Saturday, June 28, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Cats and Food and New Bike
Of course, now that we have a new kitten, there will be lots of boring posts about kitten cuteness, kitten antics and kitten updates.
The kitten is doing great. He is very verbal - either his unique personality or because he is a siamese mix. Peggy has already spoiled him. She gave him a lick of Redi Whip and he went nuts. Now he climbs our legs in the kitchen hoping for more. I told her that kittens (and even dogs) can't have milk and will get diarrhea. Sure enough, it happened. He used the litter box, but the mess got tracked in the floor and his paws were stinky. He had his first bath and I got bit. Peggy likes Angel and says she might get a kitten!
He had his first vet appt today. In the car, he rode to the vet clinic on my shoulder. While waiting on the vet, he sat on my shoulder. Shoulders are his preferred location- that's where he is 99% of the time. The vet conferred that cats cannot have milk (cows are herbivores and cats are carnivores, therefore their milk content is different). She did say that he could have a teaspoon of yogurt as a treat. We'll try that in a few months. Angel was a trooper at his appointment and the vet fell in love with Abbie and wants her to marry her son.
Baby does not hate the kitten!
We took Peggy to dinner at Gourmet & Co tonight. This is one of our favorite restaurants. It's like eating the food we see on Food Network. Duck confit, sundried tomato ragout, pineapple foam.... Our meals were wonderful! I knew I was saving room for dessert - bananas foster. This is a specialty for this restaurant, and they didn't have it tonight! I have a recipe. I just need to make it myself.
We got Abbie a new bike for her birthday. She didn't ask for this. Paul put it together last night, but burst a tire as he was inflating it. He got a new tube today, fixed the tire and presented the bike to her tonight. She wasn't very impressed. It doesn't have training wheels - that's why. But we did install a long handle off the back that we hold onto to help her with balancing. It was too dark for her to practice, but maybe she will be a little more enthusiastic tomorrow?? But a gift that we got her that she really does like -- Seasons 1, 2, and 3 of Little House on the Prairie.
Tomorrow, we are going to make Abbie's selection from the cookbook that Annie got her. She chose to make Chocolate Chip-Peppermint Scones.
The kitten is doing great. He is very verbal - either his unique personality or because he is a siamese mix. Peggy has already spoiled him. She gave him a lick of Redi Whip and he went nuts. Now he climbs our legs in the kitchen hoping for more. I told her that kittens (and even dogs) can't have milk and will get diarrhea. Sure enough, it happened. He used the litter box, but the mess got tracked in the floor and his paws were stinky. He had his first bath and I got bit. Peggy likes Angel and says she might get a kitten!
He had his first vet appt today. In the car, he rode to the vet clinic on my shoulder. While waiting on the vet, he sat on my shoulder. Shoulders are his preferred location- that's where he is 99% of the time. The vet conferred that cats cannot have milk (cows are herbivores and cats are carnivores, therefore their milk content is different). She did say that he could have a teaspoon of yogurt as a treat. We'll try that in a few months. Angel was a trooper at his appointment and the vet fell in love with Abbie and wants her to marry her son.
Baby does not hate the kitten!
We took Peggy to dinner at Gourmet & Co tonight. This is one of our favorite restaurants. It's like eating the food we see on Food Network. Duck confit, sundried tomato ragout, pineapple foam.... Our meals were wonderful! I knew I was saving room for dessert - bananas foster. This is a specialty for this restaurant, and they didn't have it tonight! I have a recipe. I just need to make it myself.
We got Abbie a new bike for her birthday. She didn't ask for this. Paul put it together last night, but burst a tire as he was inflating it. He got a new tube today, fixed the tire and presented the bike to her tonight. She wasn't very impressed. It doesn't have training wheels - that's why. But we did install a long handle off the back that we hold onto to help her with balancing. It was too dark for her to practice, but maybe she will be a little more enthusiastic tomorrow?? But a gift that we got her that she really does like -- Seasons 1, 2, and 3 of Little House on the Prairie.
Tomorrow, we are going to make Abbie's selection from the cookbook that Annie got her. She chose to make Chocolate Chip-Peppermint Scones.
Monday, June 23, 2008
2nd post for today
This is my second post today, this one will mostly be pictures. This is Abbie's new kitty.
This is Angel.
The fluffy flip flops we made at Abbie's birthday party.
Haley (Abbie's cousin), Rachel, Riley, Tatum, Abbie
The treasure hunt map.
Hunting for clues.
See the shark? They had to handle the guts to get the next clue.
Preparing a test run of our art project. Abbie displays some acrylic paint.
Some color combinations that we tried.
Here is part of the process. You just hold the paint brush as the wheel turns. Paul converted the seed/fertilizer spreader for our art contraption.
I operate the drill - that spins the platform.
This is just a test run. I prefer a different color combination, but we're ready to make the real thing.
Abbie and her cousin, Andrew, who spent the night.
Andrew looking like the cool country boy that he is. It's summer, but he's wearing jeans and boots. He had his mom cut off his t-shirt sleeves. He's imitating the look of his older brother and pulling it off very nicely. Notice the accurately curved bill of his hat. That's exactly how it's supposed to look - a straight bill is not cool.
Our yummy waffles.
Paul's new expresso machine. He made me a cappacino the other day and it was exactly like I get at Starbucks (of course, I milked it and sugared it up).
The picture was supposed to be up with the other art project pictures. The is what the contraption looks like before we add the canvas. We got 7!
Abbie and I went back to the Animal Shelter today. I was very, very, very, very sad to discover that my precious favorite kittens were no longer there. Abbie's first and second choice kittens were no longer there. I noticed several differences from the day before. On a positive note, they could have been adopted. I'll just keep telling myself that!
I am so behind on posting pictures. Paul has been hogging the computer so I use the laptop (and I don't download photos on the laptop). I promise to catch up soon.
I knew in my heart that we would come home with more than one kitten. I was going to get one of those precious, sweet, fluffy, ragdoll-like kittens and let Abbie get whichever one she wanted. What's one more cat?
Ultimately, Abbie chose a kitten that I really liked, but I really didn't persuade her. I let her hold everyone she pointed at.
Our new kitten is a boy - finally another boy in the house with Paul - this is our first boy cat. He is 8 weeks old and is a siamese mix. Currently, he is mostly white with peach points - ears and tail. Abbie saw him sleeping and said he looked like an angel cat, hence his name, Angel.
He is currently ensconced in the master bathroom since we are having company soon. We need to keep him separated from Baby until he gets his shots. His vet appointment is Thursday.
Paul called after lunch to see how many kittens we actually got (he knows me so well). I told him 7.
He was surprised when he got home and we had only one. If I had gotten a second kitten today, it would have been an emotional decision and possibly a poor decision. Paul says I can get as many cats as I want if I make them outdoor cats. Hmmm. He's probably going to be sorry he told me that.
I am so behind on posting pictures. Paul has been hogging the computer so I use the laptop (and I don't download photos on the laptop). I promise to catch up soon.
I knew in my heart that we would come home with more than one kitten. I was going to get one of those precious, sweet, fluffy, ragdoll-like kittens and let Abbie get whichever one she wanted. What's one more cat?
Ultimately, Abbie chose a kitten that I really liked, but I really didn't persuade her. I let her hold everyone she pointed at.
Our new kitten is a boy - finally another boy in the house with Paul - this is our first boy cat. He is 8 weeks old and is a siamese mix. Currently, he is mostly white with peach points - ears and tail. Abbie saw him sleeping and said he looked like an angel cat, hence his name, Angel.
He is currently ensconced in the master bathroom since we are having company soon. We need to keep him separated from Baby until he gets his shots. His vet appointment is Thursday.
Paul called after lunch to see how many kittens we actually got (he knows me so well). I told him 7.
He was surprised when he got home and we had only one. If I had gotten a second kitten today, it would have been an emotional decision and possibly a poor decision. Paul says I can get as many cats as I want if I make them outdoor cats. Hmmm. He's probably going to be sorry he told me that.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Birthday, More Frustration (funny), and A Visit to Local Animal Shelter
I've been planning Abbie's 8th Birthday Party for several weeks. We decided to base the party on The Daring Book for Girls (plus other ideas that I gathered here and there). Warning: the next part will sound like over-the-top bragging, but I am just setting the stage for the frustrating part. I designed the invitations myself and mailed them to 2 nieces and every girl in Abbie's class. If I wasn't thinking about the party, I was planning some aspect, making lists, cleaning the house, deep cleaning Abbie's room, buying supplies, crossing things off my list, researching activities (instructions), more cleaning, testing each project for age appropriateness and to make sure the instructions made sense, more shopping, cleaning, planning, cleaning, planning. I LOVE themed parties, and I will humbly give myself a pat on the back for doing a good job at tying all the details into the theme. We decided this would be a 5 hour party in order to do all the girly activities we had planned and to give parents a break while their daughter was at the party. I planned for lunch and a snack and had additional chaperones lined up to help me with each activity. We made fluffy flip flops, God's Eyes, friendship bracelets, played outside, played with Lego, made each girl a pretty hair do, and had *2 treasure hunts. About an hour into the party, I was regretting planning a 5 hour party, but everyone soon settled down and the rest of the party went smoothly. All the activities went well. Everyone had fun and played well together.
*The frustrating part - remember me saying how much time I spent planning for the party? Well, about 2 days before the party, Paul said, "Why don't we do a treasure hunt?" I said, "I'll have to revise the party schedule to add that activity, but it sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately, I don't have time to plan that so why don't you take charge of that activity?" Paul said okay and then went off and did something else. The day before the party, I left Abbie with Paul and headed to town one final time to get the last items needed for the party. When I came home, Paul had planned the whole treasure hunt. He had drawn a huge colorfu map of the outside of the house, written his clues, bought the treasure chest and the treasure chest items. Each clue was written in "pirate speak" and were very clever. In about 10 minutes, he created a shark out of a plastic tub and cooked 2 large pots of spaghetti to make shark guts (the girls would have to stick their hands into the shark mouth and search through the guts for clues inside plastic Easter eggs). At the end of the hunt, they would find a treasure box full of goodies like kaleidiscopes, ring pops, bubbles, candy necklaces, yo-yos, chocolate gold coins. I know the girls liked my activities, but they LOVED the treasure hunt that Paul creatively threw together in a short time. They loved it so much that they begged him for another treasure hunt. So in the last hour of the party, he wrote more clues with a different twist than the first hunt and hid them in different places. They loved it! I keep teasing him about being a creative genius.
In other news, we took our two bunnies to live on my brother's farm. I feel sad about this decision. My own moral code instructs me to research any animal I plan to get and pay for all it's vet bills and take care of it until the end of it's long life. I have broken my code, and I feel guilty. Paul wanted the bunnies out of the house. At the beginning, I thought they were so clean and unstinky (they used a litter box). But over time, the large room they were in acquired an odor and they started dumping their litter box, and not getting along very well. The breeder told me this might happen with 2 females, and I'd have to separate them, but Paul had no intention of building a rabbit hutch. My brother has outdoor animal pens perfect for bunnies (he used to have some) and he offered to take them. The problem was - how to convince Abbie that this was a good idea. On the spur of the moment, Paul told Abbie that she could have a kitten if she let the bunnies go live with Uncle Craig. She reluctantly agreed. We went to the animal shelter today, and I petted and talked to every cat in the place and petted almost all the dogs (and baby talked to them too). It is kitten season and there were so many choices! We all had a different favorite. We found ourselves saying, "I really like this one, but it's your choice, Abbie." I'm sure she was feeling the pressure. I held two little kittens that were like rag dolls - sweet, cuddly, quiet, limp, adoring eyes, fluffy, sweet.... We tried to pay attention to disposition instead of looks. There were 2 tiny white kittens with blue eyes. They were so tiny and kind of pitiful and needed cleaning up. For several months now (ever since finding the Kitty Committee blog), I've been feeling the urge to be a foster mom for kittens. I need a baby in the house in a big way. We didn't bring home a kitten today because we needed time to let it all soak in, but Abbie and I will go back tomorrow to make the final selection. I'm only supposed to bring home one kitten, right?
The dogs - there were so many! I feel so bad for all the unwanted animals of the world. I petted all of the dogs that would come to their door. Some I worried would maul my hand, but I stuck it in there anyway. I shed a few tears for a couple of dogs. One worker told me that they get about 1,000 animals a month! Holy Moly! And this is NOT a no-kill shelter. I asked if kittens get more time, but she said no, because adult cats have a better immune system and are more hardy. Makes sense. I held two kittens that she said had been there almost too long already. I can't swallow just thinking about it. How will I just bring home one kitten tomorrow?
I do plan to talk to the director about fostering. My dream is to have my own animal sanctuary someday (no-kill), and until then, I plan to start helping now.
*The frustrating part - remember me saying how much time I spent planning for the party? Well, about 2 days before the party, Paul said, "Why don't we do a treasure hunt?" I said, "I'll have to revise the party schedule to add that activity, but it sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately, I don't have time to plan that so why don't you take charge of that activity?" Paul said okay and then went off and did something else. The day before the party, I left Abbie with Paul and headed to town one final time to get the last items needed for the party. When I came home, Paul had planned the whole treasure hunt. He had drawn a huge colorfu map of the outside of the house, written his clues, bought the treasure chest and the treasure chest items. Each clue was written in "pirate speak" and were very clever. In about 10 minutes, he created a shark out of a plastic tub and cooked 2 large pots of spaghetti to make shark guts (the girls would have to stick their hands into the shark mouth and search through the guts for clues inside plastic Easter eggs). At the end of the hunt, they would find a treasure box full of goodies like kaleidiscopes, ring pops, bubbles, candy necklaces, yo-yos, chocolate gold coins. I know the girls liked my activities, but they LOVED the treasure hunt that Paul creatively threw together in a short time. They loved it so much that they begged him for another treasure hunt. So in the last hour of the party, he wrote more clues with a different twist than the first hunt and hid them in different places. They loved it! I keep teasing him about being a creative genius.
In other news, we took our two bunnies to live on my brother's farm. I feel sad about this decision. My own moral code instructs me to research any animal I plan to get and pay for all it's vet bills and take care of it until the end of it's long life. I have broken my code, and I feel guilty. Paul wanted the bunnies out of the house. At the beginning, I thought they were so clean and unstinky (they used a litter box). But over time, the large room they were in acquired an odor and they started dumping their litter box, and not getting along very well. The breeder told me this might happen with 2 females, and I'd have to separate them, but Paul had no intention of building a rabbit hutch. My brother has outdoor animal pens perfect for bunnies (he used to have some) and he offered to take them. The problem was - how to convince Abbie that this was a good idea. On the spur of the moment, Paul told Abbie that she could have a kitten if she let the bunnies go live with Uncle Craig. She reluctantly agreed. We went to the animal shelter today, and I petted and talked to every cat in the place and petted almost all the dogs (and baby talked to them too). It is kitten season and there were so many choices! We all had a different favorite. We found ourselves saying, "I really like this one, but it's your choice, Abbie." I'm sure she was feeling the pressure. I held two little kittens that were like rag dolls - sweet, cuddly, quiet, limp, adoring eyes, fluffy, sweet.... We tried to pay attention to disposition instead of looks. There were 2 tiny white kittens with blue eyes. They were so tiny and kind of pitiful and needed cleaning up. For several months now (ever since finding the Kitty Committee blog), I've been feeling the urge to be a foster mom for kittens. I need a baby in the house in a big way. We didn't bring home a kitten today because we needed time to let it all soak in, but Abbie and I will go back tomorrow to make the final selection. I'm only supposed to bring home one kitten, right?
The dogs - there were so many! I feel so bad for all the unwanted animals of the world. I petted all of the dogs that would come to their door. Some I worried would maul my hand, but I stuck it in there anyway. I shed a few tears for a couple of dogs. One worker told me that they get about 1,000 animals a month! Holy Moly! And this is NOT a no-kill shelter. I asked if kittens get more time, but she said no, because adult cats have a better immune system and are more hardy. Makes sense. I held two kittens that she said had been there almost too long already. I can't swallow just thinking about it. How will I just bring home one kitten tomorrow?
I do plan to talk to the director about fostering. My dream is to have my own animal sanctuary someday (no-kill), and until then, I plan to start helping now.
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