Spring Break, Part II

It has been a busy day, but not a lot of pictures to show for it! The kids' Spring Break continues, and except for an afternoon lecture, Lane was off today too. The termite inspector stopped by this morning to take a look inside of the house so he could sign off on our inspection. Lane also had another pest-control company out today to spray for other critters--mostly ants because they are everywhere. I was hoping all the snow would decrease the ant population, but I'm afraid that didn't happen. So then we were all off to Alexee's make-up gymnastics class that she missed while we were in Flippin. From there we dropped Lane and Alexee off at Home Depot (she wanted to shop with Lane) :) while the boys and I went to Debbie's to get C's hair trimmed for his upcoming portrait. He did okay except for the clippers--he was not at all comfortable with that noise. Then we all went home for lunch, and A & C took long naps (still catching up on sleep from the first part of Spring Break), R played with neighbor friends, I planted the jonquil bulbs that I brought from Mom and Dad's yard and Lane did some more work in the front yard. I have no idea if the jonquils will make it. I didn't research how/when to transplant the bulbs. I know that sometimes you're supposed to refrigerate bulbs and then plant in the fall, but it just seemed easier to go ahead and stick them in the ground now. Hopefully they'll survive and bloom next spring. Speaking of blooms, I found this iris (above) when I took A & C out in the back yard after their naps. I brought those from my parents' house last year, and I was so happy to see they'd made it through the winter. I think they are such beautiful flowers--I love their detail. We have such an amazing Creator!

Princess Louisa: Love at First Sight

Mo has been promising Alexee that she can have a cat of her own to keep at the barn in Flippin. Alexee has been very excited about this, and when we were visiting for Spring Break we went to the local shelter to look for the perfect cat. They had two rooms of cats for rescue. We walked into the first room and a cat in the very first cage stuck its paw through the door to try to play. Alexee said, "I want that one." Mom said, "Well, let's just look at all the others and make sure this is the best pet for you." Mom asked several questions about the age and personality of the different cats, and Alexee walked politely along and looked but would occasionally say, "I want that (first) cat over there". After considering all the options, we went back to the first cat and the nice lady got the cat out to meet Alexee and see how they liked each other. It was love at first sight. :) The cat's shelter name was "Louisa", but A has been saying for months that she wants to name her cat Princess. So we decided her name could be Princess Louisa.

Alexee & Princess meet for the first time

This cat has the sweetest personality! She's very gentle and loving and seems to like people.

Crosby really liked the cat too and wanted a turn holding her...but we were afraid that might scare her.

She didn't want Mo to carry her. She wanted to carry her all by herself.

We were surprised at the amount of paperwork involved in getting a cat!

Mom finally finished the paperwork (she was a little worried about what all she might have signed!?)...and here they are, ready to go home! (I'm sure the employees were getting tired of me snapping pictures, but I'm glad I did.) :)

Princess Louisa had a big, warm welcome at the house. Granddad, Rhett, Jaiden, Jeryn, Maelee and Marcee all liked her! Alexee told my Dad, "I thought I'd picked a cat that you would like, but it turns out that everyone else likes her too!"

I thought these pictures were all so sweet of them together:

New friends!

The cat has a temporary place to stay in the laundry room until she gets adjusted to her new family and surroundings. All the kids wanted to hold her and take care of her.

She got a little scared and ran under the chair! I think this is funny of C trying to reach her.

Even though Alexee knew up front that the cat was going to live with Mo and Granddad, she still had a tough time leaving without her today. She cried, and I felt really bad for her. I know they'll have fun next time we go to visit.

Spring Break, Part I

The kids and I just got back from a fun visit to my parents' house. Below are a few of my favorite photos from the trip, but here is the whole ALBUM.

Happy Spring Break week!

Phone Photos #17

It was a pretty snow, but I'm glad spring is here!Painting A's nails...pink, purple, pink, purple

I don't even remember where I took this picture...maybe the lobby of gymnastics? So pretty. I love flowers of all kinds.

Valentine's Day pie

(I ate so much of the dough that I wasn't hungry for the pie once it came out of the oven. Lane thinks the dough is gross, but I love it!)

afternoon at the park

the morning of R's school Valentines party--Alexee got all dressed up

We ran a few errands before going to the school party. One stop was the shoe store. Alexee liked these purple light-up shoes. :)

On the way into Sam's to pick-up the cupcakes for the party

I took this picture for Bogart--ha!--A giant Milkbone display :)

Too-small Elmo PJs

Alexee and her friend Maylee at the playground one day after school

These next two are before and after pictures that I took of my hair...

My hair is really frizzy unless I use the flat iron on it, and to really do a good job with the flat iron takes a lot of time. Before the straightening treatment (Brazilian Blowout):
I'm really glad got the straightener. It's so nice to just dry my hair and not have to flat-iron it. Sometimes I still use it just a little to curl the ends under, but it's much much faster than before. The treatment should last about 3 months--I hope it does (or longer).

After

One day I went through the Starbucks drive-thru and had Bogart with me. The guy working at the window saw him and asked if he could have a treat. I said sure, but wondered what kind of dog treat Starbucks had to offer. It was Bogart's LUCKY day...he got a heaping cup of whipped cream! :)

Yum--he ate every drop!

spring in our front yard

I love seeing his little toes sticking out from under the blanket. By the way, this is the softest blanket ever. My friend Heather got it for me for Christmas, and I just couldn't make myself pack it away with the holiday stuff--it's too soft not to use year around!

One of Alexee's "collections" (rocks from the back yard flowerbed)

infant carrier that I mentioned in this post

brothers

Rainy day attire

This outfit was Rhett's. Both boys looked so cute in it--it was one of my favorites. (C was watching the trash truck out on the street.)

C's cute footprint when he got out of the bathtub one night. :)

Alexee and her gymnastics coachoatmeal chocolate chip