Mittens!

I've been telling Sofi for almost a year that when she turned 5 she could get a kitty. I don't think Greg really believed that I would, but sure enough, we did! People around us want actual money for their kittens, and quite a bit, and I'm against paying anything for cats, so I diligently watched KSL until I saw a listing in Spanish Fork for free kittens!!! I showed Sof the pictures, let her pick one, and I promptly texted the guy who said he would hold the orange one for a little girl's birthday. The girls and I went to Walmart, bought some kitten supplies, and the next day, on March 24, 2020 off we went to pick up the kitten. Funny how I'll spend the gas to pick up a kitten, right? Anyways, he was absolutely adorable and Sof's whole countenance lit up when he was placed in her arms. We needed a little ray of Sunshine to come through our Corona raincloud.

Meet Mittens!! I love that his eyes are as blue as Sof's.

He already slept better in the car than either of my kids.

He escaped sometime during the drive and hid in the car the whole way home. I found him curled up in the very back under my stroller. He is truly the sweetest little kitty!

He warmed right up to Greg. 🤣

I've never known a cat to sleep on his back like a dog. He kills me.

He became my little work buddy.

Sof was content to entertain and take care of her kitten. He provides her with endless amount of laughter. He is just the little buddy she needed.

Poor Mittens. It will be a miracle if he survives Claire.

He loves climbing all the way up Greg like he is a tree. Here is a play-by-play of him doing it 🤣

 

 

 

Greg acts like he doesn't like it, but he secretly does. Notice him trying not to smile. His flared nostrils give him away every time.

Finally a use for this corner cabinet.

Claire is in a major Princess phase right now. She goes through dresses like they're going out of style. I was laughing this day when I found her the rocking chair, staring at herself in the mirror, while sucking on her Moana necklace. She's the best.

I went to check on Claire one night and got the scare of my life - she wasn't in her crib!!! I searched and eventually found her behind her chair, fast asleep where she had snuck out to read books.

Mittens is Sof's little rommate until she falls asleep. It's the cutest thing!

He loves to climb up the hamper then out the ripped hole.

This picture of Claire kills me! 🤣💓🥰 She gave herself lipstick one day with a red marker.

Being creative in quarantine means making Sof a homemade mask to match her beloved Supergirl dress. She was thrilled! Score one for the hoarders and my extra scraps of felt.

We sent a picture to Grandma Great one day. I was dying at how Sof colored Grandma's hair!

Oh Claire. I couldn't end the post without this video of her. She's awesome, and I have gray hairs because of her. Literally, I'm gray.

Further proof he's the best kitten ever! Greg and I agree it's good we got a kitten first before having another kid. Can you imagine?

More March Madness

Life goes one. The only difference now was we had a giant hole in the ceiling.

But that didn't stop this little cutie from enjoying the rain in her jammies!

Or this little beauty!

The rain made it hard to play outside, so we set up an art studio inside. The girls were excited to paint rocks, or themselves in Claire's case.

We were still stuck inside, and going crazy, so we headed to Lehi so the girls could see their cousin's brand new puppy, Bear. He was adorable!

Sof's Preschool had been moved to Zoom, so she and I conducted our own experiment one day. I didn't get a picture, but it was so cool to see the water travel through the paper towels and create a rainbow. She learned that when colors mix, they make other colors. So cool!

The countdown to her birthday was on! Literally, we made a countdown.

This is how we survive oil changes.

I called and had them come test for mold/moisture/mildew after we got everything dried out, and it turns out that this whole wall was still completely soaked! So, it needed to come down.

It was not fun to rip out.

My gym was closed, so I did my own Body Pump workout one day. Sof was excited to get in her exercise clothes and join me. She used a leftover PVC pipe as her bar. It was pretty cute.

Earthquakes Suck

March 18, 2020 - the day of the earthquake.

This morning was not fun. At all. I was laying in bed a little after 7:00 am when the earthquake hit. The house shook for a good 5-7 seconds I would say and I was up and out of my bed before I truly knew what happened. Right away, my phone was buzzing with Greg on the line. He was in his office on the 4th floor of his building when the earthquake hit. He said his building was swaying and he was getting out of there!

Our house is cantilevered out a good 5 feet above our foundation so I have always had a slight fear that if an earthquake hit, the whole west side of our house would fall off. Not so, but when I went down to check the furnace room and make sure everything was okay, I saw a waterfall of water coming down the window in our spare bedroom. I called Greg back to tell him we had water pouring from the ceiling, and I heard Greg swear for the 2nd time in our marriage. He was already on his way. I called my Dad next to ask how to turn off our main water line, because there hadn't been much of a change after I turned off the water going into our house. I was in such a panic, that I couldn't understand him, but luckily Greg pulled into the driveway right when I was trying to figure everything out. I also got a call from my cute father-in-law who was also on his way over to help. Between Mark and Greg, the ceiling came apart in no time, and Greg was able to locate the leak. Luckily, April and Toby also came over to help. The leprechaun came 1 day late (unbeknownst to our little ones) and they were happy to munch on the chocolate coins while I ran around with my head cut off. It's amazing how many things you really can't do when you don't have any water in your house. Greg's sprinkler knowledge came in handy with him being able to locate the leak and replace the pipe.

We later realized that the leak caused by the earthquake may have actually been a blessing in disguise, believe it or not. Last June, Sof had this nasty cough that would not go away, and we could not figure out why. On a whim, I hung some moisture bags in her room and they filled up almost immediately, so her cough definitely came from a moisture problem. We did all we could to help, and her cough went away, but based on the leak and it's placement through her floor, we deducted that it was probably slowly leaking for a while, and the earthquake shook it just enough to send a rush of water down. As an experiment, I have hung another moisture bag up in her room and it took months to fill up - letting us know it was collecting the general moisture in the air, and she hasn't had a cough again. The earthquake was not ideal, but we were able to fix another problem from it.

I am not lying when I say a lot of water came down. We had to rip everything up and dry it for 3 days. It was not fun.

The before ...

And after. Isn't the new pipe fancy? Greg did a great job!

While Greg fixed the pipe, the girls and I went to the park to pretend we didn't have a hole in our ceiling.

Only Claire would take her shoes off to play in the middle of March.

I have since developed PTSD from the earthquake. Literally. I can't tell you how many times I have woke up hearing my heartbeat and mistaking it for an earthquake, or getting immediate fear from hearing a large truck drive up our street. Weekly people! It is not fun. 

But, these funny Facebook quotes about COVID help me cope. Laughter is indeed the best medicine. Enjoy!

The Calm Before the Storm

Oh March, it's truly a wonder that any of us survived. My birthday was crappy, COVID-19 hit the U.S. and people were freaking out. Church was cancelled, school was moved to exclusive online learning (including Sof's preschool), and shelves at stores were empty, all parks were closed to the public. Basically, people were freaking out. The saddest part for us though, was receiving the news 2 hours before, that our Dear Evan Hansen showing had been cancelled. 2 hours! March 12 was a sad day. 

Despite the fact that preschool was cancelled, and the aquarium and my gym closed, our lives stayed relatively the same. But, because we couldn't go anywhere publicly, we had to get creative.

The adorable Anna and Elsa in the flesh.

A funny video of Sof and Claire at breakfast. Listen to Sof at the end. She must've had her sassy pants on that day.

My little rockstar. She was beyond excited to find this guitar at the DI.

Sometimes they love each other.

We have some awesome neighbors 1 street over who have their own little park, and they said we could come play anytime. It's awesome because we are always the only ones there. Score!

Oh Claire. She gets stuck on purpose.

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) officially hit the USA and people were pretty frantic about getting their Charmin and bottled water. This is us waiting in line for 20 minutes while they unloaded the trucks at Costco. The only difference between us and everyone else, was we actually needed TP, we were down to our last couple of rolls. 

The girls and I spent as much time outside as we could. This is a fun thing we started doing, and it's a killer leg workout!

Greg snapped this pic. I love it!

Our motto. Seriously.