Welcome Franklin

I don't think I wrote about our newest member of our family, Franklin.  Franklin who we call him Frankie is a tiny and furry kind and he has cute little nose that sticks out from his burrow when we call his name.  He has two black eyes that are perfectly placed for maximized cuteness.  He makes Grace jealous when we talk to him sweetly.  She has this look of "humph!!" with her mouth tightly closed and a little frown.  She is a funny chubby cat.  She doesn't like when kids are all over her but misses it when Frankie gets attention from them!

Frankie is a Dwarf Roborovski Hamster.  His kind is from a Kazakhstan region and although I can't imagine hamsters living in the wild, they apparently do.  He is smaller than average hamsters and moves very fast.  I am not sure he will ever be tame or we many not have time and patience to make him one.  He used to hide when we get near the cage, but now he comes out to get a sniff at us when we call his name.  It might be as tame as he gets at least for now.

The way I told kids about how I "met" Frankie at PetSmart next to my Trader Joe's went like this (some parts of it is fiction):

So, I went shopping at Trader Joe's and after buying groceries, stopped by at PetSmart next door to buy Grace's canned food. While I was walking towards the cat section, I passed by cube displays of small pets.  There were many different kinds of rodents and bunnies moving, eating and sleeping in their cages.  I got curious and took a closer step and then I saw him.  He was pressing his cute tiny hands against the glass staring at me.  His eyes and my eyes met and I fell in love with him.  And that's why Frankie came home with me unplanned.   Just because I walked in to pet shop to buy cat food and fell in love.  The End.

It is true, I walked in to PetSmart to buy cat food and it is true I passed by the small pets display.  That day, I was in a strange mood to do something I wouldn't do normally.  I guess I felt adventurous.  I was looking at different kinds of hamsters and noticed how cute they were.  My parents had several hamsters in replacement for their absent daughter and they brought joy to my parents.  I also remembered how much my kids asked for a hammy whenever we came to a pet shop.  I went to the care supply area and noticed that the cages and care packages were on sale. It was a sign.  I am taking one home today, I thought.  I asked the store clerk which kind of hamsters they recommend.  The care taker said the Robo hamsters are not biters and they are easy to care.  It's not that Frankie was staring at me but rather he was the slowest to escape from the care taker's reach. He was put in a small box and came home with me!

Mike came home early that day before the kids did.  I didn't tell him of course and when he saw the bright cage, he was surprised.  He couldn't wait to see the kids reaction when they come home.  I went to pick up the kids at school and told them they have a surprise waiting at home.  They walked faster than usual and were excited to find out what it was.   When they saw the cage and a small box, they were ecstatic!  They couldn't believe I brought home a hamster.  Sean couldn't rationalize me buying a hamster after all these years of begging.  He kept asking me "how?"  "why?" so I came up with the dramatic version of the story.  It needed that bang because it was too good to be true. 

Sean has been cleaning his cage every week and doing a good job it.  Frankie goes on a "walk" every other day on the hamster ball and runs around the living room and kitchen.  Grace cares less about him and she completely ignores him.  Frankie is part of the family now and we are glad I had a sudden epiphany that day to bring him home!

Fall is Almost Gone!

Wow, I can't believe it is in December already!

I know this blog has been quiet lately.  I love to write and get my inner writer out in the big Internet world, but I just haven't had the strong motivation for it lately.  I think I am starting to feel drowning in all the social media engagements.  I have never been active in social media sites, but with my work as a photographer, I am supposed to be diligently posting my photos and advertising my work.  It is not so easy to do that for me.  Looking at other photographers' websites and social networking sites makes me feel overwhelmed.  I am not sure why I feel that way and why I tend to shy away from posting my work on the Web.  I take it as a sign that I am not ready to get there yet.  After all, I have a lot on my plate with Noah's ABA therapies being every day.  My kids are growing up and they are facing new emotional challenges which require my attention as well. 

I do love this blog and I will keep posting no matter how long it takes.  The healing power of writing has been my savior through the hard times.  Aly is shaping up to be a decent writer, actually an awesome writer, who chooses her words carefully in writing.  She writes stories, usually about friendships and adventures of animals with some intricate expressions.  I am encouraging her to write and write away as she pleases.  So, I want to do the same for myself.  I should write as long as I can and it feels so good to write my feelings as I type.

Well, as for the happenings in the fall... Halloween was fun.  It was a bit rainy and cold but the kids did the usual trick or treating around the neighborhood.  Kevin took his boys plus Sean and Saya with him to make the rounds and I took Aly.  We were supposed to meet up somewhere but that never happened as Kevin's team went quite far to collect humongous amount of candies!  Sean's bag was so heavy, he had red markings on his palm.  He also picked the only candies he liked so all 7 pounds of good stuff.  Saya also collected so much that she almost couldn't carry it.  Aly and I walked around in rain and hit some houses in the neighborhood, but Aly was so spooked by the scary house in the corner, we didn't go that far. The scary house has scaled down on decoration but their youngest son, Jayce, who is in middle school invited his friends to swing around the fake chain saws with masks on to scare little children.  Aly was terrified, she wouldn't even go near the house.  Poor kid. 

They had class parties and I attended Sean's and Saya's parties.  Sean didn't dress up for school party since he is too old for that kind of stuff he says, but dressed up as a character from Star Wars (forgot the name) for trick or treating.  Noah became a Mafia Boss again and he looked hilarious in it.  Actually, I think he really enjoyed wearing it and wooed the therapists and fellow students at his private therapy school.  Some staff came out from the office just to see him.  He was that funny.  Aly became a black cat.  That girl just loves cats and she might become a serious cat lady someday. I am hoping she gets married to a human though...  Saya became a wolf girl and she looked pretty cute in it.  She attended her class party in her costume and I think she was the cutest one out there.  None of my girls are into any girly princess stuff anymore.  I am glad but a bit sad at the same time!  They are in animal phase for a while now and I suppose they will move on to tween stuff soon.  I don't think I am ready for that! 

Sean has been acting like a mouthy teenager lately.  He has had a rebellious streak from before, well since he was two, but now has the teen twang to it.  Oh boy.  I was thinking, so this is what people say about teens being difficult.  He is quite dramatic and says thnings like "this is the worst day of my life!" or "I am the unluckiest kid in the world!"  I guess I have to do some reading about how to handle those annoying teen outbursts.  He tells me that I am annoying and if I tell him that "no, you are more annoying," then it becomes a really silly childish arguments between a 40-something and a 10-year-old...  It is quite sad, really.  His hormones aren't active yet so I just can't wait to see what happens when he is going through puberty...