a hippie with a minivan

a new little one in the house…

My Father in Law’s girlfriend (Chantal) had mentioned to us a few weeks ago that they had found some kittens on their property. The mama cat had given birth in the old outhouse that they were about to tear down… luckily it hadn’t been used in a few years and the wood chips made a nice bed… I said that I might be willing to take one since we had been talking about getting another cat or maybe even a dog…

Yesterday morning we got a call from them saying that they were coming in the area to bring a kitten to another family member and asked if they should bring us one also.. we quickly though about it and called back and accepted. The one we would have liked was already going to another family member so they brought us another little one… the kittens are 7 weeks old and were just being weaned, the mom was walking away from them while they nursed and they were out exploring more… I would have like is she was completely weaned but since they are feral and were exploring more and getting harder to catch by the day FIL thought it would be better to get them while he still could.

She arrived yesterday at about noon and she was so scared but also very calm and cuddly.. the boys held her and she licked and nuzzled Khéna and didn’t try to leave at all while being held and passed around…

I decided a while back that we would be raw feeding our next animal… Chantal had told us that they had been trying to feed the kittens kibble and milk but that they were not taking to it very much… but I thought about it and reasoned that because they were feral they were most likely being fed prey that the mama cat was catching so there shouldn’t be much transition to raw… I was right… I didn’t buy kibble at all but instead got some chicken out of the freezer, thawed it and then fed it to her…

We started with small chunks but then I gave her larger peices along with bone and organs and she knew exactly what to do with it and loved it!

Yesterday I portioned food out for the week and froze it in baggies weighing about 3oz each… estimating that she will be about 9 pounds as an adult and needs 2-3% of her body weight in food…

(click to see one larger)

As for litter training… it is also going great… I showed her the litter box a few times and finally she went in it and has been using it with no problem…

I haven’t had a new kitten in 20 years… my last kitten died when I was pregnant with Khéna at 17 years old… Our other cat, Sparky came to us as an older adult cat…so this is such a pleasure for me… We named her Nala… a name that we all agreed on including the boys… she loves to cuddle and sleep on me and I am enjoying it also..

I have a feeling that she is going to have a special place in this family….

My sweet Colin is 5…

5 years ago, on Sept 2nd 2004, surprising me at 38 weeks, Colin was born after 22 hours of labour…

He took to nursing right away and he was such an easy baby especially in the first weeks…

At 2 weeks old, he came down with a high fever and was lethargic and sick… we went to the ER and we were rushed through quickly… they did blood tests and other tests and worse of all they did a spinal tap… it was one of the hardest moments of my life to see my new little fragile baby go through so much pain… we ended up spending a few days there until he started opening his eyes and I decided that we would be better off at home…

Once we got home the fever broke and he was well again. We never knew what it was but after a similar (+ febrile seizures) incident when he was 18 months we realized that he had trouble controlling his body temperature… and still does to some extents…

When we got home, he was not the baby that he was before… it was very traumatizing to all of us…

Colin was/is such an amazing and smart kid… he is full of energy, full of life and doesn’t stop moving… he has never been scared of pushing his personal limits and is always active…

He has always been advanced for his age… he was very agile from a young age…

Sitting unassisted at 4 months… able to sit down from laying down at 5 months, crawling at 6 months, walking at 9 months and was talking in clear sentences by 18 months…

(11 months old)

His love affair with drawing started at a young age… and still continues to this day…

(about 13 months)

Another favourite passtime of his is jumping… if you have ever met him, you know that he can jump and hop and run and tumble… he never stops and seldom gets hurt… he has amazing agility and balance…

(25 months old)

He was born a little brother and then two years later become a big brother and he fills both rolls very well…When Khéna was born he stood next to the birthing pool and watched… he didn’t say word the whole time until he saw the new little baby in my arms and then his first words were “aww… he’s so cute!”

Colin is such an amazing kid. He is fun to be around, he is always making us laugh and is empathetic and and inquisitive. He loves to draw and to do puzzles, loves to hum and sing, loves the water and is a real fish, and especially loves to move and jump and just be free…

Colin is always willing to help and loves attention… he is very affectionate and easygoing… Whatever is happening, he just follows with a smile and is eager to please…

He always has a smile and always has a hug and a kiss to share. He talks constantly and asks questions all the time and once he gets an answer it only leads to more and more questions…

He has a vivid imagination and spends hours playing and making up stories… he also spends hours at the table filling up pages and pages of paper with drawings… but they are not only drawings , they are stories being played out and acted through his pen…

Though he can jump easily from the “5th stair” he is afraid to go get his underwear in his room after dark.

He is sensitive and easily has his feeling hurt so it is hard to be a younger brother a lot of the time…but he also sees that being a younger brother also has its advantages…

With Xavier’s interest in the world of D&D and the start of the role playing game with Simon, Colin has joined in and follows the game without a problem. If you know the game, you can see that this is not an easy talk for a a little boy who is just turning 5… His vivid imagination shines and it becomes a time that they can play and share a common interest without conflict…

I can’t believe that he is already 5… it seems that time passes so quickly but then again, there have been many times that I have to remind myself not to add a year or two to his age…. I am so thankful to have him in my life as my child.

Happy Birthday my Sweet Colin!

Cookies for Breakfast?

Of course!!!

You should have seen the kids faces the first time I made them cookies for breakfast… Breakfast Cookies, that is 🙂 These taste great, are easy and quick to make and are eaten without hesitation in this household…

This recipe makes 4 monster cookies and they keep very well if you make more and eat them later… or you can mix the dry ingredients before hand and then just add the apple sauce when needed…

Mix together

1 1/3 cup Oatmeal
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup flour
1 cup non-fat powdered milk (dairy or soy)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon

add in

1 to 1 1/3 cup Apple Sauce
1 tsp vanilla

Mix until you have a wet dough… you can add more apple sauce if needed depending on if you want a chewier and lighter or a more dense cookie.

Make 4 mounds on two parchment paper lined baking sheets (2 on each) and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 15 min…

Eat while still a bit warm…

(This one was made with less apple sauce for a more dense version)

(Adding a bit more Apple sauce gives a lighter version…. this is our favourite )

Back at the Cabin…

I visited my mom at the Cabin on Friday and we had such a great day…

A friend of ours from BC was visiting and he is someone who is just really nice to talk to… My uncle was also there, as he went for a visit last month and hasn’t went back home yet… it is just a really nice and calming place to be, so I don’t blame him for not wanting to leave…

Xavier and Colin have been spending the last days dressed as Knights and they didn’t hesitate brings their armour along…

Two times when we were there, the Deer came to visit… two mamas and two fawns…

This one was trying to get closer to eat some food just across the lake from the cabin.. the boys though were having trouble keeping quiet though and she went and met up with the others again and they headed back into the forest…

One of the boys favourite pass times at the cabin is playing in the dirt and rocks and just getting dirty…

Lilies on the lake…

Khéna was poking around in the water for bit…

and inspecting what he found very closely…

the deer came back again while we were there… this time getting a bit closer…

But the boys were also getting a bit closer… a little too close for comfort…

So off she went….

and off they went…

We headed back home just before dark and two of the boys were asleep within minutes…

I hope they remember their days at the cabin…

Picnics and parks…

We have been keeping busy lately with making the most out the rest of the summer…

With most kids going back to school, the homeschooling scene comes alive again and we have been having something each week with one group or another…

Though I don’t have many pics of it, we went to the first meeting/outing of the new unschooling group here in Montreal. We still have to get together and figure out what the group will become, but it was great going to a park in Montreal and hanging out with quite a few other unschooling families… it will be definitely worth the travel! Xavier is really starting to come out of his shell and is now having so much fun with other kids when we go out instead of playing alone as he used to..

My kids are somewhere around in this pic (or on the other play structure) … but I love that it is a picture of all kids that are unschooled 🙂

Then we had another Picnic, this time with the Montérégiennes group on the south-shore of Montreal. We headed to Ile Ste-Helene /Parc Jean Drapeau where there is an amazing park for kids… I hadn’t been there in years (to the kids park) but I will definitely go back soon… Simon and the boys will be going back tomorrow to go to the amusement park and I would love to check out the Biosphere and head to the park again…

The turnout for the Picnic was pretty good and we stayed for hours while the kids played and we talked…

The climbing structure is amazing and the ground surrounding the park is all bouncy… so bouncy that the kids were having fun falling and rolling on it….

I got this candid shot of Xavier walking around with Khéna and holding hands… I just found them so cute 🙂

Next week we have another Picnic with yet another homeschooling group… This time it will be on Mont-Royal at Beaver lake with the Montreal Homelearners group for the Not-Back-to School annual picnic….

Though we have a lot of fun when we go, I wish that I was a lot closer to these groups… The Travel time and the gas to get there add up quite abit.. but the local group is just not a lot of fun and I really don’t feel like we fit in… with the others however, our differences don’t seem to matter, and we can talk, and share, and just all be part of the group…