a birthday for the princess

once upon a time on june 9th it was my dear friend lexie's birthday.

luckily our friend christian decided to take her to lunch and invite me as well.

i painted her a special present

and wrapped it up real pretty

elephants are her most favorite so i had to paint one for her.

i wish you could have all seen her reaction as she started to unwrap the paper slowly at the corner and instantly realize it was an elephant.  it was priceless.

we celebrated by laughing, eating, and telling silly stories.

i ♥ lexie. 

for those of you that know her, you know why

and for those of you who don't know her...you should.

mr. lovey dovey kitty doll

i do not know the right words to adequately explain just how precious and cuddly our little pellegrino is, so i shall show you.  i have never known a cat to be this way.

i cradle him like this about 15 times a day. 

sometimes he wants to wiggle free after a minute, sometimes he snoozes.

as i was doing a few things on the computer this morning he crawled up in my lap and then climbed up to my shoulder and fell asleep like this.

and right now as i type this post the scene is as follows.

pellegrino totally took advantage of the fact that i was home most of the day.

every time i walked to a different room he would follow me meowing until i picked him up.  at one point it went from being adorable to annoying because i was trying to get a few things done around the house, so i ignored his plea to be held.  want to know what he did?  climbed me.

yep he used his little claws to climb his way up my pants and my shirt until he was in my arms. 

wildly productive

i vote for more days like this.

away from the office

marking items off my always long list, but also taking time to celebrate the little things.

*i may not love summer the most but i try

 to find the beauty in every season.

4 minus 2 equals 2

we will no longer have scenes quite like these.

no more kitty piles of 4 because....

two of the little ones went to their new home today.

i've been a little sick about it all weekend.

i was thrilled knowing that they were going to a wonderful home where they will be loved like crazy by a very close friend and that they were going together, but so sad that they didn't know what was coming.
they were just going about their business of playing and eating and sleeping then all the sudden they are packed up in a kitty carrier and heading to unfamiliar territory that doesn't have their mama and their other two litter mates.  i got a little teary as they left our front door.  i put two of their familiar toys in the carrier with them hoping that it would somehow make the transition easier. 

these little ones will get names when their owner decides what is best but our names for them during the last 10 weeks were....

licorice

the super fiesty funny playful little boy.

marshmallow

the overachieving cuddly sweet little girl.

looks like pellegrino is telling them goodbye in this picture but really he was after a bug.

i hope they are comfortable in their new home and i hope mama kitty doesn't get worried when she realizes they really aren't here anymore.

good thing we still have little pellegrino and houndstooth to keep everyone distracted.



sunday morning shenanigans

 busted!

the 4 naughty babies totally destroyed one plant and got to work on a couple more when i was sleeping in last weekend.  i walk out into the living room and this is what i see. 

destruction. 

i couldn't really get too mad because they were so cute.  it was more of a lesson for me that the plants needed to be moved to a safer spot....at least what is left of them. 

when it gets hot

you know it's getting hot outside when the floorboard of my vehicle looks like this after a few days.

or when we find a spider the size of my hand on the back porch.

i am not joking, this spider caused all sorts of craziness at our house a few nights ago. 

a ruckus that involved screaming, bad words, chills, bug spray, a bright light, etc. 

i have a few pictures of it (that za husband so kindly took because i couldn't manage to be outside at all after seeing it, this coming from a girl who grew up in the mountains and has witnessed all sorts of terrible spiders).  i could not imagine not documenting something so insanely big and scary but to save you from being really terrified i won't post pictures.  i can barely stand to look at them without getting chills and i'm pretty sure a couple people who read this blog would say lots of bad words to me if i posted the pictures so just believe me....it was awful! 

next time will calls for me to come look at the craziest spider he's ever seen...i think i'll pass.

the creepy crawlies that come out with this weather are just one reason i am not a fan of summer.

flashback friday #19

me.  1982-ish.  at gram and gramps house.  i am holding the doll i named bea, she was my most treasured possesion from the age of 1-5 and maybe even after.  holding bea and sucking my thumb was the pastime of choice.

there are moments when i crave these simpler days.