Mr. Mittens Down One Life

You know how they say that cats have 9 lives?  Meaning that they can survive a lot of stuff.

Well Mr. Mittens is proving that to be true as our most curious, naughtiest, busiest kitten yet.

I read that about tuxedo cats.  The article warned that they are extra curious, extra friendly and extra overall and we are finding that to be true.

Last week I posted a picture of a soaked Mr. Mittens and today I'm here to tell you the story.  It left me in tears and he only seemed to be annoyed that he required a bath afterwards.

I was home with a sick Leo and Fletcher one day last week.  I was trying to get caught up on all the things and it was my chance to get some laundry done.  I filled the washer with a load of blankets and towels.  I put in one pile then reached to grab the second pile.  Never leaving the washing machine.  I added the soap and hit start.

I moved on to get busy fixing breakfast and doing dishes.  Several minutes later when I was sitting down to eat my own breakfast I hear Mr. Mittens crying.  I looked in the usual spots to see if he'd gotten locked in the garage, our walk in pantry, the half bath (all spots he's gotten locked in before) and I could not find him.

Imagine my horror when I realized his meows were coming from the laundry room.  Specifically FROM THE WASHER.  Mr. Mittens was locked inside the washing machine and it was on!!

I stopped the cycle as fast as I could, opened the door and found a soaked Mr. Mittens standing up inside.  His head was perfectly dry and his body was completely soaked.  I grabbed him and gave him a quick once over.  He was fine.  Thank, God.  I cried and hugged him tight.

So here I was holding a drenched cat trying to figure out how in the world this could have happened??  I honestly still have no idea how he got into the washer.  He was not in the blankets or towels so he must have jumped in as I was loading and got covered with laundry.  Then he sat quietly inside as it filled up with water, rinsed the clothes and cried for help.  When I opened the washer door, there wasn't any water inside.  Just wet clothes and a wet Mr. Mittens.

I called Fletcher over to help.  He grabbed towels and quickly realized Mr. Mittens would need a bath.  He had detergent spots all over him.  I gave him a sink bath, scrubbed his soapy self and then helped dry him off.  He got the full spa treatment.  He was mostly just annoyed that he was wet and kept giving me a hairy eyeball (dirty look) for the rest of the day.

I'm so thankful I was home, that I stayed close to the laundry room to hear his cries and that he was so smart to figure out how to keep his head above water.  You guys.  This story could have had a very, very tragic ending so easily.  I'm so thankful God protected him once again.  This is by far his scariest near death encouter yet.  And now I thoroughly check every single load in the washer and dryer.

Adventures of Mr. Mittens:

He's a flight risk and can regularly be found running circles around our property.

He snuck into our dryer once when I was doing laundry.  I fluffed him long enough to hear three loud clunks in the dryer and I opened the door to save him.

He scaled our Christmas trees like he was used to climbing trees on the daily.

He spent the night locked in our walk in pantry.  Somehow he'd gotten locked inside.

He jumps onto my plant table like a jungle cat, digs around in my plants and knocks over potted plants.

He is our only cat to have a full set of claws and we found him climbing our family room curtains like that was the exact thing they were made for.

And now washer gate.

He's the cutest, sweetest cat, but this guy keeps us on our toes.

When he see this handsome guy on my feed, pray for him because he is one busy guy!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends!  This week.  Whew.  It was a week where almost nothing went as planned.  

We had to cancel plans, call in grandparent help for rides, alternate taking sick/work from home days for two sick boys and pivot all week long.  Poor Leo is still home sick today.  I'm ready for the weekend while also praying that the rest of us stay healthy.  I'm ready for our regular routine next week.

We still had some favorite moments of the week in spite of the week not going as planned.

1. HomeGoods.  It's my favorite place.  Olive and I picked up a couple of things for her birthday party.  It's not until May, but we like to start collecting party supplies early. Aren't these bows so cute!?

2. Surprise flowers are my favorite.  Pretty bouquet, Kev.

3. I try to keep the ingredients for homemade chicken noodle soup on hand all winter long.  Fletcher wasn't feeling great and he said it was the only thing that would make him feel better.

4. I love changing out my maker's space in my classroom.  It was play-doh last month and now it's a snowman building station.  The kids can play here at indoor recess or sometimes their tables earn a reward to head to maker's space.  They love filling the jars with white beans or cotton balls.  Then they add all the snowman accessories.

5. Leo loves to bake and it's my favorite.

6. Did you see my word of the year?  I wrote about it earlier this week.

7. Pearl.  She's not super friendly to everyone, but she loves me and loves Kevin.

8. When you find art that you LOVE at Marshalls, it must come home with you.  Stay tuned to a little makeover project I'm working on upstairs.

9. Lots of working from home.  Mr. Mittens needed some attention.

10. Yummy school lunches were our favorite.  The kids said they would cry if they had to eat school lunch.  I'm glad they appreciate a yummy lunch from home.

11. Sweet teachers.  Fletcher's teacher lets them pick a BIG candy when they hit big math goals.  He was so happy to get to place his order for sweet tart ropes.

12. Zero the Hero showed up to celebrate the 100th day of school with the kindergarten.  Our superintendent had so much fun being a super hero.  I'm not sure who loved singing and dancing with him more - the kids or him.  The kids loved their super hero Tootsie Roll pops.

13. A perk of me being home more is more time with Olive in the mornings.

14. I'm thankful that Mr. Mittens survived this week.  Let's just say he got himself into big trouble and he lost a couple of his lives.  Check back in next week for that scary story.

15. Bath time is the best time.  Leo took several baths this week and he loved it.  We don't usually have leisurely baths so this was a treat.

16. Iced coffee was life this week.

17. Lots of naps.

18. And these two are making progress in the friend department which is my favorite.  One day I'll find them snuggling and my heart will burst.

 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  I'll see you back here on Monday.

Linking up with Momfessionals

2025 Word of the Year

I had to get this post in before the end of January!  New year.  New word.  

This is my 13th year selecting a word of the year.  I only saw a couple other people talking about their word of the year this new year and that is okay by me.  It is one of my favorite new year traditions and it seems to work better for me than making a list of new year's resolutions.

Here's a quick word of the year recap going back to 2013.  

It starts back in 2013 when I became a mom.  That was definitely a big year of change for me - a move from UT to AR, going from teaching 3rd grade to being a full time mom and adding Olive to the family.  Fast forward to 2024 and my word was cherish.  I didn't realize in January of 2024 that I'd be returning to teaching and we'd all be going back to school in the Fall.  I am thankful that cherish was my focus because I learned how to cherish more than ever last year.

2024: Cherish

2023: Shine

2022: Home

2021: Focus

2020: Family

2019: Listen

2018: Grow

2017: Care    

2016: Invite

2015: Enjoy

2014: Thrive

2013: Change

My 2025 word of the year is: ACTIVE!

Art by Leo.

I want to... 

Be ACTIVE with my kids.  Go on walks, exercise regularly, ride bikes, hike, play and say yes to their requests to be on the go and play.  Each of my kids has different interests and different love languages.  I want to actively connect with each one of them this year.  It's easy to work all week and crash on the weekends.  I want to do more connecting this year.

Be ACTIVE with my friendships.  It's easy get focused on my own busy schedule and stay in the routine of texting/checking in with friends.  I want to be the inviter, the plan maker and be sure to stay connected with my favorite people. And that means continuing with my blog and being better and replying to your sweet comments in the new year.  

Be ACTIVE in my school.  Get to know everyone better.  Learn more names.  Get to know families.  Make new friends.  Help Fletcher & Leo to connect with friends.  Reach out to people for help when I need it and finish the school year feeling well connected with everyone.  I have worked hard on this all year so I'm feeling good about this goal.

Be ACTIVE at church.  I enjoy participating in a couple different ministries, but it's been a challenge to stay connected and work full time.  I think there's a way to do both so my hope is to find a way to be active at church even though I'm missing out on all the week day stuff I used to do with my mom friends.

Be ACTIVE in my hobbies and in learning new things.  I love to blog, take pictures, garden, bake, make Bundt cakes, travel, organize, decorate and craft.  We have big dreams for our garden this year.  Maybe even a wild flower garden like ones we saw in Wisconsin.  Frame and print the pictures.  Read the stack of books sitting on my desk.  I have supplies to do lots of fun projects around the house.  Maybe I'll learn a new hobby or two this year.  I want to do more of that and less scrolling on my phone.

Be ACTIVE with my family.  Plan fun things.  Date nights.  Travel.  Play games.  Make yummy food.  Try new recipes.  Run errands together.  Enjoy being together.  Olive heads to junior high later this year so we'll be actively learning all the junior high things.  Kevin is working on some big things for work and we want to cheer for him along the way.

Happy New Year!

Do you have a word of the year or big goals in 2025?  I'd love to hear about them!

5 Minute S'mores Dip

I have the yummiest, easiest dessert recipe to share with you today!

We loved it so much that we made it twice last week.

Hello, S'mores Dip!

It takes 5 minutes to assemble and bake and the ingredient list is really short.

S'mores Dip #1 (my favorite)

Ingredients:
Chocolate Chips or any of your favorite chocolate

Mini Marshmallows

Graham Crackers

Layer the chocolate on the bottom of a pie or loaf pan.  Put mini marshmallows on top.

Bake at 400 for 2-3 minutes.  Watch it closely! The marshmallows toast fast.  Remove it from the oven when the marshmallows are at your perfect level of toasty.  Let it sit for a couple minutes to ensure that the chocolate is good and melty.  Break apart graham crackers for dipping.  Serve your s'mores dip!

This was so much fun to make and eat.  It would be the perfect treat to make for kids, friends, neighbors or your own crew if you need a simple dessert.

S'mores Dip #2 (the kid's favorite)

Fletcher wanted to change up the chocolate so we did Hershey Bars, Cookies & Cream Hershey bars & Reeses cups.  We broke everything up into small bits and did the same process as above.  It took the chocolate chunks just a little longer to melt than the chocolate chips.  Both options are delicious!

Fletcher is such a good helper in the kitchen.  He loved making this with me and loved creating a new recipe with me.  This is the perfect recipe to make with your kids.  Enjoy!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends!  I hope it's been a good week at your house.  It's been a busy, but great, week at ours.  It seemed like we were all busy all week and are ready for the weekend.  The best parts of our week were:

1. Find mom. Sit on mom.  Leo grabbed a blanket, said I was his best friend and then plopped himself down on my lap.  My favorite part of the weekends!  Snuggles, big breakfasts and getting to stay in our pjs a little longer are my favorite.

2. Strolling the mall.  The older kids love to walk through the mall.  Olive would love these perfect brown Jordans.  They want to sniff everything in Sephora and Bath and Body Works.  And it's just fun to look around the stores with them.

3. Weekends are for laundry and laundry helpers.  Can you spot Penny, Mr. Mittens & Leo??

4. Go Irish!  Our beloved Notre Dame lost in the national title game on Monday, but we were so proud of this team and how well we played.  We love our coach and are optimistic about the days ahead!  Notre Dame will always be #1 to us.

Touchdown push-ups, Mr. Mittens edition.

5. Penny loves Fletcher.  He made sure she was all tucked in.

6. Winter sunrises.  A perk of waking up really early is that we get to enjoy some beautiful winter sunrises in our backyard.

7. Robots!  The 3rd grade is coding and learning how to code with robots.  Fletcher has won some coding awards and it was really fun to see him in action.  The robots were so much fun.  I just love teaching at the same school as the boys.

8. Chin rubs!  Mr. Mittens loves a good chin rub.

9. Fletcher and I have a really yummy recipe to share with you next week!  We made it twice this week :)

Have a great weekend!  I'll see you back here on Monday :)

Preteen Parenting: Get Outside!

My latest preteen parenting tip is to get outside.

This might sound like a funny tip for preteen parents, but you'd be amazed.

It turns out that fresh air, sunshine and time outdoors is good for everyone.

Ignore the notion that they are too big to do silly things.

Buy them a surprise scooter.  They'll think you are ridiculous and then ride it regularly.

Then watch your kids make up fun street games.

Go on a walk.

Chat with your neighbors.

Hop on a bike.

Hit a volleyball with them back and forth even though you have no volleyball skills.

Count while they jump rope.

Draw with sidewalk chalk.

Play ping pong in the garage.

Sit on your front porch and enjoy a lemonade together.  Or maybe a hot chocolate drink.

Race rubber ducks in the rain water coming down your driveway.

Invite the neighbor friends over to play.

Bundle up because winter sunshine can be tons of fun!  I promise.

Just get outside!  It'll be fun for everyone.

Proof.