The Bunderground railroad or Why it took 8 hours to vacuum the play room.

I mentioned in a recent post how active my BIL is in the care of my FIL. What I did not mention is that my wife, since she has some time off this summer has volunteered to give Mike a week off and work with her Dad this week.

This morning Amy and the girls took off for Grandpaville (that's not the real name of the town) at about 6:30 a.m. leaving a small list of things for Charlie and I to accomplish while they were gone. Again this was a relatively small list. Charlie's room was painted this Saturday with the help of a H.S. graduate from our home school co-op who is earning money for a nearly 1/2 year trip to England come September. As a result, all of Charlies room, save his bunk bed is in one of our main rooms.

This morning I gave Charlie a half hour of computer time and went to read in my room before starting on the jobs. Charlie let Smoky, our bunny out into the play room which is a very common occurrence. A half hour later Charlie and I started on the list. The first thing was vacuum the play room. So I went to get Smoky and move him out of the way (He doesn't like the sound of the vacuum cleaner). Smoky was nowhere to be found. Now he's gone missing before, but we have a small house and we've never had to look more than 5 minutes.

There were no doors open and while there is a small hole next to the dryer that leads to the outside it is much too small for Smoky to get through. We spent hours looking for that bunny and praying. Like I said we live in a small house, so we kept looking in the same places over and over again. What was really odd and scary was that we couldn't hear him. Most of the time when he is out of the cage we know what room he is in from the scratching noises emanating from that room. We couldn't hear anything. I even turned off the fish tank filter, refrigerator and fans but still nothing. As the hours passed by this lack of noise was bringing me to the opinion that he was either dead or out of the house.

Charlie in the mean while was very upset with himself as He was the one who let the bunny out of the cage. Charlie did nothing wrong! A bunny cannot be cooped up in a cage all the time and we had all let Him out before for longer than the half an hour Charlie did. We were both dreading telling Emma that her bunny was missing. Charlie was afraid that she would be mad at Him. I was afraid that it would break her heart. We had just celebrated his first birthday over the weekend and now he was gone. I called Amy at her folks and let her know what was happening. She wisely kept the girls in the dark. She also alerted her facebook friends to pray.

We walked around the block a couple of times asking neighbors of they had seen him. Poor Charlie would hear the sound of trucks backing up and convince himself it was a bird of prey attacking. I did my best to calm him down. I asked Him if he would blame me if I was the one who let Smoky out of His cage and he said no. So I said why would you blame yourself?

Instead of cleaning the house we pretty much destroyed it looking for Smoky. We dumped out all the buckets of shoes, toys, clothes that Smoky could possibly be at the bottom of. We basically ransacked the house in search of our precious commodity.

The aforementioned student came by at 2 to help us hang new curtains in Charlie's room. He also helped me check in places Smoky might have gotten into. At 3:40 Amy who had been checking in all day texted us that she and the girls would be home in 20 minutes. I texted back that there was still no sign or sound of Smoky. At that point I was pretty sure that I would soon be explaining to my 10 year old daughter that Her bunny was either dead or gone.

Charlie and I went into my room and I prayed that if Smoky wasn't dead but just sleeping or hiding somewhere that God would wake him up or lead him back to us. 5 minutes later I heard a sound. Now I had heard sounds before that but it was usually Charlie in the next room. One time it was literally Charlie turning the page of the book he was reading. It was that quiet in the house with the fan, refrigerator and fish tank off. This was a bunny like sound. A scratching behind the wall of my bedroom. The room behind my bedroom is the bathroom. The sound I heard was coming from the bathtub area. Well we had checked the bathtub a dozen times. He wasn't in the bath tub. The sound was coming from underneath the bath tub.

Our dryer is in our kitchen behind the dryer there is an access panel to the back of the bath tub. I checked there at least 4 times but I was always concentrating with a big hole under the bath tub. I noticed there was a small area on the side of the bath tub that maybe a bunny could crawl into. I called Smoky's name for like the thousandth time (I'm crying even as I type this) and got a carrot we had left over from his birthday party and held it out over the opening. 30 second later, he stuck his face in the opening. For a second I thought I was imagining it since I so much wanted him to be alive. But he was really there! For a scary second I thought he was going to turn around and go back where I couldn't follow Him. But I was able to get him out of the hole.
5 minutes later Emma was home and wasn't surprised at all to see Smoky right in the cage where she left him in the morning. Amy on the other hand was shocked. Like me she had not counted on seeing that bunny again.

For 6 hours, Smoky was underground and is acting like he was never gone. I may contact a vet in the morning just to be on the safe side. A minute before the girls came home I joked with Charlie that this was one way to get out of doing our jobs. I am so thankful to God that it turned out to be a day where there could be laughter instead of tears. Alright laughter and tears instead of just tears.

Next Time: A Good Book

Emma's Favorite Day of the Year

The day after Easter is one of Emma's favorite days. This is because it blends in one of her passions with one we are trying to instill in her. The day after any holiday is usually a great time to get bargains on that holiday's merchandise. Which means that the day after Easter is a bunny lover on a budget's dream come true.

Some years we hit store after store for bargains. This year we just went to Walgreens where all Easter merchandise was 50% off. She got a really nice Webkins bunny. Also, she got her own real bunny back today as Smoky was being bunny-sat all of last week. It also didn't hurt that her favorite baseball team (White Sox) won their season opener today with her favorite player (Mark Buehrle) getting the victory.

All in all a great day for our bunny girl.

Next Time: By the Way . . .

Pictures from captivity

Some pictures from our recent illness.

The past week the kids and I have been sick. Even though I hear some coughing in the background. We all seem to be for the most part well.
I thought I would just share a few pictures of the week that was.





Emma and Lucy baked cookies over the weekend. Lucy wanted one at bedtime. She fell asleep with it.

Here is a closeup.










On Wednesday the kids called me into Charlie's room. Here is what Charlie had picked out to wear.









Here is how I looked after being basically locked up with 3 sick kids for a week.









Here is how I felt.







So that's our week. I am glad we are all finally well and that I lived to tell the tale. I showed my face again this week. Now it's time for you to head over to Show my face dot com for more 6 word Saturday.

Next Time: Celebrating Charlie and Keith

Happy 10th birthday to our Bunny Girl

Today is my little bunny girl's 10th birthday. As far as bunnies go she is not very fast. She went form zero to ten in ten years!!!

We gave her her very own bunny on Saturday as her present. You can read more about said bunny by clicking HERE To commemorate her birthday I am giving her a revised copy of a short story I wrote for her when she was 3. It was a Christmas present at the time. I will share it here also. Let me present ...

The Forgetful Bunny

My name is Billy Bunny and I have a sad story to tell. It all began the Thursday morning after Easter. Thursdays are some of my toughest days. They are so close to Fridays you can feel it, but they are still deeply rooted in Mondays. This particular Thursday was the Thursdayest! I woke up late and all my bunny brothers and sisters had used all the hot water, so I had to have cold water for my shower. On top of that, all the yummy carrot porridge was gone and I only got a woeful amount of twigs and berries. Twigs and berries are okay for some, but when your mouth wakes up expecting carrot porridge, twigs and berries just won’t do it.

I almost missed the bus and when I got to school, my best friend Jeremy Jumping Hare was mad at me. On Monday, Jeremy had come over with all his Easter eggs and we had played with them until we went out to play bunny ball. Jeremy left the eggs at my house. When it began to get dark, Jeremy went right home because his house is very close to the bunny ball field.

Jeremy told me don’t forget to bring the eggs to school tomorrow. But you know what? On Tuesday, I forgot! Jeremy understood cause he knows I can be a very forgetful Bunny.

I forgot again on Wednesday and this time, Jeremy was not so understanding. I promised him I would not forget on Thursday. But Thursday morning was so Thursdayish, I clean forgot!

I gave Jeremy my best shrug and was right about to promise that Friday, carrot porridge or no carrot porridge, he would have his eggs back. But before I could begin he said:

“Listen, Billy Bunny! If my eggs are more important to you than being friends, you can keep them! But we won’t ever be friends again."

That is my sad sad story. Jeremy Jumping Hare doesn’t want to be my friend anymore. He and I have been best bunny buddies since we could hardly hop. If I can only have one friend over to stay the night, it is always Jeremy. When I buy bunny ball cards, I always give my doubles to Jeremy, even if he doesn’t have any good trades.

It is still Thursday, I just got home on the bus. I got aninvitation to Emma Roller’s bunny party, but I don’t even want to go. Jeremy will be there. and we’d usually hang out and have lots of fun. What fun is a party when your friend isn’t your friend anymore?

I know what I’ll do! I’ll march right over to the meadow and find Jeremy. I am sure he is jumping in the high clover. Jeremy always jumps in the high clover when he’s mad.

Here I go march, march, march. I see Jeremy and give him the eggs and say:

"Even if we can’t be friends any more I want you to have your eggs."

Then I give him my only Roddy Rabbit bunny ball card. Roddy Rabbit is the best bunny baller ever! His cards are harder to come by than either Hop Harrelson's or Sweet Bunny Brown's .

Jeremy takes the eggs and the card and says we can still be friends. I’m going to see him tomorrow at Emma’s party!

Not a bad day, even for a Thursday!

We love you bunny! Happy Birthday!

Special Thanks to Write Anything for including this in the October Carnival of Creativity.

Next Time: Agua only August

A Place for Everything; Everything on Floor.

WFMW is having a special themed edition on organizational tips today. Organization is not one of my strong suits as my title suggests. My late brother made that wry observation once, noting that while I often had an elaborate organizational system nothing ever seemed to get where it was supposed to be.

So why am I just not laying low until next week? A good question. I think what I want to share today is what I would title as a "Works For Me" in progress, something that I chronically struggle with but hope to subdue someday.

Here are some ways I am trying to get Organization to work for me:

• Looking through the mail.

Before: Stopping everything I was doing to get the mail when it came in and invariably leaving junk mail and catalogues I "was going to get to" all over the house.

Now: Try to wait until I am able to deal with the mail to take it out of the box. Go through mail near garbage can so I can throw away all junk immediately.

Working On: To be able to deal with all mail in one setting putting bills and correspondence where they belong and disposing of rest.

• Keeping house in order.

Before: Leaving job after job 1/2 done with idea of getting to later. Dealing with cleaning and organization on as needed or crisis to crisis basis.

Current: Attempting to order as I go. Finding that I often still am under the command of the tyranny of the urgent. I also have tinkered with "multitasking" which usually ends with a 1/2 cleaned mess in every room and a frazzled and frustrated me.

Working on: To finish one job completely before moving on with another. This isn't to say that I can't have the lunch in the oven while I'm finishing the morning lessons. But the idea of helping one kid cook ramen, one with a computerized math lesson, and one with math at the table simultaneously while emptying the dishwasher is now a complete anathema to me.

• Involving the children with the household tasks.

Before: Spend most of my day coaxing the children to do minimal amounts of work and generally having to redo their work myself.

Current: Every one has a routine in the morning that is to be completed before school starts. I try to split up tasks like preparing for or cleaning up a meal so each child can participate to their abilities. I still find myself cleaning up after them much more often than I'd like.

Working On: Breaking responsibilities in component parts and assigning them in advance. For example: Emma is in charge of feeding the bunny and replacing his hay each morning. Charlie changes his water bottle. I empty the bunny's tray each day. Emma is teaching Lucy how to brush the bunny's fur and they will rotate that job. Charlie, Emma and I rotate vacuuming the area where the bunny's cage is. I also am working to have them complete a job without my intervention.

So working on getting organized works for me. To see what works for those less organizationally challenged than myself step on over to WE ARE THAT FAMILY. To see all my other WFMW posts click Here.

Next Time: Hoppy Birthday

A Bunny at Last

When my oldest daughter was 4 months old, my mom gave her a red stuffed bunny for her first Christmas. She named him red bunny and he became her favorite toy and started her life long love for bunnies. Not only would she sleep with it, each and every night, she would also suck on its ear, as if it was a pacifier. She did this so much that the ear became black and her teeth started getting black marks on them. We tried to have her switch ears to no avail. In the end, we had to cut off the bunnies ear making him Vincent Van Bunny.

Now she has had a couple of dozen stuffed bunnies over the years, none of them as important to her as red bunny. Until, I should say, a few years ago at her cousin's birthday party at build-a-bear when she brought home Alice. Alice became her new best friend and bedtime companion. The great thing about Alice for us was that she was the best consequence we could ever use to discipline her. When we'd ask her to bring Alice to us, and she knew we meant business!



Soon after she got red bunny, she became enamored with real bunnies and especially the possibility of owning one. She began to learn the ins and outs of the bunny business. When she was almost 3, she taught me that baby bunnies are called kittens. When she was about 5, to curb the requests for a bunny, we told her that when she was 10, we would get a pet. Well quite honestly, we never quite expected her to become 10. But 5 +5 is alas, 10 and today I bought my bunny her first real bunny.



About 6 weeks ago she and I went bunny searching at the Kane County Fair. We encountered a girl who had 6, 2 week old bunnies and was willing to sell one to us after they were weaned. Emma was keen on getting a girl bunny and the seller was pretty sure that at least one of the kittens would be a girl. Earlier this week, I contacted the seller and alas, all 6 kittens were boys. She did have a 6 month old doe, and she was willing to sell her. Bunny decided that she would rather have an 8 week boy than a 6 month girl. Yesterday we bought all the needed equipment and today we bought the bunny, a grey jersey wooley, which Bunny has named Smoky. In a future post, I will put up pictures of the 3 most significant bunnies (stuffed and otherwise) in her life. But the most significant bunny in MY life is my little bunny girl!

Next Time: 7 Word September

Life Sentence

Last week I discovered Six Word Saturday. My words for this week:

Picking berries and preparing for bunnies.

We have a berry bearing tree which we picked this week. We also are going blueberry picking as a family this weekend. Our oldest turns 10 in early September and we have been promising her a pet bunny on her 10th birthday for 1/2 her life. So we have been in full bunny prepmode around here. Hitting the county fair and talking with all manners of people. We have even been offered a free one. We are trying to make a decision in regards to which bunny and when.



To see other people's Six word summations are share your own head on over to Show My Face.

Next Time: Happy Birthday Grandma.