Goodbye, My Friend

Saturday was a sad day at the Vescapades house: we had to put our cat Tiger to sleep. He had been sick for a few days, and it turns out that his liver had failed. He either ate something poisonous, ate a mouse that had eaten poison, or had some kind of a tumor. We will never know for sure. However, I learned how much he meant to Colby and the kids despite the fact that Tiger hated everyone he ever met (besides Colby).

The kids were scared of Tiger; he bit them all the time for no apparent reason. He would cuddle up and purr in their faces, bite them on the cheek, and run away. My friend's son once said, "Dogs aren't mean, but cats are." Guess where he learned that? I often called Tiger "asshole" or "asscat". He terrorized the neighbors. He attacked the dishwasher repairman. I thought for sure his passing would be relatively painless for the kids. Colby was so upset, much more so than I thought he might be. He even said on the way out of the vet's office, "We're gonna have to get another cat." If Colby was upset, the kids were devastated. They all cried for the cat that hated them.

The girls wanted to draw him pictures. Evie looks visibly sad in her photo.





Soren wrote "I love Tiger" the best she could.



Tiger was cremated and will be spread over the garden of one of the vet techs. We'll miss you, Puss Puss. I know you're in cat heaven hissing at Cat Jesus and licking your booty in front of the tv. I'd expect nothing less from you.

Girl Scouts Update

Our first year of Girl Scouts is off to a great start! I really enjoy thinking of projects, planning meetings, and meeting with the girls. I've got an awesome co-leader, and I couldn't do this without her.

My proudest achievement so far is the kaper chart I made. A kaper chart is the Girl Scout equivalent of a chore chart. It took me all afternoon, but it turned out great.



In October we celebrate the birthday of Girl Scout founder, Juliette Low. In honor of her spirit of giving back to the community, the girls all brought a few items from home including coats, gloves, hats, and warm blankets. Evelyn and I then donated them to our elementary school and the Family Resource Center.





Our next community service activity will be a drive to collect new socks and underwear for kids to be donated to the school and resource center. I was told they are in desperate need of these items, and Troop 20142 will help fill the need. Plus, the girls think it's really hilarious that they get to say underwear at our meetings. We'll let them plan a flier and gather the items for donations.

I'm really excited about sharing the spirit of sisterhood and community service with my troop. I hope the troop sticks together and keeps growing together as Girl Scouts!

This Week in Silly Soren

Soren is always good for a funny line or two. This week was an especially good week for Soren Says.

At supper this week she told us this:

They have werewolf meat at daycare. They have lots of werewolf meat, and it's free.

Riiiiiggghhht.

Yesterday on the way to the YMCA she asked me this (in her best know-it-all voice):

Soren: Mom, do you know what sidewalk is made of? Little tiny rocks, sand, oil, and a little bit of sugar.

Me: No Soren. There isn't any sugar or oil in sidewalk, but there are little rocks.

Soren: Mom, I read it in my book. It said there's sugar. And do you know what makes the lines in the sidewalk? Chalk.

Make Me Proud

This year Evelyn and I joined Girl Scouts together. I am her troop leader. So far we've only had two meetings, but we have so many plans for the year already!

"What?!" you might be asking yourself. "Nichole wouldn't let Brody join Boy Scouts, so why let Evelyn be a Girl Scout?"

Here's the thing: at the national level, the Boy Scouts do not allow kids who are gay or kids who won't espouse a religious belief be a part of a troop. Girl Scouts, however, allow all girls to join. Period. I think women have a greater understanding of what it is to be excluded, and Girl Scouts promotes with great fervor the ideas of sisterhood, inclusion, and community service. How can you serve a community when you exclude people from that community who are different than you? You can't.

I read this story today, and it hit home. Here's the story of a transgendered child who was at first denied membership into a troop because he's got boy parts but he's a girl in his mind. This troop leader didn't want to get in trouble for allowing a boy into the girls-only club. However, instead of Girl Scouts telling the child he can't join, Girl Scouts has actually welcomed him to join. Whether or not the child joins is his parents' decision, but I think Girl Scouts needs more scouts who are strong in the face of adversity.

Heck, we could all use a little strength in the face of adversity.

Stitches Update

No, Sassafras Mama, you didn't miss the post about my stitches. I wasn't sure if it would make interesting blog material, but it turns out having stitches has turned into quite the learning experience.

It all started years and years ago with these wart-like growths on my scalp. I've had them for as long as I can remember, one right near my forehead in my hairline and one on the back of my head. I decided to finally have the one near my forehead removed because I kept combing it and burning it with the curling iron.

I stopped in at our neighborhood Urgent Care Center to have the thing removed. Soren came with me. While the doctor numbed my scalp, cut my head open, removed the thing, and stitched me back up (only three stitches), Soren watched intently and occasionally rubbed my leg. Soren goes everywhere with me, including dental visits and appointments with the midwife. I'm hoping she'll fall in love with one of these doctoring professions and become one. She wasn't grossed out or anything, which is more than I could say for myself.

The growth was sent to pathology, and it came back a s a benign intradermal melanocytic nevus with neurotization. In normal words, it was a cyst. The one on the back of my head is a little bigger and will require more stitches. I spent the few days before the pathology report came back believing that I had some rare form of hair cancer that would surely lead to sudden death. That turned out not to be true......this time. God I hate being a hypochondriac.

I spent a week with some kickass, Frankensteiny stitches, and I'm now left with a little shaved spot near my forehead. Thank goodness I have a ton of hair and can cover the bald spot pretty well. I wouldn't want to scare any small children or anything. Soon I'll be back to normal, and I'll wait to have the other cyst cut out after my sister-in-law's wedding next year (as to not scare any wedding guests).

Though I lost a little chunk of my scalp, I gained a newly discovered love of hats! I'm sure you'll be seeing more of me in them as the winter goes on.

So, I learned what those things on my scalp are. I learned that I love hats. Perhaps most importantly, I hope Soren learns to love the idea of being a doctor.

Kolache Lessons

Kolache: a type of Czech pastry that holds a dollop of fruit rimmed by a puffy pillow of supple dough. Well, if you make them right the dough is supple, but I guess that's the point of taking a kolache class.

My husband's family is of Czech ancestry, and one of their favorite pastries is the kolache. While I'm not a huge fan of eating them, I've always wanted to learn how to make them. I saw that the local community college was offering a kolache baking class, so I quickly passed the information on to my sisters-in-law who also signed up for the class. Colby's grandmother is a family's kolache baker, but it's important that we pass the kolache tradition on to the next generation.

I have to point this out first: I had never, ever made a yeast dough. It has always seemed a little intimidating. However, I knew that with my sisters-in-law at my side I could give it a try.





I was surprised at how easy making yeast dough actually is. I don't know why I was so afraid of trying it all these years. See how pretty the dough is?



My dough rolling skills could use some work, but I'm sure I'll improve from batch to batch. Here are my finished pastries!



My first try must've been a good try because the kids devoured all the kolaches. Even I enjoyed eating the ones I filled with cream cheese. They were a little over baked, but the instructor was in command of the ovens. With 13 ladies in the class, she had a lot of pastries to bake, so I understand how some could get overcooked.

I suppose I'll have to make another batch for the next Vescapades family holiday! You ladies will, too, Amber and Carrie!!

Westboro Baptist Church Catches a Break

Nebraska's Supreme Court has overturned a lower court's ruling that kept the Westboro Baptist "Church" farther away from funerals. The Court stated (here's a link if you want to read the whole story) keeping peaceful protesters hundreds of yards away from a funeral violates their 1st Amendment rights.

Here's the thing: the protests aren't peaceful. I witnessed a Westboro protest in Kansas City in September. Although the protesters did stand and hold their signs without hitting or punching or anything (and they let their kids hold signs that said stuff like "God Hates Fags"....like a kid understands what a fag is), I also know that they yelled things like, "You are a faggot, and you will burn in hell!" That isn't peaceful. Really, it's a hate crime, plain and simple.



Here's another thing: protesting a rock concert is one thing; protesting at the funeral of a dead person who can't defend himself/herself is another thing entirely. The beauty of free speech is that it is a two-way street: Mr. Phelps can hold his "God Hates Fags" signs, and I can stand beside him with a sign that says, "Fuck That Guy." Cool. But dead people can't do that, they can't defend themselves. It's not a two-way street anymore.

I love the 1st Amendment. It's fucking awesome. I use my free speech right every single day while I yell at my television during Rachel Maddow and while I drive around in my minivan with politically-themed bumper stickers attached. I love it!! That said, it hurts a little to know that those folks can stand near to a grieving widow and call her dead husband a fag. I'm lucky enough to know a few people here in Lincoln who will surely be at every single Westoboro funeral protest within a hundred miles. They will pull their motorcycles up alongside the protesters and rev the engines til the shouts of "Faggot!" are drowned out - so that mourners don't have to hear the vile words.

Happy Birthday Kort and Riley!

Oh my goodness, it's another birthday post!! I'm telling you, this time of year is busy. I thought to myself, "I could either write a post about the Wall Street protests or a post about having fun at birthday parties." I'm sure you'll appreciate the party post.

I have to begin by saying the Friday before our busy birthday weekend, Soren was puking. Again. Thank goodness it lasted a very short time this time, but we have her scheduled to go to a gastrointerologist in January. The girl's had the pukes five or six times in the last 18 months. Not normal. Now, moving on....

Saturday morning we headed to Vala's Pumpkin Patch to my nephew's 1st birthday party. The kids have been looking forward all year to going back to the pumpkin patch, and the weather was perfect for a Fall frolic at Vala's. Really, we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. My sister-in-law rented a campsite with a fire and a shed for shelter. It's become our new Fall tradition. Last year when we came, Kort was only a few days old. Now he's 1!

Here's Evelyn with the birthday boy, neither of whom would look at the camera:


We got some cute family photos, too:




Even old married folks like us still like to make out in public:


The kids loved riding on the pedal carts, and Colby and his brother Scott liked racing against the kids. They're pretty much just kids themselves.



While my sister-in-law and I took the girls in the "haunted" house (side note: my sons were too chicken), some idiot pulled the fire alarm. If we thought the haunted house was jinky in the dark, you really should have seen it with all the lights on. It was terrible.

Right after the pumpkin patch, we made the drive back to Lincoln for a swimming party for my friend's daughter, Riley. Colby got in the pool with the kids while I hung out on the sidelines and chatted. I still had stitches in my head, so I thought it best not to soak in pool water.



Here are the party kids ready for cake and presents:


We had a really great time at both parties. It's always great to be reminded of life's blessings, and we are definitely blessed.

Happy Birthday, Soren!

As promised, my long series of birthday posts continues today in celebration of my baby's birthday. After many long discussions about what she'd like to have for her birthday party, Soren finally decided on a costume party (after we refused Chuck E. Cheese with great fervor).

Oh my gosh, was this a fun party!!!

Soren's costume of choice???? Captain America. Kick ass.




We decorated the garage just a little bit. Thank goodness it was nice enough (hot, even) to have the party in the garage. I baked three kinds of cupcakes: pumpkin, banana, and chocolate.



Here's our fun family portrait, all dressed up in costumes. I'm the Eskimo, Colby's a jester, Dade's Tiger Woods (side note: everyone said, "But Tiger Woods is Black!" Correction, people: he's White, Black, and Asian. Jeez.), Brody as Darth Vader, Evelyn the devil, and, of course, Captain America.



Soren had so many friends join her to celebrate:














Grandma wanted a photo of all her grandkids dressed up, and she got one!



We made some crafts, played spooky bingo, and even trick-or-treated. Although by the end of the party I was exhausted, it was one of the most fun kids' parties we've ever had. There were more than 20 kids here, and all of them were very well behaved (until Brody led a gang of boys down the block and around the corner freaking out one of the boys' moms). I'm looking forward to buying lots of great Halloween clearance goodies for next year's party. I know Colby's totally psyched. Or not.