HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAMSTERS!!! AND FLUFFY IS FERTILE...FERTILE...FERTILE...

Hi Friends!!!

I have everyone sound asleep...everyone except me...can't sleep...imagine that!!! It occurred to me that I forgot some of the most interesting events of the day!!!

When arriving home with the Malone kids and Cameron at 3:30, I was greeted with freaked out/hyper kids (Nate, Isaac, and Molly). Annie informed me that Fluffy (yes -- the female hamster we got two days ago!) had given birth and was eating her young. Can you say, WELCOME HOME, MOM!!!??? Nate and Isaac were just hyper and excitable, viewing it as a scientific experiment. Molly, our resident drama queen, was in hysterics over the whole experience!!! We all had a long discussion about how animals can be, and then we seemed to move on.

Fast forward...after our trip to Wiernerschnitzel...the boys insist that they can see babies that the mom is nursing. I chalked it up to wishful thinking, but sure enough LATE in the evening we discovered that she indeed had 5 more babies that she hadn't eaten and was taking care of!!! So, we were all thrilled and it took forever to calm down again. And then we had to take Teddy, the male hamster out of the cage, so that we wouldn't have anymore hamster cannibalism. Males will eat the young no matter what, so we were planning to mate the hamsters, and then remove the male hamster into another cage in a week or so. FYI -- female hamsters ovulate every 4 days and only carry the babies for 16 days. So, we figured within a week or two -- Fluffy would be pregnant. We just didn't realize we bought a pregnant hamster!!! I'm not upset, but the timing could have been better to say the least. I will call the pet store tomorrow, though, and see if they will give me a discount on more hamster supplies since they basically sold me a knocked up hamster!!!

Meanwhile, Teddy is in a makeshift cage made out of a rubber-maid toy bin. Don't worry there is ventilation. Because by the time we realized we had 5 babies, it was 10:40 and too late to go out and buy a cage anywhere. By the way, the mama hamster is joyfully running in her exercise wheel stopping by the nest every once in a while to nurse or check on her young ones. I don't remember having that much energy after giving birth, but Oh Well!

So, that's quite a story... and between that and Judi and all the kids --- it made for quite a day. Can't believe I forgot to blog about it earlier, but my brain was really frazzled then. I guess 7 kids and a severely injured BFF will do that for you!

I'm going to give sleep one more try... I'll have the boys post about the hamsters tomorrow as part of their schooling. It was funny, because today I felt bad that not much "learning" was done -- but God definitely provided our science class in animal husbandry today. And tomorrow we'll be continuing on that as well as doing some art projects to decorate Judi's hospital room.

Much Love,
Michele

WAY-TOO-LONG WEDNESDAY ....

Hi Friends!

Did you ever have one of those days? Well, I'm having one. I spent the first part of the day at the hospital with Judi. She is still at Simi Hospital. They decided not to move her to WoodLand Hills until tomorrow. She is in a lot of pain, and she wasn't looking very good -- so that was hard. Her Mom, Jeff, and the kids were there. I took the kids home with me in the afternoon, and they hung out here with my kids, me, and Annie. We went to Weinerschnitzel for dinner to try to take everyone's mind off of the situation. At 8:30 I took the kids over to their house and started getting them ready for bed while Annie stayed here with my kids. Judi's Mom came over shortly after and relieved me, so that I could go back home. Honestly, though -- I'm glad to help and feeling like it's my turn to be there for Judi after all she's done for me. After all, a true friend is there for you no matter what and whenever you need them. Right now Bill is at his usual Wednesday night Men's Group -- we figured we needed the prayer!!!~ Now I'm going to put kids to bed!
More tomorrow ...

Much Love,
Michele

UPDATE ON JUDI!!!

Hi!

I have an update on Judi. She is still at Simi Valley Hospital, and she is going into surgery to have a rod put into her leg.

Love,

Michele

P.S. -- This is Judi at my birthday party.

Prayers for Judi!!!

Hi Friends!

This will be short as it's been a bad day. But I am blogging to request prayers. My good friend, chemo buddy, and neighbor -- Judi Malone was in a serious car accident today. Her front tire went flat causing her to lose control of her car. She ended up hitting a house in our neighborhood. She totaled the car and was seriously injured. She is currently at Simi Valley Hospital, and we know so far that she has a broken hip and pelvis as well as internal injuries. They are trying to stabilize her before moving her to Kaiser in Woodland Hills. I had her kids with me this afternoon, and of course -- Will, Heather, and Justin are very worried about their Mom. We took them swimming, and Annie brought pizza for dinner tonight in order to keep everyone's mind off the situation. The kids are now back at home with their aunt and uncle who will be staying until we hear more from Jeff -- who is Judi's husband. When I hear more, I'll let you know. In the meantime, please keep her in your prayers. Good night!

Love,
Michele

THE BLAND ZOO!!!

Hi Friends!

Just a short note to let you know that all of us at the Bland zoo are doing well. Now besides the 6 of us zooey Bland family members, we have Bingo (the dog), Bo Bo (the cat), Alex (the lizard), and Fluffy and Teddy (the hamsters). The boys spent most of the day researching hamsters on the internet, and they're pretty excited about the prospect of hamster babies. Today they married Fluffy and Teddy to keep it legal. Fluffy wore a white napkin for a veil, and it was quite cute. Right now we're going to watch The Brady Bunch Movie before bedtime. We only had time for Chicken Little last night as the day got away from us!

More tomorrow...

Love,
Michele

MEGA HAMSTER MONDAY!!!

Hi Friends!

This is a special story written by Nate and Isaac about their homeschooling today.

Love,

Michele

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Hi!

We'd like to introduce you to our two new hamsters. They are both teddy bear hamsters. Isaac's hamster is a boy named Teddy. Nate's hamster is a girl named Fluffy. We are hoping they have babies. They like each other, and we just saw them kiss earlier. They have also been grooming each other.

We used to have hamsters, but a while ago they died. We really wanted to have hamsters again. So, we saved up our money and today Mom took us shopping. First, we went to Theresa's Pet Store. There were no hamsters there -- just a lot of reptiles, guinea pigs, and bunnies. Cameron already has a lizard, and Nate is allergic to guinea pigs, and Mom says bunnies are too much work.

So, next we went to Big Al's. That's where we found our hamsters. They were right next to a really noisy bird. It was so loud it almost broke our ear drums! Isaac picked Teddy, because he was a teddy bear hamster, and he had already chosen the name Teddy before we got there. Nate picked Fluffy because she was a good match for Teddy. They look alike. They are black with gray fluffy hair sticking out on their rear ends.

When we saw them in the pet store, Teddy was really calm. Fluffy, however, was hanging on the roof bars of her cage like a monkey. She is a wild woman! On the way home, she ate through her travel box, and we barely got her home in time before she could have escaped.

They really like their cage. They have a tube with fluff in it. They have a wooden house and an exercise wheel. Their cage has two stories. The top story is the kitchen where the food and water is. The bottom story is for sleeping, playing, and using the bathroom. They have a tiny litterbox, which they have already started using.

We are holding them as we write this. They are so cute and soft. When we talk to them, they answer us by shaking their heads for yes or no. We really love our hamsters, and we think they are very smart! They seem to understand us, which makes them the smartest hamsters in the world!

-- By Nate and Isaac Bland

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Hi Friends!

I'm sorry that I haven't blogged for quite a while as we were having computer issues. Bill upgraded our computer, and we had some technical difficulties. But, it's back up again -- so I'm in business! This past week seemed to speed by. On Thursday, we had Open House at Hillside, which is Molly's middle school. I went with her, and that seemed really important to her. In the beginning of the year, I was too sick, and as a result I hadn't been able to meet most of her teachers. So, it was nice to finally get the chance.

On Friday, after home-schooling I went grocery shopping. Then in the evening, Bill came and picked me up and we went out on a date. Shirlene picked up Nate and Isaac for their usual Friday night sleep-over. And Annie came over to get the older kids and treated them to dinner at Islands and dessert at Baskin-Robbins. They were watching Madagascar 2 when we got home. I really feel that we and our kids are blessed to have such caring friends!

Bill and I met some of his friends from work at a movie theater in Camarillo. It was opening night for the Star Trek movie. I enjoyed the movie, but those trekkies are really hard-core! Some of them were even dressed up like Spock with the ears, etc. One of Bill's colleagues was the first person in line. He got there at 5:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. show. So, we got good seats thanks to him! After the movie, Bill and I went our own way to spend some time alone. We went to dinner at SoupPlantation. It was nice to get some time together.

On Saturday, we all seemed to have a busy day. In the morning -- we all had preparations to do. Cameron cut the lawn, Bill got the pool ready, and I made the cake and did decorations for Molly's swimming birthday party. The other kids and Brandon helped. Bill also needed to print out flyers for the Boy Scouts because they were participating in the Simi Valley Street Fair on Saturday. Bill and Cameron did the Street Fair from 12-6 p.m. Bill manned the booth, and Cameron worked on garbage detail. They pay the Scouts to do that on an hourly basis. The more they make and have in their account, the less we have to pay for things like summer camp. So, of course, we like Cameron to work at events like this as much as possible. He had a good time, and he came home with a green anole lizard, which he bought for only $5. Her name is Alex, short for Alexandra. We have spent the weekend building her habitat and observing her. She's a lot of fun to watch. Very fast and very acrobatic!

Molly had a nice pool party with 4 girlfriends, and then of course -- all of us and her neighborhood friends. It was from 1-4 p.m. She had a pink, strawberry theme with strawberry cake and pink lemonade, etc.

By the time the girls all left, Brandon got picked up, and Bill and Cam got home -- it was time to go to Saturday night church. After church, I made dinner and went to bed before the kids. I am still struggling with fatigue, but it's getting a little bit better.

I slept until noon today, and I am currently still in my PJs, so I am definitely having a nice Mother's Day. I got some lovely roses in a beautiful vase from my family, so that was very nice.

I also got a special letter from Cam, my 16 year old autistic son, which reads --

Dear Mom,

I love you and several things about you. To start with you are fun. You also enjoy anything I make even if it doesn't look as good as everyone else's made products. I hope you have a a great Mother's Day. I hope you enjoy my letter.

Your loving son, Cameron.

P.S. I love your garden.

And he hugged me today! It doesn't get much better than that.

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So, today we're just vegging out. I think my family will make dinner for me. And we're planning on going swimming and then watching my two favorite movies -- Chicken Little and the Brady Bunch!

Right now I'm going to shower, and then I'll go and hang out with the kids. Bill was up early this morning, so he is taking a short nap.

Much Love,

Michele