FIVE!!

Birthdays have never been a big deal to him...as far as HOW OLD he is. Guess that is changing. This is our conversation first thing this morning:


"Do you know why I'm up so early? It's because I'm FIVE. Five year olds don't need as much sleep."

me: smile, chuckle

"Hey don't laugh at me. (very serious) Don't laugh at a FIVE year old."

"Now that I'm five, am I taller than Solomon?"

Babies are getting bigger

One Week old 4 hooded rats and 4 solid. One solid and one hooded are an interesting brown.


Notice that at 2 weeks, the fur is getting long. 4 of the rats are "curly" hair. These are two examples, the fur looks wavy and ruffled. These two rats are the same two brown ones in the frist two photos, hasn't their hair changed significantly? The others look smooth and silky.

Declan is enjoying the babies. He is especially attached to the brown hooded curly haired rat you can see in this photo. Yesterday he named her Yoshi. (Also note that "Yoshi" is the hooded rat on the right in the photo where they are 3 days old, she is the only hooded rat whose hood breaks at the neckline and then continues later down her back)We have 3 females and 5 males. Their eyes opened just a couple of days ago, so they should be jumping around the cage anyday now.

Three Days Old!

and they are starting to get their fur. As you saw in the earlier pictures, they are born pink with no fur. I'd forgotten how quickly the fur comes in. You can see which ones will be all black and which will be "hooded" rats. Mom is actually a 'blue' rat so it will be interesting to see if they are more blue or black. So much fun to watch them grow!

Spring Break

EASTER Breakfast - eggs and bunnies...yummm :)

Easter Presents!

One of two egg hunts yesterday.

Took our pregnant rat with us. Babies (8) were born!
Play time in the Digital Age. Emma (9) and Declan
Madeline (4) and Declan

Lots of good old fashioned play time too!

So much fun. Bummed that I have to go back to work tomorrow. At least the kids will be watching movies all day, hopefully it will be a mellow day.

I'm Back

Okay, that may be longest I've ever stayed away from blogger. I've been pretty busy lately and my free time is mostly spent in Mystland:

I've discovered this fun little game for my Nintendo DS called Animal Crossing. You create your own town and interact with animals that live there. The coolest feature is that you can connect wirelessly with other people and visit their town (or they can visit yours). Very fun and I've even made a couple of new friends. Shout out to Stephy and Amy!

It reminds me of my early blogging days when I made blogger friends.

This week is spring break and it's already packed. I'm doing childcare two days, attending a local job fair tomorrow and then heading out to visit friends who are 4 hours away (shout out to Coley and Christy).

I'm excited to go to the job fair tomorrow. I'm hoping to get a little more exposure with the HR people at my local districts. There will also be people there from Texas, Alaska and Hawaii. I'm interested in seeing what they have to say as I will probably be widening my search next year. Although Declan told me today that he IS NOT moving. I asked him what his plan was if I needed to move away. He replied "I'll live with Hayden and be his big brother!" Pretty cute that boy. Although after thinking about it he decided he will indeed move away with me if it comes to that. He loves where we currently live, as do I. I'm just hoping to land a job in the next 6 months!

Has anyone tried these new Dorito chips? Yowsa!! They are hot, and I like hot, but I don't think I can finish this bag.

I'm also going to check out a local daycare later today. They are literally less than a mile a way, it would be perfect because as a sub, I work anywhere from 5 miles to 20 miles away. Some days I drive 25 minutes out of my way just to take Declan to daycare. That is alot of extra driving when you have to be at school at 7am. Would be nice if this worked out. It is in our school district and it solves the before and after school problem once he starts school.

Lastly, our pet rat is pregnant. Should be fun to have some babies. I think we are about 10 days away :0