Out With the Old, In With the New

by Ang

I rarely blog about my kitties. Mostly because I don't want people to think that I'm a crazy cat lady. But I love them. I've had them both since they were kittens (one was 7 weeks, and one was only 4 weeks when I got him). Right now they are both 7 years old. They're fairly active and still love to play and chase each other around. One is pretty good most of the time and one is....not.

He's the troublemaker:

He's not naughty all the time, and he can be really sweet sometimes. But usually when I hear a crash, or hear the other one hissing, it's because of him.

Not that she's completely innocent.

She's the one that jumped on top of my refrigerator to play with the magnets (while I was headed out the door for work) and somehow managed to open the freezer door in the process. When I came home, all of the food in my freezer was thawed and spoiled. I now have childproof locks on the fridge and freezer.

Anyways, both of my cats have their claws. They don't scratch anything but their scratching posts. Eventually, their scratching posts end up looking like this:

It's completely worn down.

They only like the scratching posts that have the really rough rope on them. They've tried the ones that are made out of carpeting and they won't touch those. I mean, why use that - you can just scratch the carpet.

So last week I got them a new one to replace the old one. This time it had a funny spring loaded ball toy on the top. I didn't know if they would start using it right away. Cats are funny like that. They hate change.

She liked it right away.

He wasn't so sure. He wanted to stay close to the old one. (that little ball on the spring IS slightly disturbing.)

Then he seen how much fun his sister was having.

So he got a little closer...
And then started to play.
And now he uses it more than she does.
So there you have it. An $11 purchase at Wal-mart can go a long way!

Signed,

The Crazy Cat Lady

Julie & Julia & Little Miss A

By Amy

A couple weeks ago we went and saw this movie. I loved it. I am a hundred percent positive that Meryl Streep could play anyone and get it perfect. She is amazing as Julia Child. I never realized that Julia Child was so.....likeable. I guess I really didn't know anything about her except for the fact that she could cook and that she had a funny voice. Her relationship with her husband was so endearing. In the movie when he looks at her you can see the love in his eyes. He treats her like she is a goddess. And I loved the bond she had with her sister. They didn't have alot of scenes together but you could tell they were very close. I know that people and some reviewers have complained about the present day scenes with Amy Adams. I actually liked her character. She was whiny and a little self absorbed and sure, she didn't deserve her husband, but I still liked her. Maybe because I love blogging too. And I know what it's like to be in a place where your not really sure if this is where you are suposed to be. And sometimes I get a little to pre-occupied with a project and I forget what is important in life. And she was a amazing and very brave cook. Your mouth will water. Don't go see the movie hungry.

Since I loved the movie I bought the book. I didn't like the book so much. It was really wordy and I was bored with the other parts of Julies Powells life when she wasn't cooking. I think I'll get the one that Julia Child wrote, "My Life in France." The Paris scenes in the movie are incredible. So, see the movie and skip the book. Another thing that made the movie so special is because little miss A was with us! It was her first movie and of course I had to document it by camera.

Here's a couple more cute shots of her that evening.

She was awake the entire time and was a really good girl. I think she just didn't want to miss anything. It was girls night out after all. (:

Changes

by Ang

I've been missing in action lately. I have good reasons though! For the past week I've been doing nothing but working, getting sick and looking at different apartments. I haven't gotten home before 7:30 once! Except for tonight.

I finally found the perfect place for me. It's much closer to work and bigger than what I have now and it's definitely more my style (old and charming with lots of character). Here's a sneak peak:

I have French doors in my bedroom that lead out onto a deck! And a fireplace! Did I mention that I'm excited?!

So the next couple of weeks are going to be busy. I'll be cleaning out stuff, starting to pack, making lists of things I need to do before the move and right after, and so on. Despite all of the hard work though and lack of sleep the next couple weeks will bring, I am VERY excited about it. I love starting over!

Make this Cake. Now!

By Amy

I have probably made this pineapple zucchini cake about 8 times since zucchini came into season. It always turns out soooo good and my family never gets tired of it. Here is the link....

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/pineapple-zucchini-sheet-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

Last night I made it again. With the some help.

I make sure to squeeze all the water out of the shredded zucchini.

Make two so that you can share. Your friends and family will love you forever.

Enlist the help of your favorite seven year old help you. It will enlighten your experience by ten- fold.

Use pineapple juice instead of milk to thin up the frosting.

PURE BLISS!!!

Go check it out. The whole website is full of great recipe's.

P.S--My sister promises to blog tomorrow. I keep telling her people are bored with me. I'm bored with me. So she will be posting soon!

If Only I Could be Seven Again

By Amy

My youngest woke up to early this morning so he crawled into bed with me and begged me to scratch his back. I have found out that it's fairly easy to scratch someone's back while half asleep. I could probably have fallen back asleep if it wasn't for his little chatter. Oh and he does chatter. It's never quiet for more then three or four seconds when he is in the room. This morning he started in on the knock knock jokes. He only knows one so he makes it really long.

"Knock, knock."

"Whose there?"

"Banana."

"Banana who?"

"Knock, knock."

"Whose there?"

"Banana."

"Banana who?"

This went on for at least five minutes. Finally the punchline. If you don't know it, you'll just have to guess. Or wait until you see my son. He would be honored to tell you. After that, came this....

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"Chicken butt!!"

And then he just dies of laughter.

"Guess who?"

"Who?"

"Scooby doo!"

At this point he just can't control himself and has to say the whole thing again because it's just SO FUNNY. It's amazing watching him crack up over something so silly. He giggles from the inside out with his mouth wide open and when he really get's going, tears stream down his face. It makes my heart so full watching his......youthfulness. I hope he never grows up. I love this kid.

Class is in Session

By Amy

Today starts the second week of school. I think it's going good. My youngest likes his teacher and he comes home telling me stories of all the fun things they did. My oldest has some tough teachers but I think it's going to be ok. He's a big shot this year so the confindence level is soaring and that helps. He will be humbled next year when he starts high school and is at the bottom of the todem pole. I'm happy to have my Wednesday's back. Don't get me wrong. I did enjoy my Wednesday's with the boys. Since it's my only day off, I tried to cram alot of fun stuff in for them to do. I think they had a good summer. They even said they had a good summer. So why do I feel like this summer came and went and I didn't even stop to enjoy it? I tried to remember if we had anyone over for dinner. Not including family or the kid's friends. We did once. ONCE! I love to have people over. And I think I cheated my kids. I was so busy making sure that they were having fun that I didn't have time to play with them. I don't think I played with them outside in the yard even once. Because by the time we got finished with some sort of entertaining activity, I had the house to clean, laundry to do and dinner to start in the afternoon. I think I forgot to breathe this summer. Now it's slipping away. I don't want next summer to be this hectic. I don't want my Wednesdays to be one big day of errands, cleaning, cooking, laundry and agenda packed. I'm making a deal with myself. The first half of my Wednesdays I'm going to do whatever I want to do. Not something I have to do. Such as......

READING (I think I've read about half of these)

Hanging out on the deck. Possibly with a book. Or the mail. Or something! We've got a great view and the bugs haven't been so bad this year.

Scrapping. Or making some cards. While watching a movie. It makes me smile just thinking about it.

My Wednesday afternoons will be for housework or errands. Maybe if I put it into practice now, by next summer I will have it down pat and I'll be able to enjoy it. Which makes me happy and that will make my kids happy. I'm sure they would tell you it's not fun being around a stressed out, overwhelmed, agenda packed, list making momma. I don't like to be around her either.

Her

by Ang

This baby girl has my heart. I love her so much and no matter what kind of day I'm having, all I have to do is think of her sweet face and I smile.

Tonight, my Mom, Grandma, Sister-in-Law, and Little Miss A came up to spend the afternoon with us. We went to see Julia and Julia. It was Miss A's first movie!! She did great. No fussing at all. She's such a good baby. After the movie, we grabbed a quick bite to eat, and once again, Miss A was very well behaved and smiled and entertained her crazy aunties for the evening.

It was fun sweetie! Hope to see you again soon.

She's leaving. She's staying. She's leaving. She's staying.

By Amy

At the beginning of the summer my sis-in-law returned from Ecuador. She had been there for about a year. We were so thrilled to have her back with us! But we knew that her heart was in Ecuador. As much as she missed us and loved being with us.....she wanted to go back. She was here to make money so that she could. Our time was limited. So all summer we questioned her. "When are you going back?" Or in other words, "How much time do we have with you?" It seemed like it would take her some time to make enough money to let her stay in Ecuador for a year. But she found a job quickly that paid fairly well. So about a week ago she sent us all a email telling us that she would be returning at the end of this month. This Saturday (tomorrow) she would be flying into Denver to spend some time with her sister for about a week and then she would be off to Ecuador. So all the family decided to meet up for pizza tonight for a litle send off dinner and to say good-bye. But wait. She had some news for us.

"I've decided to stay!"

"Wait. What?!?"

So she is staying. A couple things came into play the last few days that pushed her into extending her time here a little more. At least until January. We are grateful. She felt bad for being so indecisive. We are just happy that she is staying. She is a beautiful soul.

I brought my camera of course but didn't take alot of pictures. After she told us the news, I kind of fizzled out on taking family pictures. We are, after all, going to see her again. I asked hubby to take a picture of us. He then took a few extra shots.

I looked at him and said, "This is the best you can do?" He threw a dirty napkin at me.

A Fishy Dinner

By Amy

Last night I decided to make fish tacos for dinner. Never made them before. Never really wanted too either. Just had a craving for them which is odd because I've never had them before. Anyway, it sounded good so I seasoned, fried and shredded up some fish...

Grated some cheese.....

Fried up some tortillas.....

Burned a pan......

Chopped some veggies....




Speaking of veggies, take a look at those beautiful tomatoes!! I have about 400 more. Think I'm joking? Take a look at my tomato plants.

They have crushed my fence and they are overtaking the deck. They are so intertwined that the tomatoes are rotting on the inside of the mass because I can't get to them. I have learned my lesson. Only plant 3 and plant them more then a foot apart. Ok, back to the tacos.... assemble and eat!

They were super yummy. Everyone in the family agreed. The effort paid off and I was happy. Until my eldest knocked his entire plate over on the floor. After only two bites. Face down (of course). On the living room carpet. I was mad. But then he cleaned the kitchen for me. And then I was happy. (:

Missing

by Ang

I am attempting to organize my digital photos (which is another post for another time). In the process though, I put all of my Paris photos and documents onto one flash drive. I did this last night, and I couldn't help but open each and every photo.

How is it possible to miss a place so much that you've only been to once? After almost every photo I got this feeling of....it's hard to describe. It's almost magical (although I hate to use that word). Nostalgia? Excitement? Historical? None of them fit. Only those that have been to Paris and have gotten that 'feeling' know what I'm talking about.

It didn't matter if I was looking at photos of the Eiffel Tower:

The Louvre:
My favorite painter, Vermeer:

The view from the Sacre Coeur in Montemartre:

The palace at Versailles:

My favorite museum, D'Orsay:

The Metro:

The view from the Arc:

The Opera House:

And everything in between.

It just makes me want to go again and do it all over. Experience everything one more time. Maybe someday I'll get to. Until then, I'm thankful that I have the pictures and of course, the memories.