Looking Forward to Spring

Little Dorothy is looking forward to spring. 

Today is the last day of winter!!  Here in Indiana that means 50's by day, and 30's by night.  It also means no more snow and ice.  And, some times we get a day or two of 60's or 70's.  We do get a lot of rain, but that brings flowers and green grass.

Another great thing about spring is the end of tax season in a month.  My husband is hanging in there.  He is such a hard worker.  I admire this ability to continue on day after day.  I am also thankful for his good job. And we know this season will end, making our lives a lot nicer.

This week my homeschoolers and I have been on a spring break.  My public school child is off next week for two weeks.  Grace and Trevor enjoyed three days with their Nana.  I enjoyed a quiet house!  I cleaned our carpets, too.  And I got the garage refrigerator cleaned out.  I am not sure what else I will do.  I'd love to clean the windows, but am not ready to remove the plastic.

So that is what is going on around here.  I hope you are enjoying the start of spring, too!
~Jenn

Almost a Year Later

It's hard to believe that my sweet Abbey Cat has been gone almost a whole year.

Look at that girl stretch!  

My lap has been a very lonely place since that day in April last year.  Quickly, maybe too quickly, we invited Dorothy into our home, just two days after Abbey left us.  Sometimes I do wish we had taken a little more time with that decision, although, I love her and would not want her to be with someone else.  I mean, who can resist her beautiful face?  It would not have mattered what cat we got in that moment of grief.  I was in no place ready to move on.  Perhaps it is just now that I feel like I can really love another cat.

While Dorothy is the best cat, behavior-wise, she isn't a lap cap.  She is easily over stimulated by our touch and will swipe you with a claw filled paw if you cross her line.  It doesn't hurt much physically, just emotionally.  I feel rejected at those times.  I have tried everything, food bribes, sweet talk, gentleness, time.  She just isn't a lap cat.  And she is easily frightened.  I wonder if she was mistreated?  What she is is a playful, entertaining, beautiful, sweet, affectionate,good, but better keep your hands to yourself cat!  And we do love her.  I think she is perfect, except for that one little thing of not liking laps.

My dear, gracious husband has given his consent for me to find my lap cat.  (Oh, how I love that man!)  Even before Abbey passed away, I had been visiting Siamese Cat Rescue's webpage regularly.  I knew she was not going to live forever.  However when she died, I didn't want to go through the lengthy process of approval.  And we found Dorothy so quickly!  (She is part Siamese,distantly.  Her blue eyes make her part Siamese. The vet called her a Lynx Point/Snowshoe.)

Last week, we were approved to adopt a cat from The Siamese Cat Rescue.  I feel as if this is a dream come true!  Of course now that we are approved, there are not any cats that match our special needs since we already have a quirky cat and that dictates the kind of cat we can adopt. We think we have the best chance with her approving the cat if it is male, young, and outgoing.  For me, I must have a lap cat or burst.  (Not kidding!) So we are looking for a young male who is laid back, outgoing, and loves laps.  

So far we are finding it a very competitive process, too. I think there are many more adopters than cats.  That is true of this geographical area anyway.  There are only 6 cats in our area.  Two are very sick from a hoarder and not available.  One might be perfect except he hates other cats.  One, while my heart goes out to him, is very old.  One is not a lap cat, but otherwise very nice.  He has another family in line before us and he is in KY.  The other is maybe too shy and a bit older, 5.  I am waiting to hear about him.  He also has a family ahead of us.  He could work if Dorothy's playfulness didn't bother him.  He may need a more relaxed cat to buddy with.

Anyway, I am not going to stress or worry. Our guy is there,somewhere!  I have to keep my eye on the website as it is first come, first serve.  This may take awhile. Stay tuned.

~Jenn, the cat crazy blogger

Wordless Wednesday: Dorothy Rules!

This is her annoyed face.  

She's a constant blur! 

Sweetie!  

With her favorite toy, Mr. Piggy Pants.  

Note:  Dorothy is settling in just fine.  We really enjoy her youthful energy, except in the middle of the night, when she will bring us a toy and howl until we play.  That's why her toys get inventoried and locked up each night before bed.  :-)

Wordless Wednesday: Phone Picture Time

Grace got hold of my phone and took this picture of Dorothy one evening. 

Wordless Wednesday: Let Sleeping Cats Lie

This Week At Home, 2012, Week 17

Little notes I write, as reminders of these precious days!

How can this be comfy?  She thinks it is! 

Sunday...

Another lovely day together.  Jeff finished mowing, after having to go get more gasoline.  Grace's ear infection seems to be getting better, but it's still best that we did not go camping last night as we desired.  We grilled out again.  Ah, I love that smell!  We had chicken tenders (grilled), salad, and strawberries mixed with blueberries with home made whipped cream on top.  

Monday...

A rare day, indeed!  We were home all day, no running.  Gym is over.  Dance was cancelled due to the instructor being ill with the flu.  We fought our natural tendency to loaf on slower paced days.  We got everything done, except French and adequate AWANA drill.  They will have to make those up on their own time.

I'm off to fold laundry and watch a "no-think" show that Grace and I like, "My Fair Wedding."   Oh those poor brides with no taste!  Well, they get their dream wedding in the end. I do hope they get their dream marriage, too.  I remember well how Jeff was so wise to keep reminding me when we were planning our wedding, that it was just a day and marriage was forever, wise man, indeed! 

Dinner is home made pizza, broccoli slaw, and grapes.  

(By the way, the cat is the only one around here who will let me take her picture and not complain when I put it on the blog.) 

Tuesday...

Another slower paced day around here.  (Yay!)  Most of us got through our lessons in a timely manner.  One of us rushed through his thinking he could then play a new game on the computer for the rest of the day.  Ahem.  Nope.  Sorry.  He obviously needed more work to do, so I gave him another book to read.

In the afternoon, our little friend came.  Her mom asked me to consider watching her one day a week this summer.  It would be a good way to bank up some money for art next year.  I'm thinking we will do it. 

For dinner, we are having a Shepherd's Pie concoction and salad.  Fruit is getting low, so we will probably not have any for dinner.  We'll have big salads to fill up on.

I can't stop taking pictures of this sweet creature!

Wednesday...

Another quieter day.  The kids got their work done, watched a movie in the afternoon, and then we dashed off to AWANA, only two more left! Jeff talked to our AWANA commander tonight and so I can tell it here that we are not going to do AWANA next year.  After going over our commitments, we decided that something must go.  I am going to miss the children.  It was a hard decision. Jeff is going to use his Wednesday nights to do fun boy things with Trevor, who seems to get the least of Jeff's attention.  They've written a long list of things to do.  I may publish it one of these days. 

Dinner was crust-less quiche, grapes, and roasted potatoes.

She takes an afternoon nap on the sofa each day. 

Thursday...

Need to get some bread before school and babysitting today.  Trevor hasn't been feeling his best this week.  He's probably got what Grace had for the last two weeks.  Ryan is all better, though.  My ear started hurting last night for some strange reason.  I don't have any other symptoms.  Weird.  Could be my old swimmer's ear flaring up.  I did wash my hair yesterday. (Grrr!) 

Today we finished a really quick paced, interesting book about Queen Mary, entitled, Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer.  I am going to try to find some more books at the library by this author.  She writes in a style that I enjoy.  She wrote other books from similar historical time periods. 

Dinner is chicken with whole wheat biscuts and home made slaw.  BUT, the oven broke during its baking, so I had to transfer it to the crock pot. Thankfully, it finished in time.  The oven will have to be serviced, I guess.  It seems as if it is as old as this house, so I wonder if there are parts for it?  Until then, I will have to be a creative cook using my grill and crock pot. 

Karate is tonight.  It's their last chance to qualify for the tournament coming up.  Ryan also hopes to get signed off on becoming a Jr. Leader.  He's been working on that all year. And wouldn't you know, Grace was the only one to qualify for the tournament, again!  She is so frustrated, because she didn't even want to go to karate this year.  I keep telling her that she'd be first place if she put some effort into it! 

And, it looks like camping is off for the weekend, again.  It's going to rain all day Saturday.  (Boo)



Friday...

Hooray for Friday! I let the kids sleep in a bit, although,we need to finish up school work today.  Trevor has several subjects to make up as he wasn't feeling well and I let it slide a day.  Grace and I need to have a math meeting.  (Pray for me!  Those usually get heated.)  Ryan needs to finish his essay.  He usually puts it off until Friday.

Other than lessons, we need to tidy the house, keep the laundry going, may go to the library, and tonight is Grace's art show at the gallery!  I cannot wait to see the lovely blue bird she drew.

I was going to make vegetable lasagna tonight.  I may have to make it in the crock pot.  I think I can do that.  It may not be as good, but it will work.  

Update:  the lasagna was awesome!  Here is the recipe.   It's just something I made up.

First, I cut up 4 zucchini and stir fried them in olive oil with 2 cloves (crushed) garlic, salt and pepper to taste. I put them into the bottom of the crock pot. Next, in the same pan that I cooked the zucchini, I put in 3 cans of organic tomato sauce, a couple more cloves of garlic, crushed, a sprinkle of basil and about 1/2 cup of olive oil. I let that simmer while I made my ricotta mixture. In a medium bowl mix together one egg, a small carton of ricotta, a sprinkle of dried parsley, 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese, pepper to taste, and about a cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. Now it's time to assemble the lasagna back in the crock pot. Take about one third of the pasta sauce and spread it over the zucchini. Next layer some no boil lasagna noodles (if you want to us regular ones, parboil them first.) Then make a layer of the cheese mixture. Next layer more sauce. Then take two or more big handfuls of fresh spinach and layer that next. More noodles. Then cheese. Then sauce. Then noodles. Sprinkle a little of mozzerella on top. You can add other veggies that you like. These are just what I had. I cooked it on high for 3 hours. My crock pot runs hot. If you want to skip making the sauce, just use a sauce you like. I think next time I will add summer squash. Hope you like it. Oh, if you want to bake it in a regular oven, that's fine too, just adjust the time. 

Saturday...

Since we aren't going camping, and it is supposed to rain all day, I am not sure what we will do except work around the house and watch Bat Man on Me TV. 
It's just going to be nice not having a lot to do this weekend!
 For dinner, I wanted to grill out, but it may rain, so we will see about that.  I could fry hamburgers on the stove top.

Have a great weekend!  

~Jenn

A bird Grace is working on. 

She's Cute

By Ryan

=^..^=      /   

 ----------

    ||       ||

Dorothy Dumpling is the cutest living cat in the whole entire world. She's so adorable, the laws of physics obey her. How else can she jump so high?

She likes to play with her feathered toys, although they will not last long at this rate. Her string toy is better, it uses fancy ribbons and a couple of bells to get a cat's attention. And it really gets her attention.

Dorothy loves catnip. If she could have all she wanted, we'd be fresh out of catnip in minutes. Hopefully our catnip plant will live to produce plenty for her.

Dorothy is a good, well mannered cat. She understands basic rules, and obeys them. For example, the first night she watched Deep Space Nine with us, she stayed off the couch until we encouraged her to join us. It is obvious that she has been part of a family, and she was not supposed to go on the couch. However, she now has free reign on all flat and remotely flat surfaces.

Whenever we see her, the first thought in our heads is always, “She's so cute!” And she is. Her little voice is so adorable we can't help but give in to her desires. She's a true queen.

And this is her theme song...

This Week At Home,2012, Week 16

Notes I write each day in order to remember each precious one!  

Best day of the week, getting the camper!

Sunday...

We awoke amazed that our new kitty slept all night at the foot of our bed.  Church was great, as usual.  Emotionally, I was exhausted, and needed some down time in the afternoon.  Jeff to the rescue!  He took Trevor back and forth to choir practice, got Ryan a hair cut, went to Costco, mowed the grass, and let me rest!  Thank you, Jeff!  

Perfect shirt for Trevor

Monday...

Today was our last homeschool gym class until the middle of September.  Hopefully, we can meet up at a local park with some of our friends from the class once this summer.  After gym, we got our weekly bread at Great Harvest.  (Yes, it's expensive, but I want to support local businesses that make real food!)  After lunch, we opened the books.   Grace had dance and I looked at old photo albums, undisturbed, while waiting for her. 

Contemplative Kitty

Tuesday...

Busy day, as usual.  We got our lessons done, had lunch, then played with our dear little friend.  I also got laundry caught up.  In the afternoon, I took Grace to art class, came back home to make dinner, and Jeff got off in time to bring her home.  Woo hoo! I also got to go to bunco night.  (Bunco or Bunko?  either way, it's a fun dice counting game.  I belong to a group that's been going for more than 10 years!)   AND the best news of the day is that tax season is officially over!!! 

Marking off the apple orchard. Math in action! 

My honey crisp! 

Wednesday...

Jeff was off today, office closed!  So, we made the trip to see Grandpa's new apple trees .  And pick up our camper, which he had so graciously stored for us this past winter.  We had a nice visit, good lunch, and conversations.  I hated to dash off, but we had to get home for AWANA.  *sigh* 

Grandpa's apple trees waiting to be planted.

Thursday...

Great weather again today.  I ended up taking Grace to see the doctor this morning, because on Tuesday her ear started hurting really bad, and she just had an ear infection the end of February.  I always wait to make sure it is worth the trip and it seems like I made the right call.  The doctor said her ear was fire engine red.  :-( Of course, that doesn't stop her from doing her school work, like a trouper.  We watched our dear little friend today, too.  Grace did stay home from karate though.   Jeff and I did not get an official date night, but it was still good having him home in daylight hours!

Another thing occurred to me. Dorothy seems to have settled into our routine today.  She joined us for school.  She loves to roll on top of colored pencils for some reason.  They must smell good to her?  She is also a very verbal cat, which is so Siamese-like.  She frequently makes a little noise that sounds like a  Star Trek's Tribble.   I kid you not!  We are really enjoying her.  God is so good to send us this sweet kitty just when we needed her most.  My heart is grieving Abbey, but I have a smile on my face thanks to Dorothy Dumplings. 

Sweet Kitty.

Friday...

Today we must finish up our lessons, because we took Wednesday off.  We have some library books due and one on hold to pick up.  Dorothy needs another toy, too.  And, I have a messy house to deal with.  How did that happen? 

More of the adorable kitty.  

Saturday...

We were going to take a day trip and possibly camp overnight, but since Grace is sick, and its going to be too cold, we will just stay home and enjoy the free day.  Free day?  Did I say that?  Here's our to do list:

• Spring clean the pop up camper
• Check and set camping supplies
• Home Depot trip for camping supplies, grill stuff
• Gardening beds made (holes drilled into kiddie pool)
• Cut grass, weed
• Grill out on Saturday

"Would you please stop taking so many pictures?" 

Have a wonderful weekend! ~Jenn

The Adjustment Period

Dorothy Dumplings, as she is called, seems quite comfy in her new home, although there are so many new sounds and people for her to adjust to.  The rescue recommends the newly adopted pet stay in one room for a whole week.  And it really does seem to calm her.  She has been out to explore a time or two each day and usually ends up walking around crying a lot.  So, in her room she goes and spends a lot of quality time with the kids one on one. I am hoping she will settle in sooner than later, but I am mindful that she has been through a lot in her young life.  Despite not having the best start in life, I can see that she is a good kitty, very affectionate and well mannered.  Makes me think she spent a good deal of time with kind humans at one point in her life.  Perhaps she is a door-dasher and ran away, lured by the excitement and glamor of a life of chasing birds?  It's hard to say what her story is.  One thing is for certain, she enjoys people.  I like that.

Meet Dorothy

Such a sweet face! 

I knew I was doomed.  OK, doomed is too drastic of a word.  Out voted would be more like it.  My kids were hurting.  They'd never not had a cat.  They were very anxious to have another cat, as soon as possible.  They were sending me links to available cats in the area.  I was sort of for waiting six months.  (You can see who won!)  In the end, Jeff decided that we should call about little Dorothy and talk to her foster mom.  So, I called.  We had a lovely chat about Dorothy, who seemed to be social and loved kids.  Dorothy has been living with her foster family for more than a month while Dorothy healed from her spaying surgery.

Since Jeff had to work, I had to make the decision.  We went to see Dorothy and found her to be laid back, playful, eating well, healing well, and so cute.  Did I mention she has the bluest eyes I've ever seen?  We spent over an hour with her.  The kids were sold.  I liked that she was not in a shelter, but a family's home and that they could tell me how she was.  (We did not go to their house, they brought her to PetCo.)  I decided that I could not hold the family back, so I signed the adoption papers.

I don't know if we've rushed things. The vet who worked with Abbey said that some people go straight from his office to getting another cat.  I guess a 2 days was too long without a kitty for the kids.  Time will tell if we did the right thing.  I do think Dorothy will help the kids deal with things.  The kids think she is cute, precious, and fun.