A Tale of Two Kitties

It all started innocently enough with the purchase of swimsuits…..

The kids dove back in to swimming lessons a little over a week ago now. After 12 weeks of lessons and a summer of backyard/lake/hot spring use their current suits were pretty much shot. Not to mention, both kids have done some growing since the suits were purchased back in January. That meant about a week before lessons started I went online to Target.com to purchase new suits. At the same time I also thought I’d pick up a birthday gift for my soon to be 4-year old nephew. Kill two birds with one stone AND get free shipping? Doesn’t get much better than that.

I’d been waffling around on what to get my nephew. Generally, he likes whatever big brother likes (and who has a birthday 10 days after little brother) pirates, superheroes, etc. but I didn’t want to just get two of the same thing. I wanted something that uniquely Noah. What to get, what to get? I’d actually be struggling with it for weeks. Emilie to the Rescue!

Emilie had come into the office and crawled up on my lap during the swimsuit selection process (wanted to make sure Mom didn’t forget that suit with the large ruffley obnoxious purple tutu skirt ) and remained there as I looked at toys. Soon enough she pointed out Fur Real pets and started jabbering on about pretty kitties and baby puppies. Hmmmmmm, Noah LOVES stuffed animals. He’s got a real soft spot for them. Sleeps with about fifty-zillion every night and, trust me, he knows if one is missing. What could be better than a pseudo-stuffed animal that purrs and walks and drives his mother (my little sister) batty?? Perfect! I added a nice gray kitty named Bootsie to the cart, clicked ‘checkout’, verified my order, paid, and was off to better things back in the real world….awesome things, like laundry .

Fast forward a week. We are waiting the arrival of the swimsuits hoping they’ll arrive in time for lessons. I got two e-mails. One said the suits shipped the other said the cat shipped. Tuesday shortly before lessons started the UPS truck pulled up in my driveway and the UPS man climbed out of the vehicle carrying two rather large boxes. “Okay,” I thought “Apparently they don’t consider item size when they pack stuff at Target.com.” Then the UPS guy casually states, “I have a third box for you, but I can’t find it in the truck. I’ll go look again and bring it if I find it.” Uhhhh…..what??

I can’t think of anything else that I ordered, so unless a relative sent a box something is off. I went inside and opened the two boxes. First box, Fur Real kitty. Second box, Fur Real kitty….. I looked at the packing slips. Both were for Fur Real cats. Did I accidentally order two? Did they accidentally send me two cats instead of swimsuits? I went online and checked, nope only ordered one cat, which now showed as delivered. Swimsuits still showed as ‘out for delivery.’ My checking account was billed the proper amount for swimsuits and one Fur Real cat. There was actually no hint of a second cat anywhere.

At that point I sat down and looked at the packing slips and box labeling…. They were absolutely identical down to the tracking number. It was like someone hit print twice and sent me a duplicate cat without realizing it. I called Target’s customer service and explained what had happened. The guy didn’t seem to get it. He kept telling me to return the second cat for a refund. I tried taking it into the store too, but they also wanted to give me a refund. There is no record of the second cat and they can’t return it to inventory without reimbursing me for it. Considering I never paid for the darn thing that just feels like stealing….even more so than keeping the cat I never ordered in the first place.

So just like real cats are the “gift that keeps on giving” it seems robotic cats are too. My devious plan to earn Auntie brownie points while at the same time pick on my sister backfired and I too am stuck with one of these obnoxious meowing cats myself.

Emilie really wants it….. She carried the one  to give her cousin around for a week and actually packed her own overnight bag when I said we were mailing it to her cousin so that she could go too. However, the second cat still remains in it’s packaging in the back bedroom. Part of me wants to give in and give it to her….but I feel wrong about that since we didn’t pay for it. Another larger part of me says to donate this duplicate cat to Toys for Tots or Project Angel tree or something similar and give another child something to love on.  That would be a better lesson to teach my children. As for Emilie, if she still wants one come December there is always the chance ‘Santa Claus’ will bring her one…or three, with my luck. As long as it’s not a real kitten (and don’t any of you got getting ideas, we already have two cats ) I suppose I can persevere.

Thought for Thursday

We all wear many different ‘hats’ over the course of our lives. In fact most of us wear more than one ‘hat’ on any given day. Some of us though, choose to wear all our hats at once. Really saves time in the decision making department……

Cooking With Dad

The picture really says it all…..

The Christmas Dress

Most every year we try to get the kids a new “dressy” outfit for the holiday season. I generally shop consignment so getting something ‘brand new’ is a treat, is usually warranted, and can be worn before/during/after the holiday. Hence the trek to Boise yesterday. First we went to Cabela’s and the Zoo. Then we headed over to Kohl’s located in the dread mall….da da dum.

(I know some folks love malls but Kevin and I really aren’t fans. Too many people, too fast-paced. I’m not a good browser. I’m a know what you want in-and-out kind of gal so unless I’m there for social reasons I generally try to avoid them.)

Since she’s 2.5 and opinionated I figured that Emilie should have some say on her Christmas dress. I pulled items I liked off the rack and said, "What about this one?" My choices all got "no's." Finally, Kevin selects one and says, “Isn’t this cute?”…YES (Daddy’s girl to the end)!   While not MY favorite, I don’t have to wear it, and I can live with her/Kevin’s selection (the one on the left)

While the great dress debate was ensuing, Jack was standing around shuffling his feet and repeatedly asking when we could go ride the escalator again. For Jack malls are a quasi-amusement park where the goal is to plan a route that gives you the maximum number of escalator rides possible. That, and hope you can convince Mom & Dad to buy you that 1.5 pound box of nerds (that was a ‘no’). Needless to say, picking out clothes is soooooooooo booooring. He’ll pretty much agrees to whatever I show him just so we can be done. I guess that’s why it was so amusing to see him insist that Emilie needed the outfit on the right.

Striped leggings, multi-colored tutu with sequins, 3D layered ribbon Christmas tree design complete with a large rhinestone on top. Knowing Emilie, I’m a bit shocked she didn’t pick it herself (You should have seen the Thanksgiving turkey version of this gem…..hysterical). It was Jack though. He was insistent that this was Emilie’s dress. I’d tell him, “No, we picked this one (showing him Em’s choice) and we’d go to walk away and he’d run back crying, “We can’t forget Emilie’s dress!” To be honest it was a little bizarre and out of character for him.

Thankfully, this is Kohl’s and both dresses were 40% off. So Kevin and I talked it over and ended up with both. Jack’s choice can be his Christmas gift to her….. and I’m going to remember not to take him along next time I need a dress because his fashion sense scares me a bit

Wordless Wednesday

Noticed this as I passed through the living room today. I see a lot of weird stuff in this house, and this ranks right up there. Not sure what is going on here, and I’m not even going to ask. However, I do think a re-explanation of how to play Rock ‘em Sock’ em Robots is in order.

Country Crooner

There really never is a dull moment in this house. This afternoon Emilie was napping, I was playing ‘catch-up’ with my scrapbooking, Jack was sitting next to me watching tractor videos on You Tube.

Suddenly it dawned on me that Jack was singing. Not only was he singing….he was singing ‘Convoy’. The lyrics were a little twisted (Think: Hold me closer Tony Danza/Hold me closer tiny dancer) but the tune was pretty obvious.

Like any sane parent I grabbed the camera and encouraged him to keep going. Sing on he did. Not only did I get ‘Convoy’ on camera but two other tunes as well.

Enjoy! Oh, and the muffled snorting in the background is just me trying not to laugh… How can you not giggle when he sings “Please don’t let my drinking water run dry?” (You’ll understand once you watch the second song)

Going Around the Bend

I mentioned this on my Facebook page, but I’ve found it too hilarious so I’m recording it here for posterity. Jack is on to me. He’s starting to realize that Mom most likely has a few (or more) loose screws up top.

Yesterday the kids picked out “A Charlie Brown Christmas” for their quiet time video. We were all laying there on the floor, watching Snoopy skate to the cheerful strains of the Vince Guaraldi Trio, when this particular scene comes on:

Jack turns to me and says seriously, “Mom, are you too far gone?”

I burst out laughing right there on the floor, and though I thought of so many wonderful responses I stuck with, “Yes son, yes I am.”

He seems satisfied with the response….for now.

Kitchen Blizzard

It started out innocently enough, as most things do. Emilie was taking a nap. Jack and I were killing some time while we waited for the yeast to be ready for pizza dough. Jack had been playing with his construction toys and I had the idea to put some flour in a cake pan lid for him to ‘plow.’

Though you’d think I’d remember, it always seems to slip my mind as to how fast stuff can go from “fun” to “whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA!” with a four year old.

The video explains it all….

Enjoy it…I’m going to go sweep all the salt off the flour. While I’m at it I probably should put, “table salt” on my grocery list for next week.

The 4 Year-Old Mind

I love the way Jack’s mind works and couldn’t resist sharing this excerpt from our conversation on the way into town this morning. It was a good one and I wanted to save it for posterity.

Jack: “Cows can fly like big jets up in the sky. They go over the moon and get cheese.

Me: “Do they eat cheese for breakfast?”

Jack: “NO! Cows eat Lucky Charms for breakfast….and some hay. They don’t like when hay gets in the marshmallows.”

To top it off, since we were talking about cows, Emilie is sitting in her seat saying, “MOOOOOOO, Moooooooooo Cow!” the whole time this conversation is taking place.

I love these kids!

Thought for Thursday

Today I made gingerbread men…..

No alcohol was involved in their creation. Though I may eat them with a cup of the “good” eggnog . This is just what happens when one kid takes an extra-long nap and the other gets bored with your kitchen shenanigans and decides to go read Mighty Machines books in the car (the mightiest machine he’s got since we won’t get him that combine he’s been dreaming of).

For what it’s worth the legless/armless/headless cookies are from actual cookie cutters my friend Effie gave me several years back. They are just waaaaaayyyy to much fun not to use. Aren’t they? 

I’m Going to Get Gray Hair!

Jack’s mind is constantly thinking of new ways to drive his mother crazy. At least that is how it feels some days. This is his latest stunt. Yes, “stunt” is the best way to describe it. The kids were playing in their room today and I heard waaaaay too much giggling so I went in to check. This is what I found….

 

He climbs on top of the changing table and leaps to his bed. The icing on this particular cupcake is that his sister is sitting on his bed, aka ‘Landing Pad,’ with this expression on her face:

Wanna bet what she’s thinking?

I turn my back for two seconds and mayhem ensues. Kevin better come home soon….though soon may not be soon enough. He may find me duct-taped to a chair while our naked, mud-covered children dance around the house with his underpants on their heads as they spray puffs of baby powder (that was what we did last night for fun) in the air.

Author’s disclaimer: In all honestly it’s not going that bad. Kevin is home tomorrow and this isn’t that far off of normal around here. It’s just fun to be dramatic at time ;-P

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: How to Beat the Heat…Jack-style

Left: Cool off in the dog’s water bucket

Below: Roll in the mud like a piglet
(also prevents sunburns)

Wordless Wednesday

I do feed them….honest I do.

Wordless Wednesday

Mr. “I can do it myself!!” strikes again……..

Opening Day….Vampires Beware!

Until I met Kevin I was not aware that the opening day of baseball ranks right up there with Christmas, Easter, and the 4th of July…Now I know. Kevin puts it so eloquently: “If Baseball is America’s national pastime then the first day of the season is practically a national holiday and should be celebrated as such”. Therefore, in this house, we observe this glorious day with ‘traditional’ ballpark foods; hot dogs, French fries, and the like.

This year we decided on Bratwurst with sauerkraut and Safeco Field-esque Garlic Fries. For those of you who have never been to Safeco Field and like garlic (and I mean REALLY like garlic) I highly recommend you make the trip and try the real thing. Kevin and I first discovered these yummy little morsels half a dozen years ago on a road trip to Seattle to see the Mariners play the Rangers. The fries are incredibly yummy, but let me warn you. If you eat them make sure your ride home has either eaten them too or doesn’t mind the smell of garlic as it will be emanating from your person for some time.

On that last visit we drove down to my parents place after the game and spent most of the drive down I-5 with the windows rolled down to air out the car. Those burps were potent, but so worth it.

So, in honor of that wonderful memory we decided to try and recreate them. I read several recipe versions from Mariners fans online and ultimately decided to wing it. I peeled a garlic and a half (no, not cloves…whole garlic) and ran them through the garlic press. Then I put the garlic in a small saucepan with about 2/3 cup of olive oil and heated it. You don’t want to caramelize the garlic, just cook it long enough to get a good strong garlic smell wafting through your house. Mine cooked for 2 or 3 minutes. Next, I strained out the garlic and put it in a mixing bowl and threw in a tablespoon or so of parsley in with it. I also added a teaspoon of salt.

While all this garlic-ness was going on I had some French fries cooking in the oven. I used frozen crinkle cut fries, but you could make your own if you were feeling really frisky. I cooked enough to just cover the bottom of a standard casserole dish. When the fries were done I lightly fried then in the oil that I had cooked the garlic in. Just enough to make them a little crispy on the outside (Seriously, I want to log 45 minutes on the elliptical just thinking about this). Then they were tossed in the bowl with the garlic mixture and tossed along with a handful of parmesan cheese.

By this time the whole house smelled like we were trying to prevent a Vampire Apocalypse. Thank goodness I’m not “Team Edward”, cause he wouldn’t be coming within a mile of this house for the next week (Yeah that’s right, I just threw in a Twilight reference….I am on a roll tonight). Count von Count, Dracula won’t be stopping by either so I guess we can rest without fear of the undead tonight.  

Anyway, let’s just say the results were yummy. Not sure how close they were to the real thing, but they were very good nonetheless. The sauerkraut and brats weren’t half bad either.

Now, before I go and sweat garlic out my pores on the elliptical I want to take a moment to apologize to Kevin’s co-workers in advance. If he comes in smelling a little, uh, whiffy tomorrow blame me. While making garlic fries were his idea, I’m the one who executed the feat. Oh, and Happy Opening Day to you all! Go Mariners!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

What do you think? Delicate cycle maybe? I think hand wash may be a better option….

Wordless Wednesday

Sometimes it’s best not to ask…..

Thought for Thursday

Spatial awareness: The ability to be aware of oneself in space. Awareness of spatial relationships. To see two or more objects in relation to each other and to oneself.

I witnessed this scene outside my bedroom window yesterday evening. In a heartbeat all those safety briefings about being aware of what is going on around you came flooding back. “Look up! Look down! Look around!” I think poor Fivel here wasn’t paying attention during the last rodent safety meeting……

For what it’s worth. The dog came running over about two minutes later and scared the mouse back into the retaining wall….Fivel lived to see another day.

She’s kind of like a puppy at this age….

Think about it:

• Everything goes in the mouth
• She drools profusely
• She chews on everything
• She makes lots of cute noises
• She will pee on the carpet if allowed
• She fetches
• She grows really fast
• She follows you around, right at your heels
• You have feed her regularly
• She can howl with the best of them
• She doesn’t listen very well
• She’s warm, soft, and cuddly

Doesn’t that pretty much describe a puppy? I think so.