SNOW!

IMG_0979, originally uploaded by torri_g.

It is snowing here today! It took it most of the morning to get going but the rain finally changed over into snow. I will take more pictures over the course of the day here because I can't wait to see how much is actually going to fall.

The cookie angels

IMG_0930, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Well leading up to Christmas I was taken down and out by yet another bug that made its way into the house. Fever, body ache, feeling like I had been run over by a couple of trucks, left me with very little energy or ability to get anything done. Who was going to get the last of the cookies baked? Who was going to get them put onto trays? Who was going to get them delivered Christmas Eve? Well, my three girls of course who have now been named the Cookie Angels. The finished the baking, they put together the trays and got them all delivered. So the tradition of baking tons to give away was saved! Mom cheered from the couch under the ton of blankets because the fever chills were just to much for her. I was saddened though because of the the Cookie Angels also fell to the horrible mean bug Christmas Eve.

Today is first day that I have felt semi human in a couple of days, and just wanted to tell my Cookie Angels thank you so much for saving the cookie tradition this year!

Dreaming of Christmas

IMG_0903, originally uploaded by torri_g.

They aren't real sure just why this tree is standing in the living room, but they love the bows on the presents that are under it. So I think their curled up sleeping dreams are about more pretty bows to play with and for Mom to lose that stupid water bottle! Oh and her flashy camera thing!

Morning

IMG_0907, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Mother and Daughter

C&L, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Most of the time I don't post portraits that I've done, but every now and then I just have one that I want to. This would be one of those times. I did Christmas portraits for a friend and was very happy that they turned out so well, and that she was thrilled with all of them. There are several that are my favorites but this one pretty much tops the list.

Happy 20 weeks old!

IMG_0804, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Today the kittens are 20 weeks old! What amazing little miracles they are. I posted pictures of Mina and Lucy already so of course today has to be the only little boy...Mr. Perry. He is now the biggest of the three kittens but by no means the boss in any way what so ever. Perry is just very content most of the time to laze around and watch the world going by, or his sister's flying through the house at high speed.

Happy 20th week of life our dear little kittens! I can't wait for your 1st birthday and what you all will be like by then.

Simple Monday

IMG_0803, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Just a quick picture of Miss Lucy kitty. Lucky Lucy is living up to her name because she is lucky daily that I don't kick her tiny little kitten butt! Lucy has the idea that she is to good for kitten food and must eat people food...not like we haven't had kitties before her who tried that.

Simple Sunday

IMG_0794, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Not going to be a long entry, but at least going to get a picture put up here. Miss Mina looking just so wonderful wondering why Mom feels the need to point that super flashy thing at her. More pictures of kittens over the next couple of days coming and hopefully a return to some semi regular posting.

Home Sweet Home

IMG_0711, originally uploaded by torri_g.

It has been well over a month since my last blog post, and oh what a crazy busy time it has been. Most of what all has gone on I'm not going to type about because it falls into that personal category, but I will talk about the fact that during all of the other insanity we closed and moved into our new home! The last couple of weeks have been filled with unpacking, painting, and working on projects around the new place. For the first time Wednesday night we lit a fire in the fireplace and oh what a calm and homey feeling came over all of us. Slowly but surely the new house is coming together, and I'm sure that by the end of this weekend I will have one more set of rooms painted and organized. I will post some more pictures in the coming days, but until then I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that the long weekend is spent with those that you care about the most.

House Update

IMG_0636, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Yesterday I got a phone call from M asking if I had pictures of the house. Me have pictures of the house? Only a ton of them! He wants to use the photo's for a collage of start to finish for the office and asked if I would continue to take pictures of the process. Wow...I don't know if I can deal with having to take as many pictures of the house as I want. So of course that meant grab my camera and head over to the property and shot tons more pictures! It worked well because we also got an update about progress on the build. Inspections were passed for septic and water yesterday, electric will be out Wednesday to finally put up the pole, transformer, and run the line, oh and install the meter! The picture is in the morning room where the french doors will be going in at, which is just about ready for those doors now. The master bedroom retreat room has been prepped for the door that will be going in there and there has been quiet a bit of dry wall work done already this week.
I'm sure today is going to be the sound of the bobcat moving dirt back to fill the holes for the septic lines and probably the completion of the electric trench. There is also tons of dirt to move back into place to cover all but about 6-8 inches of the foundation that will be getting moved. Walking around the property you have to be a bit careful because suddenly you hit very soft spots right now which catch you off guard for dirt here in Arizona. I also found myself getting very excited with the thought of the soon to be completion of this and our move. How sick is it to be happy about making a move?

Sibling Sunday

IMG_0600, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I once upon a time used to be able to snap pictures of the girls together for this post, but it seems that those days are very long gone. Any time I'm hit with the thought that I would like a picture of them, by the time I get my camera one to all of them have left. It is a busy life with them all anymore and it just seems to be getting even busier. Oh well, it is what is supposed to be after all so let's do some updates about things going on with the girls.

Cheyenne was off this past week for fall break and the end of the first quarter has happened. Which mean just one more quarter of her being at Buena. Due to her unhappiness with class sizes this year, and my overall just not happy with the school, we have talked and decided that it is time for the run there to come to an end. With the start of the new semester in January she will be heading to new start at Tombstone. In the mean time there is a list of DECA activities and other that will be added I'm sure in the next couple of weeks. She had a great birthday Friday though and I'm sure that I'm about to start hearing the count down of 6 months till she can get her learner's permit. Outside of school stuff there are her riding lessons which she is just oh so very good at and in her spare time aside from that telling me hourly that she is just oh so very bored.

Stephanie is still in the busy routine of work, school, work, school, riding lessons, work, work. Although she has found that having her own car is a great freedom that she truly enjoys having. She has found that she now has the ability to spend some of her sparse free time with friends, which is something that she didn't have before.

Paige's routine is picking up here slowly now that she will be primary trainer of Kisses 4 days a week, plus her classes. Yesterday I got a call from our neighbor about hiring Paige to travel with her for a horse competition in Phoenix as a groomer. It is a two day event and with it is the youth expo which Paige would have the ability to attend during her down time. It will be an all expenses paid deal for her, and sometime here this morning she will need to give an answer as to whether or not she wants to do it. I'm pretty much fingers crossed that it will be a yes because I think it will be a great opportunity for her to network with some people. Heck just to be given the opportunity is great.

I think that is about it for this weeks update about the girls. I hope that everyone has had a great weekend so far and that today is one that brings lots of smiles and laughter.

Horse Training 101

IMG_0602, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Wednesday started the girls and Kisses training. The girls were taught how to view the horse and look for any conformational flaws or trouble areas. They quickly learned how to spot training flaws and their first training issue to work on is working with the lunge line with Kisses. Everything is fine with the lunge line till you actually get it to close to her hind quarters, then she kicks. There was a correction to her age because she is 7 and not 4. Overall her submissive training for things like backing up, lowering her head, lifting her hoofs, and moving to the side were all very good. The girls have tons of reading material, and even some dvd's to watch over the course of the next 5 weeks.

They have also set up with their riding teacher Redhead to come out to the property and do some waste management for her during this time period or other odds and ends jobs. We are going to be heading out there tomorrow for a day filled with nothing but horses and work actually since Friday proved to be a difficult day to get Paige's riding lesson in. You know the scene from the Scorpion King in the desert with the sand storm? Or from any western set in the old west with the dust storms? Well we had that happen yesterday. This was no little dust devil that came up it was full blown sand blast your face dust storm followed by torrential down pouring of rain! So tomorrow Paige will go for her lesson, and while she is doing that the other two are going to put in some time working and then they will all get their next lesson on working with Kisses. Sounds like a great way to end the weekend to me.

Happy Birthday Cheyenne!

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Dinner out with family and what better way to end the night than with a "Death by Chocolate" cake, chocolate icecream and a big glass of chocolate milk to wash it all down. Happy 15th Birthday my Little Bug!

Kittens 12 weeks old

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Yesterday was huge deal for all three kittens, they hit 12 weeks old! They pretty much play till they collapse anymore. Their jumping and climbing skills are just about perfected, they know their names when called, and daily routines are set solidly. They even have gotten to the point that they know that playing with Trinity dog is fun and that she is not going to cause them any harm, well unless she forgets how much bigger than them she is.

Kisses

IMG00790, originally uploaded by torri_g.

For the next six weeks the girls get to say that they have a horse. This is Kisses a very beautiful 4 year old Quarter horse. Yesterday they got to learn about what it takes to load a horse on a trailer and get them out safely. Over the course of the next 6 weeks they are going to learn about feeding, care, training and about everything else that there is to learn. Paige will be learning the most since she will be spending 4 days a week with the horse but Steph and Chey are going to be over also when their schedules allow them time. They were happy that they were allowed to rename the horse because she had a not so great name. Thought was if it makes them blush to even try to say it, then it really needs to be changed.

There will be better pictures of Kisses coming in the following weeks. I only had my cell phone available since I was part of the crew for loading and unloading.

Monday Madness!

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The house is on the PROPERTY!! I only stayed over there long enough to shot about a 100 pictures and be given a joking hard time by the contractor.

Saturday Catch Up

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Alright let me play catch up from the last couple of days. Due to paving being done on a bridge in Huachuca City, our contractor and the seller of the house could not get a permit to transport the house Thursday. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the topic because the whole thing just triggered a great irritation for me. Fingers crossed for Tuesday since the paving project was finished as of last night.

Kittens had appointment last night and it turned into the marathon appointment of 2 hours! Great news though they tested negative for FLV/FIV! They got round 2 of their respiratory immunization and got their first round of the FLV/FIV immunization. In three weeks we go back and finish up. Dr. M was amazed to see how very big they have gotten and was oh so very happy to see them all. By the way we love Dr. M because she is just the best ever! They all weight about 2.8 pounds now which is huge difference from their just barely 3 onces when Dr. M first saw them at 4 weeks old. All three kittens spent time loving up on Dr. M last night and I think it was done in hopes that she wouldn't give them any shots.

Todd got back home from Colorado yesterday and I'm looking forward to having him home for what should be the whole week because of all the hours put in during this TDY.

Chey is happy that this coming week is fall break and is going to enjoy having the whole week off plus her birthday come Friday.
Monday Paige and Chey are going to go help their horseback riding teacher move a horse. A horse that we are renting for the next six weeks! Paige is going to be learning all things needed for training and working with a horse. Four days a week for 4-6 hours a day this is what she will be working on for the next month and a half. She is very excited about learning and working with this horse. I think her bigger hope is that maybe this could lead to a more permanent thing with this horse.

I believe that is all that I wanted to catch up on for this post. I will try to get my camera and get some pictures and get back into the everyday posting for this week. Have a great weekend everyone.

House Update

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I've been holding off posting today because I was hoping to be able to post pictures of them moving the house onto the property today, however that will not be happening today. This morning started with delivery of the septic tank, and ac unit and multiple other things which lead to the house being moved to be held off one more day. Plus the fact that mother nature seems to think that it is still monsoon out this way and it has poured rain for three days! I know that the septic tank is now in the ground though and everything that was delivered is now stored out of the way so that the house can be brought out tomorrow. I even know what time they will get started! Now I just have to hope that I will be home when they finally get it out here, because Thursday is still one of my busy drive days.

Oh Happy!

IMG_9967, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Yesterday my phone was very active with phone calls from...well just about everyone who has been dealing with getting things moving for the house! The best phone call came at 3:30 yesterday afternoon though. It was the phone call that we have waited forever for...the title and deed to the land were transfered into our names and the first round of funding was paid out so the build can really get going! My best phone conversation of the day was getting to share the news with Todd last night when he got done working in Colorado. We have time frame list out of when for things now and tomorrow will bring the moving of the house to the property...our property! (so love saying that!) So what better than to share another picture of the house? This is of the family room just off of the kitchen. The space is open between the two which is something that I just love about it. The living room is on the other side of the house. Can't you just picture some color on those walls?

Anyway, I hope that everyone's week is off to a great start and I'm going to try to get my feet back on the ground again here.

Please make them go away!

Please make them go away!, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Trinity would really like for these three kittens to just go away today! They seem to have the idea and she is one of their play toys and man that tail of her's is great fun! Since they will be 11 weeks old tomorrow and have appointment with vet on Friday for their second round of immunizations, I'm trying to have them be out in the main part of the house for longer time periods this week. Trinity would like for them all to go back to living in the bedroom and never see the rest of the house!

I hope that everyone has a good Monday!

Feline Friday

Mina, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Little miss Mina is the funniest little kitten. She loves curling up to sleep on her back! Give her a pillow and something to cover up with and she will cuddle up and sleep for hours. Mina is also the mini mama of the group of three and turning very much into a Mama's girl. She love's wild play time but had this thing about when she says enough is enough she will let the other two know that it is time to stop!
I'm loving seeing each kitten become their own feline and watching their personalities develop and shine through.

Here is hoping that everyone has a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Happy 21st Anniversary!

Scowling, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Hey my guy! Another year added to the count and let me check real quick...Yep I still love you! I wish the do over of the paperwork for the house was the final closing instead, but I can't think of anything better than spending time with you today so it is good no matter what. I love you sweetheart!

Brothers

Brothers, originally uploaded by torri_g.

This is from our camping trip over Labor day. These two little guys were part of our group that went that weekend, and at ages 2 & 4 they were quiet the amusing pair. Everything was a weapon to be used against their brother, juice box drinks, fishing poles, and whatever else they could find. The littlest one liked telling you about how the "Big" guys got the campfire going...It was "HOT" and "BOOM" then repeat that about a hundred times!

Everyone have a great Wednesday!

Interesting

IMG_9971, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Hmm...on Sunday I made comment in post about Steph and her buying the car, and Monday we got phone call with great news. On Monday I typed up post about the limbo with the house, and today we got the phone call with great news! Now I'm wondering if i post something about really wanting to win the lottery if that could happen this week. Probably not right? Oh well I don't care because I'm to happy! The long wait has come to an end. The releases are in and come Thursday we get to go and do the great signing of the paperwork...again. Which means coming up in the next week or so I should see my house get moved out to the property and set on it's foundation! FINALLY! I'm not kidding there has been a collective cheer from everyone who has been working so hard to get this done, and today they finally had everything in hand. So Thursday noon Todd and I get to go and sit with "A" and spend a hour of our 21st anniversary signing, dating and initialing the paperwork for the house...again. Hopefully before the end of October I will be able to post about the final closing once the house it totally done.
The picture is of our soon to be kitchen from the day that I walked the girls through the house for the first time. I can't wait to get all of this done and maybe just maybe spend the holiday in our new place.
Oh and what the heck I will give it a try...if I could just have the winning lottery ticket this week that would just make this week so very complete. :-)

Kittens!

Kittens 10 weeks old, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Today the kittens are 10 weeks old! Based on the high level of play and amount of food they go through daily, I would have to say that they are very happy kittens. They are all happier now that they figured how to get those collars with tiny little bells off. The bells were to help us find them when they move into playing hide and seek with us. Oh well I will try to find where Lucy hid her's and get all three back on them again. I will not give up! So happy 10 weeks to our tiny little babies! We are all so glad that you have done so well.

Look what I bought Ma!

Look what I bought Ma!, originally uploaded by torri_g.

YES!! I know this may be difficult to believe but this little girl of mine has been at least half of my insane back and forth driving for about a year now. Well that ended today as of 4:50! Steph is now the proud owner of her very OWN Suzuki Vitara. The best part of this used car is that she got financing all on her own! The dealer said she had to be the luckiest young lady he has ever met. She may have car payment now, and a little bit of a list of things that she needs to get done or buy...oh and let's just not even talk about that car insurance now but it is all her's. She saved the down payment, she did it all. Best look you will ever see as a Mom is when they look at all the paper work that has just their name on it.

Random Monday

IMG00745, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I'm trying to keep posting on a regular basis, but before I over kill it with kitten photo's I guess I can pull from the cell phone photo file.This picture is from the day that we marked the placement of the house on the land. I have tons more pictures of the land and pictures of the house but since we are in a state of limbo waiting on banks to finally do title releases for the sellers, I just don't want to post those yet. What is funny about the waiting game is everyone said things like "Oh VA appraisal can take long time", there was the added worry about job status for Todd with the shake up of the contract world on base, but no one saw this hold up coming. It is an issue of one bank putting a lien on the land that should not have been put on it, and another bank not wanting to do their partial release for the well easement. My excitement about the house has gone up and down with each weeks updates. We are very scary patient about waiting for this though. It is one of those things that no one could have seen coming, and everyone has been working very hard to get this cleared up. The awesome news about this whole thing though is because our contractor owns the land, he has been working steadily getting the foundation done and everything else that he can while we wait. I think a great anniversary gift this Thursday would be to hear that the releases are done and then the house can be set on the foundation. This is actually one move that I just can't wait to make, for now we wait in limbo.

I hope everyone has a great Monday.

Sibling Sunday

arbys, originally uploaded by torri_g.

There should be a picture of the three G girls, but getting pictures of them all is pretty much an impossible task anymore. At any given time only one of them may be in the house for a picture. It is okay with me though because it gives me reason to use this picture that Stephanie took over the summer while we were out for "Girls" dinner while Todd was on one of his many TDY's.

So let's start this with stuff Steph a.k.a Binky Sue:
August brought the start of college classes yet again and full time plus is the name of the game for Steph. Let's not forget the working just about full time balanced on top of full time classes, throw in horseback riding lessons, and that all equals no real free time for her and me with the never ending driving during the day. Good news for this year she has been able to drive herself once Mom is done needing the car. Even better news is that Friday Steph went and started process towards possibly buying a car of her own! Mom and Dad had to take her money down in yesterday for her because you know she is always working...but hopefully before the end of this next week she will have a 2003 Suzuki Vitara of her very own. Fingers crossed so hard they hurt!

Paige a.k.a. Sweetpea also started college classes in August. Two art classes which she does see to love. She likes them even better when the "grown up's" of the class are just quiet and working on projects. She doesn't understand why anyone would take art if they really don't like it and finds some of her classmates to be annoying. Her search for a job has turned up nothing as of yet, but coming up in October she is going to be getting a real work out because of learning how to train a new horse with her riding teacher. Her love for horseback riding lessons is still being filled with weekly lessons and in general she is just very happy with how things are going.

Cheyenne a.k.a. Little Bug has had a very busy couple of months with school. She has had weekends filled with DECA activities, babysitting jobs, horseback riding lessons, home work, and stress of how full classrooms at the high school are. She has asked that I see about transferring her over to Tombstone High because she is feeling that because of the 40+ kids per class for her that her grades are starting to slip due to not being able to hear, and frustration levels of teachers is causing a lot of them to shut down and give up. So yes come tomorrow I will make phone calls and see just how horrible it would be to make a move to a different school.

I know it is kind of short and to the point with all of the girls, but they are all doing well for the most part, and just busy. I hope that everyone has had a great weekend and enjoy a Sunday spent with those you love.

Caution: Kitten's at play!

IMG_0384, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Oh no another photo of kittens, but right now they are about the only thing that I have time to take pictures of because they are at least right here in the house. Well I did have the sudden urge to take a picture of my "Really Big" drink out at LaCasita's last night but all I had was my cell phone and it just would not have done that drink justice. Dinner was very good but that raspberry margarita was even better and less than half way through it I suddenly felt very relaxed and very tired for the first time in more than a few weeks.
Anyway, back to my original thought for this post. If coming to visit us here in Arizona there are a few things that you should be aware of now:
1. Be careful where you step because even if one second you don't see anything there you may find yourself stepping on a tail or paw of a blazing fast moving tiny kitten who is trying to kill you by dodging between your feet.
2. Be careful when sitting down because the kittens claim every seat in the house as their own. Same thing as rule 1 they may not be there when you first look but their speed allows them to get there before you.
3. Know that they are the guardians of the bathroom. Their self appointed job is to make sure that you are safe while in there.(You get used to them lining up to stare at you over time)
4. Lucy seems to think that she is part dog and therefore any shoes that get taken off are fair game for her to drag off and chew on. Don't bother trying to figure out why the kitten is trying to chew on the shoe, it is just her thing!
5. Once you finally get a spot to sit down at (if you get a spot to sit down at) you have made the statement that you WANT the kitten's to come and use you as a playground. Don't worry though once they are tired of playing they will then use you as a bed to snuggle up and nap on.

I'm sure that we will be adding to this list of rules as the kittens continue to grow, but for now these are the most major ones.

I hope that everyone has a great Saturday and I'm actually going to try to do a Sibling Sunday again for the first time in months tomorrow.

Feline Friday

Lucy, originally uploaded by torri_g.

If you move in closer Lucy will share a secret with you...the kittens are 9 weeks old this week and so very playful most people would say they were wild. We wouldn't though because we know they are just growing and love exploring everything! This week they finally have been released from their usual over night holding spot of the master bathroom to the master bedroom. They have found that curling up with Mom in the blankets is nice and cozy until you feel like playing at 0300 in the morning. Then Mom politely picks you up and places you down on the floor, with the warning of stay down there.
Our miracle kittens are truly growing fast and learning even faster. They are to the point now that they get to spend a good share of their day checking out the rest of the house as long as Gypsy kitty isn't out. They each now know how to deal with Trinity dog and Trinity is even getting very good about letting them play jump off the couch onto her back. In just 3 more weeks they will be 12 weeks old and get more immunizations done and then they will be free to be anywhere with anyone they want. Their days of needing to be kept in one space so we can keep an eye on them are about to be over and probably not one second to soon for them.

I hope that everyone has a great Friday and enjoy a wonderful weekend!

Thinking Thursday

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With the way this week is dragging along, I'm finding myself thinking of more peaceful surroundings. I feel so run down that a vacation is sounding wonderful. One were I don't have to do anything other than relax and at most take lots of pictures. Oh what a wonderful dream...now back to reality and time to get ready to start my day of driving kids, errands and appointments. It was a great couple of minutes at least.

Hope everyone has a good Thursday.

Wordless Wednesday

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The Twins

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Yes it is another blog post this week! I'm not going to say that I'm getting back into the swing of things with regular posting just yet though. I am however enjoying having a computer that will allow me to do a post without wanting to pull my hair out.
Today is another photo taken while we were back home that has just sat in files. Meet the twins! Cute, sweet, playful little guys that they are. One looks more like a twin to their older brother than his actual twin. I found it interesting watching all of the older kids with these two. Funny to watch the one who were once the babies at the house stepping up to offer help and care of the ones that are. These two will probably be the last of the baby's till the current younger generation decides that it is time for them to start their own families. Just thinking about it makes me wonder if the house is big enough to hold us all once they get going. Oma and Opa might need a bigger house, or at the very least yet another room for the kids table!

I hope everyone enjoys a wonderful Tuesday!

Simple Monday Morning

IMG_0067, originally uploaded by torri_g.

With the transfer of pictures done I can finally post a photo from our whirlwind trip back in August! This is much like the picture of the crew in Waterloo, but for this one it started with Grandma sitting in the middle of all of the kids. Once again I think that it is ironic that the one hold onto the youngest in the photo was the one being held in the last one. Much like the other picture there is one girl missing, and for this one there is one nephew not in the picture. Still good to get most of the crew lined up for photo.

I hope that everyone has a good start to the week and that it isn't to busy for anyone.

Simple Sunday...maybe

m4, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I hope all the kitten photo's aren't driving everyone crazy. Oh wait I doubt that would happen because it is kitten cuteness after all. I had a different picture that I have been meaning to post for several weeks now but that is on the desktop computer that has driven me about as crazy as it possibly can. When it takes 30 minutes to start up and you are lucky if that is all it takes, I'm pretty sure it is time to just find it a final resting spot. Since it will take me a while with my process of picking out a new desktop we found me a laptop. Which is much nicer than I planned on getting but some times some prices are just WAY good! I got a very nice HP for a lot less that I really should have. Anyway, I need to finish back up of photo's from the desk top and then do a transfer of some photo's to the laptop. Maybe, just maybe I will enjoy posting again here soon.

Everyone have a great Sunday and hopefully the start of the new week will take it's time getting here because I have a lot to get done before then.

Feline Friday

IMG_0318, originally uploaded by torri_g.

We live in a vortex of constant kitten cuteness here anymore. Miss Mina showed off her future posing skills a couple of nights ago and I dare you to say that you aren't currently saying "AWWWE!"

The cuteness is just their cover to keep them out of trouble since they are now in "Kitten Ninja" phase of growth. Running, jumping, climbing, fighting, escaping are just a few of their ninja moves that they have just about perfected. My favorite though is the team effort to climb and get paper towels out of the trash can. Then the one left on the floor grabbing them and running with them to the kitty condo to hide and protect them from me. We have entered the never a dull moment with these three little miracles.

Everyone have a great Friday and hey if you have some cute furball pictures that you want to post and and leave a link in comments maybe we could get this back up and going again.

Not a clue what to call this

IMG_0319, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Not sure just what the look is all about but think I might have something to do with having her picture taken. That or she wants everyone to think she is crazy Lucy kitty.

Kitten Play Time

IMG_0225, originally uploaded by torri_g.

The kittens will be 2 months old this coming Tuesday! Amazing to me when I stop and think about their birth size and their whole start to life on that day. They are now 1 pound 10 ounces, eating and growing like tiny little weeds. This past Friday they had another appointment with Dr. M and were able to start with one immunization, and get a full check up from the tips of their tiny ears to their tails. Healthy...very very healthy is what the Dr said. She also took some time to talk about how amazed she is that they are doing so well, and to tell us that she is very proud of us. They get to return to see Dr. M in one month and at that time there will be a start to all immunizations and tests that need to be done since their Mother was a feral cat.

The kittens are now confined at night in the master bathroom because they have figured out how to escape anything and everything else. Having a door to shut is the only thing that works anymore but we have to be very fast! During the day time though they get to spend time in the kitchen with a gate in or if Trinity is in bed they get to run around in the living room exploring till they are just to tired to explore anymore. I will keep trying to take pictures of them once a week as they grow and post updates about them.

Friday Kitten Cuteness

IMG_0151, originally uploaded by torri_g.

We have kitten cuteness in the extreme here so must share it. Everyone have a great Friday and a very safe holiday weekend!

Six weeks old!

Mina with Steph, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Have to be real quick here this morning but did want to make sure I got this done this week. Mina, Perry and Lucy hit the 6 weeks old this past Tuesday! They are all over the 1 pound mark finally, and they started eating independently! Okay so they still get bottle feeding for their last feeding of the day but that is because they all love the cuddle time. There is lots of hopping, running, exploring, climbing going on in the house with these three now, and they are going to out grow their safe zone pen here very shortly. I've already started to introduce them to Trinity and Gypsy and things have gone very well for all animals. Next up is first round of shots which will be heart breaking I'm sure but something that really needs to be done for these three.

The G Boys and Girls

The G Gang, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Several years ago while we were home visiting family we lined the little G gang up for a photo in Oma's front yard. If I am remembering correctly at that time there were 7 of them. A couple of them were very difficult to keep in the shot because they were little and didn't want to stay still or be touched by older siblings who were trying to keep them in place. That original group has grown up, 4 have been added (if I am remembering right Panda wasn't in that picture yet was he Connie?) and I find it funny that the two holding the twins were the one's having to be held themselves for the last photo. We did have one missing though because she had to stay in Arizona for work, but I'm going to see if I can do some photo magic and photo shop her into the picture.
It is amazing when all once little ones tower over you! They are a wonderful group of young ladies and gents and just for good measure we still have a couple of those very little ones in the group to enjoy.

I hope that everyone has a great Sunday spent with those you love, because those are the moments that make your heart smile.

Update on Kittens

IMG_0092, originally uploaded by torri_g.

This week the kittens hit the 4 weeks old mark! They are all over 10 oz now and eating like crazy! They have a vet appointment tonight with a new vet who I'm hoping will be able to give me some guidance with next steps for food and other things. I'm also hoping to see about getting something for their little bottoms which have been pretty raw.
The picture is of Perrywinkle or Perry for short. He is the most laid back of the three kittens and really just loves to curl up and cuddle. The further away from his sisters that he can get the better he views it, because they are pretty mean to him. I think Perry is always going to have some very spiked hair because of his sisters...poor little guy!

I will post some more new pictures of all of the kittens and give some information about each of their personalities which are really starting to show. Everyone have a great Friday!

Kittens

IMG_0017, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Wow it has been almost a month since my last post! I'm not going to go into any ramble about reasons, enough to say that life has just been very busy here in Arizona.

What I am going to do is introduce some kittens! July 20th we found an abandoned litter of kittens under the back patio. After a lot of crawling around in the mud and having to dig a couple out we had 6 very newborn, very premature kittens to either care for or get quickly to a shelter. We opted to care for the kittens since things that morning were very bad for them. Warming, running out for food, and the journey with the litter of 6 began. When they first entered the house they weighed 1 oz to 1.45 oz as the heaviest.

In the first 36 hours we lost 2 of the kittens, hearts broke and tears were shed but the girls and I stepped back up to keep going and to keep fighting to give them all of the love and care that we could. They had ups and lots of downs, but nearing two weeks we still had 4. Then two of them made another down turn, which we all did everything we could to help them fight, one turned back around but one didn't and died just after passing the 2 week mark. Even more tears this time because the hopes were that we could get her to turn back around. A vet visit to have them checked for general health and any suggestions for things that we needed to be doing proved to be annoying because the vet didn't have any good suggestions other than maybe we should just give up! We didn't and aren't giving up though.

As of today they are all 20 days old and tomorrow marks their 3 week old day. They have all opened their eyes, they are starting to attempt walking instead of the crawling drag. They are 5.70 to 6.73 oz now and eating like mad! The are snuggling up when they are done being fed, starting to clean each other and you, and they are beautiful! The girls and I remind each other each day that there is still a chance of losing them, but that is just to keep one another prepared for the possibility of heart break. We each have the determination to keep fighting for these little ones and will do it for as long as they need us to. Perry, Lucky Lucy, and Mina are all very loved!

If you want to see more picture of the kittens from the last couple of days click on the photo and it should take you to my flickr set of them or use the following link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelstorms/sets/72157624563176497/

Sunday

IMG_9936, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I have managed to yet again take a couple of weeks without posting anything. I think the idea of trying to post daily is for now just not something that is going to happen, I was really hoping for that though.
Summer vacation for the girls has turned out to be just about as busy as the school year was this year. Stephanie is working just about 40 hours a week and is on Monday going to attempt her drivers test one more time. Fingers are crossed for Monday because that will mean come fall term she can just take the car for those night classes...to bad the rest of the day hours are going to keep me in the car till we get her a car of her own.

Paige this week became a part time student and I couldn't have been more proud of her. She will be taking art classes this fall and she has been on an excited high about it all since Thursday. She also put in a couple of applications for some jobs and is hoping that soon she will hear.

Cheyenne has been busy working the Summer Cruise at the high school this past week and will work it again this coming week. Hard to believe that we are only about a week away from back to school registration time. She still needs to get her summer reading book for her AP class but finding time to sneak into a book store is proving to be a bit problematic. I'm hopeful though that this week will be the time that I can get her there and knock that one off of the never ending long list of things to get done.

In the area of us buying the house and land...well the paperwork has moved into processing phase and I think the only one's moving quickly with getting requested paperwork into them is us. The appraisal was ordered a week ago and everyone is waiting to hear a date for that one. There is a need for an address for the property which it doesn't seem to have one because it has never had a house built on it, just a huge garage for storage of cars and other toys. Plus add to that the fact that the one who needs to get that info was on vacation since before the 4th of July! This week it was nice to hear the sound of SSVEC out on the property starting their work of digging for running lines for the pole, transformer and pedestal. I have also heard the current owner of the property who just happens to be our contractor out there clearing trees, brush and digging holes for septic. I realized that I love the sound of this construction because it is for something that is going to be ours.

I really don't have anything else for this one. I hope that everyone is well and enjoying summer. I'm no longer going to make promises to be back daily, but I will try to post when I have a free minute or two.

Sibling Sunday

Gypsy Rose, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I don't actually have all that much new to tell about the girls today. Riding lessons, work, summer vacation and a few school things have been filling their week. So instead let's follow Miss Gypsy Rose's example and just have a lazy lay around Sunday! Everyone have a great day.

Simple Friday

IMG_9708, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Isn't he just a very handsome horse? A very wonderfully well trained horse too!

Something that doesn't scare me

IMG_9712, originally uploaded by torri_g.

After the spider and lizard scare marathon here this morning, I'm trying to find my happy place and not think about the creepy crawling things of Arizona for a little bit.

Get Back Up

IMG_9765, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Riding lessons for Paige and Cheyenne on Tuesdays is about to get renamed "Tossing" Tuesday or something similar to that. In the last two weeks they have made sure that my lungs are working fine and I can attempt to gasp in all of the air in Arizona.

Let me start with Cheyenne and last week. Since she started lessons she has done great except for whenever the horse makes a miss step in the arena, then her fear of falling would kick in and keep her from doing real well. Never fear though Cheyenne came up with a solution to that and last week I heard the words come out of her mouth to her teacher..."Push me off of the horse!" Yes when asked what she could do to help Chey get over her fear, Chey asked her to push her off of the horse! Hmm...yeah something not real right about that. They talked back and forth and then suddenly my cell phone rang with a call that I had to take, but keeping an ear on the back and forth conversation about being pushed off of the horse. Probably a good thing that I had my back to what happened next because Chey won and she got pushed off of the horse! Now not a mean push, it was a push of measured control, or at least that is what I keep telling their teacher. Cheyenne just went with the fall in a huge way! Scraped up arm, small bruise on thigh, some tears and then a funny thing...a determination to get back up on the horse and ride, oh and ride she did. There have been no fear of falling looks on her face since. She sent pictures of her battles scars to her friends and told them all what she did because she is very proud of herself for having the guts to do it. Side note to all of this is their teacher who I think is just wonderful, called several times that day to make sure Chey was alright, and several times in between the lessons to check. I think she may have some emotional scaring from the whole thing last week but of course Paige had to add to it this week.

Paige's was not a "push me off" thing, it was an "Oh Crap!" thing. I'm going to back up just a little bit with Paige for a minute. In one of her first lessons the horse got spooked and she had to do what their teacher calls the "Emergency Exit" off of him, and she did it perfectly. Even better was she did that move without even having been taught it by the teacher yet. So yesterday and her falling really just came out of the blue because she knows how to get off that horse without having to hit the ground. Their teacher is spending time introducing them to all kinds of riding right now and bareback has been the lesson the last couple of weeks. They do half of their lesson in saddle and then bareback. Paige loves the bareback riding. I can see her face light up as soon as she hears the words it is time to take the saddle off. Paige loves being close this horse and bareback gives her that connection that she loves. Bad thing about bareback if you are the second lesson of the day, the horse is getting really slick! All was going well till getting the horse up to a trot and doing leg muscle building by doing posting while bareback. One slip of Paige's grip with her legs, one bounce to many over trot polls and Paige was unseated. She tried like mad to get settled in her seat again but it was to late. She went from slipping up top to being kind of on the side of the horse, to the ground under the horse in less time than it takes to blink an eye. Paige did hit hard on the ground but immediate fear was they had been in trot mode when this happened and she was laying under the horse. Ever see a 1200 pound, 16 hand horse stop on a dime? Well, I did yesterday...and not only did he stop on a dime he self backed two steps with look of fear that I'm sure was greater than anyone else's out there. Paige on the other hand wasn't wearing a look of fear...she was laughing! She got up and let all of us know that she was fine, and then spent some personal time face to face with the horse telling him he did nothing wrong it had been her mistake, and thank you for not stepping on me. Then she got a boost back on the horse and went right back to what she had been doing.

Right now today thinking about these two and the fact that they keep pointing out that they have raised the bar for falling has me worried about lessons on Saturday with Stephanie, but we will go and will keep going. I am starting to think that come lesson days I might need some medication to help keep me calm and breathing though because yesterday there were words like learning to do jumps and barrel racing! Oh my!

Catching on Thorns

IMG_9349, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I did it again, got one week of every day posting done and then blew it last week. To be fair to myself though I don't really remember my feet touching the ground all that much last week and I don't think the idea of signing on ever crossed my mind. What could keep my feet from touching the ground? Well we are in the process of buying 5 acres and having a house built on it! The great news and the speed at which so many things have already gotten done blew my feet right off the ground. It is still at the point where there are many miles to go till a moving day can be set, but after waiting for so many years I'm finding each small step right now to be very exciting!

Today is riding lessons for Paige and Cheyenne and I think I'm going to try to remember to take my camera out with. I really need some "focus" on calming my speeding mind this week and some time behind the camera should do the trick.
I hope that everyone is having a good week so far and that there are many good days for everyone.

Friday

IMG_9621, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I have just about gotten back into a daily posting here! Of course having the pictures of the new baby girl to kind of helped get me to the desktop here this morning. Mama and baby girl are doing great and last night when we ran trash out to the cans they were out in the main paddock with baby girl checking everything out, of course she was staying very close to Mama while doing it. The really great part about the paddock that they are in is that it is right out in front of my place instead of up near the owners house. Which means that I can head out at any time to shot more pictures of this little one. I'm sure if I ask I can also head in any time to take pictures of the other baby girl to though. I'm thinking about trying to get a good picture of the proud Papa of both of the girls today also.

I hope that everyone has a great Friday!