. Although she has reminded us, "It is my decision to make." We do know that it is a female (so they tell me) and two months old. As you can imagine Cabbie is quite interested in her as well.