produce and parties

Yesterday I went with Annabelle's class on a field trip to the grocery store. It was not a hotspot destination like the pumpkin patch in the fall. I was talking with a few moms on the playground the day before and the general consensus was no one wanted to go since we all go to the grocery store all the time, but hey needed parent volunteers so I said I'd go. It was very much like a scene from The Hunger Games when everyone salutes the poor soul going to fight. All the playground moms wished me luck but were clearly relieved they didn't have to go. 

The children looked like a row of little green ducks wandering around the store.

It went much more smoothly than I expected, bringing 21 small children into Publix. Everyone was well behaved and only a few boxes of oatmeal were pushed over. I immediately went into full-on teacher mode. Being around a large number of children brought me right back to my teaching days. I didn't mean to, but I told a little boy to stay in line and told another to pay attention. I totally forgot I was the parent and not the teacher.

In other school news, I signed up to do the class Valentines party. Since the beginning of the year, I was the only one signed up which was fine with me. I have pinterest boards for such a time as this and quite frankly I didn't want to compromise on anything with someone who might not have the same love of themed straws and coordinating napkins. Last week Victoria's family was guilted into helping out. I was there when the whole thing went down but didn't say anything lest they think I'm a difficult and/or rude mother. The teachers gave me Victoria's grandmother and nanny's phone numbers so I could make plans. Yesterday I ran into the woman who brings Victoria to school in the hallway which seemed very providential since I hadn't yet called either of the women. I didn't know if she was grandma or nanny. I wasn't sure if nanny meant babysitter or nanny as in another name for a grandmother. She was an older woman so it really could have gone either way. That's why I said, "Are you...? I mean, hi. Are you Victoria's grandma? Nanny? The nanny? I'm doing the party with you and...the other woman. Um, are you either of those people?" CALL ME SMOOTH AS SILK. She looked at me like I was crazy (legitimate thought), threw her hands up in the air and said, "I'm just the nanny, call Grandma and plan it with her. I can't do any of this." Great talk! I'm so glad I embarrassed myself for this.

I finally got in touch with Grandma Denise this morning. She's traveling in from another state for the party which I'm taking as a good sign we'll work well together. I appreciate someone dedicated enough to throwing a good party that they'll travel across borders to attend. 

I will hand out autographs for free

I don't like blogging about myself. It makes me squirm and feel very uncomfortable. Technically this whole blog is about me but if I think about that too much it makes me want to shut the whole thing down. That's why it's taken me nearly four years to discuss an award I received.

Starting around age 18 I began working towards the Congressional Award. To quote the website:

The Congressional Award is the United States Congress’ award for young Americans. Our Foundation remains Congress’ only charity. The program is non-partisan, voluntary, and non-competitive. Young people may register when they turn 13 1/2 years old and must complete their activities by their 24th birthday.

Participants earn Bronze, Silver, and Gold Congressional Award Certificates and Bronze, Silver, and Gold Congressional Award Medals. Each level involves setting goals in four program areas: Voluntary Public Service, Personal Development, Physical Fitness, and Expedition/Exploration. Earning The Congressional Award is a fun and interesting way to get more involved in something you already enjoy or something you’d like to try for the first time. You move at your own pace – on your own or with your friends. This is not an award for past accomplishments. Instead, you are honored for achieving your own challenging goals after registering for the program.

For each of the four categories, I had to complete a minimum number of hours. The point is to set goals and achieve them over several months so the participant becomes proficient in the chosen areas. It's not a race to get it all done is a couple of months.

For physical fitness, I (for some absurd reason) decided to take up running. I must have had a lack of judgment when I made that goal. We lived at Fort Lee for 4 months and I made the goal of running a mile nonstop before we left. I know that a mile is nothing for most people, but for someone who hates running, it took a lot of discipline to get up and train myself. I had to get to the track before the sun rose and scorched everything. I wanted to quit 7,000 times but I stuck to it and finally ran a mile in just over 9 minutes. I haven't run a mile since but I'm proud of that one mile. I did run to the mailbox which is the equivalent of a marathon.

The other physical fitness activity was zumba. I felt so self-conscious when I started, but now I love it. I've always hated doing things in front of others, but zumba has helped me be more confident. I still do zumba whenever I get the chance. I did it two days ago and was the youngest person by a good 25 years. I thought maybe I wandered in the zumba silver class by accident. I did something like 300 hours of zumba and running.

For personal development, I learned sign language and how a production is put on by learning how to be a stage manager for two musicals. I knew NOTHING about how stage productions but I studied and learned along the way. It helps that I like things color coordinated and alphabetized so keeping all the props in order came naturally to me. The first show was Ebenezer (aka The Christmas Carol) with 22 scenes. The second was Babes in Toyland with 6 larger scenes. Both shows had over 20 actors. I still talk with fondness about my time as a stage manager. Frankly, I'm surprised I didn't also win an Tony Award for Best Production. 

For expedition/exploration, I planned a camping trip. This was the easiest of all the categories. I had been camping several times growing up but had never planned everything myself. Mom and the twins came with me to Pocahontas State Park in Virginia for a week-long camping extravaganza. Elizabeth got sun poisoning and Mom got a mysterious rash so the infirmary was bursting which was an issue I had not foreseen.

Our little cabin in the woods. 

For voluntary public service, I did community service projects with a girls club, and volunteered at to children's hospital and preschool weekly. I did the hospital and the school for about five years each and logged almost 900 hours. 

The gold medal ceremony is held in Washington DC. Recipients are given tours of local attractions and it's very exciting, very fancy time. I was so so close to getting the gold medal. I worked so hard for years and went beyond the number of hours in all categories. I sent in all the final paperwork a few months before I had Annabelle. I knew the ceremony would be shortly after I had her but I planned on bringing Mom with me so I could still go. I still remember the man from the awards office calling to tell me that while I had done more than enough hours in every category, I had done one in less than the required time. I knew I couldn't start up again since I was so close to having the baby and would age out of the program in three months. I laid on the bed and sobbed. I felt like I had done all that work and failed because I hadn't reached the top level. When Christopher came home I told him and started sobbing again. I still get disappointed when I think about it.

In March of 2015 I went downtown to City Hall for a small bronze and silver medal ceremony with the US Representative. I held Annabelle the whole time because I didn't know what else to do with my hands. The newspaper was there and quoted me as saying, “I like working with preschool kids anyway, so it was just a good opportunity.” The ONE time I'm the subject of an entire article and that's the best I could come up with?! No one will slap that onto an inspirational poster or cross-stitch it onto a pillow!

The next Sunday at church, multiple people stopped me to say they saw the article about us. The pastor said he meant to mention it from the pulpit (I would have died) but he forgot. I've never felt so famous. I should start preparing my acceptance speech for when I finally get that Tony award. 

life catch up

I'd like to cordially invite you all over for a visit. I washed all the windows and I don't think they'll be this clean for another 12 months. I need someone to appreciate them while they're sparkling.


We're still on the hunt for a new church. Church hunting is one of my least favorite activities. We found a church we loved almost instantly after moving here. We had several good months there but unfortunately, there was a nasty split and we found ourselves without a church. We tend to be on the more conservative side but we're open to visiting more modern churches. The church we picked this week was the most modern of the modern. On their many tv screens they had the following announcement- "if our worship gets too loud, please use the complimentary earplugs." I knew right then it wasn't going to be our usual conservative Baptist service. That's when they cranked up the ol' smoke machines and the band bounced out onto the stage and the lights started flashing. I expected disco balls to lower from the ceiling. 

Annabelle LOVED it. She was clapping and dancing like a born and raised Pentecostal. For most of the service I didn't have to remind her to be quiet. No one could hear themselves think, let alone hear her comments about the "fun church." I'm not putting down how others worship God, but we prefer a more subtle approach. 

On Saturday we took the first of five foster care classes. I always said I'd NEVER do foster care. I didn't want to fall in love with a child only to hand them back. I've always wanted to adopt and planned on staying in that lane. However, within the last year or so I had a change of heart. We have space, we have all the baby stuff and we have some extra love we can give. Until we're able to have another baby of our own I couldn't come up with a good reason why we shouldn't help out. That doesn't mean I won't cry when I get overwhelmed, but that happens anyway. After hemming and hawing and lots of delaying, we finally signed up for the certification classes. Normally I don't like to be out of the house before 8:30 on a Saturday morning but there we were, out of the house at 8:25 going to a foster care class I never envisioned myself going to. 

After the class we picked AB up and played miniature golf. 

It was Sesame's first time golfing and her form was much like mine before I went to golf camp. 

Yes, golf camp. I didn't go because I wanted to be the next Big Thing in golf. I went because when Grandpa retired he helped design a golf course for inner-city children. The first summer the course was done they held their inaugural week-long golf camp so Daniel, Andrew and I all went. I wasn't a great golfer. My swing to actually hitting the ball ratio was something like 557 to 2. I'm sure I still hold the record for worse golfer ever to appear on their green. But that didn't stop me from sharing my wealth of knowledge with Christopher and AB. I made sure they both knew how to hold the club and applauded my hole in one. It did take me 7 tries to get the ball into one hole but who's counting? 

north for the winter

By the 4th of this month, we had 1,212 travel miles under our belt. Annabelle settled back with her snack like she's done this flight seven times before. 

When we arrived in Massachusetts, Annabelle shivered and said, "Mama, it's so shakey (chilly) here!" We've been in the south too long! As if her reaction to the completely normal winter weather wasn't proof enough, she used "y'all" in a sentence for the first time today. My attempts at northern indoctrination have not been strong enough. At least she likes snow.

Erika told us about a store "that sells plants and succulents." What an understatement. It was a lush garden created in an old warehouse. Plants were everywhere. Taxidermy animals were around every corner. There were shells, gemstones, rugs and decor. Everything had a hefty price tag. Annabelle walked in and immediately knocked over a squirrel. I thought we would be kicked out immediately.

"I give the bear kisses!"

AB and Ivy are better friends than ever. Each visit the age gap gets smaller and they play together more and more. We had a mini Aunt Camp and at one point Erika and I were in the living room drinking coffee and the little girls were upstairs playing by themselves. We didn't have anyone in diapers or on a 3-hour feeding schedule. It was wonderful.

Annabelle was happy to help, aka supervise and take over, as Ivy opened a gift. She confidently told Christopher, "I'm going to babysit Baby Ivy. I babysitted Brennyn so I know how to babysit Ivy."

I was able to see both Autumn and Ivy on this visit. Unfortunately, we didn't get to visit at the same time, but they were both willing to drive up to Mom's new house for short visits. Autumn and I had been planning a trip to Primark for weeks. When we arrived at the mall, Autumn drove around the parking lot repeating, "I don't know where the parking garage went! It was here last time I was here! How can a parking garage disappear?!" Because we were at the wrong mall, that's how. We intended to go to the Banks Mall but ended up at the Brooks Mall. I'm glad to report I was not the navigator so I was not the reason we were lost. 

Grandma's 91st birthday is Tuesday but we celebrated her today. I loved seeing all my relatives. Grandma collects snowglobes so Annabelle made her a plastic one. Naturally, AB helped unwrap it and gave a steady stream of comments about it. She also prepared a birthday song, birthday speech and birthday prayer for Grandma but she didn't have the time or audience to perform them yet. 

I hope I can be half the woman that Grandma is.

Sesame Says, Volume 4

I love how AB mispronounces words. Nativity became "activity." Penpals is now "pen paddles."

"Mom, what do you love best after God?"
"I love you and Daddy. What do you love best?"
"I love appetizers."

On a night she was having trouble sleeping.
"I know why I can't sleep! It's because I'm not a jew!"

"These cats are a serious ball of arms and legs!"

As she gets ready to go to swimming lessons.
"I can braveness and strength in my feet."

"Mama, how many is a dozen?"
"Twelve. So if you have a dozen apples you have twelve apples. If you have a dozen doughnuts you have twelve doughnuts."
"So, a dozen is thirteen?"

We're planning on doing foster care and Annabelle found out before we intended her to. She's had several questions.
"How do you get a foster care baby? Does a foster care lady or man or whatever it is, do they hand out babies or do you have to go to a factory for one?"
(If babies could be gotten at a factory, I'd be a frequent customer.)

Telling a story about how her friend offered to help her up the steps.
"I told her I didn't need help. I've been climbing stairs for YEARS!"

Seven things we should not take into the new year

It's that time again. Instead of listing out the best moments of my year, I'd like to discuss what should not be part of my world in 2019.

+. Using the letter V instead of ''very''. "It was v. good." "I'm v. cold." WRITE THE WHOLE WORD. It's not that hard!

+ The reappearance of shoulder pads in jackets. Kohl's had an entire section of shoulder pad jackets and it brought me back to some dark days of my youth.

+ All white homes and decor. Colors were made to be enjoyed! Add some color to your home instead of making it look like everything was dipped in bleach.

+ Taking videos while driving. This particularly applies to Instagram. It doesn't matter if you're recording while sitting at a red light. I guarantee you can wait another 10 minutes to share a link with the sweater you wore to the party yesterday.

+ Being sent an email confirming I unsubscribed after I went through the work to unsubscribe.

+ Let's simmer down with everything being mermaid-themed.

+ Being gluten free by choice. As someone who eats a 90% gf diet because I am genuinely allergic to wheat and rye, I feel qualified to speak on this. It's not cool. I don't know why anyone would WANT this lifestyle. Take advantage of all the wheat full opportunities you have. You only live once so you might as well eat that box of pasta. Don't get me started on dairy free by choice. Long live cheese!

Tis the season, 2018

Here we are, two days before the new year and I'm just now getting around to blogging about Christmas. I've followed this same timeframe for the last 10 years so why mess with tradition now?

Mom and the twins arrived at our house the night before Christmas Eve. I treated them to a Hallmark movie that night because what says Christmas like a predictable love story and fake snow? 

We went to a Christmas Eve service this year. I didn't go to church the night before Christmas until I was married but I think it's a beautiful new tradition. We planned to attend a service I thought was at 5:30 but found out at 4:50 was really at 5 o'clock. Since we ended up with a few extra minutes I had Aaron take a family picture of us. I love Aaron but he is not a skilled photographer. He points the camera in the general direction of the subjects and pushes the button. It was a horrible angle and I looked awful. I hadn't tried on my outfit before that night and thought I looked awful but I didn't have any other options so I had to wear it. I have been so self-conscious lately about how I look. I took one look at the picture and started to cry. And cry and cry. I wanted to be thinner. I wanted the rest of the family to be here. I was having a third Christmas without a new baby. It was a straw that broke the camels back situation. This is just the holly, jolly Christmas recap you came here for! 

 I pulled myself together and we got to the service with a few minutes to spare. 

My dainty daughter hiccuped and coughed through the entire holy service. A lady on the end of the row in front of us heard the commotion and all my shushing (the whole church did) and passed us a box of mints. This was the first year Annabelle paid attention to the candlelit portion of the service and needless to say she had a million questions. How would it be lit? Would the whole church burn down? Could she take the candle home? Would I have a candle too? Did we have to share candles? Would it be hot? Could she hold it? Who was going to lit it? Would it hurt when it was lit? 

This was the fifth year in a row AB wore this dress. I'll make her wear it until college.

Growing up we always did the same thing for Christmas. We went to one uncle's for Christmas Eve and a different relatives house for Christmas Day. I felt almost lost trying to decide how to make our own traditions. One tradition I carried over was making artichoke dip. It isn't a holiday without hot dip! After the service, we ate, played games and played music together. Aaron played the keyboard, Christopher played the drums and Annabelle passed out instruments for the music basket for the rest of us. I don't want to boast. But I'm a mean tambourine shaker. It was so fun.

For Christmas, Annabelle made Christopher a little book about their Saturday morning tradition. Almost every week they go to Daddy, Daughter Breakfasts while I sleep in. It's a tradition we all enjoy. She wrote the pictures and told me what to write on each page. Look how she's looking at him! It melts my heart.

One page in the book was stickers that reminded her of him. "I think Daddy needs a bear sticker because we're a bear family. And a soda sticker! Are there any library stickers? But Dad doesn't go to the library because he reads books we already have and read them on his phone and the couch and, yeah. I think a movie sticker is good too. Can we buy some stickers for me too?"

Last year Annabelle started asking for a marble track. For whatever reason we didn't give her one last year so I wanted to be sure we did it this year. We also got her a bike. We have a large yard but much much for her to do outside. We don't have a place for her to do chalk and no paved driveway for her to drive the tricycle. She can ride this bike on the dirt patches and, bonus points, stick her babies in the little seat in the back and take them for a ride.

For Christmas dinner, I planned on making our traditional four-course Italian meal. Turns out it's easier when there are seven aunts around to help. I made antipasto, chicken soup, and ravioli and saved the roast beef for another night. I use only the finest family heirloom dishes. 

Just kidding. They're from Dollar Tree.

I hope your Christmas was full of joy and cookies and free of tears. I ate more cookies than should be allowed but Christmas comes only once a year so I live it up while I can.

(barely) decked halls, 2018

I almost gave up on Christmas decorating this year. More accurately, I decided it might be easier to skip on by Christmas entirely. 

I ADORE Christmas. I always have. Last year, my cozy New York house was a new high in Christmas decor. I loved how everything looked. It was glowing, sparkling, and smelled with happiness. 

Back in the glory days of my favorite house.

This year I had boxes of Christmas decorations, fake trees, bags for Goodwill, Amazon boxes and laundry lined up behind the couch in the living room. I couldn't find half the things I wanted. I couldn't get any of it under control. I can't make heads or tails of decorating in this house on a good day, let alone December. I don't have a mantle or even stairs to hang stockings on. Things literally fall off the walls. I'm a perfectionist by nature and it always gets worse around holidays. Everywhere I looked on blogs or Instagram I saw perfectly done houses and mine felt like a wreck. Not many people here put up lights so yet another tradition (driving through neighborhoods while drinking hot chocolate) was falling apart. So I gave up for a few days. I didn't have the energy or the desire to do much of anything. Eventually, I pulled myself on by my bootstraps because stuff had to be done and I want to give my family a nice Christmas. I'm not in love with how things turned out, but I'm so glad I made myself do it.

For our theme tree this year we chose to make an Amelia Bedelia tree. We combined the two trees we saw in her books- one with pompoms and lots of round ornaments, and the other that had a mirror on top with a sign that said "see the star" underneath. Our first mirror broke and I didn't make a long enough pompom garland so it's a bit wonky, but Amelia Bedelia herself is the definition of wonky. 

Our regular tree has more ornaments every year. I read an article about a woman who has 400 trees and we might have her beat in a few years if we keep collecting ornaments at this rate. One of my favorite things to do this time of year is sit near the tree in the living room with all the other lights off. It's so peaceful.

 I got the little houses on sale at a thrift store for 75 cents each. Don't say I'm not a big spender!

I love creative little salt and pepper shakers. Christopher gave me these penguins a few years ago.

I bought this set as a Christmas gift to myself. I don't care about cars but I love red and green pickups at Christmastime. Sadly, the cats are no respecters of my beloved items and they broke the truck this morning.

Speaking of Linus George and Lucille Barbara, they've figured out how to climb the Christmas tree. They were not part of my original theme.

season's snapshots

Cinnamon playdough and cookie cutter gifts for her school friends.

Linus and Lucy, always on high alert under the tree.

Sesame had been asking for an elf all season and my aunt mailed her one as a surprise.
She loves it.

All ready for her first school Christmas concert!

currently- the unChristmasy December edition

Pondering: Jesus' mother Mary. People often talk about how she had to tell Joseph she was pregnant, but I'd like to hear how the conversation with her parents went down. "Hey Mom, here's the jug of water you wanted oh and btw, I'm pregnant and if you can tell Dad so I don't have to that would be great. K, thanks bye." 

Proud of: Annabelle and her desire to help the less fortunate. I gave her a quarter to give the Salvation Army outside of HobLob and the action really stuck. When we got home, she collected four baskets (she wanted all the coins to be separated), found her jingle bells and walked around the yard looking for people who would give her money for the poor people. She asked if we could walk around the neighborhood and knock on doors. It was so sweet. As much as I want to encourage her generosity, I was not about to knock on rednecks doors and ask for donations. Instead, I told her she can collect coins she finds in parking lots and donate that money.

Saving: money. I am very thrifty. Outside of groceries, I seldom buy items without coupons or discount codes. I have swagbucks, ibotta and several money-saving apps. I saved up my Walgreens points and got $50 worth of free products. I love a good deal. I was listening to a podcast and they had an excellent deal for The New Yorker magazine. It was something like 50% off plus an additional $10 off PLUS a free tote bag. I all but pulled over as I drove so I could get the deal before it ended. Then I remembered I don't even like The New Yorker. In my attempts to save money, I almost wasted money on a magazine I don't read because it was 75% off. I cannot pass up a good deal!

Reading: Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips. I started it at 1 in the afternoon and stayed up until after 1:30am to finish it. I couldn't put it down. If you're like me and ever wondered what you would do if there was a shooting while you were at the zoo, this is the book for you. If that sounds like a terrible story then move right along. I can't tell you the number of times I've considered where I'd hide during a zoo attack and it all played out in this book. Some of it was a little wordy (something crawled over the mother's foot which led to several paragraphs down memory lane blahblah) but overall it was engrossing. 

Apologizing to: the mother's from AB's school. When I dropped AB off at school on Wednesday I asked if she's been behaving well. They gave a glowing report. When I picked her up, Miss Shiela pulled me aside and said, "Annabelle blurted out to the whole class that Santa Claus isn't real." She gave me a look that said I needed to get my truth-spreading child under control. I apologized profusely. The day before Annabelle was at swimming lessons and made the same announcement to the whole pool. I thought I had gotten through to her when I said she couldn't say that in public because other children might not know. Now I keep my eyes averted when I see a mother from her class.
I was starting to regret telling her if it meant she'd ruin other children's fun, but she told me "I'm glad you told me because I was wondering why I've seen so many different Santas out there."

Protecting: Linus and Lucy. If they don't make it, it will be because Sesame loved them to death. She's trying to teach them how to play patacake and do the cooking game on the ipad. They've been dropped, squeezed, kissed, wrapped in blankets, made to dance and treated like babies. She loves them. They tolorate her. It's an arrangement that's worked well so far. 

all I want for christmas is good hair and an empty laundry room

No one has ever accused me of being hard to buy for, but just in case, I've compiled a list of my top ten Christmas desires. The price range is varied so there will be something for every budget.

1. Hair that stays a nice shade of dark brown. It brings me great sorrow to report that the gray and white hairs on my head are rapidly multiplying. I have highlights on top but all the offending hairs underneath shine like Rudolph's nose when my hair is up. I'd like hair that stays the right color until I am of an appropriate age for it to change.

2. Everywhere I look I see "blessed not stressed" and "too blessed to be stressed" shirts. The sentiment is great but it's not realistic. I realize how blessed I am, BUT I AM ALSO STRESSED. Thus, I present to you my patent pending sweatshirt design. 

]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (<--- Lucy the cats contribution to this post)

3. For slightly round midsections (aka baby weight that never disappears) to come into style. 

4. A floor with hidden compartments underneath so we could hide all the toys out of sight.

5. Dunkin Donuts delivery service

6. An hour long nap each day. Or longer! I'm not picky.

7. For a fresh breakfast to appear for me in the morning. I'm not even asking for EVERY morning, just Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I think that's very reasonable.

8. A chauffeur to drive Annabelle to her various activities. Driving to school and beyond is something I did not look forward to in parenting and it's turning out to be just as soul time-sucking as I thought it would be. I'd also like said chauffeur to be free.

9. I am so thankful for my washing machine and dryer (#blessed) but I'd like a few changes in the laundry department. I'd like underwear and doubled shirts to be separated before going in the hamper. The same goes for socks. Please unroll socks so I don't need a facemask and salad tongs to separate them.

The current laundry situation at my house.

10. For everyone in the world to chew and swallow quietly. People at the international space station shouldn't hear you eating an apple. 

we've already lost them a few times so we're great cat parents

Back when we were living in Tennessee, we made an unusual discovery one Saturday.

Something had pooped on our stairs. Not the outside stairs. Not the deck stairs. The stairs inside the house.

We didn't own a pet. Annabelle was months old so obviously, it wasn't her. Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, it was not me or Christopher. The babysitter said she hadn't let any animals in. We never figured out the culprit, but I choose to believe it was a cat. I can't bear to think about a stray squirrel in our house.

This evening we had another unfortunate situation with an animal using my laundry basket as a bathroom. Unlike last time, we can narrow it down to one of these cute faces.

 

We went to the mall for a jacket and came back with kittens.

We'd like to get a rabbit or dog but we can't have either in our current home. We've discussed getting a cat for a while but it never seemed like the right time. We are frequent window shoppers at the pet store and when we were there today they had a litter of kittens. Christopher instantly started campaigning that today be The Day. I had several reservations.
1. How much work would they be?
2. What do we do with them when we travel?
3.  I'm not much of a cat person. I'd prefer them in a perpetual kitten stage but news flash! that's not a thing.
4. What if we ended up with a snooty, prissy cat who did nothing but stare at us while sitting in the windowsill? What kind of pet is that? Cats are like kids. You never know what kind of personality they'll have.
5. I'd prefer a rabbit.

Christopher wore me down convinced me that there is no time like the present and while we're at it, let's get two kittens! Because they're cheap and need a friend! And they're so cute! And he wanted the orange one but he'd let us pick out the other. So that's how we ended up buying kittens today. Considering how many times I've asked if we can permanently borrow someone's baby only to have him shot the idea down, I think I was very generous to agree to his idea. 

As I carried the box of kittens out of the mall I had instant buyers regret. Maybe we hadn't thought it through enough. What if it was a curtain climber? What if they got out of the house when we were leaving for school? What if they ruin my precious throw pillows? When I was five, we had a cat for two weeks. I adored Snowball. I remember falling asleep with him. I snuggled him. I was devastated when we got rid of him. Mom had just had the twins and the cat that to me was a dream come true was to her a menace to her household. Snowball would climb up the curtains and run along the curtain rod. He constantly got out of the house and we'd have to chase him down. He scratched everything. It was too much. All these years later I understood why Mom decided to get rid of Snowball and I had just agreed to take my family down that same path.

Then we got to the car and I took the first kitten out of the box. I was like the Grinch. My heart grew three sizes.

I was a smitten kitten.

They are so cute. SO CUTE. 

I brought the following names to the table:
Ross and Rachel

Luke and Lorelai
Albert and Victoria
Fred and Ginger
George and Barbara
Jim and Pam
Johnny and June
Philip and Elizabeth

Christopher suggested:

Odin and Frigga (Thor's parents)
Arthur and Molly (a couple from Harry Potter)
Others names I don't remember but made me roll my eyes
Linus and Lucy

We agreed on two- Fred and Ginger and Linus and Lucy. I was really going for Fred and Ginger but Linus and Lucy won. 

So far they've spent a considerable amount of time wrestling, hiding under beds and in the bathroom, and exploring. They took naps snuggled in our arms. We refer to Linus as Christopher's cat because he was head of the whole buying operation and really wanted the orange cat. He's more skittish (aka a scaredy cat) and into arching his back. He bats at Lucy and picks fights. Lucy is the girls cat and she's more into cuddling and sitting on AB's bed while Linus cowers underneath. 

OMG I JUST WROTE A WHOLE PARAGRAPH ABOUT CATS. I'M TURNING INTO A CRAZY CAT LADY.