Birthday Kitty

Sylvester is 5 years old today! It's hard to believe it! My life has definitely not been the same with him. I love the little furrball. Even when he drives me nutzo! He has many quirks, but I couldn't live without him.

10 Things to Love About Sylvest:

1.) He talks to me. Sometimes it's talking back, but we have our own unique way of communicating. Just try not turning the water on for him at the sink. He'll definitely let ya know he's not happy.

2.) The way he sleeps on his back with his paws in the air. He never did this until he saw his weenie dog cousin Lucky do it. Now it's the only way to sleep.

3.) The way he purrs and paws at me when he wants to me to pet him. If you do not pet him in a timely fashion he will pet himself on your hand or foot. lol!

4.) How crazy he is after his annual shave down. It's like he's just found new ways to move when all the air is gone.

5.) After being shaved this year he's much nicer and cuddlier. It's a little disturbing. He even sleeps with me now. He might not for much longer though since I've rolled on him and kicked him. All on accident. I don't realize he's there. It's cute how he passes out beside me though. Sometimes I freak out and have to make sure he's still breathing. Yes, I have become my father.

6.) The way he knows when visitors do no care for cats. They become his favorite people and he won't leave them alone. I think it's awesome.

7.) How he knows he gets to lick my empty cereal bowl and the empty tuna can. He's pretty impatient though and won't let me finish the food before he starts trying to get his turn.

8.) How he'll stick his paws in the bathtub water and then lick his paws to get the water. He'll do this over and over again.

9.) How he usually meets me at the door when I came home. Although as cute as this is it worries me that he'll get out so I always have to push him back with my foot or bags in my hand.

10.) The way he squats, shakes his booty, and then pounces on his toys.

I could go on and on. There's lots to the little kitty. As high maintenance as he is though, I don't know how I ever lived without him.

Happy 5th Sylvesto!

Adventures in Babysitting

I kept Jonah (3 1/2 years) and Glory (nearly 7 months) on Saturday evening while Keelie & Justin went to a wedding out of town. I love these kiddos and cherish my time with them. There were many highlights in the seven hours I kept them. I thought I'd share them!

*After walking in the door to the house Jonah got a wicked little smile on his face, clapped his hands together, held them out, and said "PRESENT!" Yes, I have created a MONSTER. He knows I'll have a present for him every time I come over. He expects it now!

*Glory was so happy waking up from her nap. She smiled at me through the bars of her crib, like she was happy to see me. She also LOVED getting her diaper changed. She just smiles and laughs.

*Jonah woke up from his nap in tears. I nearly cried as I sat beside him trying to comfort him. There is nothing more sad than a small child crying and not being able to figure out what the problem is. Thankfully he fell back to sleep asap.

*Glory is about to crawl and she's all over the place. I had her on a blanket playing and before I knew it she'd roll or scoot off backwards. She just laughed a played. If I left her for a minute though there were tears! She LOVED chewing on her teething ring. At one point I laid on the blanket with her and she decided it would be fun to chew on my arm, hand, and fingers. Since she does already have some teeth this wasn't super comfortable. lol!

*I put Glory in her pack-n-play, told Jonah to not touch the stove, and I ran to the bathroom. Just as I was pulling my pants up Jonah busted into the bathroom saying "Kristi, you have to come pick her up!" I asked him if Glory was crying. He said "Yes, you have to come pick her up!" I thought that was pretty funny.

*Glory LOVES watching Jonah. Jonah would be sitting on the couch laughing at the TV and Glory would be laying in the floor just cracking up at Jonah. I thought this was so awesome. Even at 7 months old she dearly loves her big brother.

*I changed my FIRST dirty diaper and SURVIVED. I'm not sure Keelie knew I'd never changed a dirty diaper. Haha! She does now. I've never done much babysitting so I didn't have lots of diaper changing experience. I do now though. I changed three of Glory's diapers and two pull-ups for Jonah. I'm so good! lol!

*Glory spit up after I gave her a bottle. It was a stream of warm spit-up that shot right now my shirt. Fun times!

*I was trying to find something for Jonah to watch on TV. I was flipping the channels and saw Spongebob. I turned the TV to that channel. Then in the sweetest, most innocent, and concerned voice Jonah goes "Kristi! My mommy doesn't let me watch this!" Of course I felt horrible and told Jonah thank you for letting me know and hurriedly turned the channel. He then goes "My mommy doesn't let me watch it but my daddy does." I wanted to crack up! I thought that was GREATNESS!

*Jonah kept accidentally calling me mom. He would sometimes start to say it and then would catch himself. It was soooo cute!

Saturday was a lot of work but a lot of fun! I love these kids! I'd keep them anytime!

It's All A Crap Shoot

Yesterday I attended yet some more teaching job fairs. There were five fairs at different ISD's around the area. I was hoping to make it to all five, but that was going to be pushing it. I ended up making it to two, Little Elm and Irving. At Little Elm I just turned in resumes to the high school and middle school, was told they had no current openings but would take my resume and keep me in mind, and then I headed to Irving.

It was a bit of a drive but I was determined to go. I need to find a job! I found the location of the fair and the parking was absolutely filled. There were signs that there was a shuttle at a college down the street so I turned around and head there. That parking lot was pretty full too but I squeezed in to a spot and trucked it to the school bus. Once the bus dropped us off at the school we had to stand in line and listen for instructions on what to do once inside. As I was standing in the line outside I heard a guy say "it's all a crap shoot". I kind of laughed and didn't give it much thought until I was inside. The place was full. I headed to the secondary schools area and made the rounds. The way this fair worked you signed up for available interview times and returned at your allotted time. I thought this was pretty cool, as I hadn't been to any other job fairs like that so far. I was excited to get a 1 pm interview slot with Irving High. Although the time was not great because I wouldn't be able to make it to my other three planned fairs, I was still excited to get to interview. I then headed to the other high school tables which had no interview openings. I was disappointed since they were specifically interviewing for a speech position, which I'm being certified to teach. I dropped off resumes and they told me to check back later to see if there were any cancellations. Who cancels an interview? I guess some people. I need a job too badly though! lol! I made it through the middle school area, waited in long lines, to learn pretty much none of the middle schools in Irving ISD offer speech to their students. I considered heading to the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD fair nearby before my interview, but by the time I stopped in the library and had an uncomfortable interview for the Learning Center (aka-alternative school) there just wasn't time. I used my free lunch ticket, made some random conversation with strangers, checked back by the high tables to see if there were any cancellations (there weren't) and headed to my interview at 1 pm. It went well, I thought. The lady I interviewed with was super duper nice and it was actually really fun talking to her. I wish all interviews went that way. Of course they were interviewing lots of people so I don't know anything, but at least I departed on a positive note.

I then hopped the shuttle back to my car and I was out of there. On the way home I kept thinking about what I'd heard, "it's all just a crap shoot". I hated to agree but it kind of is. We are all like a herd of cattle vying for a piece of the salt lick. lol! Not everyone will get some. I try to remain positive. Some days it's easier than others. I continue to pray about it. But I do have to laugh, it is kind of a crap shoot (whatever that means). We shall see.

Moments from Easter Weekend

This cross is at First Baptist Decatur. I love it because it was put up after a Disciple Now weekend when I was in high school and on it hung our individual commitments to True Love Waits. When I saw the cross Sunday morning it made me smile. Jesus was crucified on a cross and then arose from the grave. What an amazing sacrifice!

My cousin's children are SPOILED ROTTEN. This candy was split between 6 children. Needless to say their baskets ranneth over.

This is Natalie playing around with part of the pinata. I thank God that she was able to be adopted from Guatemala by my cousin and her husband. She is a ray of sunshine. Just look at that smile. She's also a pretty good performer! I love her!

So I couldn't get Sylvest to wear the bunny ears but he enjoyed tossing them around!

My sweet friend Deborah surprised me Friday morning at work with yellow tulips (tulips being my favorites) and this bunny balloon attached to it. She always makes the holidays super special. She's like Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy rolled into one!

Ace of Easter Baking

One of my favorite shows on TV is Ace of Cakes. Now I'm definitely no where in the realm of Duff and his bakery, but they do inspire me to be a little creative every now and then. I got it in my head that I would make cupcakes for our Easter celebration in Azle Saturday. I got up early just to make them. That in itself is a huge accomplishment for me. I then took forever decorating the different cupcakes. Some got bunny faces, others got nests, and still others got fun sprinkles. They were a hit at our family get together. I think everyone was suprised that 1) I cooked and 2) that is tasted good! lol! I even took baking one step further and made a bunny cake to take to my grandparents on Sunday. I saw the tin at Target and just had to have it. It turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself.

An Eggcellent Time

Last Thursday a few of us girls got together at Stephanie's apartment to act like little kids and dye Easter eggs. It was a TON of fun. We each had a different decorating kit and enjoyed trying all the different techniques. Stephanie was hands down the best egg dyer, although we did accuse her of cheating and doing a run through the night before. ;-) We also learned that if you have some less than perfect eggs they can be fixed by adding a shrinky dink type wrapper and then being dunked into boiling water. It was a fun night and I think it should definitely become a yearly tradition.

Dallas Blooms - part 2

My sweet college friend, Elizabeth, came up from Houston this weekend to visit. We hadn't seen each other in two months and it was time for a girl's weekend! We used to always take pictures in college and if there were any kind of flowers involved, especially tulips, it made the pictures that much better, so I knew Elizabeth would love Dallas Blooms. We had lots of fun taking pictures of each other, the blooms, and using the tripod we lugged around to take photos together. It was a beautiful day and lots of fun! Thanks for coming Elizabeth!

Dallas Blooms - part 1

It's not spring until you've visited the Dallas Arboretum during Dallas Blooms. I've been the last two weekends! I'm definitely feeling that spring has sprung! I LOVE the blooms, colors, smells. It's greatness!

My first trip was last weekend. I went with my friend Keelie, her husband Justin, and their kiddos, Jonah (3 1/2 yrs) and Glory (6 months). We wanted to get some spring/Easter shots of the kiddos, along with a few family shots. It's always an experience when I'm with Keelie and her crew. Sometimes it's down right crazy, but no matter what, it's memorable. Some of my favorites memories from last weekend came from Jonah. I LOVE that kid! He amazes me every time I'm around him. It still boggles my mind that he's no longer a baby. He's a real little human with thoughts and feelings. I love my conversations with him. He wasn't real friendly to me when I got in the car last Saturday. He was pretending to act shy. Keelie told him that he better talk to me because if I had something for him I probably wouldn't give it to him. I always have something for Jonah. I can't help it. He's not my child. I should be able to spoil him rotten, right?! I find it pretty funny. Even at the young age of 3 1/2 Jonah knows "Aunt" Kristi will have something for him. And of course I did last weekend. His response to me was "What is it?" I informed him that I wasn't sure I could give it to him because he wouldn't talk to him. At that point you could see the fear/sadness in his eyes and the little voice from the back seat say "I'll talk to you Kristi, I'll talk to you Kristi. What do you want me to say?" OH MY GOODNESS! Melt my heart. Justin leaned over to me in the front seat to say that I better have something for him or we'd have to stop somewhere! Haha! But Aunt Kristi comes through. I pulled out the souvenir golf ball from my recent vacation and handed it over.

Right before we arrived at Dallas Blooms we stopped at Dollar Tree so Keelie could craft together a bow for Glory. Hers had been left at home. I followed Jonah around the store as he "shopped". He picked up a baseball Easter basket, a package of plastic eggs, a water gun, and a Spiderman water blaster. As soon as Keelie said she had what she needed I told Jonah it was time to go and that he could get ONE thing. He said okay but then informed me that he needed the water gun and water blaster. I said okay, since it was only $1 a piece, and told him to put down the basket and eggs. He then informed me he would be needing that too. Of course I don't know how to say no and we left the store with all four items. The water blaster made it into the arboretum with us and we spent the entire time looking for water to fill it up with. Yes, hopefully one day I will learn to not create more problems when it comes to kiddos. But right now it's all trial and error.

It was a fun day and we ended up getting some really great photos, along with some really funny ones! I love the Ferguson's and my time spent with them. They are more than friends. They are family.

The Puck Stops Here

Thursday night I went to my first hockey game. I went with my friend Rashahn and her friend Laura to see the Dallas Stars Play at the American Airlines Center. I was excited to go. I'm not really into sports at all but Rashahn really likes hockey, and I could tell her friend did too, so I knew it was going to be a fun girls night. We arrived in time to watch the Stars do their warm-ups. It was pretty fun seeing them up close. Mike Modano is a cutie (see picture). We were taking lots of pictures of the cute hockey boys, and each other, when all of a sudden a puck flies through the air, over the glass, into the net, and somehow manages to escape the net through the space where the net and glass meet, and slams into my chin. Yes, hockey puck to the chin. It was NOT fun times. Not sure if any of you have ever been hit in the face by a professional hockey player's puck, but it HURTS. It hurts BAD. I tried my very, very hardest not to cry. I had tons of little kids staring at me so I was trying to put on a brave face. That didn't last for long though. When we headed to our actual seats the tears started to stream out. I just kept trying to wipe them away like it was no big deal, but I was in pain! The girls talked me into getting ice from the concession stand to put on my chin. Needless to say my fun was kind of over before it fully began. This kind of crap only happens to me! I mean, really?!?!?! I felt really bad. I was no fun at all. I took advil and by the 3rd period I started feeling semi better and was able to talk more, take some pictures, and have a little fun. The girls tried to get the EMTs to check me out on our way out of the AAC but I resisted. I was embarrassed, felt dumb, and just wanted to get home. I started hurting more on the way home. I had a bad headache that shot through my nose, and because I tensed up so much my neck was hurting. I called my parents on the way to my apartment and they freaked out. I mainly called to see if I should do anything else besides use ice and advil. They thought I should go to the ER. I told them it wasn't that bad, but then I did regret not letting the EMTs check me over. I made it home, felt better after eating something, took tylenol and headed to bed. Of course my dad called me bright and early the next morning, probably check to see if I was still alive! lol! After telling people at work what happened they freaked me out and convinced me to at least call my doc to see if I needed to come in. The nurse told me that since I didn't have any concussion symptoms I didn't have to come in and to just continue advil and ice as needed. I amazingly didn't have a bruise or swelling (although I was told otherwise, but think that is just my big face). I was just sore, which is very minimal now. As for now I think my hockey going has come to a halt. I may venture out to the rink again some day, but I probably won't attend warm-ups. Watch your faces people!