The kittens are here!!

so, a couple months ago a cat showed up at our house. the kids instantly fell in love with her and after a week, started feeding her. i know, i know, you never feed a stray cat or they don't leave, but you have also never eaten breakfast and dinner for a whole week with the little thing meowing and pawing at the window while you ate! it was heartbreaking! anyway, we started to feed her every morning and night. after a few weeks, she started to look a little too fat. hmmmm...last week i decided to take her to the vet, and sure enough--she was preggers! the vet said that she would deliver in a week with 3 kittens (ella and i got to see them on the sonogram and hear their little heartbeats). we cleaned out a closet in the garage and made a little home for her. she's been in her room since sunday and finally, this morning we awoke to find THIS:

3 little kitties!!
2 gray striped and one black sock footed one. i am highly allergic to cats, but so in love with these already!!

here is the mama--we call her frisky or frizzy. you can't tell from the picture (i will try and take some more of hre) but she has the most beautiful markings! complete white circles on her sides! she is totally lovable and very affectionate, and we stole her fair and square! today we have are having a block party at our house, and i am just waiting for one of the neighbors to see frizz and say, "our cat! we have been looking everywhere for her!" we might have to keep this little girl and her babies a secret today, because the kids are seriously attached:o) shhhhh...

mother's day '10

for mother's day this year, we decided to go back to williamsburg and recreate the wonderful memories we shared there last year. ha! the weather was perfect, the scenery was perfect, and the children (mainly ella) were whiney! last year my barely 3 year old daughter walked the entire colonial williamsburg road down and back without complaining. this year my barely 4 year old complained that her legs her and she was tired after she had walked from aroma's (where we ate lunch) to the colonial part! literally like 2 blocks! she whined the whole day unless she was interested in something like the horses or the girl hats and toys. despite complaining, and the loooonnnggg 2 1/2 hour ride home (due to traffic), i still had a fun mother's day with my family! i think i might ask for a spa today by myself next year:o)

how sweet is this little face??
with dad...
with mom...
crazy...
resting...
these are the best forms of child care!
man, were those colonial people smart!!

ella's trike-a-thon 5/7/10

here are some pictures of ella from her trike-a-thon at school. she had to ride for 30 minutes to raise money for the school and she did awesome!! she rode the fastest of anyone and lasted the longest! good job, elles!

taking a quick water break...
waving to her adoring fans...
peddling hard...

totally random pics...

this is my friend, meri's totally adorable baby, wren. she went with meri and i to the pioneer woman (www.thepioneerwoman.com) cookbook signing in fairfax on may 4th. she was such an angel as we waited patiently for 5 hours to see her! we physically stood in line for 2 hours and she never even cried!

here we are with ree drummond, "the pioneer woman!" check out her website!!
weston got a chapel award in april--finally!! i was so proud of him, especially when she said the part about him loving to sing song to the LORD during Bible time:o) ahhhh, it warmed my heart!
couldn't resist this one! ella will definitely kill me one day!
all the cousins together at gramps' & grandma's for the easter egg hunt. (how behind am i on posting??) from left to right and top to bottom: finley, avey, ryan, landon, ella, kieran, liam, logan, weston, and dono.