Not everyone was happy with the trip.

We all had a wonderful vacation to Florida...well not ALL of us. We did have to leave one family member behind.

Sweets

Unfortunately, our condo did not allow pets, so we weren't able to bring Sweets with us. This posed a problem because I was totally against boarding her with the vet. NOT that there's anything wrong with doing that! It's just that I was scared that Sweets would think we had abandoned her since she spent her first year of life in a shelter (where they took fabulous care of her).  I know, I'm turning into the crazy cat lady, but I just didn't want to disrupt her life if we didn't have to.

Fortunately, my fabulous niece Laura agreed to come daily to feed, clean, and play with her.  You can tell she hated every single second of it:

We worried about how she would react to us when we got back.  She loved on the kids like they had never left:

She would let me pet her, but wouldn't dare let me hold or snuggle with her.  But, Marty...poor Marty, she wouldn't let him come within 5 feet of her! She was MAD at him! Normally at night, she hops in the bed, right between us and snuggles right up to Marty. Not Friday night!  She did get in our bed, but stayed around our feet most of the night. Thankfully, by early Sunday morning, she decided she had forgiven Marty and snuggled right up to him, just like nothing had ever happened. She even let me have a little snuggle time with her today!

We all missed her so much that we've decided that she will have to just go with us the next time! That my friends, I'm sure will be very interesting!

Happy Forever Home Day Sweets!

One year ago today, our lives changed....a lot.  No, we didn't have a baby, lose a loved one, or experience any tragedy.  BUT, we did do something that I didn't think we would ever do...

We adopted a cat!

I never thought I would own another cat, much less own an indoor cat, but Sweets has made herself right at home! She is so much a part of our life now, we can't imagine things without her! Sure, we all had some growing pains (RIP printer, lamp, dryer vents 1, 2, & 3,  etc...), but now we completely go into panic mode if we don't see or hear her for an extended period of time. I can't tell you how many times we have been late because we wouldn't walk out of the house until we knew exactly where she was. Normally, all it takes is a shake of her treat jar and she comes running. Girlfriend LOVES her treats! If she doesn't come running, that means she's closed inside the laundry room, closet, bathroom, etc....

We celebrated today by giving Sweets a plate of shredded roasted chicken, her favorite food. She kept looking at us like "Really? This is all for ME?"  We tried to put a hat on her, but she wasn't having ANY of that!  LOL

Happy 1st Forever Home Day Sweets!

Thank you for bringing such joy to our home!

Kitty arm hugs are the best!

For the past few months, every night when Sweets finds her way into bed between us, she has started hugging my arm. She walks over, finds her perfect spot near my arm, flops down, rolls over, and grabs my arm with her paws. 

Sometimes she just grabs my arm and falls right to sleep, but most of the time, after she grabs my arm, she licks my arm or hand, then playfully bites me and/or stretches her claws out on me. She never leaves a mark or a scratch, so I know she's just playing.

Kitty arm hugs are the best....except when they are at 2:00 am!  HAHA!

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I hope you all have a wonderful, stress-free week!

Making herself at home.

Over the past week or so, Sweets has been super cuddly.  Any time one of us gets still, she jumps right up and snuggles right in....no matter what we are trying to do!  I hate to make her move, but sometimes I just can't work with her in my face (or on my chest, or wrapped around my hand, or behind my neck).  HAHA!

Whatcha' doing, Mom?

This looks like a nice comfy spot.

So you notice how red my face and neck are? (I'm not wearing makeup).  I was BURNING up!  I hated to disturb her, so I sat there and suffered.

 

Jameson is LOVING it.  She has actually started climbing up in his lap, too!

Today she really freaked me out. I was working on something on the computer, and she jumped right up on my chest.  She flopped right down, turned her head upside down, and fell asleep.  She was SO asleep, her ears weren't perked up, she wasn't purring, and she wasn't wiggling her tail (what she tends to do when she snuggles with us.)  I kept watching her to make sure she was still breathing.  I wanted to take a picture of her, but my phone was in my pocket...the pocket she was sitting on.

After about 30 minutes, she jumped right up, stretched, yawned, and ran over to another cushion and promptly fell back asleep.

Yup, I think she's finally made herself at home!

Mama's Mumblings

Hey friends!

  We've had days and days of rain (with a few periods of no rain, but still clouds).  I know we need the rain, but my mood sure would benefit from a little bit of sunshine!  Maybe the sun could shine all day and then it only would rain at night.  That sounds like a good idea to me.  LOL

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Basketball continues around here.  Jameson had two games last week, and both opponents were from other areas.  When we saw each team warming up, we knew we were in trouble.  The other teams looked like pros compared to us.  However, after both games were over, we found out that our 9 - 10 year olds were playing their 12 and 13 year olds.  Huge difference when it comes to sports.

Jameson's second game

Final score.  We are HOME.

 

Jameson's third game.

Final score.  We are GUEST.

The kids have been disappointed in their losses, but they have really been doing great!  We told them that they managed to score 10 and 12 points against 12 and 13 year olds!  That is a HUGE accomplishment!  We have really enjoyed basketball and we hope that Jameson will continue to like it and want to play again over the years!

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Speaking of basketball, you know we had to have parent shirts, right?

Front

As was pointed out on Twitter, yes, his team name is "Munford White".  The teams are color names like Red, Blue, White, etc...  I know, real creative.

Back

I think they turned out pretty cute considering how quick I put them together and didn't have a clue what colors their jerseys were going to be.

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Sweets continues to cause many laughs around here.  Here is how I caught her sleeping the other day:

She is rotten!

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Valentine's Day is right around the corner, so I have been working on a few things.

Red glitter heart t-shirt.

"With all my heart" shadow box.  I love these shadow boxes.  They are so much fun to pick up and shake and watch all the sequins move around.

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I hope you all have a wonderful and fantastic week filled with sunshine!

You think she's trying to tell me something?

She's missing her Bubba today.

Christmas break is officially over for Jameson today.  Much to his dismay.  Marty and I have missed him terribly, but we aren't the only one:

Sweets has been snuggled up with me all day long.  She won't let me get 2 feet away from her.  If I'm in the kitchen, she's in the kitchen.  If I'm in the laundry room, she follows.  That's fine and dandy until I need to go to the bathroom.  It's like I have a toddler all over again.  HAHA!  Right now, I really need to get up and finish the chicken soup I am making, but I just can't seem to make this little snuggle bunny kitty move.

As much as Jameson pesters her, she sure does miss him when he's gone.

It's {sort-of} looking like Christmas around here.

Hey friends!  I hope you are all doing great!

Just like every year, I always have intentions of having all my Christmas decor up and finished the weekend after Thanksgiving.  

Have I ever completed that task?

Nope, not even once!

Most of the time, especially since we've been in this house, I still have all of the boxes and unfinished decor sitting all over the place on December 24th.  I finally get frustrated and move it all out before Santa comes.  I don't want Santa to think I'm a hoarder or something.

This year has started off the same way as most years.  Everything has been out of the attic since the Friday after Thanksgiving, and still sitting around the living room.  Thankfully, my wonderful husband took pity on me and actually put up the tree, fluffed it, and completely decorated it!  This weekend, he put all the trees up on the front porch, too!

MY HERO!

We still have a long way to go, but at least it's {sort-of} looking like Christmas around here!

There are reasons I don't get into the Holiday spirit like I once did, but that's another post for another day.  So for now, here are some pictures!

 

Thanks to a certain feline member of our family, the decorations have had to be a little different this year.  All our ornaments are plastic or not easily breakable.   The first night the tree was up, Sweets decided to get into a fight with one of the balls, and within seconds almost had the tree on the floor!  Needless to say, we've had to do some rigging to make the tree safer:

It may not be attractive, but it works.

And here is the start of the outside decorations.  We have 5 small trees up, but these are the only one's that are lit.  I still have to decorate them, but that will come after my work-week is over.

You may notice the Alabama wreath still on the door.  Well, I made the mistake of taking that wreath down ONCE and we LOST that weekend, so Marty and Jameson told me that I couldn't take it down again until after the National Championship game in January.  Oh well, at least it's a gorgeous wreath.  LOL

Hopefully the Christmas {decorating} spirit will find me soon and the rest of this place will be finished!

And in the mean time....THIS is what my living room really looks like:

I hope you all have a wonderful and fantastic week!

My kitty must look really hungry!

Tuesday, I posted a hysterical picture of our cat and asked y'all to come up with what you thought she was saying.

Well, she must look hungry because 6 of the 7 comments had to do with food! LOL  Well, y'all really do know her because Sweets thinks she has to have "a snack" about 20 times a day!  Girlfriend acts like she is starving to death all the time.  

All the captions were so good, so I just decided to post every one of them!

Angela said:

 

Kathy's comment is the only non-food related...but, very appropriate for this household:

 

This comment by Katherine is probably the most accurate:

 

Robyn said:

 

Tara's comment is what she says every.single.day:

She also says Jessica's comment, daily:

 

And Greta's comment (that was eaten my Disqus..grrrrr) brought an early morning laugh:

 

See?  They are all so funny! I just couldn't choose!

So, which comment do you like the best?

What in the world is she saying?

This is a photo I took on Thanksgiving of our cat, Sweets.  We have laughed our heads off looking at it. 

We keep thinking, what in the world is she saying?

What do you think she is saying?

Funniest comment will win bragging rights.  LOL

Slinky Cat

I'm pretty sure our cat, Sweets, is a Slinky in disguise:

Mama's Mumblings

Hey Y'all!  I hope you all are having a wonderful week!

It's been really crazy around here with school starting back.  It has been a little easier since I now only have one child in school.  I thought for sure Chelsea would be missing school and all her friends by now....but NOPE!  She is loving every single second of being out of school!  She's been staying up late and sleeping in....just like a teenager.  Better late than never, I guess.  LOL

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Speaking of school, my son's school has been chosen by Scholastic as one of the Top 25 Coolest Schools in the country!

Photo from Scholastic

This is such a great honor for our school!  They were one of the first schools in the country to be awarded the Department of Energy's Green Ribbon School last year, and now this.  We are so proud and thankful for the wonderful staff, volunteers, parents, and students of MES!

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I've been off work since last Tuesday and I will admit, I've loved every second of it!  I am so thankful that I was able to be at home this week to help Jameson get back into the school routine.  Hopefully, one day this will be my full time job.

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Sweets (the cat) is still fitting in like she's always been here.  She brings more laughs to this house than I've ever imagined.  This cat is WILD!  She has so much energy at times.  I swear, I think SHE thinks she's a dog!  She will even growl like a dog, or maybe she's acting like a lion or tiger?  Either way, it's hysterical!

Yeah, girlfriend has her own special pink minky blanket.

I felt SO bad for her the other day.  Sweets pretty much shares a bathroom with Jameson.  Since the litterbox is in that bathroom, I refuse to use it. LOL  Anyway, the neighbor came over and used that bathroom and we didn't realize that when he came out, he closed the door.  Well, we didn't notice that the door was closed until the NEXT MORNING!   She was a little more vocal and hyper than normal, but we never put two-and-two together and realized she needed to go potty. We have checked every nook and cranny of this house and bless her soul, she HELD IT until we opened the bathroom door!

Yesterday, Sweets had a rare moment of being very affectionate and loving towards me.  I mean, it kind-of freaked me out a little bit because she refused to leave the vicinity of my head/face for a solid hour.  She was full of kisses and purrs.  It was really very sweet.  I could have sat that way all day, but I had to hurry up and get Jameson from school.  She wasn't happy when I had to finally put her down, but she was happy to see "her boy" when he finally got home.

Getting some daddy love.  Just look at that face!

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Just in the past 4 days, I've gotten orders for 11 split monograms and 21 t-shirts!  I know I can do it, but I am still freaking out a little!

I do have to share this hysterical t-shirt for a friend's son:

 It says: When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone...He had two missed calls from Chuck Norris.  HILARIOUS!

Here is another t-shirt I made over the weekend (not included in the 21 total)

For a very special first-grade teacher at my son's school.

Things are busy, busy...but I am thrilled!

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Oh, and I almost forgot!  Jameson went to a sleepover Friday night and Chelsea was at her Nana's, so Marty and I had the whole night to ourselves!  THAT NEVER HAPPENS!  We went out to eat and not only went to one movie, but TWO!  The best movie we saw was The Expendables 2!  It was GREAT!  If you were a teen/young adult/adult in the 80's, this movie is all of the bad action movies (Rambo, Commando, Die Hard, etc...) all rolled into one.  We LOVED IT!  It's great that these guys can make fun of themselves!

Photo from here.

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I hope you all have a fantastic rest of the week!!