Our new Kitten

My friend Susan's cat had kittens not long ago and after reading about it on her blog, I talked it over with Cory and we decided to get one of them. Over the weekend the kittens were finally old enough to leave their mom, so we went to their house and chose one for our very own. So meet Sugar, also known as "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch":

Elise was really the one who decided on which kitten to get. She is in love with this little kitty and I think the feeling is mutual.

Ian actually wanted a different kitten, and it was quite a horrific parting for him and the other kitten that he wanted. But once all was said and done, he's become quite attached to this little darling. She loves following him around and he loves the attention.

At first, Merry Grace wasn't sure she was up for touching the kittens. She thought maybe she'd just pass on the fun. Once she'd tried it, she was hooked and cried unless it was her turn to hold the kitty. We've had to teach her about being gentle because sometimes she looks like she might love her to pieces...literally.

Here's a close up of her beautiful face.

And more snoozing. She's a cutie and we're so glad to have her as a part of the family!

My favorite things

I'm in a grumpy mood today with several things on the agenda that need to be done, none of which I'm particularly excited about doing. So I'm listing a few of my favorite things, hoping it makes me feel a little happier about the day. :) I don't know how well reverse psychology works on yourself, but here goes...

• Tomatoes
• Kittens sleeping on my lap
• Expensive fabric softener
• Hot showers
• Flowers
• Bargains
• Hot chocolate add ins
• Ice cream cones
• Sitting on the porch
• Picnics
• iTunes
• Blogging
• Taking pictures
• Selling stuff on Craigslist
• The smell of pine sol when I mop or clean (I'm using orange scent right now)
• Windy/breezy days
• Flip flops
• Homemade freezer meals
• A clean house (when someone else does it. :))
• Sitting on the beach from sun-up to sun-down

I could keep going, but duty calls. Its time for Ramen noodles, hot dogs, and tomato sandwiches. Better get crackin'. :)

Sweet Sisters...Then & Now

Sometimes, as a parent, there are just beautiful moments that you treasure. Seeing how my kids love and protect one another are some of those times. Here is a picture of a newborn Merry Grace, snuggled up sleeping with her (also sleeping) big sister, Elise.

And here, a few years down the road, are the sleepyheads again. They just look so sweet and peaceful snuggled up together. I'm so glad they love each other.

Planting Flowers and More Trouble with Super Glue

This past week the kids and I spent some time out in the yard planting some flowers around the house. We planted petunias in front of the porch as our first task. It is truly a miracle they they are still surviving a few days later. Between Ian getting them out of the container minus much of their roots and Merry Grace's fascination with trampling them, picking the blooms, and watering them with hot chocolate, if they make it, it will not be because of all the tender loving care we gave them. But we had fun, so I think that counts for something. Elise helped me quite a bit the next day and we planted another bed of flowers. She was a super help. I reminisced about how she's been planting flowers with me since she was less than a year old. She's been my faithful planting companion since all she could do was eat the dirt we planted in. :) But each year she's helped me, regardless of what age she was or what house we lived in. We've had lots of good memories working in the flower beds.

I had early meetings at church this morning, so Cory was in charge of bringing the kids. He does such a good job of getting them fed, dressed and out the door to church on time. This morning everything seemed to be on target to be ready early. The last thing he had to do was get Merry Grace dressed. While he was dressing her he heard the water running quite a bit. He told Elise and Ian to stop running the water. When he finished with MG her came into the kitchen and was tipped off to mischief. He found the kids with super glue on their hands, mainly Ian. Through some discussion it was discovered that they had hid a tube under our bed and that was how they had been able to get into it. In conjunction with that, there was a spot of super glue on the carpet and some on our pillowcases. *Sigh.* Cory spent a while cleaning off Ian's hands and inspecting other damages. But fortunately they still made it to church, just not at that early time they'd hoped for. :) Super glue is fast becoming the bane of my existence.

Ian plays T-ball

Ian is also playing T-ball this season, so for the next month we are practically living at the ball park. But we don't do a lot else during the year, so we figure the sacrifce for the next couple of months is worth it. Ian was a little tired at his last game. He played great, however and was the cutest thing out there. This was my favorite picture of the night. (I was using Cory's camera which doesn't have as great a zoom, nor does it take as good a pictures as mine, but hopefully if you click on it you'll see how cute he is anyway! :))

Home again, home again, jiggity jog...

This past weekend, since Cory was going to be gone most of the weekend on a Scout trip, the kids and I packed up and went home to visit my family. We hadn't been up there since Easter, so we'd really missed being up there with them. We had a nice, relaxing time--going to the walking/biking trail, playing Rock Band, and just hanging out together. My parents were so good to take the kids out in the yard to play, especially pushing Merry Grace on the swing (she literally would never get tired of doing it!), showing them the chickens and my brothers were great to jump on the trampoline with them. One of our favorite parts was definitely the walking/biking trail. The trail follows a river most of the way, but at one point a creek runs under a bridge to meet the river. The kids love stopping there to play. Even though we did much more than this over the weekend, the only pictures I have are of our time in the creek. :)

Here the kids started wading in the most shallow part of the creek.


Merry Grace soon caught up with us and came down to the creek to join in the fun.


Then they started wading in the deeper water. Even though it was a nice day outside, the water was still pretty cold.

Soon just wading wasn't enough, and they geared up to "swim". Even Merry Grace couldn't be left out.

And off they went, ready for the big chill. They had so much fun, though!!! They played, splashed, jumped, and generally just enjoyed doing something different. We are definitely not cut out for the city life. :)


It was such a fun time. I loved doing stuff like this when I was a kid and even that day I couldn't resist getting the water a little bit too. I wasn't up for a "swim", but did have fun wading and getting a little wet. Good memories...

T-Ball Time!!!

T-ball games started last week and Elise has already had her first game. We were all thrilled that her team just happens to have their shirt in her favorite color--Carolina Blue. She looks totally official out there. She is much more "into" it this year, understanding the concepts and enjoying the game for the sport of it, not just the sociality. And she is just too adorable!!!

Here she is, waiting for a ball to come her way.



I wasn't in a great place to get a good shot of her batting. But she hit the ball off the pitching machine and made it to first base. Yay!!!!

A day at the Zoo

Last week we made the trek to the Zoo. Neal & Amanda (Cory's brother & his wife) and their family went with us. The weather was cool, but not too cold and perfect for walking heaven-only-knows -how-many miles. We got there a little before lunch and stayed until the zoo closed. We had two six-year olds, a four-year old, a three-year old, a 2-year old, and an infant, so we sort of felt like we brought the zoo with us, but the kids were amazing. Not a whine, fuss or complaint the whole day. They were troopers and we all had a fun time together. There were just too many neat things to see, but we got to as much as we could and enjoyed every minute we were there. Here are some of the highlights...

Here was Merry Grace looking at the elephants. We took Elise when she was this age and we just happened to be lucky enough to catch the elephants peeing. For months, her only comment when we talked about the zoo was that the elephants peed. :) No such luck this time--just elephants being elephants. Merry Grace still thought they were pretty cool.



The kids enjoyed the "extras" almost as much as the actual animals. This was a gigantic rhinoceros statue that they climbed on for a while. It's back also made for a pretty cool slide.



One of our favorite things was getting to see the polar bear playing with a ball. He would take this 75lb. ball, throw it up against the rocks and let it bounce into the water, then dive in to retrieve it. He did this the entire time we watched and was still doing it when we left. It was pretty cool to watch.


Boys will be boys. The whole zoo to explore and they find a trashcan to play with. They took turns peeking through the holes at one another and then running to switch sides. It really is the simplest things.... Gross!!!



Elise, Emmy and Charles-Allen. They are just as cute as buttons and as sweet as sugar. We stopped to take a rest and get some cotton candy, icees, and popcorn before trekking off again.


Like I said, the extras were just as much fun as the zoo. They spent a little while climbing on this big rock. Uncle Neal was a good sport and let them jump off for him to catch.


These are boys who will actually stop and ask for directions. They spent a good deal of time examining the map and took very seriously their task to find out where we were and where we needed to go.



I don't have too many pictures of Ally. She was just a little too small to really enjoy the experience of the animals, but she was so dang good we hardly heard a peep out of her. Here she and Merry Grace are chillin' in the stroller.



Silly girls!!! They were so sweet the whole day. Neither one would take a turn in either stroller unless there was a spot for both of them. They'd rather walk a little longer than be split up. Most of the time they had their heads together, holding hands or linking arms. They are a matched set and wouldn't have it any other way...unless, maybe, there was a way they could be actual twins. :)



This was us at the beginning of the day. There's also a picture with Amanda & I, so there is proof we were there. But here are the Daddies and their kids. What a great group this is!!!!



I had to post this picture of the "Tarheel Duck" as we called him. The kids thought it was so cool to find a duck who was a Tarheel fan. :)


This goose was not where he was supposed to be, I believe. He came up and over to where we were walking. He followed us a little longer than he might have, had Ian not been feeding him bites of chips. Silly kid!!! It was cool to be that close to a goose, but he sounded quite ferocious. The kids were a little hesitant about what his intentions were. :)



There was a cool playground near the place where we stopped to eat. The mulch was actually chunks of rubber cut to look like mulch. It was so soft and squishy. There were all kinds of cool things for the kids to play on. They were having so much fun we could hardly get them to eat! Here Elise and Charles-Allen were playing on a giant spider web. They were really high.



Cory was chauffeur extraordinaire for the day. He pushed the stroller, carried kids on his shoulder and just generally toted kids around where and when they needed it. sometimes carrying one and pushing a stroller at the same time. It was exhausting enough just walking around, so I don't know how he managed it. He's just an awesome Dad!!

So there you have it...our day at the zoo in a nutshell. We had such a fun time together and are all looking forward to our next adventure!!!

My Newest Nephew

I'm an aunt, again. Cory's sister had a baby last week, Jacob Ethan (to be called Ethan) and he is a cutie. He was only 6lbs. 5oz. which is over a pound smaller than my smallest. When I held him the first time it was like picking up a blanket, he was so light and little and tiny. But he is so handsome and has this tiny, little, perfect body. Every time I see a new baby I'm amazed by what a miracle it is. He joins his two big sisters who I suspect will spoil him rotten and torment him to pieces all at the same time. (I should know, I'm a big sister to three brothers myself. It's part of the job description.) He comes into a family that has a lot of love, both in his immediate family and his extended one as well. My kids are all enraptured by him. Elise, as expected thinks he's cute and wonderful. She can't wait for her new sibling to arrive even more after seeing Ethan. Ian, who is surprisingly tenderhearted towards babies thinks he's the greatest thing ever. He loves holding him and is very careful and gives him gentle kisses on his little head. He also calls him "Baby Uncle Ethan" which I think is hilarious because I have a brother named Ethan, so the the two have just gotten meshed together. Merry Grace loves him too and whenever we ask if she wants to see Aunt Melissa's baby she very seriously looks at us and says, "My baby". (Thankfully she's not possessive. :)) Anyway, we're just thrilled to death with the new little member of the family and just wanted to show off how truly adorable he is. :)

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my dad! He's a little bit like an M&M...a little crusty on the outside, but an ol' softy on the inside. :) He's a man of many talents--he raises chickens, makes the best sourdough bread known to humankind, a jack of all trades meaning he can literally fix anything in your life that breaks or needs repair, he's a terrific gardener, he's the friendliest person you'll ever meet and has never met a stranger, he has served diligently in almost every calling the church has to offer except Relief Society President and I feel sure he could have done that one well too :), he's raised three great sons and one really, really, really super daughter, and keeps doing all those wonderful things day in and day out. I can always count on Daddy to call me on the phone, if I ever have an emergency I know he will be here at the drop of a hat to help out (he's already proved that in the past), and I know if I'm ever in need of someone to be stubborn with, he will come through. :) He's just a great man and a great dad. When I began dating and looking for qualities that I wanted in a husband, most guys had a really hard time fitting the bill because I set such high standards after watching my dad all those years. Fortunately, I found someone who would be as great a dad to my kids as my dad was to me. So "Happy Birthday", Daddy. Here's to at least 51 more. I love you!

Where are the Cleaning Fairies

I've been waiting for the Cleaning Fairies all day, but to no avail. I'm beginning to think they don't exsist. I really need to sweep, mop, vacuum, do laundry, clean the bathrooms, generally straighten things up, organize a few things, wipe down the kitchen, do a load of dishes, and that's just the short list. Oh my. It has been a fun day, though. Obviously no cleaning has been done, but it was productive nonetheless. I had several Relief Society things to do this morning, including running out for a little while. It was a little hectic, but we got "everything" done. We came home, ate lunch, and then got started on our "project of the day". Elise is out for Spring Break, so we've been trying to have a little "extra" fun each day. Today we painted flower pots. We painted six in total and it was a lot of fun, if not a little exhausting and messy. But that just comes with the territory. I'll take a picture of them and post soon. They are really cute and we had a good time. We also gave Max (our dog) a bath for the first time in longer than I'm willing to admit. Either way, he's clean but I'm wet and smell like a dog. So now its late afternoon and I need to start dinner and the house is still in need of some serious attention and I need to take a shower. :) I also think the kids may have spent a little too much "quality" time together today. I can tell they need a break from each other. So they're spending a little time apart right now. And still no sign of the cleaning fairy. Darn it! If they make it to your house, please, please send them my way. Otherwise, it looks like I'd better get started....