Happy Birthday Jaysen!

Yes, it's true. The hubby has stepped up a number. He is now 35. *gasp*! :0) Just teasing.....

All Jaysen wanted for his birthday this year was a new pair of golf shoes and to go out to Sakura for dinner. Honestly, he made it pretty easy on me and the kids. Mackenzee and I did surprise him with some balloons and snickerdoodles at work yesterday morning, though. So at least he had one thing that wasn't expected. :0)

We went out to dinner with his parents, his brother Jeff and his wife, and his brother Bob. The kids came along for the ride too. It's always more fun to have kids with you when you go to a Japanese Steakhouse. They LOVE the fire! Well, except Mackenzee. She did better this time than compared to last year, but was still not really sure about the flames right in front of her. Towards the end of the show she ended up climbing under the table. Maybe next year she'll have better luck. :0)

Anyway....Happy Birthday Jaysen! We love you so much!

Our new additions...

Yes, it's true. We have welcomed two new little ones into our home. :0)

OK...so they are cats, not babies.

Don't ask me what I was thinking either. I don't know. I swore off pets after Toby and our last set of kittens. I was DONE! I was the one who ended up having to take care of the animals and I didn't need the extra work. AND...I didn't need spastic cats running loose in my house. The claw the furniture, scratch the kids, and even worse....you have to clean out the litter box. YUCK!

But, for some reason I felt the desire to go and get a cat from the Animal Shelter on Friday. I woke up that morning and knew that I would be heading there sometime that day. Actually, I even tried to talk myself out of it. I had so many other things to do. I didn't want to deal with it. But, in the end....I still found myself driving clear across town with the kids Friday afternoon to go and pick out a cat. I knew if we got one it would NOT be a frisky kitten....and it needed to be one that just kind of laid around. I know...boring right? I was looking more for a cuddly creature than a playful one. That's what my kids wanted anyway.

Can I just tell you how many cats they had at the shelter? It was really sad. OODLES of cats of all sizes stared back at us from their cages. Mackenzee and Landon were so excited to pick one out. We looked for quite some time and even pulled a couple out of their cages to hold to find one that felt "right". We eventually decided on a gray one and took him out to let the Shelter volunteers know. They let us take him into a little room so that the kids could play with him while I filled out the paperwork. Of course, there was some arguing on what to name him. Landon wanted to call him Curious and Mackenzee wanted to call him Kenzee. {I have no idea....} Well, it turned out that because they were so overwhelmed with the amount of cats they had, they were having a "two for one" deal. You paid for the first one, and they gave you the second one for free. Meaning...they would pay for the shots and spay or nueter as long as you just took the second cat home. :0)

What can I say...I'm a sucker. So, the lady took Mackenzee back into the cat area to pick out another cat. Landon was set on the one we had already picked out and was now thrilled that he was really going to get to name him Curious. Mackenzee came back in with another cat and the lady left to go and set up vet appointments for both of them. I was worried about how the two cats would get along and so I told the kids to leave them alone so I could see how they interacted with each other. I'm glad I did too. Mackenzee's cat started scratching away at the cloth cover of the chair I was sitting in and then proceeded to hiss and swat at Landon's cat. Not only this, but I noticed she was limping too. Honestly, even if the cat was free....this one was not worth it. So, I went out and told the lady that it wasn't a keeper. She wasn't too thrilled that I was being so choosy, but since there wasn't much she could do about it, she let me back in the cat area to start all over again.

So, I took Mackenzee back in there and we found a tabby cat that seemed really mellow. We took her back to the room that Landon was still playing in and let the two cats sniff each other. Whew! So far so good. The head lady comes in though and asks us if we would be willing to swap cats AGAIN. Apparently Mackenzee's cat and the cat it shared a cage with were sisters and were mistreated by their previous owners. They had been at the shelter for two months because they were so scared of people. But, when the two cats were together they seemed to do better. The lady didn't want to separate them. At this point it was up to Landon to decided if he was willing to swap his cat with the other one. Though, the deciding factor ended up being that Landon's first choice couldn't go home with us that day because it needed one more set of shots and the other cat had been completely taken care of already and could go home right then. Landon was NOT going home without a cat of his own. :0)

Landon still chose the name Curious for his cat....even though his is the quieter of the two cats. Mackenzee named her cat Kenzee. Why? Because she loves the cat and the cat loves her and so she's going to call it Kenzee. I have no idea what that means...but that was her reasoning. I gave up trying to convince her to pick a new name after the first hour. :0)

The cats have become fairly adjusted to their new home and we are actually enjoying them. Though they are still scared, they are warming up to us and have even ventured out on their own today to check out the house. Landon slept with them last night and can't wait until I agree to let Curious sleep in his room every night. Both cats still run when they see Mackenzee coming and she has a few flesh wounds from where they have let her know they don't appreciate the mauling. We're working on teaching her how to "properly" love the cats. Jaysen swears up and down that he thinks it was dumb for me to go and get not only one but TWO new cats, but he has been found picking them up to snuggle with on a couple of occasions. I think he secretly likes them. As for me...I am pleased. I think we picked the right ones. They are NOT spastic and are content to simply sit around all day.

Hopefully it stays this way....I'll keep you posted. :0)

Go Eagles!

Yesterday was the official start of basketball season for Landon. He had his first game of the year yesterday afternoon and was so excited to play! Of course, it helps when so many of your friends are on your basketball team. :0)

Jaysen is coaching again this year with a couple of other dads. A lot of other things have changed, though. Apparently when you become a third grader you play full court basketball instead of half court. Those boys were SO tired by the end of the game. And, they have had to learn how to deal with a jump ball, which takes place a the beginning of the game and at the beginning of the second half of the game. Thank goodness for Kaleb who is insanely tall! This year the boys also have fouls called on them and get to shoot foul shots. Even though the baskets are lowered, it's still quite a ways for them to throw the ball. Especially for some of the smaller boys. :0)

The team did awesome for their first game of the year, especially since some of them have never played before. Landon made 5 baskets and even ended up with a skinned knee after attempting to steal the ball from another kid. I can't believe how aggressive my little boy was! He stole the ball several times from the other team. It was crazy. He is usually so passive when he plays sports, so it was fun to watch him really PLAY the game. Match that with Kaleb's ability to rebound because he is so tall, Ben's ability to make a great break away, and Cache's wicked awesome lay-ups and in the end...the Eagles won the game!

He plays again this coming Saturday. It's going to be a crazy few months!

Treasure Hunting

Mackenzee is sure that we need to go somewhere EVERY day. Jaysen leaves the house every morning for work. Landon leaves every morning for school.

Me and Mackenzee? It just depends. Some days we have to go into work. Other days there are errands to run. Some days, we just stay in our jammies ALL DAY and stay home.

Mackenzee hates these days. She doesn't understand why she has to be stuck at home when she is sure there are so many fabulous, wonderful things in store for her if we just got in the car and went somewhere.

Monday was no different. So, at about 11:00 that morning, I figured we could make a quick run to the grocery store to get the few items I needed. Now, you must understand that in order to leave the house Mackenzee feels she needs to pack a bag of important things to take with her. You know, like wooden blocks and plastic toys from her play kitchen.

Monday was no different. :0) Except for that on Monday she decided she needed to pack a ziploc baggie filled with left over Halloween candy. Go figure. So armed with her candy and her pink teddy bear, Mackenzee strolled through Smith's grocery store with me.

We started in the produce section where I got some yummy oranges and bananas. While we were looking at the bagels {which happened to be on sale!} I noticed Mackenzee shoving a piece of her candy amongst the loaves of bread on the shelf.

"Mackenzee! What are you doing?"

"I hiding them mom. Then people come find them and they get candy too!"

"You can't just leave your candy on the shelf Mackenzee. I promise you that if someone finds it, they will probably just end up throwing it away. You should just save the candy and eat it yourself." {Lesson taught here? Don't share....aren't I a good mom?} :0)

So, we kept walking on and the next aisle over as I was pricing the bags of frozen chicken she tucked another piece of candy on the shelf by the peanut butter.

"Mackenzee! I told you not to do that! You can't just leave your candy lying all around the store."

"No mom. I sharing. People want the candy and I leave it here for them. Sharing is caring!"

"Well, you can't do that. It's not ok. Leave the candy in your bag or I will take it away."

We continue our journey through the aisles of the store and guess what? Mackenzee is still stashing "treasure" all over the store. It didn't help that another shopper told her that she wished she had a bag of candy too. Kenzee was thrilled and so sure that the lady would find her secret stashes of candy. You know, so the lady could have some candy too.

Sigh.....

At least I know she listens to me when I tell her to share. Right? Don't you think?

Anyway....I gave up trying to keep her from leaving a trail of candy. Because honestly....

sharing IS caring. :0)

Happy 17th Birthday Jordan!

Giggles and Grins

Landon and Talon....

Mackenzee and Riley....

crazy kids!

Jeremy is 30

That's right. Jeremy is officially old. :0) We all surprised him when he showed up to eat at Garibaldi's last night. He told everyone that he did NOT want to do anything for his birthday, and he didn't want any presents either. {tee hee} Yeah right! This was a landmark year!

Of course....I'm not having a birthday this year either. And when I say that I don't want a party...I'm not kidding. I'll probably be crying in my bedroom because of the realization that I am no longer "young" and in my 20's. You can send gifts though. I take cash and gift cards. Chocolate is nice too. Especially if you could come up with a way to make it fat free and guilt free. That would be the best birthday present ever!

Anyway....Happy Birthday Jeremy! I'm sorry you had to "suffer" through a surprise birthday dinner. At least you got a great card out of it! :0)