Picking out names...

I've always had a hard time finding the right names. For all of my Children, except my last, it took almost the entire pregnancy to decide on names. The twins, wow... that was hard because I had to pick Two names, and then what if they were triplets? Or one of them was really a girl? Oh my, it drove me batty!

With my daughter though, I started out just the same. Making lists, writing names out in all different configurations.. first name + middle name. middle name then first name. Then all that hard work was blown out of the water one Afternoon in Target. As I stood looking at an adorable pair of butterfly slippers, I said, out loud even... "These would be perfect for Katelyn!" Katelyn wasn't even on the list of names. At all. Hadn't even thought of it before that day. But the moment it was out of my mouth, I knew it was her name. And it is, just ask her. She'll tell you exactly who she is!

"I'm Katelyn Rose!"

"I'm not a turkey! I'm Katelyn Rose!".

So, here I sit today, having to pick out new names. Two new names, actually.

No, I'm not pregnant. Please don't ever even think that word and me in the same thought... cause well, we all know its contagious and even the tubal I've had can't stop God's crazy since of humor! I mean, come on.. he blessed me with three children in less than two years!! He can be a bit crazy.

So why do I need to pick out two new names, then? Today, we adopted two 6 month old kittens. And it was my idea. Yes I am crazy, too... maybe that's why God keeps blessing me with crazy things? I should look into that.



I've been looking to bring in a new cat for some time now. One that will play with the kids. If you remember my first post, in which I mentioned that my Cat is the smartest living creature in my home? She is. She hides from the kids. She hears them, she disappears. She will not, under any circumstances, play with them. She is SO above that! ;) I mean, they are kids! Their hands are dirty. The make a lot of noise! She's really picky.

I really wanted my kids to have the fun experiences of having a cat. You know, the crazy moments where the cat bounces on them from around the corner where it sat and just waited for the first kid to walk by. Or the absolutely priceless cuddle moments. The cat searching them out just to sit on their lap. That stuff wasn't happening with Gracie. And I desperately wanted it too. The only thing my kids were learning was that Gracie can run fast, and that she will even scratch you if you aren't looking at her! So I went on the search for a cat that would be comfortable with my dirty, noisy kids.

Yesterday I spotted an ad on the local Craigslists, that claimed these two kittens were kid friendly. That they allowed her 2 year old to carry them around in a baby carriage. It was like reading destiny! That's what I want! I want a cat that will let my kids cart it around in their pirate boat or that crazy train they are so found of that I wish would disappear. We don't have any baby carriages, but I'm sure that won't stop my kids when it comes time to try to cart these cats around in something!


When I brought up the idea to my husband, he wasn't as excited as me. TWO CATS??!!?? Yes, two. The ad stated that she would like to place them together, and I really saw no reason to ask for just one of them. I wouldn't have been able to chose anyway. Plus, I just really like cats so whats one more? Two or Three, its not that much different except that there is one more cat to sit on one more lap. 4 kids, 3 cats.. better numbers if you ask me.


I didn't tell the kids that we were going to pick up the kittens today. They had no idea what we were doing, except going to someone's house. When we walked in the door, Katelyn saw one of the cats and ran towards it yelling "That's my cat!" She looks so much like our Gracie, that Katelyn thought at first it was Gracie. Except that the kittens are so much smaller. We talked with the Lady giving them to us for a few minutes before I explained to the 3 little ones (Dylan already knew what we were doing) that we were taking both cats home. Their smiles spread slowly as the info was processed and they realized I wasn't joking. And then each one of them, at the exact same time, asked if they could hold one of them for the ride home! LOL


So this afternoon has been one of the most eventful days of the year. We've grown as a family. Our count is now 2 parents, 4 kids, 3 dogs and 3 cats! My kids have had amazing experiences playing with these VERY kid friendly kittens already. And I'm feeling very very good about the big decision of adding more responsibility to my plate. How can I not be, when I walk into the room and see one of the kittens cuddled up on Baby Girl's lap, and a smile that could melt any one's heart on her face? It is absolutely one of the best feelings ever.


Except for the naming part. That's not going so well. And I don't have 9 months to come up with a hundred different lists. I'm thinking that these poor cats need names by tomorrow, or my kids will come up with some crazy sound to call them and the damage will be done forever!

Following the Rules

Today, while doing some laundry, I found my daughters flower pillow in the laundry basket. I picked it up, walked into the kitchen and tossed it over the bar into the living room. And I went back to doing laundry.



A few minutes later, my son Zach comes into the laundry room and asks

"Who threw that pillow at me! You throw it, Mom? Dad says so!"

"Yep, I did. I tossed it right over there to the couch."

He looks at me with a look of disbelief, shakes his head and walks away.

And then I hear my Husband laughing. I step out of the laundry room, to see Zach still shaking his head standing between the kitchen and dining room. Right next to the bar I tossed the pillow over... and his hands are on his hips. He looks at me, with the most serious expression I've ever seen and says...

"We don't throw things in the house, Mom."

To which my Husband just had to say, with the biggest smile ever....

"He told you!"

Yep, bad mom. Bad Bad Mom. She wasn't following the rules.

I'll try to do better.

The Cheap Seats

We found a dollar theater near us. Well, not technically a Dollar theater, since it cost $1.25 matinee, $1.75 evenings, and $2 weekend nights. Dollar Theater is easier than saying "The not quite 2 dollar theater unless its a weekend night". Guess we could call it the two Dollar theater, but then it just wouldn't seem as cheap! So, Dollar theater its been named.

We took the kids to see Highschool Musical on Sunday. All of them. Even the 12 year old that should have been interested in going, but complained the whole way that we were seeing "THAT" movie. Whats up with that? I know he wants to see it, but I'm not suppose to know he wants to see it? And he's got to make sure I don't know he wants to see it by telling my a hundred different times how he just doesn't want to see "THAT" movie. This is the same kid who asked over and over to go see Twilight, after reading the book. When I finally was able to take him, he acted NON excited (you know the over fake lack of interest that really means they are interested) and slumped down in his movie seat and grumbled a lot through out the movie. Granted, the place was packed with giggling teenage girls, and they were highly distracting even for me (I think I laughed at them more than I did the movie!).. but still... those weren't "Cheap seats" buddy!

We let him sit where ever he wanted to... but he chose just one row from us. The kids did their best to bug him.. but I think he was paying more attention to the movie than he wanted to let on, cause they would always come over and say "Dylan not listening to me" AH HA! Caught you buddy! I think I even saw his head swaying to the music a few times, too!

The little ones loved the movie. They danced in their seats, and even in front of us in a small open handicap section. Baby Girl showed off some cool new dance moves. The Twins hopped up and down, not quite to the beat, but good enough! It was a blast! And as we were walking out of the theater, I noticed a smile. On Dylan's face. And I thought to myself... those were the best Cheap Seats I've ever bought!

My very own Blog!

Well... I've been thinking about doing this for awhile. Starting my very own personal blog. Though I'm not even sure what I'm going to post about. Lord knows I have a ton of stuff going on around me to use as inspiration! HAHA!

So, I guess I will just start this out as an introduction of sorts.

Hi, My name is Valeri
and I'm a kidaholic..


No wait, that's not right. Lets start over....

Hi, My name is Valeri
and I'm a Mother of monkeys.....


Nope, that didn't work out right either....

Hi My name is Valeri
and I'm just trying to Survive.
Chaos runs rampant in my home in the form of three children under the age of 5. Oh, and then there is the 12 year old that most days actually could fall under the term "Under the age of 5" if you take his fits into account. So really, I've got 4 toddlers. My life is crazy.
Did I mention we also have three dogs, one of which is a 100 pound great dane pup, and a cat.

But the cat doesn't count, cause she leaves me alone until the kids go to bed. She's smart. Probably the smartest living creature in my home!