Our Little Yoda

We went and picked up Yoda on Wednesday. I'm a crazy person! It has actually been just fine so far. Mosey likes to spend a lot of time outdoors, so we don't have all three animals here all the time. Smuckers is very interested in being buddies with this new kitten. He's a little sick now from all the stress of the shelter, surgery (he got the snip-snip), and a new home. Poor thing. He's a lot more receptive to the kids and Smuckers than Mosey is, which is why we went ahead and got him. I went into DD's room last night and this is what I saw (it was really dark, but the flash makes it look like daytime).
I thought it was really amusing that they both have their arms up (it doesn't take much to amuse me). DD always sleeps on top of the covers like this, and she always has so many stuffed animals in the bed that there's hardly room for her. I love how she covered him with the blanket before they fell asleep : ).

The Prodigal Kitty Returns

Our new kitty, Mosey, was finally adjusting to our home. He was letting the kids pet him, sneaking some sniffs of Smuckers (the dog, not the peanut butter), and was even staying out and about when our house was crazy with extra kids. Then I had to throw a wrench in the whole thing.

I went to Albertson's last Saturday to hit their GM sale and get extra boxtops for the kids' school. When I came out I saw a dog wandering the parking lot. It's not a great place for a dog to be wandering because it's right on Main Street and there is a lot of traffic. So I called the dog over and she came right to me. She was a German Shepard/Huskie mix named Molly. She was the sweetest thing. I figured the best thing to do would be to take her home to my backyard until I could reach her owner. She slept on the floor of the van all the way home.

Mosey is an indoor cat, so I figured that if Molly stayed outside and Mosey stayed inside, all would be well. But, for some insane reason, Mosey decided to sneak out for a little fresh air and then wouldn't return because the dog was there. I don't know how Mosey got past Molly in the first place (to get outside). Go figure. I was really upset about the whole thing. Here I am trying to help one animal in need, and I lose another! Molly is waiting for her owners at the animal shelter now. If anyone is looking for a really awesome dog, you should check her out (although I'm pretty confident that her owners will come looking--they must have been gone on vacation or something). She was super sweet and obedient.

So on Friday I was watching some morning news show and they were talking about Utah animal shelters and I decided to do some more searching for Mr. Whiskers an Mosey. I had already scoped out our own shelter two times, so I searched online photos of some other shelters. I found a picture that looked just like Mr. Whiskers and all of the stats matched, so off we went to take a look. With kids in tow, we made the drive, only to find that it wasn't him. But who could resist looking at the kitties? I really enjoy having a cat around the house because they are just so entertaining. We checked out four different kitties in the "get aquainted room" and found a great one. "Yoda" was only about three months old. He loves the kids and has been around dogs. He was so cute and playful. I have an adoption appointment for Tuesday. The kids are so excited.

So, guess who shows up at our back door last night? Mosey!

We were all so excited to see him alive and well after worrying about him for an entire week! He got lots of loves and hugs. He's a great kitty. But, as you can imagine, the kids have been asking, and asking, and asking "but what about Yoda? We love Yoda too!".

Can you believe the luck? The very day that I get my children all excited about a new kitty, our Mosey shows up! I'm really wrestling with this dilemma! Right now I'm thinking we're going to have two kitties! (and a dog, and fish : P Sheesh!)

Building Bears

All of my kids' birthdays happen within about 6 weeks. It can be a little nuts. I told the kidlets that they could either have a little party with friends or we could go to build a bear. They chose build a bear--I was glad. A little more costly, but soooo much easier! Here are some pics from the big day.

The hardest part was picking which animal they liked the best. They were all very thoughtful about their decisions. We ended up making a turtle (really cute, his "shell" is a backpack), a bunny, and an elephant.

Here is "Cuddly" the elephant being stuffed:

And now it is "Fluffles" turn:

And then came the funnest part of all, in my opinion. Picking out clothes!
We all had a good time and hopefully it was a memorable event for the kiddos. I won't be able to get away with doing things like this with all three of them for much longer. I'm sure my little boy will be way too mature for something like this by next year : )

Happy Birthday DS!

I can't believe it's been eight years! I was just reflecting today on the birth of my little guy--how it felt to bring home a brand new baby and be a new mother. That first night was rough, and I felt like a fish out of water. Now he is a happy 8 year old and I can't imagine life without him. He is such a fun, talented, kind, sensitive little man. I am thankful every day for each of my kids and the joy and growth they bring to my life.

We let him open most of his presents yesterday because it was a holiday and he would be able to really enjoy his new toys. He got several Lego sets, a Tomagatchi, and a brand new bike (that one was saved for this morning).

Here is his birthday cake. I discovered today that icing cakes is not one of my talents. I guess I need some more practice : )

Today was DD#2's first day back to preschool. She was so excited to go. Her teacher mailed her a letter a couple of weeks ago and she kept talking about giving it back to Miss Nicole as a gift. She has it in her hand in this picture.

I had 2 1/2 hours of time alone this morning. I went to the bank, went to the insurance office (we have to re-do everything we did six months ago to update our life insurance because our old agent is an idiot), went and got a new pair of shoes (yay, me!), and picked up McDonalds to take to DS for his birthday. It was fun--and DD had a great time!