Pools, Cats and All Thats

While I went grocery shopping alone, Matt took the kids to the swimming POOL.

(Thank you Matt!!)

Back at home I think the CATS improved on their relationship.

Chloe watched him eat but did not attack.

(a huge improvement)

Here she even appears nonchalant.  

Look at ALL THAT going on in this picture:

#1:  Romy...sweet Romy

#2:  Starting to get ready for Camp Winshape

(a blog of its own coming next month)

#3:  A heated game of UNO.  The pink chair on the table is how Tyler hides his cards.

It's time for me to go enjoy my family.

It's been a full day of Pools, Cats and All Thats.

Our New Addition

Meet Romeo.

We mostly call him "Romy" or "Ro Ro."

Our neighbor called us up last night asking if we were interested in a 5-week-old kitten they couldn't keep.

Matt said no but I said we'd think about it.

Of course, Matt eventually came around and said yes.

Happy Wife, Happy Life (wink)

At first I didn't like him much.  He was so skittish and scared.  He roamed the perimeter of the house and Would Not settle down.

The only place he would relax was in the litter box.

Who sleeps on their own toilet?!

I asked my good friend, "Dr. Google" and found out it could be a security and comfort issue.

So... I decorated a carrier crate with a towel and some cat toys, all of which purred, "I am a safe place to seek shelter, comfort, and rest."

Ahh, How sweet!

Today he took a long three hour nap in his crate and woke up a whole new kitten.  He was super cuddly.  He purred and kneaded and we snuggled and bonded.  He's a sweet little 5-month-old kitty cat.

Chloe, however, Does Not Agree.

She hates him.

 She hates him so much she puffs up in disgust.

 They seem to be making progress though.

 They are getting closer to each other.

And even closer yet.

(The black water bottle is to remind Chloe that if she attacks Romy she's going to get sprayed.)

Things can only get better from here.

Stay tuned.

too many True Crime movies

 Look what greeted me as I went to get the mail today.

We don't have an exterior door in our garage so I often leave the big garage door open for most of the day.  It was open today and sometime between 1pm and 3pm this message appeared in my garage right outside my kitchen door.

I immediately thought one of my neighbors was telling me I should keep my garage door closed during the day to be safe.  (It has been mentioned before.)  I then texted my neighbors asking if they left me the friendly message.

No One Did.

I then jumped to the conclusion that some stranger was trying to scare me by showing me how close they could get to my house without me knowing.

I checked the Denali for hiding bad guys and also did a perimeter check of the garage.

Nothing.

The handwriting did not seem like a child's writing so I never thought to ask Lauren or Tyler if they wrote it.  I didn't want them to think I was worried about anything.

However, before I called the authorities I thought I should just rule out the obviously slim possibility that one of my kids wrote the message.

I hollered upstairs where they were playing and asked them if anyone was using chalk in the garage.

Lauren piped right up, "Yes, Ma'am, I wrote 'Be Careful' so Tera would know Tyler was after her."

And there you have it.

I obviously watch too many True Crime movies on Lifetime.

a chill Weekly Menu

We're keeping things LAID-BACK this week.

Sunday:  Mushroom and Marsala Pappardelle, garlic bread, bananas & strawberries  

We loved this dish.  I used Rotini pasta instead of the Pappardelle.  Matt was surprised how much he liked it since he doesn't care much for kale nor mushrooms.  The kids surprisingly cleaned their plates as well. A great vegetarian dish, I filed this in my "to make again" folder.  

Monday:  left-overs or pantry meal

Tuesday:  Apple-Glazed Chicken with Spinach

Wednesday:  Caprese Pasta Salad & fruit  (I plan to use the tomatoes and basil from my garden.)

Thursday:  Spongebob Krabby Patties & asparagus & fruit

Friday:  Spring Stir Fried Chicken with Sugar Snap Peas and Carrots

Saturday:  Hamburgers/Cannellini Bean Burgers & Grilled Sriracha Broccoli & fruit

Sunday:  left-overs or pantry meal

Vacation 2013: GARDEN VALLEY

Well hey!

You're still here.

Why don't you check out these photos of our last leg of our 2013 vacation.

Garden Valley, Idaho

MeMa and PaPa's house

The top thing to do in Garden Valley is ride 4-Wheelers.

(I attempted a couple years ago and almost rode myself down a cliff...so...I don't ride anymore.  Luckily for the kids...Daddy is always game.)

Another fun thing to do is to take a walk and enjoy the beauty of nature.

MeMa and PaPa's "cabin" is the grey roof nestled into the hills.

This trip to MeMa and PaPa's house was extra special because it included a huge family reunion.  Matt's Dad has 5 other siblings and they all showed up with their own families.  We had about 60 or so relatives shuffling around.  I had a great time meeting everyone (again) and Matt had a blast reconnecting with the cousins he grew up with.  I cannot believe we didn't take a picture with everyone.  I cannot believe I didn't take a picture of anyone.  I guess I was too busy chatting it up and reconnecting.

But here is a picture of Madison and Tyler playing Ladder Toss (Redneck Golf.)

 After the family reunion broke up we spent an extra night with Matt's sisters and their families.

Matt, Uncle Pete, and Uncle CD made up some sausage/cream cheese stuffed jalapenos wrapped in bacon.  Holy Yumm.

 In the garage the kids enjoyed some face paint...umm body paint?

Cousin Jake had a recent birthday so of course there was a pinata.

Cousins full of candy.

Lauren and Hailey

Before we left Garden Valley we made sure to take a picture in the front yard.

L and T with MeMa and PaPa

(remember TWO years ago?)

This two week vacation went by way too fast.

We are already missing our family. 

~It's hard living so far away.~

Vacation 2013: BOISE

Well Hello!

I'm glad you came back.  You wanna check out some pictures from our Boise Vacation?

Here we are making the NINE HOUR voyage back to the great state of Idaho.

Check it out...I took a picture from the car as we zoomed by the "Welcome to IDAHO" sign.  It turns out I inadvertently took a picture of a family posing for their own picture by the sign.  Awesomely Random!

Our time at Grandma Jan and Grandpa Michael's house was full of sweet cousins.

Madison and Crisstopher sandwiched in between Tyler and Lauren.

Everyone playing their own screen-time of course.

Lauren and Madison pose as mermaids in front of the Idaho Aquarium.

This place was great!

We got to feed the fish.  They ate the food right out of our hands.

Karate chopping the fish was not encouraged but Crisstopher didn't get the memo.

(one of the only pictures I have that includes Grandma Jan (aka Granny Junior)...next year I'll do better)

They also had a bird exhibit and everyone got to feed them.  The birds would land on shoulders and arms and anything else to get close to their nectar.

The weather was absolutely perfect our entire trip.

We took advantage of the glorious temps and visited the Roaring Springs Water Park.

Madison, Lauren, and Tyler

We had a blast!

The WAVE POOL!

surf's up!

Lauren and Tyler both went down this monster slide.

Daddy and Tyler braved this back-and-forth

This one required you to swim after splash landing.

Only Lauren was brave enough for this.

 Everyone was game for the lazy river.

Lauren, Matt, Tyler, and Madison

Grandpa Michael and Crisstopher

While Madison wears her friendly out-going personality on her sleeve, Crisstopher is a bit slow to warm up.  He'll be shy for a few minutes but eventually his spunky fun-loving side comes out.

checking things out

joining right in

Love These Kids!

(remember three years ago?)

2010

As always our time in Boise is way too short.

We have some ideas for next year to make it longer.

In the mean time stay tuned for the final Vacation 2013 post.

We're heading to Garden Valley, Idaho.