Happy Happy Joy Joy - the story of how we got our kitty with the unusual markings

Hello and Happy Happy Joy Joy to you in 2019!

I wanted to share a cute, quick story of how we obtained Happy, our 4th kitty and his crazy unusual markings (and to wish you a happy new year)!

Introducing Happy - the kitty

You might be thinking, now how does someone totally allergic to cats end up with four of them?  Well we rescued a few, and one even adopted us. (I'm most likely just a saint, who's love for animals outweighs my pesky love of breathing... that's the ticket). 
 FYI - I'll post our four-kitty back story at the end of this post for those that are interested), 

but now onto the mysterious little story how Happy became ours.

So my middle child loves leopards. She loves cats.  She loves animals! Two years in a row she had a cat-themed birthday party.  One year was a leopard party, one year it was a kitty cat party.

 

All the kids adopted stuffed kittens and dressed like kitties, and made collars for them

What she really really wished for was a Bengal kitten, because they look just like a mini leopard. We already had what I thought was too many cats, and of course bangle kittens can be very pricey. 

A Bengal cat... adorable, very leopard like, and often pricey!

Plus we weren't going to spend a ton of money on a highly energetic and expensive cat, when most of our cats were rescues. I said almost sarcastically one day to her, look, if a Bengal kitten randomly shows up on our doorstep, we can totally keep it.

As it got closer to her birthday, we though maybe we could find a kitty on Craigslist or somewhere local that needed a home, looked like a Bengal, but of course without the hefty price tag. After days of searching my husband found a very good candidate.
 

What's not to love about this tiny little face?

He was striped, with spots on his tummy, very unusual markings all over in leopard colors that were quite beautiful. He called the lady to get more information, and sadly she said sorry, someone was already coming that day to pick him up. Boo. We were pretty disappointed because he seemed so purrfect, but luckily we had not told the girls about any of this.

The very next day, she called us back and said the other people never showed up, would we like to come see him. We said YES and she gave us her address.

Check this out, she lived IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, down the street, 

like SIX houses away!  (practically on our doorstep).  


We told the girls and took a short walk down the street to see the kitty.  He was SO adorable. 
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Instant Happiness!

Here he is looking so sweet and tiny.

Baby Happy

 He had spots on his tummy, he looked like a mini leopard.  

Look at that leopard tummy!

We fell in love.  We took him home.

My middle child named him "Happy" because she was so very happy! (Plus, our other cats all have 'H' names (Hemi, Haley, Henry - and now Happy)

Eva and Happy!

So Happy became a part of our family.  He lived up to his name and made everyone a little happier!

Smiles all around!

As he got a little bigger, we noticed something a bit unusual. His stripes formed readable letters. We were totally SHOCKED when we realized what it spelled.

Hello world!  Live, from the super soft blanket.

On one side of his body, the word spelled out "got" (like "got milk").

See the "got"in the center of his body?

 I will trace the letters so you can see it better:

His right side spells "got"

One the OTHER side of his body, the stripes spelled out "JOY"

"JOY"

 Here's the traceable letters:

We actually couldn't believe it!

Not. Kidding. His stripes spelled JOY! His name is HAPPY!!!

That's right, this random kitty who practically landed on our doorstep, who looked like a little leopard, whom we named Happy because he brought my Eva joy, has the words "Got Joy" on his body!

Happy - meant to be a part of our family

It's one of those goose bump moments where you just know something was just meant to be!!!

So I thought this would be the happiest of stories to start off the 2019 year with, and I wanted to wish a happy HAPPY new year to you and yours!!!

Wishing this new year brings you happiness!!




*Here's the four-kitty back story for those that are interested:

We lived in a town house when we were first married when a feral kitty showed up at our back door. I fed him tuna because that's all I had on hand, he was hungry, and of course (well I know now) after the tuna, he never left. He was mostly an outdoor kitty and so I didn't have to worry about my allergies (he didn't want to come in). After we moved to our new house, we took the kitty with us but sadly one summer night a few years later, he didn't come home. Heartbroken we searched for weeks around the neighborhood and all the shelters with no luck. While we were at the shelter, about a month later, we did look at some other cats that needed to be adopted.  In box #2 was a little kitty that we took into a room and he instantly loved us. We decided to take him home. He purred like a little engine and so we named him Hemi.  I also thought it was a sign that he was in box #2, he was cat #2 for us.  

Hemi and Vivian when she was a baby

Hemi also was an indoor/outdoor kitty, and that was ALL the cats we were going to have... because of my allergies... Ha. that's funny now.

Hemi - all grown up and regal looking (we think he's part main coon)

So one day several years later, we were over at my father-in-law's house and they had a little female kitten, orange and white with blue eyes.  She was the softest, fluffiest, kitty ever. 

Haley - fluffy and so so soft.

She was a Manx breed (without a tail), and she didn't have a home. I took one look at her and told my husband (much to his shock) that she was coming home with us. I surprised myself actually, but they didn't have a home for her, the last female of the litter, and something about her said she needed to come home with us. We named her Haley. She's a sweet but very shy kitty. She only likes quiet people and adores the girls. If you come to my house you might never see her. She stays in mostly one room upstairs. She adores me.  She sleeps on my hip at night. She purrs like crazy. 

Haley two days ago, sleeping on my hip

Note: I think I've built up a tolerance with my allergies. I am not bothered by the cats unless I touch them and then touch my eyes or face. I just wash my hands and vacuum a lot. Needless to say I went from a dog person to a cat person since being married, which rather shocked my whole family.

So two kitties is way more than I ever planned to own. We were good. Then a few years later a very pale orange kitty followed the girls home. They kept calling him "orange kitty" but he was so pale, I joked he looked like the ghost of an orange kitty. He literally camped out on my doorstep, curled on our front mat like he owned the place. I'm not sure if there was an invisible sign outside our house that said "these people are suckers for cats" or "cats welcome" or what, but it was freezing outside and he stayed right on our front mat. I felt so bad, he was so skinny. I gave him some tuna, because I was making some for lunch (see my pattern) and then bam. He was ours.

Eva taking care of Henry when he first adopted us and came inside.  He was very grateful.

(Note: Well we took him to the vet first to make sure he wasn't tagged or chipped, put notices out in the neighborhood to make sure he wasn't someone's pet already. When no one responded after a good amount of time, we gave him his shots and chipped him). We also gave him his name, which is officially "The Ghost of King Henry VIII" or Henry for short (mostly due to my love of all things in the Tudor period, plus his super pale color).

Henry and Eva are still great pals to this day.

So that is the story of how we have so many cats.  Happy came along a few years back and completed our cat family.

So make the most of this year ahead! Adopt a pet, add a friend to the family, love each other and treat each other with all kindness - all year through!

Small Resolution - Big Impact

Well happy happy New Year!  How did 2014 get here so fast? It seems like the days keep going by faster and faster, as we fill our lives with an endless whirlwind of activities.  

If trends continue, this upcoming year will also fly by in a flash, and before we know it, 2015 will be here.  Are there any changes you can make today that will have an effect on the entire year?  Well of course there are the big things:  losing weight, becoming a better person, taking better care of yourself, and vowing to stay away from toxic people, to name a few.  Did you know that most resolutions by the first week of January have already fallen by the wayside for most people?  What if I told you there is a really small thing you can do on a daily basis that can have a major impact in your life?  I happen to know this, because it was my resolution from last year.  Now that 365 days have passed, I can report back to you the dramatic results. Wanna know what it was??  Well it had to do with smart phones.  

Now don't get me wrong... I love me some smart phone.  They are super handy, helpful (hello GPS), full of traffic maps, weather maps, it's a camera, it's a family calendar, it's an interactive shopping list, it's a gaming station, it's sometimes a busy mom's only connection with the outside world.  I can video chat with my step-daughter and her new baby 2750 miles away.  My future foodie-loving 6 year old can call me in to take a picture of her beautiful dinner to post on facebook...

She was right... it was quite lovely.. and tasty too

With a smart phone my middle child and I can take a selfie in the parking lot when we are celebrating an extra great school day and send it to daddy at work and family that live out of state.

I can update the Costco list for my hubby while he is driving home and he knows exactly what we need. (sweet potato fries and 2 gallons of milk please) It's genius really.

So, don't flee in terror.  I am not suggesting to chuck your smart phone into the river and hide from all technology.  I did, however, at the beginning of last year, read a very inspired blog entitled "How to miss a childhood" from Hand's Free Mama that really drove home a point.  A really big point.  (PS, If you haven't seen her post before, feel free to take a second and read it. She goes over some really powerful insights into technology and how easily it can become an  addiction/obsession)   Her overall point in that blog post is that technology has become a distraction. You can miss out on life happening right in front of you.  As I continued to read, I realized some of the things in her post I was doing.  Sometimes I was staring at my smart phone (or computer screen) more than I was interacting with the actual humans around me, both big and small.  It made me feel so guilty!  Let me tell you, if you are a mom and don't feel guilt, you are doing it wrong!  You are always wondering if you are doing enough, NOT doing enough, are you on the right track, are you completely off track.  WHAT Track??

So, feeling bad about using your smart phone is not one more thing you need to throw on the pile of mommy guilt we tend to heap upon ourselves.   I read somewhere that people tend to check their smart phone (facebook, clock, texts) about every 6 minutes.  That adds up to over 150 times a day.  That can turn into a pretty big chunk of your day, because as soon as you start looking at the interwebs, you can always easily find new and interesting things to see.  

How many times have you been at a park, bouncy house, or a soccer game and seen a line of parents only half watching the game, but mostly watching their phones?

I hate to say it, but the kids KNOW you are not paying attention.  They sense this little device in your hand is much more important than them. They know that only a certain percent is invested in them.  On the flip side, of course you don't want them to think the entire world revolves around them at the center of the universe either. It's all about balance. It's about being in the present.  This picture on pinterest cracks me up every time I see it:

But seriously, how true is it?!  We just can not get enough of these little handy devices.

After reading the blog, I wasn't looking for a massive change like unplugging from the world.  Just a small change.  Something I could easily do when it came to choosing between looking at a screen, or looking at my kids.  So I decided on that day one year ago... 

I vowed:  If I had the phone in my hand and was using it when a child approached, I would immediately put it down.

That's it.  Doesn't seem like much, right?

Every time my girls came into a room and over to me, I put the phone down.  Even turned it upside down.  I held them in my arms.  They sat on my lap and we snuggled.  I made a point to look in their eyes when they were asking me whatever question they came to talk to me about.   I tried to do it for the entire year.  They would come up, phone would go down.   Like I said, it wasn't a huge change... but it did make a big change in my heart.  Kids are only going to be little for a short time.  They are only going to want to hold your hand and sit in your lap for a few short years.  Choosing to promote human interaction over an electronic device can not only be a good example for them, but so invest good things into your child's life.  I love this sign I came across the other day.

By the way, this doesn't just work on kids.  Putting down your technology and paying attention to those around you totally works on spouses and significant others too!  So maybe challenge yourself a little this year.  My rewards this year were a lot more hugs, a lot more snuggles,  a lot more conversations that might not have happened, a lot more looking into my kids eyes and really listening to what they have to say, a lot more trust being built between us, a lot more focusing on the really important things, and a lot more participation in the things going on around me.  

Like I said, it was a small resolution but it ending up having a pretty BIG impact.  Happy 2014.  Make it a good one.

The weirdest Christmas gift request

Wanna hear about possibly the weirdest Christmas gift request I have ever received?

Well then first I have to tell you about my nephew.  He's 9, has got the biggest brown eyes you ever saw, and freckles and dimples that go on for miles.  He is the middle child of three, and much like my middle child, is a very deep thinker.  We are talking DEEP.  He is completely filled to the brim with facts.  At any given moment he might rattle off to you some of these trivial tidbits that make you stop, cock your head to the side and say, "wow, I did not know that, Jacob, thank-you so very much".

When this picture was taken I am 99.98% sure he was telling me facts about turkeys

He's a funny thing too.  The other day, I am told that his mom was asking all three kids what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Gabe, the oldest and lover of legos, wanted to be a train conductor like his daddy.  Mackenzie, the only girl and baby of the family wanted what every girl wants: A mani/pedi chair and servants (Nice, I think she got that love from her mama).  Jacob was asked the same question and he says, "I want to work where you have those gray walls".  His mom wonders, gray walls??  He goes on, "You know, where you pop your head up over the top and look around?" 

 She stares blankly for a minute... 

"YOU MEAN A CUBICLE?!".  Yes, he says firmly. 

Just typing this story makes me laugh so hard. You've got to love him.  He is totally an out of the box thinker, or wait, I take that back, is he a way "IN" the box thinker, as in WAY INSIDE a cubicle box. What kid says when I grow up I want to be an office cog just so I can imitate a prairie dog?

THIS KID!

Fast forward onto Christmas gifts.  Now I crochet.  Once I started crocheting I went way past blankets and hats, I started doing amigurumi, which is a Japanese term where you make three dimensional, stuffed objects that have a lot of realistic detail.  I got pretty good at it, heck I even made some amazing character dolls such as Mario, Luigi, the whole Mario brothers gang actually. 

I made these for my daughter's Super Mario Brothers birthday party a few years back

All of my nephews loved my work.  So I asked little 9-year-old Jacob about what he might like for Christmas, totally expecting he would list one of my Mario guys.  Not even close.  Not even REMOTELY close.  Without even pausing, without even looking up to the ceiling and pondering.  It's like he had this object on his mind already and I had just happened to ask him the correct time.  He simply said, 

"Can you make me a giant macaroni noodle out of yarn?"

Me:  Stunned silence.

Me: Um, macaroni... noodle??

Jacob: Yes.  A big one.

Me: Blinking

Then he walks off. 

Me: Hmmmmmm.

Okay.  How can you disappoint a face like this??:

This boy loves his pasta apparently!

So I went a searching the interwebs high and low for a 3-D noodle pattern.  Guess what people.  Almost impossible to find.  Turns out crocheting a circular curved tube that keeps it's dimensions throughout is plum near impossible.  Let me just break out my M.I.T. degree in advanced engineering and summon all the powers of physics for this one tiny Christmas crochet project.  Goodness!  Literally it was bugging me for weeks.  No matter where I searched for tips or patterns, I couldn't find one that might actually work.  I thought about enlarging a flattened rainbow arch pattern, but I really wanted that curved noodle look.  Finally, I was walking through a store when I stopped dead in my tracks.  There, in front of me, with a heavenly light shining down all around it, was a soft stuffed travel neck pillow.  Curved.  Tube.  I didn't have to figure out as much how to make and stuff a crocheted tube curve correctly, as I had to figure out how to cover an already existing shape! Christmas wishes from a 9-year-old are saved!!

First thing I did was take the cover off the neck pillow.  It was a nice, soft, zippable one.  Hey I realized, this is not only going to be fulfilling the macaroni dreams of a kid, it was at the very least going to be a FUNCTIONAL neck pillow!

I did not have a pattern, I just started a crochet circle with some extra thick, extra yellow, lion heart brand hometown USA yarn.   I kept eye-balling it around until it was wide enough to fit over the bottom of the pillow "leg".

To get the yard to turn 90º I single crocheted in the back loops only for two rows.

 
Once the yarn was turning "up" I started single crocheting again through both loops, which created a "bowl" that the bottom of the noodle could rest in

After that I slipped it off the noodle, kept doing single crochet around, then pausing so often to try and slip it over the leg of the noodle to see if it would fit.

Then I would slip it back off and work more rounds.

Soon I was at the top of the arch... and it was getting harder to pull the tube on the pillow.  From now on I would have to do the remaining stitches ON the pillow form.  This got a bit tricky and cumbersome at times, but I just kept working at it.

Now, in hindsight, I should have started the process over on the other leg and sewed them together at the top of the "noodle".  However, I was getting some bunches in the first "leg" near the curve and thought I could try and eliminate those. Also I did not want a seam in the middle of my noodle.  So now here is where I tried to get creative. Trying to make a "wedge" shape I stopped stitching in the round and went back and forth just on the top 3/4 of the noodle, turned and came back the other way.  Because it was curved, I could join the circle back up after a few rows.

It took a bit of trial an error, remember I had never done anything like this before.  But as I came to the end, I reversed what I had done on the first leg of the noodle, to give it that finished look.

You can see my wedge shape going over the right hand arch is not perfect, but it did not turn out half bad for a first try.  To a 9-year-old boy I am hoping and praying it looks like a giant cheesy macaroni noodle to him.  My girls, who have never had a neck pillow around until now, have been walking around with this thing around their neck at all times of the day.  So I am thinking that if Jacob doesn't like his miraculous noodle, the girls will adopt it back.

Needless to say, this little request is right up there with one of the STRANGEST, weirdest, most challenging things I have ever been asked to make out of yarn.  This tricky little curved, tubed, arched, stuffed, three-dimensional shape was quite the bear to pull off.  I'm just hoping he LOVES it.  Like I'm his favorite auntie of all time LOVES it. Like years from now, when he grows up and is working in his grey office cubicle, he thinks of me. I hope that when he pops his head up like an over-sized prairie dog and gazes at the other gray people, in their tiny, drab squares, he will still be wearing this bright yellow macaroni noodle, and it might just bring a little ray of comfort and sunshine to the whole office!

I will keep you posted on his reaction on Christmas day and post pictures here.  Stay tuned...

Mother's Day Prayer

Here's a funny little pre-mother's day story for you:

It's the night before Mother's day and all through the house...

Just kidding.  But seriously, my girls are sitting no less than four feet behind me right now coloring feverishly my Mother's Day pictures and are begging me not to look.  They will then run with their finished masterpieces into their rooms to hide them until tomorrow morning.  I've been instructed NOT to get up too early tomorrow, that they have surprises for me.  I'm intrigued.

My thoughtful and philosophical middle child comes up to me in her jammies and her freshly brushed teeth right before bed and says, "Mama, will you pray for me? Sure honey.  She is often asking me to pray.  Pray that she will have happy dreams.  Pray for people we know that are sick.  She's a very sensitive soul that is always concerned for the welfare of other people.  She also is my deep thinker.  My observer.  My "asker of many questions".  Nothing is more precious (or sometimes entertaining) than the things she comes up with to talk to God about.

So I ask her sweetly... what would you like to pray about honey?

She says quite plainly... Will you pray that I forget this day forever?

Me:  What? (stunned)

Her: Will you pray that I never remember this day for as long as I live?

Me: (blinking and staring blankly, pausing)... what was wrong with today?

Her:  It was HORRIBLE.

Me: WHY was it horrible?  (I was thinking back over the day, she got to sleep in, then we went to my husband's family's mother's day BBQ/potluck where there was tons of food.  Her Grandpa had brought some extra large tricycles to ride, there were cookies, juice, and pop there. When we got home she got to play with a neighbor girl and her sisters, we had easy tuna sandwiches for dinner (her favorite) and she rode our spring horse in the shady back yard while her dad and older sister played a game. We spotted our first hummingbirds zooming around my "birthday tree" that is just coming into bloom with bright pink flowers. Then we all came inside, had homemade strawberry ice cream cones and watched a kid's show and got ready for bed).  In my mind, that sounds like a pretty good day.  But she is very serious.

Her:  Will you pray I never remember this day again.

Me: She is so dramatic and sullen.  Glancing over at my husband who is now in the doorway trying to stifle a giggle from sneaking out of the corner of his mouth.  

Me:  So I ask again... What made today horrible?

Her:  It was hot.  It was boring.  There was nothing to do.

Me: Remember all the fun we had today?

Her:  (now remembering) Oh okay, we had SOME fun... but I didn't like today... mostly because I didn't get to snuggle very much with YOU.

Me:  With me?

Her: Yes.  Please pray I only remember the days I get to snuggle with you.

Me: Wow.  Come on up here honey.  And we snuggled. 

We snuggled a lot. 

Then I secretly prayed that I would never forget this day...

Happy Mother's Day

:)

How Does Your Shadow Grow?

Just a quick post, as we are making the most of a gorgeous sunny day here in Washington.  We did a little science experiment with our shadows.  The girls love playing with sidewalk chalk.  Many a rainbow, flower, stick figure and hopscotch game have lovingly been scrolled on our driveway.  My hubby even gets into the act sometimes and will write strange little sayings that I'm sure totally confuse the heck out of our neighbors. I bet one of them might even have a blog reporting on his zany antics.  If they don't, they should.  Last week he wrote "No Squatch Zone" (as is Sasquatch).  Another time he wrote "No Plane Landing Zone", which my 6 year old wrote underneath "Yes Planes Land Here".  I just shake my head and pray they are not reading too closely.  Anyway, back to the shadows!  My girls had the sidewalk chalk out in full force and we decided to trace their shadows.

We love our dumpy little shadows.  They were shorter than our real selves.

We did this at lunch time and their shadows were a bit on the short and squat side. (I didn't take many pics at high noon due to squinty eyes, so we waited until they were in the shade) Our neighbor came out later and said he thought these were "airplanes with heads" lol. 

My youngest modeling her pink airplane, with head.

Then we had a great idea.  What if we came back later in the day, how would our shadows change?  Well around dinner time our shadows were now long and lean!

Very long and lean.  (A big thanks to our neighbor girl Elisa for assisting in the tracing action)  She noticed before she could draw them while sitting in one place.  Now she had to scoot along the ground to finish.

Not only were they long and lean, but they were turned 90º. How sciency!  Even our heads were tall and skinny.  They thought that was hilarious. Elisa was the tallest of all.  She went all the way across the road.

Here is little us sitting next to really tall us.  They also got a big kick out of the occasional car that passed by.  "They just ran over my face!" says my littlest.

And, be it noted:  If you have a giant 6 foot shadow of yourself on the ground, you are obligated to decorate it.

My oldest thought her person needed a white dress with matching gloves and shoes

Our finished really really tall selves.  

I guess we can "chalk" this up to another fun afternoon of learning and playing...