Putting away Sam's art box, I noticed he still has a strong favorite color.

Meet the newest member of our family - Freddy!

When we were looking for Nimbus, we considered getting two cats at once.  We never completely dropped that idea.  It'd be nice for the cat to have a companion, when we travel or are away at school and work.  But we got Nimbus and she's great!  She's such a perfect cat.  Why mess up the family dynamics and add another?

Every so often I'd look and find new adorable cats on shelter websites, and send the links to Ben.  He'd rebuff and I'd agree, no second cat.  Then the next week he would send me some cat links, and we would go back and forth like this for months.

Friday morning Ben showed me that Foothills Animal Shelter had a large number of new cats in, and he wanted to go see a few.  Sure, sounds fun!  I had no intention of actually getting a cat, just thought it would be fun to look together, to remind ourselves that we don't need a second cat.

One of the little guys we met was "Felix," a 9-10 month old kitten.  He was shy at first, but opened up soon.  He showed us he was very loving and playful.  He was exactly what I would want - a small short-hair cat who wants tons of cuddling and is younger than Nimbus.  Nimbus doesn't really snuggle with anyone except me during the mornings and Jack in bed at night.  Ben wished he had a buddy to share a warm lap.  On top of it all, Jack has been stating his favorite cats are orange cats for a while now.  I agree, besides calicos and blue russians, they are top cuties.

Well, let's put a hold on him, I said.  We'll sleep on it.  I told the kids after school that we were looking at a cat and they got very excited to get another.  I had evening plans, but offered to take the boys down to meet him real quick.  Ben said, why not just get him instead?  So we did!  Armed with our carrier, the boys met Fred and he was just as sweet with them as before.  We all wanted him, so why wait?  (Why?? Cause this isn't how I do things!!  I'm very meticulous and planning, I had no intention to get a cat this very weekend! I am still smothering these thoughts).

While doing to adoption paperwork I found out that he was surrendered for litterbox problems.  He was checked out by the vet and has no related medical problems, and showed normal litter usage while at the shelter.  Hmmm.  Molly had some litter problems that we dealt with, but I had vowed never to get a cat with litter problems again.  Yet here I was, with a giddy Jack literally bouncing with excitement and telling me how cute he is, and Ben sending me the photo on the left from the back room, all while I try to talk to the shelter staff.  I pushed ahead with the adoption and hoped the litter problems were temporary.

We've had him about 24 hours and he's been a perfect litter box user.  Multiples times, doing all manner of business in there.  I hope it was something related to the previous home and we don't have a problem here. (Knock on wood/fingers crossed).  Well, he does have some stinky farts.  So did Nimbus, until we tried some different food brands and fixed it that way.  We'll have to work on that later.

Speaking of Nimbus, she heard me pouring Fred his first meal and stood outside the door.  Fred came over and they investigated each other through the crack.  We'll give them a few days apart before trying any face to face meetings.  (While I write, the boys reported that Fred stuck his paw out under the door, startling Nimbus out from the hall.)

Sam came up with the name Freddy as we drove to the shelter, when he read a sign for Freddy's Steakburgers.  I thought it suited him perfectly!  Ben liked it too, and Jack came on board after a little more discussion.  We like a lot of Freds - Fred Rogers, Freddie Mercury, Freddy from Shazam, Fred Weasley, Freddy Honeychurch . . . and it just suits him, you know?

So that's my story!  Unexpectedly big weekend for the Masons :-D  Welcome, Freddy!

When I was a kid I thought it would be so cool to have my letter published in a magazine.

Here's Ben, living the dream:

The cats are still living in separate quarters.  Believe me, I'd LOVE to open the doors and be done with it.  Freddy had me up all night, either playing loudly, or attacking my feet, or trying to sleep on my neck.

There's been a lot of this - cuddling with one cat, then letting the other one smell it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Freddy got to spend almost an hour exploring the boys' room with the door shut.  I turned around to bring Nimbus up to inspect his space, but she was already there!  Certainly curious.

Yesterday Nimbus was finally ok with eating outside the door from Freddy.  She still hisses at him if he comes right up to the door while she is out there.  But at least she's eating near him now.  I read that that's a positive step forward.  We'll do some more space swapping and then maybe in a few days I can let them co-exist.

The boys made a space ship for the cats to share.  They used it separately.  Maybe someday they'll share it :-)

Yesterday I propped the doors open with these old door hooks that we got when Sam was a baby. There was much cat-posturing between the gap, but Nimbus eventually ate her dinner, knowing Freddy was watching nearby.

This morning, around 5 AM, Nimbus stood at the gap, hissing and growling up a storm - true to her name. I think she was trying to make clear her social dominance. At 5 AM. For twenty minutes. Sigh.

This evening we gave Nimbus her wet food dinner in our room, where Freddy has been staying. With her locked away, Freddy got to explore the main floor. He was visibly shocked when we brought him down, that there was more house to explore! We kept a close eye on him while we had dinner. So far he's been a perfect litter box user, but I'm still nervous to let him roam the house unsupervised.

After an hour or so I checked on Nimbus and was pleased to see she ate all her dinner while in enemy territory. She even calmed down enough to do some grooming and faux-napping at my feet.

Tomorrow we might try having them downstairs together. For a limited time.

Freddy wants to be friends SO BADLY.

They are both doing pretty good. Freddy is cautious and submissive. Nimbus is hissy and wary but not outright attacking.

We actually have a rich and varied life aside from our cats ;-)

Tonight was Jack's spring recital.  He was very nervous and unhappy with his performance.  But I think he did great!  It's so difficult to perform in front of people.  I'm proud of him for playing tonight.

We celebrated by going to Dairy Queen with his friend Dylan, who had a sister playing tonight too.

 

I forced the boys to join me in my annual Mother's Day photos. Not bad!

Ben is out of town. I arranged for dinner and a movie at home. Freddy is desperate to eat pizza.

The end of the school year means lots of projects being shared and brought home, and lots of events to attend. Thursday was a triple whammy (plus piano lesson!). I went to the community fair and the student-led conferences.

Bounce houses at the fair:

The kids loved showing off their work to me.

They boys earn many points during the year for good behavior and are trying to spend them all. Jack's favorite prize is to have lunch with the teacher. Sam always chooses to bring a stuffy to school for the day. I didn't even know there were other choices until I saw this poster in his classroom:

I think these choices are hilarious! A pen for a day - wow!

That same day we went to the scouts year end picnic, where Jack officially advanced to Webelos. They had a hot dog dinner, then skits and s'mores.

Jack's third grade class has been studying native Americans for their last social studies unit. So today we went to Tocabe to try some authentic fry bread and wojapi sauce. Delicious!

oh my gosh...

You guys...

It's happening!!!

My hard work has paid off!! In two weeks they have gone from hissing constantly to cuddle neighbors. I predict by next winter they will be snuggle buddies!

The second to last day of school, I'm sitting in the parking lot, waiting to pick up the boys, when I get this message from Sam's Kindergarten teacher:

"Your son may have had a little too much fun this afternoon! You’ll see soon! Sorry..."

Hoo-boy, can't wait, I replied.

She was very apologetic and swears she would have stopped him, but he was very fast. I don't doubt it. Ah well. Here's hoping those markers are washable! What a way to end the school year.

Not so washable.

And feeling a lot less coy after a brisk bath scrub.

Saturday we celebrated Jack's 9th birthday by playing mini-golf with friends!  This was the first time we held the party away from the house, with a smaller group of friends.  It was a total success!  Adventure Golf gave us a wonderful experience.

Cake time, and then presents and goodie bags were passed around.  For the last half hour the kids took ice cream vouchers to concessions for a soft-serve treat, then played in the Mine Maze until parents arrived.  No tears - even from Jack!  It was a slam dunk party.  (Especially with all the snow and rain this May, right up until Thursday we were wearing heavy coats!  But Friday and Saturday were sunny and warm, just perfect).

Sam and Jack wanted to bring balloons home for the kitties.  Freddy had a good time.

Despite the hectic weeks with new cats, school ending, and a birthday party to host, we have been shopping for a new car.  My little Nissan finally needed some significant work (new struts), giving me just cause to replace it.  We've been wanting a minivan for years.  Ben and I did deep research into SUVs, crossovers, and all the available minivans on the market.  Then we had to locate a car on the market that best matched the features we wanted.  After hours of reading, looking, driving, and haggling, we took home the perfect new car!

A Chrysler Pacifica Touring Plus.  It has a heated steering wheel for me and a DVD player for the kids.  It has power doors and a back-up camera - these are pretty standard nowadays but a total luxury for me!  We wanted cloth seats and the easy to stow flat bucket seats in the back.  I love being in a higher position on the road and having SO MUCH ROOM.  Sam is finally able to buckle himself into his booster seat because in my old car it was too cramped and squashy for him to reach.

               

I quickly added some minivan essentials: trash bag suspended from the front arm rests, and a tennis ball to help park in the garage.  Some things can't be improved upon with technology ;-)

              

Ben took a picture of my old car side by side as we were leaving.  They low-balled a trade-in offer, so we're going to figure out selling it after life calms down a little more.

I looked back in my blog to the last time I got a new car.  Might as well update the timeline:

Sometimes I feel like everything is changing.  In the last month:

• We became a two-cat household
• I started yoga, and make it to those classes more often than zumba
• My last child finished Kindergarten
• My oldest is officially a "tween" (according to the library's summer reading program)
• We got a new car
• We got new callings at church (Ben is leaving primary after 6 years in this ward, I'm leaving YW after 3 years, we will both be Youth Sunday School teachers)

All good stuff!  I'm not complaining!  But I think it justifies how completely exhausted I have felt recently.