Scamper

Ever since Emily lost her cat Sierra, she had been longing for another feline friend. I am not a cat lover in particular and have always  said that we as a family would not be getting another furry friend when Sierra goes.However.....when that actually happened the end of the summer and I saw how lonely Emmy was and how much we all missed that cat. I changed my tune. It then became."After school starts Em, then we will think about it." Well guess what happened the day BEFORE school started?????? 

  Scamper the cat came home to stay at our place.

  Emily was in love and was constantly snapping pictures like this of her sleeping baby.

   Bear was in love, and before long we came to refer to these two playmates as"The Boys"

              They will play and play until Scamper has had enough, and he runs away to a room of the house where Bear is not allowed.

       I may or may not be a little touched also by the tiny little purring machine. He has been known to climb into my lap and snuggle with me and Bear.

  The community snuggle does not last very long however!!!

 

     Eva is in love too. I think it is safe to say that we all are having a ton of kitty fun these days. "That Cat" as I am known to refer to him as ,is usually being hauled around by one of the girls. He snuggles like a baby and falls to sleep in their arms,baby strollers or laps . He is swaddled in blankets, put in boxes and purses . He is smuggled into girly beds and chased around tirelessly. He is freely slobbered on and lovingly mauled( doggy slobber and mauling mind you). And the best part of it is he loves every minute of it!!

                       Poor Emily is determined that he is "her cat" as she paid for him and is the cat girl in our house.(at least she was....) She will lock him in her room at nights so that he will learn to sleep in her bed with her(and only her bed) as her beloved Sierra did every night of her furry little life. Goodness ,Sierra practically lived in Emmy's room. She left only to do her kitty business in the basement,to eat and drink down there as well. She also came looking for Emily promptly at the hour of Emily's bedtime if ever Emily was late to come up to bed.She would find Em, meow at her, and then race ahead of her back to Emily's room. I called her Emily's Nanny. She would also leave Em's room to wind around Emily's feet as she did her piano lessons, in short(or long by the looks of this paragraph), she was Emily's cat, and only Em's cat. The only time she cared a whit about the other 3 girls was if they were crying. She hated to hear tears and would come running to find the sad or hurt little one. Scamper however has no such allegiances as of yet and that bugs Emily to distraction. If her door remains open at night,he has been found curled up with Elin, snuggling with Elle, and even Ryan and I have been awakened by a purring kitty finding us in the middle of the night.....Emily gets so mad and makes sure the next night her door is shut securely!!

    As most of the pages in Scamper's book have yet to be written, he will carve his own way in the hearts of us his human family. For now, he makes Emily so happy. The furry hole that was left in her 10 year old heart when Sierra died has been filled and Em's happy grin combined with  the giggles that break  every day from my girls about something the kitten has done or is doing makes me (ahem)glad that I went back on my word that after Sierra" no more cats would live in the Skaling house."

Falling Headlong Into Fall!!

School has begun and we have a new little student this year!! Eva started Kindergarten and is loving it!! She started putting little words together as of last week and is feeling like pretty big stuff!!

 Elle is in Grade 2 and I have to say that she doesn't love her studies. She is more interested in communicating with me and those other little learners around her....Enough said....

 Elin is having a fun time with painting, puzzling and playdoh-ing!!

   We've been decorating our place for the season.

    Painting projects have begun before the snow flies!

  Our goats are chubby and happy!!

  The girls have been enjoying "sweater weather"

  An abundance of peaches!!

  And the freedom of being outside playing after a morning's worth of studies.

   We have had chilly evenings around the fire roasting marshmallows,

   eating snacks,

   And sharing our treats with our four legged friends.

            Our poochy is growing up so fast!!

   and so are my girls!!

          One day our little ladies decided to transform themselves into natives and our yard into a village of braves and squaws. I decided in keeping with the theme of their play they should have popcorn for snack so my little papoose Elin thought that was something she could help with!!

  Out she went to share her bounty with her "people"

   And quite the tribe they were!! Grampie Cameron's trailer was transformed into a canoe and filled with all kinds of fall abundance. Corn stalks, fishing nets, boxes of crab apples...they were all set for a long winter!!

               Our old cast off sheets were quickly trussed up into teepees!

    We went on a family date one chilly evening and visited Dunsters where each girl got a hot chocolate for themselves with a toony given them by a kind lady in our church.

  We walked a nature trail , sipped our hot drinks and had so much fun!!

 We have also had fun company visit. Company who have baked with and for us!! Cherry Cheesecake anyone?????

   We have had company share their birthday celebrations with us!!  Happy Birthday Grammie Cameron!!

  The girls all gathered their treasures and creations to give her a gift from each of them.

    Elin gave artwork...we had to get her to interpret them for us first.

    Eva gave homemade puzzles crafted from her school work. She had to show Grammie how to put them together.

   We also had talented company perform for us...We were all in awe of Mr. Harbin's guitar talents!! He had taught a seminar at our church for the weekend on counseling and we had him for supper after.
  So all this to say we have been busy and enjoying all the changing season in many ways!! 

Saying Goodbye/Celebrating Mom

Ryan called me late Saturday night to say Mom had gone to see Jesus, so the girls and I headed out to go be with our dear hurting family the next morning. The 5 hour road trip was something I dreaded, but the girls, the puppy and the kitten(yes a baby kitten!!) were wonderful. We tumbled into the arms of Ryan at the end of it and were so glad to be with him again.

 We spent lots of time as a family remembering Mom, and the tears were many, but the peace of knowing she was with our Saviour ruled our hearts even in the sad moments. Monday morning was Ryan and my anniversary. 13 years!!! It was spent much differently then most of our past ones have been. We took the girls to the park and fed the ducks and goldfish donuts..it seems they like Mrs. Dunsters donuts as much as we do!!  Who knew??

 Little Elle ran upstairs at our house after I told them about Grammie going to heaven the night before, and came downstairs with a bandana on her head. Mom had been wearing them after she started her chemo and so she was known and loved for her many ,bright head coverings. Elle has never worn them before ,but didn't take that one off day or night for a week after. She didn't mention anything about it,but when Ryan casually asked her if she was wearing one to remember Grammie, she shyly said"Yes,, is that o.k. Daddy?" Dear little heart. It was her silent tribute to her much loved Grammie.

 Bear had an exercise in self control at the sight of all those running, flapping, swimming ducks.

  Little Elin has a bit too much of her Mama in her.. She thought it would be great fun to catch a duck to pet!!

   It didn't work out too well for her and I had my hands wrapped around a warm cup of cappuccino, so didn't feel very inclined to lend a hand. She had fun though!!

 I am so blessed to have this man as my husband for so many wonderful years through the easy and the hard.  It was fun to reminisce with him for the occasion .To think of the kids we were back when we said "I do" and having very little idea of what it meant,then to flash forward to our 4 little girls running around chasing ducks and squealing over goldfish. God has blessed us beyond "what we could ask or think" and we are so grateful.

 After we fed the various wildlife( and one drooling not so wild life!!), we took to the trails. Ryan blew us away with his handy athletic skills  :)

                This one really got the giggles out of the girls!!

 Then Elin had to try her hands at it. It was a happy time in a sad day, but that is how the week went. The happy, good times and memories interspersed with the sad tears . The feeling of loss and missing Mom so bad was unlike anything we had experienced as a family and it hurt. Just being together and sharing our stories, memories and thoughts of who Mom was to each of us made everything feel so much better.

  We said goodbye to Mom in a beautiful service through which God's love and goodness was clearly spoken. The girls sang "What a Day That Will Be" with their cousin Sami, and Ryan, his brother and sister all spoke of their love for Mom. She was an amazing lady, so deep in her love for Jesus for life,  and us as her family. She taught me so much and I'm so grateful that God gave me such a wonderful lady to be my second mom and super Grammie to my girls.

  Dear Elle wore her bandana to the funeral too. We didn't say anything to her about it. We just let her pay her tribute to her Grammie in her own little 7 year old way.

 Back at Mom and Dad's beautiful home, we stayed together for another day. Elle and I got to look after the twinnies , feed those adorable boys, and....

   Put them to sleep!!!

                            This little turkey kept popping his little eyes open as soon as I set him down, so I propped him up in the corner of Grampie's chair,  he thought he was still being held and slept on!!

 Little cherubs.. Man I miss baby days at times like this!!

            We did one last thing to celebrate Mom before we went to our own homes again. We went for a hotdog roast at her beloved shore. Whenever we were all together Grammie would always suggest a cook out at the shore and we would bundle up and have a great,delicious, smoky meal together. Every year it seemed there would be a new little one grown up just enough to get to climb on the rocks with their cousins/or siblings. First it was Em that would explore, then Elle joined , and Eva and this year it was Elin who was  just another one of the girls on the huge rocks.

  Ryan and Bear heading to the water.

  Elin gathered her own "fire sticks" to add to the blaze.

                             Bear had to be tied as his nose was too much for him and got him into trouble with all the food around.

   Oh the times we have have had  through the years. Our family has changed and this time it is minus one instead of adding one(or two!)  And although we will never feel or be the same again, we are still a family and our memories will keep Mom close to our hearts always. I love to think too of  how through the years we will see glimpses of her in her children and grandchildren. Whether it be a look, laugh ,smile, or just plain spunk!!The lessons she taught us and the legacy she left I hope we never forget.   God is so good and we are looking forward to spending eternity together again already!!