Wordful Wednesday, Kitten Edition

This is going to be very wordful and very picture-ful.

Wordful: Life has kicked my butt lately! We've been very busy, and on top of that I got sick. I was ticked - I did not have time to be sick! So I ignored it and kept going until Monday afternoon, at which time I practically collapsed, and spent most of the next 48 hours in bed.
It showed me who was boss. It won - this time.
On top of that, life is crazy and I have less and less time on the computer, which makes me sad. I am so behind on reading all of your wonderful blogs. Posting and blog reading on my Blackberry is just not as easy as I'd hoped it would be. I can Twitter! Which is awesome and I can and do Twitter all day long. But my blog time is few and far between. :sigh: It's not you, it's me!
I have so much I want to say here but in an effort to keep this manageable, I'll just get on with utter cuteness.

Pictureful:


These are our foster kittens. We picked them up on Saturday, 5 two-month old balls of fluffy, naughty cuteness. They are also incredibly messy and demanding and take up a lot of time! The kids are having SO much fun with them.

It is darned near impossible to get 5 frisky kittens in one photo! But here are four...

whassat noise??

woah, I have it all to myself!


I didn't do it!

Total, irresistable cuteness.

Total, insane bravery. This crazy ass kitten climbed the closet doors and was at ceiling level! But then I had to help him down.

Visit Angie's Circus for more Wordful Wednesday posts!

What The....

First attempt at mobile blogging FAIL.

ETA: Here's what it should've looked like. =)

Not Me Monday!

* hubby and I did not make a late night taco bell run Saturday night. I mean, that's so not healthy...who does that?

* we did not take in a litter of 5 foster kittens this weekend, which brings our pet total up to...eh, who's counting? ;o)

* I did not wake up Sunday morning feeling like death warmed over, and spend the morning cursing the person who made me sick instead of going to church. Grr! NOT ME!!

Visit McKmama for more Not Me Mondays!

eath warmed over, and spend the morning cursing the person who made me sick instead of going to church. Grr! NOT ME!!
Visit McKmama for more not me Monda

ys at mycharmingkids.blogspot.com.

a litter of 5 foster kittens this weekend, which brings our pet total up to...eh, who's counting? ;o)
* I did not wake up Sunday morning feeling like d

Not Me Monday!
* hubby and I did not make a late night taco bell run Saturday night. I mean, that's so not healthy...who does that?
* we did not take in

TGIFriday Fragments!

It's been a rough week on so many levels, and I am SO glad it's Friday! We don't have anything exciting planned this weekend, just R&R. Much needed R&R.

It's Fragment time!

* I'm very seriously considering transferring to a day shift position within my hospital (but NOT my unit). In fact, I have three applications in. It's a big change, but night shift is wearing me out. I think it's time.

* My blogger friend Meaghan of http://cancerlost.blogspot.com/2009/04/update-on-how-surgery-went.html had surgery this week. She had to have a kidney and a rib removed. I can't imagine how painful this was for her! And some people say cervical cancer is not much of a risk and not a big deal. @@ I dare them to say that to Meaghan! *ETA: I can't get the blog to link properly, but it's I Kicked Cancer's @ss. Go visit and send her gentle hugs!*

* We're going to visit a new church this weekend. I've been there before with the kids but hubby has never been. I'm excited! It's a very friendly, peaceful place.

* We may be getting a litter of kittens to foster this weekend. Stay tuned! There will be pictures of the fluffy cuteness.

* We went lights-out for Earth Day! We read books by candlelight. The kids didn't mind a bit! It was very nice and quiet.

* This week I've found new flowers blooming in our yard. I was THRILLED to find jasmine blooming on the gate!

I love jasmine.

Then I found honeysuckle on the back fence.

That brings back memories; we always had it growing on our fence where I grew up and I was always sucking the 'honey' out of the blossoms!

I also found some purple flowers growing just behind the back fence.

I broke off some branches, picked a purple blossom, and put them in a vase on a shelf in the kitchen. They smell wonderful!

Hope y'all have a wonderful Spring Weekend!

for more Friday Fragments, visit Half-Past Kissin' Time.

Weekend Wrap-Up 4.20.2009

The weekend is over, too soon as usual. We had a good one!
Friday night was pizza & movie night. We watched Bedtime Stories and LOVED it.
Saturday we did very little. The kids just played around the house.
But Sunday was busy. We got up and went to church, then the library, the our town's Spring Festival. It was just down the road from our house, on Main Street in our little town's historic district. The little kids had a great time.




Shelbie performed to music with her Acteens group. It was very touching and they did a great job.




Then, we walked over to the Rec Center and the little kids played at the Splash Park.



Tim tagged along for all of the fun too, but didn't get in my goofy pictures.
The kids were exhausted after all that fun. We watched Marley & Me and ate fresh-baked cookies before crashing in bed. Ah, perfect!

Hope you had a great weekend!

What's in a name?

I was talking to a pregnant friend this morning about baby names and it got me thinking about my kids' names.

My son, the oldest, was probably the hardest to name. His dad shot down most of the names I liked! Somehow, we finally found a name we both liked - Timothy. He shares his middle name, Allen, with his Dad. I still wish I could've named him Cody, my first choice! But really, Tim fits him.

Naming Shelbie was easy. When I was very young, I saw the name Shelby in a book I was reading. I thought it was the most beautiful name I'd ever heard, and informed my mother that I wanted to change my name to Shelby immediately. She was not on board with that idea. Whatev! So I settled on giving that name to my first daughter, with a little twist on the spelling. My mom wanted me to give Shelbie my middle name, but it is SO common - Lynn. So, her middle name is Caitlynn. My mom is still holding a grudge over that, and often calls her Shelbie Lynn.

Next came Elayna. She was a hard one to name. I knew she'd be my last baby. When Tim was just a baby, my (now) ex-husband's mother passed away. While I was pregnant with Elayna, I decided we should honor her with this baby's name. So, if she'd have been a boy, she'd have been Colby Walker, Walker being the ex's late mother's maiden name. Then I started playing around with her first & middle names, Mary Ellen. I eventually came up with Elayna Marie. Not only does it honor the kids' late grandmother, but my sister and niece have the middle name of Elaine, and my best friend's middle name is Marie. So, Elayna is named after four people!

I love names and now use my favorite names on our pets. All of our animals except one have human names, including the fish! And I have a running list of names for future pets.

For a laugh, check out Bad Baby Names. It's mind-boggling what some people name their children!

Now....tell me all about your kids' names! Even if you don't use their real name, tell me about how you came up with it, or who they're named after, or whatever you'd like to share.

Wordful Wednesday 04.15.2009

Snaggle-Tooth!

Elayna lost her first top tooth this past weekend. She's been wiggling it forever and finally got it to come out.

I can stomach almost anything but for some reason, teeth and feet gross me out. I can't deal with loose teeth. *gag* The one beside it is super-loose too....maybe she can get it out soon. She is SO proud of herself!

For more Wordful Wednesday posts, go here ~> Seven Clown Circus

Random Tuesday Thoughts 04.14.09

Yep, yep, yep, another Tuesday has rolled around again, and my thoughts are random.

~ My daughter, Shelbie, who is 13, was guessed to be 15 yesterday. Noooo!! That scares the crap out of me!

~ Since the kids weren't with us for Easter, we're going to do a little late celebrating. The Easter bunny left them a little something, and I'm thinking of doing an egg hunt this weekend, because Andrew didn't even get to hunt eggs! But we're definitely going to be exploding peeps in the microwave tonight. Oh, yeah!

~ I'm wearing purple at work today for Maddie. Please remember her family in your thoughts today, the day of her funeral. Also, this family is in need of your good thoughts/prayers right now.

Count your blessings, my friends! Hope you have a terrific Tuesday.

Not Me Monday!

I'm jumping in for another round of Not Me Monday, courtesy of mckmama! If you aren't already visiting for her and praying for Stellan, please pop over there and read all about it.

~ I did not spend a good chunk of the weekend sleeping. Nooo, not me!

~ I am not having a hard time adjusting to 'normal' sleep times on the weekends lately. My body does NOT think daytime = sleep time and nighttime = work time. Ugh, not me!

~ I did NOT find out that my sister lost her job of 7.5 years this weekend! And it was NOT because she is quote "TOO NICE"! Oh and her employer did not ask her to train her
replacement. Oh.no.they.di'int. And I did NOT tell my sister that my response would have started with an "F" and ended with a "U". I mean, does that sound like ME?

~ I did not spend a nice quiet Easter with my family.

~ I did NOT welcome my girls home happily yesterday, even though the noise level at home rose by 500%! NOT ME!!

~ I am not sitting here finishing this post when I should be picking the kids up from school. No way dude, NOT ME!

Anniversary

You make me laugh when I want to cry.

You make me smile when I want to scream.

You take care of me. You worry about me. You keep me safe.

You are my rock, my everything, my hero.

You are the love of my life.

Happy 4th Anniversary to my wonderful husband!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

(if you haven't seen this video yet, you've gotta watch it - SO sweet!)

I have no words

www.remembermaddie.com

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Wordful Wednesday - What The.....

The walk was fun. We had just finished walking 8.6 miles in memory of Baby JW.
We were proud! We were done! We were about to get some refreshments!



So I have no explanation for the strange, bizarro expression on my face in this picture!

*ETA* My friend Sue suggested I hold a Caption Contest! And I'm just crazy enough to do it. So go ahead, caption my picture. The winner will get...something! I don't know what yet. Let's call it "To Be Announced".

WordFUL Wednesday is brought to you by Seven Clown Circus, for those of us who love to post pics and love to talk about them!

Random Tuesday Thoughts 4.7.09

I'm posting my random Tuesday thoughts again, because I am the kind of person who knows her strengths and weaknesses. And by God, I am good at Random.

Yes I am.

~ I ordered a Blackberry online last week and I have been very impatiently awaiting its arrival. I really thought it would arrive yesterday, but no luck. If it doesn't arrive today, there will be tears and threats. Watch out, T-mobile!

~ I'm Twittering again. And I can really jump into it with both feet once I finally get my Crackberry. So, look me up! I'm CyndysZoo.

~ Have you ever noticed that you can tell when a person is miserable inside? No matter how hard they try to fake it, their actions almost always reveal the truth.

~ Have you ever noticed that misery loves company? I wonder why that is. Just go be miserable by yourself, ya know? Leave the happy people alone!

~ Speaking of happy, check this out! I won a beautiful lampwork beaded bracelet, handmade by my bloggy friend Tara from If Mom Says OK. How cool is that?! Not only is it beautiful and just my style, but it will remind me of my friend each time I put it on. Love it!!

~ My kids are spending the week with their Dad for Spring Break. This is their first time spending Spring Break with him. I'm not going to know how to act with my house empty for such a long stretch of time! My only plans are to sleep...and celebrate my anniversary Thursday. ;o)

~ As of this weekend, we'll be fostering kittens! We'll be picking up a litter of four 5-week-old kittens this Saturday. Oh, the cuteness! I will most definitely be posting pics.

~ Speaking of kittens....this is what Elayna likes to do with my old makeup.

Do you have Random Thoughts to share this Tuesday?

Weekend Wrap Up - 4.6.09

We had a pretty great weekend!

* Friday, we dropped off Elayna to spend the night with my parents. She LOVES spending time with them. I was exhasuted so my sweet hubby cooked dinner.

* Saturday, my parents took Elayna to Silver Springs. They had a great time. The big kids helped with an Easter Egg Hunt at Church. (Andrew is in the keys with my MIL for Spring Break!) Then Saturday afternoon, John, the big kids and I went to a Pet Adopt-a-Thon to help out our rescue group. We had a great time. Shelbie stayed in the puppy pen the whole time, taking on the rough job of cuddling with adorable, fuzzy puppies! Afterwards, we walked around the mall for a bit, then picked up Elayna. We had a very late, light dinner.

* Sunday, I had some great plans. And you know what happens with great plans, right? First, we were all going to go to church. Then, we were going to go back to the Adopt-a-Thon with 2 of our dogs, because they were doing free microchipping. Then we were going to do lots of other fun stuff. But, I woke up with my friend Mr. Migraine slamming on my head. The kids went to church by themselves, and the dogs did not get microchipped. But, once I finally got up, we did have a good time. I rode Shelbie's bike with Elayna....first time I've been on a bike in a LONG time, and my muscles were screaming! It was a lot of fun though. Afterward, we watched movies and ate another late dinner.

Hope y'all had a great weekend!

Did you have any plans that didn't quite work out for you?

Phriday Photo Phinish Phiesta ~ Phur Phriends

It's Phriday and I'm joining the party at Candid Carrie's!

Today I'm sharing two photos of our phurry friends.

This phirst photo pheatures the newest member of our phamily, Wall-E, and the ruler of the house, Lilly.

Wall-E is getting comfortable in his new home and now comes out and explores and hangs out with the phamily. In this picture, he is lounging on the love seat. Lilly still pheels the need to remind him that she is the Queen of the world House. I love this picture because of the way the are keeping a very close eye on one another. Phunny!

This second picture is total cuteness. It's an extreme close-up because the subjects were in MY lap, and I took the picture! But I just had to capture this sweet moment. Charley, our kitten, adores Suzie, our 15 year old dachshund. I truly think they've adopted one another as mommy and child. In this shot, Suzie was lounging on my lap, and Charley jumped up, laid down beside Suzie, put his arm around her and his face against her face. He was literally hugging her! It was so.freaking.cute.!!

Hope y'all have a great weekend, and hug your phurry phriends phor me!

Join the fun at Candid Carrie's! Today is also the big countdown reveal at her place - check it out!

WordFUL Wednesday ~ For the Big Kids & the Babies

Tim's birthday went well. I made him his requested dinner - chicken fettucini alfredo, roasted asparagus, and garlic bread. (did I mention I also love his taste in food? YUM!) And of course I made him a cake! He liked his gifts and we all had a very nice time celebrating.


(I love my house but I HATE my retro counter tops! My kitchen needs a makeover. ASAP!)

(Elayna iced the cake, and she was extremely proud of herself. She told everyone AT LEAST three times that SHE iced the cake!!)


Making a wish....

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Our March for Babies walk also went well. I wasn't sure how bad walking 8.6 miles would be, but it wasn't bad at all! The weather was great, and there were many Spirit Stations which kept us very well-hydrated and also offered snacks and lots of encouragement. We had a really good time, and my unit raised just under $800 for the babies.

After the walk, as always, we visited John's baby's grave. We took a fresh arrangement and made sure his little Hot Wheels were still on the grave. We only hope that our fundraising efforts help spare a parent the pain that John went through (and will always deal with).

As always, WordFUL Wednesday is brought to you by Seven Clown Circus, for those of us who like to post pics but can't keep from talking about them!