Leiden and I started out on a little craft project today.  I've seen these cute hollow eggs on Pinterest made with embroidery floss, blown up water balloons, and liquid starch.  It was way more work than any craft should be.  Leiden only lasted for one egg, and I had hoped to do something like a dozen.  The string kept tangling, the starch was gooey and messy, and I'm still not sure how they will turn out when dried tomorrow!

 

In other exciting news, I finally got a new sewing machine!  About a month ago, right during Mac's birthday dress, my machine died.  I finally got around a few weeks ago to going to the repairman, who told me to just buy a new machine.  Well, then.  Brad kindly told me to go out and get whatever machine I wanted.  The repairman recommended I look at Janome, so today I finally wandered into a sewing shop, and bought one on the spot!  The salesman was a little surprised.  I guess he didn't think I was there to buy.  I am excited to break it out!

It's Conference weekend, which is really much like any other weekend with three little kids--I didn't hear much today.  Brad had Priesthood this evening, so we took off to try the new frozen yogurt place by our house, and it's just like the place in Arkansas!  (But without the marshmallow cream, so sad.)  I love that it's non fat and tastes just like ice cream.

Leiden's tummy has been hurting again since our Bahamas trip, so we finally took her to the doctor yesterday.  She's sick, again, with a really sluggish digestive system, and so we're in the long haul again.  Last time it took about 8 weeks to get her system completely cleared out and pain free, and this time, the doctor said the x-ray looks even worse.  I feel so bad for my little one.  The doctor said she's just prone to this, and traveling and poor eating for even a few days can cause her system to go haywire.  The doctor prescribed enormous amounts of fiber for the next month, at which point we have to go back and see how we're progressing.  The laxative made her tummy hurt worse, last time, so we're just trying lots of Benefiber and Culturelle, tons of water, whole grains, beans, fruits, and veggies.  (But no bananas or applesauce!)  What kills me is she already eats SO well.  She loves veggies and fruits, and I give them only whole wheat bread, high fiber cereal, and the whole nine yards, but disruptions in her normal diet can really wreak havoc.  At least we know this, now, as a propensity, and can work with it.  And I think we'll be buying stock in Benefiber.  And possibly a bean farm.

Scratching and Throttling

In the two days she's been here, we have not had any problems with scratching, which is good.  She has not swiped at any of the kids, and she hasn't even touched any furniture with her little claws.  We took off this morning and went to Pet Smart to find her a scratching post.  They are remarkably expensive for carpet covered wood.  I settled on a simple post, thinking we could add to it if needed.  She loves it!  She climbs right to the top using her claws and perches there, even though there's really not room.  We will definitely have to build her a little crow's nest.

Mimi has been in trouble all day.  She starts out all cute and sweet like this, 

but then I turn around to find her smothering the cat, or throttling her with her little hands around the kitten's neck.  She doesn't understand, and that's the scary part.  Amazingly enough, even with Mimi being less than gentle, we have not heard any hissing and there has been NO swiping of claws.  She is definitely a good kitten for kids.  Mac is turning into a little menace with the kitty, too.  She keeps wanting to pick her up, laying on her to 'hug' her, and waking her up when she's napping.  I finally determined that several times during the day I need to put the kitty in the sunroom with her stuff and close the door.  Enforced quiet time for kitty will hopefully prevent any clawing incidents sure to happen when she reaches her limit!

Life With a Cat

She was a little more daring, today.  So was Mimi.  Mimi really likes her food/water dishes and her litter box.  Sigh.  But Caroline is darn cute.  She is a Siamese/domestic white shorthair mix, with a lot of the Siamese coloring, and so far, none of the Siamese snootiness.

Caroline

I came back a couple days ago from my trip--it was so fun, and I'm glad I went down to see Naomi.  The day I was flying home, Brad mentioned on the phone that he had taken the girls to a couple Pet Smarts to look at their animals, and that they were going to look at another one.  Uh-oh.  I knew then I was coming home to a cat!  Leiden has been asking for ages to get an animal, and she finally got her wish!

Brad ended up taking the girls to the animal shelter and by a stroke of luck, happened to be there when they brought in a brand new (to the shelter) kitten, 2 1/2 months old.  I guess kittens are rare, because people actually want them instead of already grown cats.  They said the kitty had just gone up on the website literally minutes before, and there had already been 5 phone calls about it.  Brad was there, and snatched her up!  They took her into the visitation room, where she was super playful, and didn't react badly to any of the girls.  So Brad signed the paperwork!

She was spayed yesterday, and this afternoon, after a whole day of girls asking me when it was time to go get the kitty (Leiden's on Spring Break), it was finally time to go get her.

She did not enjoy the car ride home, trying to stick her paws and legs out the air holes of her box, and meowing the whole way. 

Understandably timid, especially with three rambunctious girls around, she very cautiously explored and wandered around. 

Leiden is so excited.  She has already done her litter box 'chore' a couple times. 

Mimi has been surprisingly calm with the cat.  I thought she'd be all over her, but she seems a little timid.  Hopefully that lasts.  I am not hugely a cat person, and while she's cute, I'm still wondering if this is a good idea.  And my nose has been running with itchy eyes and sneezing since we came home.  For the girls' sake, I HOPE it's the pollen outside!

Leiden has named her 'Caroline'.

Brad took the girls to the Sculpture Garden this afternoon so they could get some pictures with Flat Stanley.  Cousin Gavin sent him to us for a school project.  Stanley has now seen the giant spoon and cherry!

The girls climbed and slid all over the sculptures, which I'm pretty sure they aren't supposed to do. 

 

The spring flowers are all coming up and beginning to bloom in Minnesota! 

I had a quiet day with the Wrights, going to church and to their friends' for dinner.  I go home tomorrow morning, and it has been such a fun time spent with Naomi!

This morning I went to the gym with Joe and Naomi and did a TRX class. Holy smokes, that is hard!  We'll see how I feel tomorrow! 

Today we made it back to the museum to see the actual art instead of just gorging ourselves with delicious gourmet food.  Not that there's anything wrong with gorging oneself on delicious gourmet food when the chance presents itself.

The museum is full of all different kinds of art--from classical paintings to uber modern set ups that I really don't like.  Although my favorite?  This one.  It's made of 20,736 spools of thread hung on aluminum wires.  It takes up the whole back wall, and you couldn't tell what it was supposed to be until you looked in the optical device.

It's the last supper, done upside down and backwards, so it's only seen correctly through the device.  Very clever and super creative.  I couldn't stop thinking about how much the artwork must have cost to make.  Over 20,000 spools of thread at even $1 each--or 50 cents each?  That's a lot of money!

This was the only picture of both of us.

Outside in front of the entrance they have an enormous, life size metal tree.

We made another trip to Kikiberri, today, and got enough for tomorrow!  We headed to the Young Women General Broadcast this evening and it was really great.  I couldn't stop thinking about how I'll be there in just a few short years with Leiden, and all the messages were surprisingly applicable for me as a mother.  It really was a wonderful meeting that I otherwise would never have attended.

Arkansas

Yesterday evening I flew into Arkansas to see my friend, Naomi.  She lives in Bentonville, home to WalMart.  We took to the town, which was surprisingly, a town, rather than the giant metropolis I would have expected from a super retailer.  We made sure to visit the first WalMart, the Walton's 5-10.  They sell old-time candy and toys, now, probably a lot like some of the stuff they opened with back in the 60's.  There was also a WalMart museum and cafe.  You wouldn't think that a museum about WalMart would be that interesting, but it actually was really intriguing.  I don't remember WalMart coming to where I lived until I was almost grown, so to find out it had been around for decades was startling. 

The cafe is fun, featuring really nice pastries, drinks, etc.  Perhaps the most fun, however, is the monthly feature they do on a country around the world.  This month is India, so they have Indian music playing and they sell several Indian inspired menu items.  We tried the mango lassi, which was pretty much a mango and yogurt smoothie with pistachios on top.  Very refreshing.

 

Later in the afternoon we went to a frozen yogurt place there, called Kikiberry.  It was AWESOME.  You go in, pick up a cup (3 different sizes), fill it up with as little or as much frozen yogurt you want, in as many different flavors as you want.  Then load up with as much or as little toppings you want, all different kinds, including candies, cookies, fresh fruit, whipping cream, and sprinkles.  Then pay by the ounce.  It was awesome.  And my favorite part?  The cake batter fro-yo is non-fat!  And my other favorite part?  One of the toppings they provide is marshmallow creme.  Did I say it was awesome?!  Because it was. 

And it was also awesome to see Naomi again.  Even more so than the ice cream.

Tonight we went to the Crystal Bridges museum, which is out in the middle of nowhere, but totally free museum.  They have a nice restaurant there, and we ate dinner together--great food.  Not what you would expect to find in Arkansas.  (I know that's a blanket statement, but you know what I mean.)  Naomi had lamb, which I tried for the first time, and I had cream of spinach soup, chicken with shittake mushroom sauce, and smoked cheddar grits.  Hello.  We had intended to wander around the museum after dinner, but it was much more slowly paced than we had intended.  Hopefully we can get back here tomorrow.

Angry Birds

Leiden has discovered Angry Birds on Brad's phone.  Oh, dear.  She asks him if she can play it all the time.  I found her lying at the top of the stairs and she was engrossed.

Gratitude

Leiden got a surprise package in the mail, today.

Grandma sent her some chapter books!

This turned out to be very fortuitous.  We had planned on doing a Family Home Evening on being grateful, anyway, as Mac still needed to write thank you notes for her birthday presents.  Now Leiden had something to write a note for, too!

Mac was in charge of writing 'Thank you' and her name on all her notes.  I included the reference and wrote her name out so there would be no confusion.  She did a really great job!

St Patrick's Day

This week at school, Leiden's class has been experiencing first hand the mischief a leprechaun can get up to.  She has come home each day and talked about what the leprechaun did that day while no one was there.  She then told me she remembered the scavenger hunt the leprechaun brought to them last year, and hoped he did something for them again.

He brought the makings for a St. Patrick's Breakfast!  There were green pancakes, green milk, golden eggs, syrup, rainbow on a stick, and fluffy clouds in a bowl.  Not to mention the magic clover dust.  The girls thought it was great.

My favorite was the rainbow on a stick! 

The yard is starting to green up, which is amazing.  The bushes and trees are budding, and you can see bits of green grass growing. 

Of course we spent a lot of time outside. 

We had friends over tonight for Brad's second smoking adventure--pulled pork.  It was AWESOME. 

All three of my girls were sitting in a line, munching on melon. 

I made a green velvet cake for the occasion. 

An unbelievably warm day, today!  Up in the 70's for the high.  It was warm enough that I set up the water table outside on the deck for the girls.  Lovely to not have a giant wet mess to clean up! 

We were invited to a friend's house for dinner and campfire--in March!  They have a little girl who's just a bit over one, and Mimi was helping her drink some root beer.

Leiden roasted a few marshmallows, but didn't like the smoke chasing her around the deck. 

I cannot stress how bizarre it is to be having nights out with campfires this time of year.  It's unreal. 

Look at that handsome man. 

Today is also my mom's birthday.  The girls called her and sang Happy Birthday, and we sent our best wishes her way.  I love you, Mom, and I'm so glad to be your daughter!

Park Picnics

Today was even warmer, so I promised the girls we could go to the park for a picnic dinner before Brad came home from his latest trip.  This pic of Mimi was taken seconds before she flipped over the side of the slide.  Luckily it is a short slide and she flipped over only about a foot off the ground.  She was fine, and yelled, "Again!"

I promised the youngers we could go to the zoo today, as the temperatures were going to be in the high 60's.  Leiden was feeling a little left out that she had to go to school, instead.  It gave the girls plenty of opportunity to run around and while I brought the stroller, Mimi was not made to ride in it the majority of the trip.

I think the polar bears are my favorite. 

We saw bison, reindeer, lions, tigers, bears, giraffes, and zebras.  The giraffes and zebras were still inside for the season, and this was Mac's response as we walked in the building.  Yep, they smell! 

 

We brought lunch for us to picnic with at the zoo, and we ate outside--in the middle of March!!! 

 

Later this afternoon, we got out the sidewalk chalk and went to town. 

Mimi was a mess.  There was food all over her shirt from dinner at Culver's, and I'm not even sure what was on her face.

Mimi is still obsessed with happy and frowny faces.  She kept wandering over to the set I'd drawn on the driveway and saying "happy, sad".

What a beautiful day.