Purrrrrr-fect

Last Fall I promised the kids we would get a outside cat this Spring when the weather warmed up.  So a couple weeks ago we went to the shelter and can you believe they had NO kitties available for adoption?  The kids were so disappointed!

Since my sister in law is moving soon I asked if they had any outdoor cats we could have.  She said she had 2 we have but they were both pregnant.  We didn't mind because they will be barn cats and frankly outdoor cats have a short life expectancy so we wanted a lot of cats.  

We stopped on Saturday to get the cats that we were told were tame and couldn't catch the boogers!  We stayed a couple hours and they never came out of hiding after running off after the seeing the cages!

So the plan then became sister in law would catch them and bring them to my work on Tuesday.  However it was too windy on Tuesday so the cats didn't hear her.  The kids ask daily when we are getting the cats and we aren't sure when kittens will be born so we want to get the cats as soon as possible.

Bona had to go to Lafayette this morning for work do he called and she was able to catch cats and meet him.  One issue only one pregnant cat and one other, she couldn't catch other pregnant cat.  The 2 pregnant ones are sisters and are very attached to each other.  

So I decided after talking to Bona to lock cats in garage for a couple days to gain their trust and then let them out after we have the other sister cat because we are afraid the sister we have will flee.

I made box beds and got a litter box ready along with food and water.  I went and got cats from Bona.

Here is the pregnant Calico kitty

The other cat a orange tabby is super friendly and is already purring and rubbing on our legs.

The kids are on love with these kittys already!

They named this cat "purrrrty". Addy wanted to name her gorgeous Blake  came up with this "puny" name.  :). 

The other calico kitty did sniff Blake's hand once but most of the time she hid but I will take the progress as a good sign.  Any suggestions on helping her adjust?

Ol Murphy...

So we had a couple maintenance issues at the house this week.  We had a leak in our roof a couple years ago in the kids room.  A couple weeks ago I noticed the drywall bubbled in the Caleb and Addy's room.  Bona was sure it had been there for 2 years.  I couldn't remember for sure how much damage there was so I took his word for it.  This morning I found this... 

I taped the tape up so it wouldn't tear more but let's face it...it won't matter.  So now I'm worried about mold in the wall etc...  The roof guy came today and put a "bonnet" over exhaust pipe which is where water was leaking in supposedly.

If that wasn't enough excitement there is a strange odor emitting from the hot water heater.  Bona dismantled the  exhaust pipe thinking maybe a bird had built a nest in there, but no such luck.  It smells like rotten eggs in the basement.  We have a CO2 sensor on that level and every level and have repairman coming tomorrow, I hope it's not too expensive.

On the bright side of things, Spring is here and my flowers are in bloom.  Look at this pretty arrangement Addy cut and made for me!

Sew awesome!

Ok sorry for the pun (not really) but I have to show you something I'm so excited about!

I've wanted a sewing machine for years.  Not that I have aspirations of making my own clothes or anything but it would be nice to make repairs, alterations, put patches on scout uniforms and simple crafting projects.  

So last year I took a Baggie of patches to a local sewing shop to have them sewn on Blake's Boy Scout blanket.  I asked how much and she said $1 for the small ones and $2 or $3 for the larger ones.  The time and pain saved from sewing them on by hand with my sore fingers and thimble from those thick patches made this deal sound great!  So I agreed and she called me a few days later telling me it was ready for pick up.  Obviously I underestimated how many patches were in that little Baggie because my total was $80!  I could have purchased a cheap machine for that!

So for Christmas this year I was anything but subtle about what I wanted.  I just wanted the cheapest one possible but Bona surprised me and got a mid grade model that came with an instructional DVD.  He knew I said I remembered very little from home Eco 20 some years ago. It was helpful.

So I had planned on setting up a card table as my work station so you can imagine my delight when my aunt contacted me to see if I wanted a desk they were getting rid of!

Anyway I'm loving my new sewing station!  It's so much better than I ever dreamed being able to have and I am so thankful!  I've already repaired a pair of Bona's work pants, pj pants, put a button on and put numerous patches on scout uniforms.  Here are some pictures!

TN family post 2

Well it was incredibly hard to leave Pam, Shelly and family especially after such a short time but it helped to know we would shortly be seeing more family we love.  After a short drive of about an hour we arrived at Larry and Michelle's house. We visited a short time and met Bandit.  How cute is he?!  It was just what I needed loving on Bandit.  I'm not ready for my own dog yet and won't be for quite some time but there is just something about a dog that melts my heart.

Cousin Abby is holding Bandit here.  Don't think that isn't confusing, Addy and Abby, lol!

Next we had some of "Larry's famous homemade pizza" it was awesome!  Here is proof he actually made them.

This evening Abby so graciously offered to take the big kids to Sherman and Mr Peapody.  They had a blast and she really made them feel special.  

Sunday morning we went to church where much to my delight Caleb did great in the nursery.  The Sunday school, worship and sermon were all a wonderful reflection of Gods presence.

The rest of the day consisted mostly of good food and company (not in order of importance).  We didn't want sight seeing we wanted to see our family so this was perfect.  Larry was his usual self making us laugh all the time.  He made Caleb a "new" nickname Boo, because he is so pale.  He kept singing "Caleb the friendly ghost, the friendliest ghost I know!"  Oddly enough he was "boo bear" to is when he was born and that got shortened to "Boo", so he has been called that a long time now.  I guess that nickname was meant to be!

Addy talked Larry into letting him put tattoos all over his face (it didn't take much convincing) and boy was that memorable for us all!  Here are some pictures.  Addy is laughing in most because she just thought this was the funniest thing ever!

Putting one on his nose!

Showing off her handy work.

Next it was Larry's turn, thankfully he was nicer than her and here is their pose showing off the finished results.

Here's a great picture of Abby/Addy

And how better to end my post than a picture of the lovely Michelle.  She was a great hostess never making us feel in the way and let's face it, standing in Larry's shadow takes a special woman and that she is!  I love all these people so much and can't wait to go back!

TN visit

We've wanted to visit our family in Tennessee for a while now but travel is tough with a toddler.  We decided to make a trip this Summer about a year ago but when 2 of my aunts received breast cancer diagnosis I just couldn't get it off my mind.  Unfortunately my aunt that lives in Connecticut we haven't been able to see since it's a longer journey than a long weekend but I hope to see her soon.  My other aunt though just finished treatments and our arrival seemed timely to celebrate her end of treatments.  It helps that a lot of family lives in the area so  you have people that you love that you can stay with and not worry about over tiring her etc.  so here is a summary of our trip.

We surprised the kids and stayed in a hotel on the way down.  Thank you Hilton  points!  The kids really enjoyed the pool.  The pool had some fake palm trees and that was the closest we would get to Florida this year.  I don't have any pictures because I forgot my phone in our room.

The next day we ran into traffic and didn't arrive until 4 in the afternoon.  We had a great visit with Aunt Pam.

  This is a blurry picture but you get the idea.  We were laughing that is why it's blurry I couldn't hold camera still.  She looks so good though!

We had a delicious supper off the grill, burgers and hot dogs.  It was in the upper 60s there!  Shelly fried some awesome French fries, I don't know why they taste so much better than mine, and made this pasta salad with ranch dressing and bacon that was amazing!  

What a Goob!

After a long night of laughs we went to bed.  We were awoken to the smell of bacon, sausage, eggs, home made biscuits and  gravy! 

 Next we watched Colby play soccer.

After the game we hit Brewsters for ice cream.  Yes that was our lunch.  This was Caleb's first ever ice cream cone outside of the house.

After ice cream it was already time to say goodbye.  ;(

More from our trip later.  To be continued...