A Baby Grows in Virginia

The Cat Diet

My cats are overweight.

According to our vet, Gracie should be no more than 10 lbs because she is built differently than Zee. She currently weighs 11.2 lbs.

Zee should be no more than 9 lbs so she needs to lose 0.7 lbs.

They share a full cup of dry food that they eat throughout the day. They have a special bowl that makes them "work" for their food.

They also share 3.5 oz can of wet food (Fancy Feast w/extra gravy. They only like the gravy, not the food )

They get clean, fresh water every day and will also drink from the aquarium.

So where does their "going on a diet" come in?

We used to hide morning and afternoon cat treats all over the house for them to hunt & enjoy. The amount of treats kept getting bigger. It was fun to watch them sniff the treats out.

Now, they get a small, weighted, egg-shaped dispenser that they must bat around to get the pre-measured treats out.

Once those treats are gone, no more until the next late afternoon/early evening.

How do the cats/me like this new diet?

The regular food bowls have NEVER been empty before this diet. Now, in the morning, every last morsel has been eaten. Gracie doesn't beg for treats as much and it's cheaper leaving the grocery store!

Plus, it's even more fun watching them get the treats out of this egg!

Yes, they each have their own egg!

Too Cute For Words!

Evergreens Gardenia Present for Nonie and Papaw!

This morning, on my way to an appointment,

I noticed nothing special about my Evergreen's gardenia plant on my deck.

I worked in the yard all day, trimming and weeding, going in and out of the house,

yet I noticed nothing.

Walked by our plant on my way to our 24th wedding anniversary dinner at Fremont Pizzeria... nope, noticed nothing again!

But when we came home, B noticed that the gardenia had bloomed!

I would like to think of the blooms as Evergreens anniversary gift to her grandparents!

Thank you Evergreen, they are beautiful!

Where Does She Get These?

Linda Soucy (yes, she is Jess Soucy's cousin) is holding Brendan (my nephew), while I am holding my little sister, Beth, prior to playing in a high school softball game. Behind us is our "family car".

A 15 passenger van!

The cutest little flower girl ever!

She was more nervous about me moving away to Virginia than of walking down the aisle.

Can anyone pick out Heather in this photo?

My bridesmaids have my deepest apologies for having to wear those hats!

It was my mom's idea, not mine!

Sorry!

My littlest sister must be going through some old boxes because she has sent a bunch of old pictures for us to enjoy & remember. Thanks Buffy... I mean Beth!

Who Wants the Leg?

Yesterdays daily (well, sort of daily) Carlotta picture was of her leg.

Too cute!

I miss her!

Town Cookbook

First day of my vacation and I have successfully tackled Room #1 in my quest to have my house clean and orderly before C's party on August 7th.

In one of the drawers of my desk, I found a box of memories that I had placed there some time ago in the hopes of going through it to see what I should save or toss.

Today was that day!

Most interesting thing I've found thus far ?

(other than some embarrassing photos that will find their way here eventually)

An old Town Recipe book put together by the Order of the Eastern Star. No idea what organization that is, but they were from the town of Gorham NH (my mothers birthplace).

There was no date of publication listed anywhere on the book, but I recognized 2 of the names as being my mothers parents. Since my grandmother died before I was born, my best guess is that this book may have been printed sometime in the 1950's.

On the last page, they listed what is needed to host a ham supper for 225 people.

I smiled at the list & hope you do as well.

Ham Supper for 225:

• 49 lbs of canned ham
• 24 potato salads (solicited)
• 5 lbs of coffee
• 1 pt of cream
• 45 qts of strawberries
• 6 pkgs of Bisquick (make 3/4 inch bisquits)
• 2 qts of milk
• 1 lb of Crisco
• 5 to 6 cups of water
• 48 pkgs of peas
• 8 qts of milk
• 6 qts of heavy cream
• 1 pkg of Starlac
• 1 cup of sugar, add to the Bisquick

That's it!

If you ever need to host a supper for 225 people, use this list & let me know how it went!

What is Starlac?

Man, that's a lot of Crisco!

Another Older Picture

Computers may not make MY life easier, but it does allow for some "almost forgotten about" photo sharing that were practically impossible unless one had the negative too.

This is a picture of the house & barn (66 Main St West Newbury MA) our newly blended, expanded and expanding family moved into in 1972. It's gone through several appearance changes and is owned by someone else now, but in my memory, this is how it will always look.

Give Me A "V", Give Me An "A", ...

AHHhhhhhhhh!

On vacation until August 2nd!

What are my plans?

Well, I'm cleaning my home prior to C's party on August 7th!

Every day, a different room will be dismantled, cleaned and put back together, maybe... even in a different arrangement, depending on my mood that day.

The yard will get weeded and neatened ... ONLY if the humidity gives me a break!

So when you get here on that Saturday and my yard looks like a baby rain forest, you'll know the weather did not cooperate!

My last vacation was spent playing with Carlotta! In the above photo, she is holding hands with her mom, T!

Bye for now!

OMG!

My most, bestest, favorite beloved vehicle in the whole world! A 1987 maroon, stick shift Jeep Wrangler w/removable doors & a hard top! I hope to have another just like it one day. BTW, T wasn't quite a twinkle in her Daddy's eye when this photo was taken, but she was a twinkle just a few weeks later!

This was taken in my parents home in West Newbury when B and I announced our engagement in September 1985, just before he was stationed to Norfolk, VA

I have NO IDEA why this photo was taken! Cool purple socks and a faux Michael Jackson jacket though! I appear to be fiddling with a ring on my finger. I'm guessing I was adjusting to the feel of wearing jewelry (engagement ring)

Finally, I can't be the only one with embarrassing photos! This is T w/ her cousins at my parents backyard pool. Best guess on the year... 1997ish?

Yes, I love it when my little sister finds old (very old, since I'm in them) photos!

The Beach!

Some of have viewed these pictures on Facebook, but their mom doesn't "do" Facebook so these are for her!

A Summer Day's Activity

Courtney & Kaya baked and frosted and shared some yummy cupcakes today!

"Miss Jen, why won't you come give me hugs! I'm hurt and need you!"

You need to wash off the wet, red paint first & then I'll give you extra hugs for bumping your elbow.

Washable tempera paint, sponge brushes, a sprinkler and a pool full of sudsy water equals a lot of fun!

I wanted to put C's picture here _______________. She was covered in paint and was trying to get it all off her body. I guess I won't embarrass her ... here.

Zoo 3

We stayed at the zoo for the whole day. Before we left, we took in their dog and pony show. I am not a good video taker (I know, there's a bigger word to use but I'm still sleepy from yesterday and can't spell!). I tried to get in some of the show as well as reactions from the kids, especially Kaya who LOVES horses and dogs! The boys liked the show, but LOVED their cotton candy even more!

Zoo 2

The zoo had 2 tiger siblings. A white one and an orange one. The best view was way over in the corner, near their nighttime enclosure so there was a good size crowd, including Connor, Colin, TJ and C. Kaya had sand pebbles in her shoe so she wouldn't go anywhere until that problem was taken care of.

Any way, the orange cat was in a playful mood. She kept charging the corner of the pen where the crowd was. I finally figured out how to set my camera on video and managed to capture one of the charges. Alas, my camera when in video mode, does not have a zoom feature. Here's hoping you can see the action!

More From the Mouth of a "cough cough" Year Old

90 minutes in the car to get here. It's 90 degrees outside. And you want us to SMILE?

This peacock was EVERYWHERE! It ran where ever it pleased and if anyone, even Kaya, tried to catch it... it flew into the closest enclosure!

Ok, I HAD to say something about this picture (above).

The boys had zoomed way ahead of us so it was just Kaya and I for a bit.

This is a young EMU (a flightless bird native to Austrailia) who found Kaya to be fascinating.

I wish I had my camera set to video because this silly bird began a game of "peekaboo" with us! It would look at us, over the board, then when we looked, it ducked its head under the board until we "looked" for it. This went on for a few minutes!

Brave Boys! They petted this female elk prior to boarding a train into the woods of Mendon for a 15 minute North American Deer tour. We saw so many, close enough to touch! And a pair of swans, several ducks, reindeer and more.

This is the Sky-Fari ride with C, Connor & Colin coming back from a birds eye view of most of the zoo. Kaya was too short and wasn't allowed on it. She let the world know her displeasure with a good old fashioned tantrum which I ended with a good old fashioned... cookie!

Yippee! Kaya (and the boys too) got to ride a real horse! Well, a pony. Close enough!

Colin, Connor and TJ (yes, that is a mohawk 'do!) getting set for a train ride into the North American Deer exhibit!

Colin wanted to see the turtles up close and personal!

The goats were a little upset that I did not have QUARTERS to buy food for them from the vending machines! This one tried to eat Kayas dress! Yes, THE dress!

Don't worry, I distracted him with my shirt. And my shoelaces. And my pants. And my shirt again.

THE dress is SAFE!

We had hoped to ride an elephant today. However, she was teething and in a grumpy mood.

We settled for a camel ride. Do they look upset about it?

Yum. COTTON CANDY! MMMMmmmm!

"I'M EXHAUSTED!"

Spent the day at the Southwick Zoo with the kids.

The ENTIRE day!

Thanks C for helping w/the kids today!

Thanks Beth and Rachael for coming with your little ones.

I enjoyed spending the day with you, even if my group were too fast to keep up with.

I loved having TJ tag along with us for a while.

I joke about how much more work it was with an extra kid, but it really wasn't much at all.

See you at the pool!

More photos later when I'm not so tired!