Rest in Peace Piggie

Well this sad day arrived much sooner than we thought it would.  Miss Tater Piggie Tot, age unknown, passed away peacefully the morning of Wednesday, May 5th.  She developed an eye ulcer that eventually led her to stop eating, the tiniest little cough and eventually, the end of her too-short life.  She was surrounded by our family and tucked into a blue fleece blanket when she quietly took her last breath.

Her last days were sad, quiet ones.  The day before she died I spent a few extra minutes in the morning sitting by her crate with Laney at my side.  She was thinner and clearly nearing the end, and when she finally passed on I cried all day.  Noah cried, Emma cried, and Jason dug a hole.  Leah made a marker for her tree and Adam shared stories of her poorly timed squeaks during his classes.  Now she is resting in our yard, just outside my window and a wonderful reminder of the happy times we shared with her.

Laney's curiosity about the little critter in the house never waned, and she knew something was wrong the day Tater Tot died.  She stayed by the crate side, letting out confused whines and looking around for some kind of explanation right up until we put her in the ground. 

Watching our pet lose her pet/buddy was the hardest part of the loss.  

Tater Tot was a delightful little pet, with big loving eyes, soft fur, and the sweetest coos and purrs when she was happy.  And when she wasn't happy, we all knew it.  If her meals weren't delivered on time, she squeaked at a maximum volume that could be heard throughout the house.

She created a surprising amount of work for such a tiny little creature- an endless round of feeding and sweeping up poops, changing out bedding and refilling hay almost right up until the end.   In exchange for our diligent efforts Tater Tot rewarded us with the opportunity to witness her quickly scurrying from hidey hole to pink igloo, generally only coming out when she knew food was to be expected, and giving us a good laugh when we put her in the shopping cart or wooden truck for a ride around the house. 

The piggie taught us how to do things we didn't always want to do, to care for something that didn't offer much love in return, and most importantly, to appreciate the time we have together while we have it.  Our time together is unknown.  While we didn't know her exact age, we knew that she was closer to the end of her life than the beginning when we brought her into our home, but we didn't know which cuddle, ride in the shopping cart, or frantic munching of the cilantro we offered her would be the last.  Her happy little life taught us that every one of those moments, someday, become a memory to cherish. 

Rest in peace little piggie.

An Evening with Tater Tot

 One beautiful spring evening we brought Tater Tot out to the sunroom for an adventure in the fresh air. 

She loved the endless supply of spinach and sniffed all over the room.

Laney was not happy that she wasn't invited to the party. 

But it was a fun night for the piggie.  The kids made several videos to document the event. 

Tater Tot is such a sweet little guinea pig.  Adam was feeding her this morning and she grabbed her Vitamin C tablet and ran off in the direction of her hidey hole only to find that I had moved it, then spun around and scurried off in another direction to find a new safe place to hide.  Adam giggled and said, "This is why we have a guinea pig, for cute moments like that." 

She has a bad eye that the vet treated the morning of the first big snowstorm last winter.  Her eye cleared up after a round of drops but it's come back even worse and she's not doing very well right now.  Less eating and less pooping and we're all just trying to give her as much love as we can while we can.  We know she's closer to the end of her life than the beginning but I don't think any of us will quite be ready when she is no longer with us. 

Life According to Laney

When the kids are in school Laney is bored. 

Bored, 

bored, 

Booooooored. 

But when it's lunch time she's ready to play!

Laney has major FOMO (fear of missing out), and she hates it when we go up into the treehouse without her.  Last week Daddy was working on the treehouse while the rest of us were gone and she jumped up four steps on the ladder to be with him, then she was stuck.  She couldn't get up or down, silly pup!

Laney has figured out a clever trick- she likes to go out the back door, which is in the sunroom.  

The door only has a screen and is thereby not easily scratched.  If she doesn't get let back inside in a timely manner, she just trots around to the front door where she can easily scratch on the glass and get let in.  Smart pup!

Laney is always on the lookout for squirrels, deer, 

and other uninvited intruders that might be trying to get close to her family. 

So naturally her mind cannot comprehend the presence of Tater Tot.  

What is this creature that has invaded our house??

Let me get a closer sniff.

Laney has sort of calmed down about the guinea pig, but she doesn't like it when she tries to take something out of my hand.  

Still, Laney has definitely risen to "Everyone's Favorite Pet" status in this house.  She can use the bathroom outside, she does tricks, she plays fetch, she's snuggly and sweet and she gets so excited when we get home! Tater Tot just poops and hides and makes a mess with her hay.  She's cute and fun to watch but she's a lot of work, she's not super snuggly and she hardly has the personality of a pup.  

It just took getting another pet for us to fully realize just how awesome Laney is!  We are all so glad we have a dog!

Online Learning Week 9

Bring your new pet to class day- 

Career Day- 

Class party (aka watch a movie) day- 

Try not to be distracted by your LEGO table day- 

Time for new scenery day- 

We have ten more days to decide if we will continue with online school or transition the kids to onsite classes next semester, starting in January.  If we choose online, everything stays the same.  If Leah goes to her middle school, she will have a total of five months in person there before going to a new ninth grade school in the fall.  If the younger kids choose to go back in person, there is no guarantee that they will get to go to Jordan Creek (our home school), they might be sent to another school that has more classroom openings.  But we won't know for sure until after we've made the decision to send them back.  

As of right now, Leah, Adam, and Emma all want to continue with online school.  Noah said he wanted to give Jordan Creek a try until I explained to him that Mrs. France and his online classmates wouldn't be at that school with him.  So for now, we have 4 out of 4 kids that are voting to stay at home to continue online learning.  They've completed their first round of testing for the year and they are all already testing above the grade levels that they are expected to achieve by the end of the school year.  Online learning is going really well in our house and with COVID and flu season just around the corner, in person full time is not a very appealing option.  Still, the decision isn't fully made here just yet.  Stay tuned!

Welcome Tater Tot!

Boy does Emma have a way with pets and convincing me that we need them!  

 She has been campaigning for a cuddly little caged pet for a while now, and when a friend of ours was moving and looking to rehome their guinea pig, I figured we could give a little critter a try. 

The kids all voted for different names, but ultimately, she is still Tater Tot. 

Also known as the Ginster and Piggie. Any way you call it, we now have a guinea pig!  She is three years old and is soft and sweet- she's never bit anyone which is a great thing considering how sharp her teeth look and she doesn't startle at all, even when Laney is right up in her business. 

And she's really cute!  Kind of like a bunny rabbit without the floppy ears. 

Tater Tot came into our house fully and completely outfitted.  She has four different cages to choose from, six hidey holes, several toys to chew on, a bag full of hay, pellets, Vitamin C tablets and a water bottle, three boxes full of blankets and towels, guinea pig shampoo (which I will never use), and she even came with costumes!  As far as pet start up costs go, she is one cheap little pet. 

All of the kids are enchanted by her, although Noah has yet to pick her up.  She is pretty darn squirmy and has been known to pee on people. 

Her eyes always look this buggy- he's hugging gently!

For all the squirrels in the backyard that she hasn't been able to catch, Laney is incredibly curious about this little critter that has been welcomed into our home.  

She isn't smart enough to figure out how to get into Tater Tot's crate, but we still don't leave them along together.  She makes us all laugh when the piggie disappears into a hidey hole and Laney frantically searches around the perimeter to figure out where she went.

One of Tater Tot's very cutest tricks is eating!  

She eats a LOT and has the poop to prove it.  Major points to Laney for being smart enough to use the bathroom outside.  Tater Tot's work-to-payoff ratio is pretty out of balance compared to the pup- she requires twice daily poop sweepings, twice weekly bedding laundering, twice daily feedings, and she has far less personality than a dog.  Mostly she just lumbers around and scrambles from hiding spot to hiding spot.  So while Tater Tot is a fun new pet for now, we're all happy that Laney will be with us for much longer than this poopy little rodent (said in the nicest way possible, I promise). 

But boy is she super cute!