It's NOT what you think.....

No, it's not what you think! Helaina is showing me her boo boo finger. Saturday morning she was a bit rowdy - or I should say rowdier than usual. She went running through the kitchen, took a Superman leap off the step into the family room, landed on a rug and slipped face-first right into what I thought was the edge of an end table (she thankfully missed it by a smidge).

I was in the kitchen and thought she hit the table dead-on with her face. Jim was in the family room and could see that she didn't hit it. There was a giant thud and an immediate blood-curdling scream (the scream being from me). "Oh my God, pick her up, pick her up, did she hit her face?" In the split second it took Jim to pick her up and turn her over I was preparing myself to see Helaina's face and mouth bloodied and split. Nope, not a scratch - it just scared the heck out of her and I instantly sprouted at least another 20 gray hairs. After some tears (hers or mine??!!), I asked if she was hurt and where. She stood in front of me, held up her middle finger (in perfect form, I might add!) and declared that her finger was hurt. As I cracked up, trying not to show her that I was laughing at her boo boo, she went to Jim for some comforting while I got some ice for her slightly swollen finger - and of course, the camera. Ahh yes, what's a Saturday morning without a little excitement.

It's taken Zoey a few weeks to settle in, but she's finally spending more and more time with us. Initially she isolated herself in the quiet living room but slowly she's made her way into the family room with us, jumping onto our laps, purring and wanting her head, neck, ears and throat rubbed for as long as possible. Saturday afternoon for the first time Zoey jumped up on the couch and settled in right next to Helaina. "Look, Mom, look look look! Zoey's laying with me for the first time!" - Helaina was thrilled.

So they rested together on the couch ...

... and watched Helaina's newest favorite cartoon ...

... Scooby Doo(!) - together. Kitty bliss.

Yah, Helaina's become a fan of Scooby Doo. Loves all the characters and the adventures they go on. Funny how the oldies are still the goodies, even with today's kids.

Pajama day at school

Pajama day at school - how fun. Helaina chose the layered look with her favorite red monkey & snowflake jammies underneath a silky Disney princess nightie. Stunning, don't you think?

We wondered if Mrs. M would be wearing jammies and our question was answered when we headed down the hallway at school. There was her teacher wearing a long nightshirt, plaid sleeper pants and white fluffy slippers. Helaina told me that they watched a movie today instead of playing in the climbing room and that their snack was popcorn and hot chocolate. Not a bad day at pre-k.

Funny Helaina:
Tonight at dinner Jim was talking to Helaina about something and he must have asked her a question. As she was stuffing turkey and dressing into her mouth, without even looking up from her plate or missing a beat, I hear her say to him "Works for me." Oh my gosh, we don't even know where she hears some of this stuff but it cracks us up.

Miscellaneous pics of our gal

On a recent trip to Walmart, Helaina and I checked out the Valentine's Day aisle and this is one of the shirts we found. Not too Valentine's-Day-ish, but oh so appropriate for our gal. If you ask her what her shirt says she'll point to each word proudly and scream them out.

Snow and ice doesn't stop Helaina from skating on her Barbie skateboard.

Helaina loves to soap up her face in the morning. Only problem is that she gets herself, the entire bathroom, me and her clothes (which is why she is shirtless) soaked. She cracks me up every time she gets washed up.

Sporting her elephant hooded bath towel.

She loves the easel that Santa brought her for Christmas. You can see that Helaina is an abstract, free-form kind of gal with her paintings so far.

At Walmart, Helaina picked out this cube as a present for Zoey. Big hit with the cat.

Funny Helaina:

Helaina's been interested in telling time lately. She reads the numbers on the digital clocks in the house and then tries to figure out, without much success, a "normal" clock with numbers and 2 hands. We were eating lunch at a diner last week and there was a clock on the wall that Helaina was staring at. It was 1:30. Afer studying the clock for a while she announces "It's one six." Ha! This kid is just pure amusement every waking moment.

The zoo, the MOST and Zoey Marie

Jim had a 3-day weekend for the Martin Luther King holiday so Helaina was ready for action. "What we do today, Daddy?". It was WAY too cold and windy for sledding, but we "bungled up" (as Helaina says) one day and headed for the zoo. The penguins sure didn't mind the frigid weather and some other animals didn't either.

Our favorite penguin, of course.

We were surprised to see Indy out for a while.

The zoo has its annual winter picture-taking contest going on during January so most people there were trying to capture a winning shot of an animal doing something different or funny. My pictures are pretty normal, but maybe I'll submit a close-up and see what happens.

We had 2 free passes to the MOST so we went there on Sunday. Occasionally the museum changes their exhibits and there seemed to be more things that interested Helaina this time around. She plopped herself down on this green princess-type bed and pretended to be Snow White.

Helaina kept yelling "Kiss me, Daddy, kiss me!" and wouldn't get up until he did. Daddy had to play the part of Prince Charming!

Flying a plane.

Loving the rock climbing wall.

Riding bikes with the human skeleton. Last time we were there she wouldn't go near this thing - it scared her.

She loved the giant padded 4-story climbing contraption with steps, slides, tunnels, ball crawls and all sorts of exhausting stuff. She went down this very steep, twisty slide many times and came out laughing each time.

Superman style - that's our daredevil.

By the time Helaina was done playing she was a complete sweatball.

Zoey seems to have settled in nicely and is loving life. She's got kitty treats and toys galore, soft blankets and kitty beds to snuggle in, all the food she can eat and lots of lovin.

She spends lots of time in the living room and I think she enjoys the quiet. The SPCA has 4 cat crates in their main lobby and Zoey lived in one of them, right on the bottom. She was exposed to lots of noise, activity, people in and out constantly, and dogs coming and going. I'm pretty sure she's loving the tranquility of a home - wait a minute, did I just use the word "tranquility" with Helaina in the house?!

The first night she was with us was a bit difficult because she wanted to be in our bedroom right on the bed. Repeatedly she would jump on the bed and I'd take her off and place her in her bed in the hallway. I wouldn't mind her sleeping on our bed down near my feet, but someone else who I share a bed (who shall go nameless) won't have it. Jim actually doesn't seem to mind Zoey. Aside from the time that first night that she jumped on his head when he was asleep (ha, way to go Zoey!), he says she's the kind of cat to have because she stays to herself and doesn't sprawl all over him. I knew Helaina and I picked a winner kitty cat.

Oh, what an early morning...

Well, at least Helaina made it to 6:20 this morning. The excitement of getting Zoey today was just too much for her little body to hold in. I woke up to the sound of her singing in her bedroom, next she was yelling "My tummy is rumbling, I'm hungry". Jim stumbled down the hallway in pitch dark and brought her into our room. Then she absolutely cracked me up by asking: "Mommy, is the 'CSPA' open yet?" (I think it's hysterical that every time she tries to say SPCA she mixes up the letters or adds in a few extra.) I knew I was in for a long morning until they opened at 10am. This is what I heard for the next 3-1/2 hours: Is Zoey up yet? Is it 10:00 yet? Are the people there yet? When we leaving? What time is it now? When we get there we do paperwork then we can go? Did Zoey have breakfast yet? How many more minutes until we leave? Oh my gosh ... I thought 10:00 would never get here. Helaina thinks it's so cool that she was adopted and now our cat is adopted!

Zoey spent most of the day exploring the house and checking things out.

It didn't take her long to find her favorite spot in the house - the same spot that Tiger loved - sitting on the ledge in the bow window basking in the sun.

So far so good. We're all getting used to each other and Zoey seems very content. She stretches out on a soft blanket on the comfy couch - stretching out isn't something she had room to do in her cage. She's frequently taken off like a rocket and darted around from room to room (and no, not because Helaina was chasing her!) - another new thing for her that she didn't have before, she's got room to roam. She seems like a real sweetie. We hope you like your new home, Zoey Marie!

What does all this mean?

What it means is that I'm finally ready for another cat (and by saying "I'm ready" it means Helaina, Josh and myself - by no means is my husband ready). It's been 9 months since Tiger went to Heaven and I miss having a kitty around the house.

All of Tiger's things were so old and beat up that I got rid of everything. While Helaina was at school today it took me 2-1/2 hours, 3 stores and a lot of credit card swiping but I finally have the minimum "cat stuff" necessary to bring our new cat home tomorrow!

Introducing Zoey Marie (Helaina gave her the same middle name as she has) - a sweet 2year old cat we are adopting from the SPCA. Our search started last week and had its share of ups and downs. We visited 3 different shelters and found cats at each one that would have been suitable for us.


Yesterday morning Helaina and I got down to business. We went to the SPCA and spent quite a bit of time with about 6 different cats. Helaina gave each one of them a work-out. We finally had it narrowed down to 2 cats and Zoey was the winner because of her "forgiving" disposition. Helaina was SO excited and her enthusiasm at times was a bit too much to take for some of the cats, but not Zoey. She is a laid-back cat that could take what Helaina dished out, and then some. She purred from the moment we picked her up. She let us rub her ears and her belly (Tiger would NEVER let anyone touch his belly - you'd end up bloody if you tried). She sat on our laps, played with toys, took kitty treats from our hands and was very affectionate. Countless times she let Helaina pick her up and tote her around the room without even batting a kitty eyelash. Poor Zoey was dropped off at the SPCA last March by her owner because she was fighting with other cats in the home. That explains why the tops of both her ears are sort of rounded and knicked! The thought of her being in that cage for the last 9 months is heartbreaking. No more cages now.

We dragged Jim (oh I mean he came voluntarily!) to the SPCA today to meet Zoey and give his approval, so it's a done deal - we're approved, paperwork's ready and Helaina is most certainly ready. She's so excited that I hope she doesn't wake up at 5am tomorrow morning. "So Mom, tomorrow we get up, eat breakfast, then go get Zoey to bring her home, right???!!!" Yes, that's right. Major squeal of delight from a very excited 4-year old.

And I must give kudos to my husband for going along with all of this. He is definately a dog person and I kind of sprung all this on him quickly - like out of the blue last week when Helaina and I were at the SPCA and she called him on my cell phone and said "Daddy, we're at the cat store looking at cats!" I just knew he was rolling his eyes as I heard him on the phone saying "What? You're where???!!!!"

Disney Princess Extravaganza

Saturday morning we went to Disney on Ice - the Princess Classics. Oh, they were all there - Jasmine, Ariel, Mulan, Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. How in the world can an ice show bring a tear to your eye? I don't know - it's a combination of the beautiful costumes, the fairy tale stories, the beautiful songs and being there with your own princess that makes that Disney magic work. Poor Jim has learned more about the Disney Princesses than he EVER imagined he would. Our own little princess at home after the show wearing one of her (ridiculously expensive) souveniers. That's spaghetti sauce all over her mouth. Pasta is Helaina's favorite meal and she thoroughly enjoys every slurpy mouthful.

The Mickey Mouse ear crown came with a bag of cotton candy for a mere $10. What a bargain compared to the Cinderella light spinner for $20. We told Helaina ahead of time she could pick out one item - she chose the Cinderella spinner. While on our way back to our seats after the intermission she spotted the cotton candy/crown combo. "Daddy, can I have the cotton candy too?" Of course you can, princess. Pushover.

Sitting on Daddy's lap with her spinner. She said "I can use this at home when the power goes out!"

Ariel and Ursula the sea witch.

Jasmine and the genie from Alladin. Every time an ice skater would do a jump Helaina would shout "I didn't know she could to that!"

Snow White ...

... and her buddies the Dwarfs.

The prince kissing Snow White to wake her from her sleep.

Mulan and her sidekick Mushu the dragon.

And of course, the couple that Helaina wanted to see the most - Beast and Belle. When the arena went dark and the Beauty & the Beast music began to play, I think I got more excited than Helaina. Beast's costume was really impressive.

Cinderella in her pumpkin coach.

What's an ice show without fireworks? A great way to celebrate all the princesses "happily ever afters".

It really was a beautiful show. The audience was filled with families with daughters - not too many boys there, unless they were oh-by-the-way dragged along with their sisters! I wonder what next year's show will be? I'm thinking Toy Story - maybe. Whatever it is, we'll be there.

Darling Helaina:

Sunday morning after breakfast Jim was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper. Helaina came into the kitchen, walked over to Jim and said "Daddy, bend down." She reached her little arms up, wrapped them around Jim's neck and said "Daddy, I love you." Such a little sweetheart. And that's why she got the Cinderella spinner AND the cotton candy!