"Rascal"

For those anxious to hear about the end of the raccoon saga, here are a few photos. As a recap:

1. Candice hears crazy loud sounds like a dog stuck in the wall between the dormer windows in the baby's room. It's 11 p.m., middle of a rainstorm, and Ed is still at work. Animal control says its probably a raccoon, maybe with a nest of babies, and they don't take care of that sort of thing.

2. Ed decides he doesn't want to pay anyone $1000 to "humanely dispose" of the problem, so he sets up an elaborate sting operation, including holes in the wall for a webcam, flashlight, and my brother's heat covered in tuna juice. One night we actually see cute little ears on the webcam, but despite shooting off a round (don't worry--they were bullets that wouldn't pierce the opposing wall/roof), Ed misses. At least, we heard raccoon noise a while later and nothing in the wall smells yet. We're still waiting for the heat of summer... We try another set-up with peanut butter and honey, but nothing comes of it.



3. I decide to go up and peruse the attic, finding trails in the insulation, hollowed out beds over the bathrooms, and a pile of droppings next to a HUGE hole in the eaves (9"x17") that the builder had kindly left open due to it's difficulty to access.

4. Ed decides one freezing January night, again at 11 p.m., that it's time to cover the hole, so he tethers himself to the solar panel pipes and hangs upside down with his new pneumatic nail gun to cover the hole with hardware cloth. He had to scrape ice and snow off the shingles to make a place for himself. I was only a little nervous he'd fall to his death.



5. Thanks to a smart and courageous husband who is also slightly off his rocker, no more raccoon bothers the Stratford home. Next month we plan to open the wall in the baby's room and clean up whatever mess is there, of course also repairing all the holes we put in the wall. Oh, and of course we cleaned up the attic already.

So how have we been?

It's been a while since I contacted the world, but not much has changed. This is one of the kids favorite dance party songs, first introduced to them in honor of Grandpa Taylor, Captain of Police.

Mary

Mary is seven, excited to turn 8 in July,and likes to throw tea parties. She is enjoying second grade and just this week is making a leprechaun trap. She has decided she's going to be a world-famous scientist when she grows up, that she will not change diapers: that will be Eli's job, because he's going to stay at home with the kids while she goes to work. She always tells me she wishes I worked and Dad stayed home because he's a lot funnier. I told her to take it up with her father--I'm ready as soon as he is.



She loves everything to do with dinosaurs, and her dream is to go to BYU to study paleontology. (We promised the kids our family vacation this summer will be a tour of dinosaur sites in Utah.) With Mom and Dad so heavily in the Social Sciences/Humanities, we need a scientist in the family. (I think Isaac will cover the Math.) She is playing violin in the school orchestra but doesn't like it enough to warrant carrying it around school two days a week. I've also tried teaching her piano, but she and I both do a lot better when she teaches herself from the books.



Mary has also developed a more willful and eclectic fashion sense than ever. She won't even admit to owning pants (she keeps throwing her jeans back in my room). I only have a say in what she wears when I fight for it, and I figure if she'll just let me comb her hair once a day then I've fought all the fight I want to fight. (Here she is jumping on the trampoline, hence the weird face. But would you look at all that hair!)

Isaac

Isaac is enjoying kindergarten, learning to read and can not wait for warmer weather. He loves cats, dogs and all other animals, but they are the first (besides Mom) to bear the brunt of any pent-up frustration. Last Halloween he wanted to be a dinosaur, so I made him a costume which he was thrilled with... until he went trick-or-treating and everyone told him he was "cute." He wanted to be scary. Sorry bud. I don't know how to sew scary.


He's also our budding photographer. For his subjects he particularly prefers toys, TVs, or his sisters.

Linda

Linda lately is the life of the party. At least SHE thinks she is. Just today I caught her trying to do her hair, a la mousse and toilet paper. She also has developed an aversion to clothing.




Linda is jealous that everyone gets to go to school but her, so we signed her up for preschool in the fall, two days a week. She met her teacher on Friday and the first thing she said was "I really have a headache." She's very independent and if I'm not watchful, she disappears out the front door (the only one she can get open) and wanders the neighborhood without shoes, coat, hat or any of the three.



My favorite dinnertime exchange of the last few months went as follows (and which says just as much about Mary's personality as it does about Linda's):
Mary: "Mom, did you know teachers have to have a little correcting book to teach Math? Why can't they just use their brains?"
Linda (with eyes pulled wide and arms out zombie-style): "Brains...brains...brains...brains..."

Abby

With great apologies to Grandma Stratford, who a couple days ago said "I can't even picture Abby anymore," here are a few pictures. She's chatting with us, blowing raspberries, and just yesterday converted almost totally from the army crawl to all fours. We are beginning to shut doors and cover light sockets. But she is still totally sweet and completely cute. And so quiet compared to the other three!

Life in Utah

The kids (and neighbor Will) with BYU's mascot Cosmo the Cougar at the BYU Family Christmas Party.

Because of the full apartment in our basement, we had missionaries living down there for about six months. It was a interesting experience, great for the kids, and the elders were always really helpful with the leaves in the backyard and snow on the walks. However, the kids are really excited about having the big empty basement to play in again.

Our cat Chaco ran away shortly after we moved here, and we were very sad about it--and sometimes still are. This is the new kitten "Chica" who, with claws," is not nearly so endearing as was the older and more subdued Chaco. However, until she and the kids completely destroyed it, I did laugh to see her climb this old window screen.