Pets and Princesses

This past week has been interesting. Ben went back to school and Nathan was at work. So, for the first time in about a year it was just me and the girls again. The first day was nightmarish. Rachel was very tired from waking early and whined most to the day. My reaction to this was less then patient and loving. The second day we did much better and by the third day I was on a role. When the girls were annoying me I suggested they have a tea party. And then to make it really attractive I told them we would make cookies for our tea party. It worked like a charm. They were entertained by something besides TV and I got to feel like I was a good mom.


This Monday is Ben's 7th birthday. Time flies. Anyway, the other night I had a dream. In my dream I was at walmart where there were teachers with their classroom pets. One of the teachers had two tree frogs. I was so excited to hold these and play with them. I woke up and I thought, Ben needs a pet. So, tonight, for his birthday he went to Petco and found a hamster. . . which he lovingly name Orie. . . short for orange because his hamster is kind of orange. This is also Ben's favorite color. We actually went to Pets Mart first but they only carried female hamsters. I was thinking that Ben wouldn't know the difference but he can read. He found no "male" hamsters. So we had to go to another store. A boy needs a boy pet. We have all spent the evening facinated by Orie's amazing feats. He is quite talented and can even hang from the top of his cage grasping on with all fours. Ben says this is the best present he has ever had. I think it kind of stinks. . . literally. But Orie is a great present.
Sorry about the X rated nature of this photo. At first I thought that Orie was relieving himself but then after several of the same shots it dawned on me that maybe Orie is just well endowed.