BubbaChic

Tuesday

A week today I will be packing, packing for a trip home to England. Alone.

6 days to visit friends and family and eat as much lamb as I can (I miss lamb!) and perhaps have the occasional girly night with my girlfriends, possibly involving some kind of Australian chardonnay...and shopping...ooooohhhhh shopping at Gunwharf visiting French Connection......getting carried away...and seeing all my family *happy sigh*

I have a special day coming up on Saturday before my trip, I am not a runner at all...I really don't enjoy running but this has a purpose, a purpose that I believe in finding a solution to. Particularly as two amazing ladies I know are going through treatment for breast cancer right now and I want to do anything I can to help. Maddy was quite perplexed at hearing that I was running in a race "why are you running in a race Mum? I can run faster than you, I should be in the race!"

 
very random photo of Josh from today with his cat - Rudi

I guess its kinda like the first time I was visiting my Mum at work as a teenager and one of her employees walked into her office and asked if it was ok to do......' and I sat there thinking 'why are you asking Mum if thats ok?' Luckily I didn't say it out loud and I came to my sense pretty quickly and realise Mum was, in fact, the boss!

Tomorrow I will share a stack of projects I have on the go - all at once with an idea that I thought I may get them finished before England, but it doesn't look very probable....such is life

Sweet Boo

Sweet Boo aka Bruno aka Isombard Brunel in all his handsome glory this morning.

 

Gosh I am going to miss this little guy, it looks like Boo will be heading to Canada within the next month to be a very spoiled stud boy for another breeder. I am excited and sad all rolled into one.

The Art of Pancake Making

On this lazy Saturday morning, we made a little extra effort on the pancakes..

 

The kiddies made their own too...

 

Maddy made a sun and Joshy made a Death Star (ala Star Wars)

 

All good fun!

 

And all under the watchful gaze of this little fella...

What Would Winny Do?

I have this cat called Winny, he is a special cat. So special in fact, that four of us pooled resources and brought him to the US all the way from Austria. Yeah, he is that special.

He is our stud cat. He does the deed and he does it well - its his job, his calling and I think he loves his life. He is fully aware that he is handsome, fluffy, award-winning...he knows he is the best thing since sliced bread. He is the centre of the universe and reminds us of this many times of day (and night)

 

So, I have this friend, she is kinda special to me. She understands me and I can talk to her about anything. She is honest, trustworthy and has a huge heart and although we live at opposite ends of the US, we communicate most days. On the days that I am a little sad or down she helps me to see the light on the days that I am joyful and happy, she shares those moments with me. On one particular day, I was being very hard on myself and beating myself up (which I am excellent at!) and out of nowhere and probably out of sheer frustration she said to me 'What Would Winny Do?' 

 

I started chuckling immediately. What would Winny do? My self-centered, beautiful, self-satisfying ball of fluff...well he would probably finishing cleaning himself, demand some love from me, have a nap and then go in exactly the direction that he wanted to!

 

The path before me became as clear as day and I knew the direction I needed to go and did so without the (self-inflicted) weight of the world on my shoulders. It was that simple.

 

So today as I was getting the kids ready for bed, I went out to check the mailbox and found a little package for me. When I opened it I found this bracelet and I have been grinning ever since :o)

MidSummer

It dawned on me today that we are over half way through the summer and my kids will be heading back to school in just 4 short weeks. It has kind of crept up on me and I now have to start dealing with the fact that the baby of the family will actually be attending proper big boy school...full time...really soon. He has already told me he wants to ride the bus (gulp) which will no doubt mean some covert undercover bus following by me again, along with parking up and sneaking down the halls of his school to ensure he did actually make it to the right classroom.

What makes it slightly more bearable this time is that he will have the  guidance (and protection no doubt) of his big sister, but I am not quite ready for the next chapter of my life to start...its a biggie right?!

Our past week has been spent selling the last of the playroom furniture (it all sold! yay!) and then the subsequent 4+ hour trip to Ikea in Dallas to pick up the new items I needed. Hours upon hours of research and planning has gone into what furniture to put back into the playroom and the very handsome and handy Mr B spent most of his Sunday on the floor of the playroom, putting our new furniture together.

So, we are now painted and furnished and once I have sewed roman shades and put the finishing touches to the room, it will be exciting to finally share it.

 

Winny is certainly enjoying the new shelves and making full use of being higher than anyone in the house and looking down on us all. (and up at the fan on the ceiling too)

 

Our babies are growing and Miss Izzie is still getting weekly vet checks for her broken leg. Her leg is still in a cast (with a new one put on each week to accommodate for her growing legs) and it looks like she will still need another 5 weeks of treatment and cast changes.

 

Bruno, her brother (or Boo Boo as we like to call him) is almost ready to head to a new home, so we are on the look out for a suitable candidate!

 

How can anyone resist this face...seriously??!!

 

 

How cute is this boy?

This is how I found him this morning...is this a potential ad picture of what?!!

 

 

Catch-up

Last week was a toughie, the smallest (and fluffiest) member of our family had, what looked to be, a normal tumble. However, when she started limping and crying anytime her brother tried to play with her, we knew that this appeared to be worse than just a bump or bruise.

 

A vet visit and 2 x-rays later, they confirmed our sweet Izzie had broken 2 bones in her leg...

 

A saga then followed that I don't want to even think of right now, let alone write out in detail. But the conclusion was that Izzie was left, untreated (but on pain meds) overnight. I (along with some sweet friends) contacted other vets for second opinions and later on that night I had spoken with a lovely vet who asked me to go and collect Izzie first thing in the morning and bring her to him. Which I did. I picked up my sweet girl and her x-rays and took her to a new vet who fitted her with a cast and sent her home.

 

She will need weekly appointments to change the cast (as she is a growing kitty) and regular x-rays to check that the bones are healing. But she is home and happy and loved. (and yes, Maddy wrote 'Maddy and Josh' on her cast whilst my back was turned!)

 

 

The start of Summer here..

We are starting to settle into Summer in Oklahoma. The heat and humidity are already immense and every summer I am reminded that I am still a fair skinned (and freckly) English Girl, in a very hot place. The daily ritual of applying sunscreen (to me and the kids) is as important as the daily ritual of feeding my family!

There are some members of the family, who have no knowledge of the outside heat and have taken ownership of the bed in my (our) bedroom.

 

when not laid out with their Mama, the babies (Izzie and Bruno) opt to nestle in between the pillows to sleep

 

Days for me and the kids alternate between playdates with friends, trips to the splash parks, swimming and making treats - all the ingredients for a perfect kid-friendly summer.

 

Maddy especially helpful in the kitchen and enjoys baking treats. She has also recently started to be inspired to create dinners for Daddy. So far, these mainly consist of cooking carrots and broccoli to proudly present to Daddy at dinnertime. One of her more recent and imaginative concoctions was banana's, cilantro, carrots and a squeeze of ranch dressing. Daddy gobbled it up (Mama had to scoop a big dollop out to be put in the outside bin whilst the little lady wasn't looking!) I am really wanting to encourage her new found joy in cooking and am researching some kiddie cook books right now...along with a cute sewing book for her to tackle some of her own sewing projects over the summer.

We made a big batch of oatmeal choc chip cookie dough today, and baked up half of it. The rest we rolled into little cookie balls and froze on a baking sheet in the freezer for two hours before transferring them to a freezer bag, perfect treats ready for another day...

 

Back from bliss....

 

 

 

 

More words tomorrow when piles of washing hve been done, affection-starved pussers have been cuddled and our new little mischief makers have been kissed all over...

 

Where's Winny....

Win is helping Mad with her homework...can you spot him....

 

There he is!!