CAT TROUBLE

Our Ollie, bless his little heart has been making the rounds in our neighborhood. Back in California he picked up a couple of names for himself. He was called at various times, the Gangsta, mobster and/or the juvenile delinquent. I just come home from taking Mimi to school and I was told by Shelley that Ollie made his way to her house again this morning. She said that she was quite surprised that he remembered how to get to her house. Now mind you, she does not live next door to us, but lives 2 streets over on the other end of the block from us. Also you have to know that although she has 3 kids, her house is something that you would see in a Martha Stewart magazine inside and out. Needless to say she was not happy when Ollie came over and caused a ruckus with Rex her Pugle. Ollie who is not afraid of any dog was chasing Rex around his own backyard. EGADS!!! If it is not Mimi's sassiness that is driving me nuts, it's Ollie raising a ruckus! There has got to be a light at the end of the tunnel somewhere and I'll let you know when I find it.

LIFE'S TOUGH LESSONS

Off and on up until this past Sunday Mimi has been quite sassy. We went toe to toe on many occassions. There must be something going on, there is something most definitely in the air. According to the other moms in Mimi's class they too have been going toe to toe with their kids. Maybe it's just that they are all 6 year olds and trying to test their limits. Who knows??? As a result I told Mimi that she was to have no playdates after school last Monday. That was the punishment for her " I can do whatever I want and I don't have to listen to you!!!" attitude and roll her eyes at me like I have STUPID writtten on my forehead. As a result, this past weekend it was Braden's 4th birthday and Shelley had made quite a bit of cupcakes to take to the park Monday after school. Mimi was invited to join them. I so wanted to go as I do enjoy adult conversations now and then but then on the other hand I thought to myself "what am I teaching her by making empty threats???" "That it is ok for mom to tell me my punishment and then not have her not follow through. WOW! I can bamboozle her into anything!!!"I tell you it was really hard as a parent to follow through. Mimi cried and cried that she wanted to go to Braden's party but I stuck to my guns so to speak. Then true to Northwest weather, it started to rain right along with the thunder and lightening which did not make Mimi's crying any easier. Yesterday Mimi was right back to being such an angel. No sassiness whatsoever.

Today started off beautifully. Mimi, Blake and I went to our local McDonald playland for lunch. Then Blake said that he wanted to walk to school with us. Ok that was fine. We stopped at home to pick up Butch and Mimi's backpack. Since Halle lives across the street from us, Mimi wanted to see if she too would like to walk along with us. She did. So there I was walking with Mimi, Blake, Halle and Butch. Then Ollie our cat decided that he too wanted to tag along. EGADS! Walking 3 kids and a dog on a leash is not bad but a cat! Ollie caused quite a stir with the kindergarten kids waiting to get in. I finally made it home in one piece and my sanity intact. Then it was time to go out to do some errands such as gassing up my car and buying grandma a birthday present. Next thing I knew it was time to pick Mimi up from school. This time I thought that I would leave Butch at home. Ollie on the other hand still decided to follow me to school again. YIKES! We all made it home safely. Then all of the kids wanted to go to Erin's for a playdate. Janet said that it was fine with her. I said that I would come to to help out as there was 7 kids vs 2 adults. Things were going fine until Janet said that the kids could play with the kiddie garden tools. That was when they started running around the backyard with them. I had told Mimi 3 times not to run with or swing the tools around. I did not see it happen but somehow Mimi's hand shovel met up with Halliwell's head. Fortunately it was not serious and there was no blood drawn. That was when I had Mimi tell Halliwell that she was sorry and also had her say good-bye to her friends and marched her (who by this time was crying herself) home. We had a long and I mean long talk about what she had done. Next I had her call Halliwell to appologize again and I spoke with Brandy about what had happened. I really love being a parent but it is soooo darn exhausting at times. Sigh. Almost forgot to mention that when I was home cooking dinner, I got a phone call from Zoe to come over to her house and get Ollie who was climbing their fence trying to get in and causing a ruckus with their Pugle "Rex". Ollie is not afraid of any dog whatsoever and I could hear the barking and yelping in the background. When I got there, Shelley said that Ollie had follwed them all the way home from the park next to Erin's house. EGADS! I tell you, there is never ever a dull moment around our place.

GONE FISHI'IN

This past Saturday was the fishing derby at down by the lake. Blake decided that he wanted his ol' buddy Mimi to tag along so she did. Keri stopped by the house to pick her up and Mimi was soooo ecstatic that she could not get out of the house fast enough to suit her. "Bye mom, bye dad!!!" she said as she whizzed past us barely brushing our cheeks with a kiss. She was grinning from ear to ear when she came home after it was all over. She said that afterward they all went to Red Robin for lunch. Bubba and his dad Neil joined with them. Later in the evening Blake came over to the house. When his dad Wade came to pick him up he regaled us with the story of what happened at the fishing derby. He said that Blake is such a natural at fishing which I totally believe. Blake does play sports such as soccer, basketball and baseball but is not great at it however he does have great hand/eye coordination for casting the line out into the lake. Our Mimi is completely the opposite. She is great at gymnastics, soccer and just about anything that has to do with running but does not have great hand/eye coordination. I must say that she rather sucks at it. Can't throw the baseball worth a darn nor hit it. The same seems to be true of casting out her line. Wade says that they let Mimi use Bailey's pole and the hook went straight up in the air then straight down. Blake tried to teach her how to do it but she just couldn't quite get it. Needless to say she did not catch anything but Blake one the other hand caught a nice size trout. Wade then said that he could not believe how much mac 'n' cheese Mimi could pack away. Now that was no surprise to me.

WALK OVER

For quite some time now Mimi and her gymnastics classmates have been practicing handstands against the wall at the gym. Eventually they will do "walkovers". To my surprise the other night Mimi was already doing them. Still needs a little more practice though.

MYSTERY PLANT

While doing gardening work the other day, I noticed these plants growing underneath my kitchen window and for the life of my could not figure out what they are. Then I remembered that last summer I had purchased some herbs at our local arboretum then proceeded to forget to take them from the plastic pot and plant them. Also forgot to water them. Needless to say they up and died on me. Somehow the seeds must have gotten into the soil and these plants showed up. I pulled a leaf off to rub into my fingers and smell it. It smells almost like celery. Hmmmmm.

JAPANESE MAPLE TREES

Even though I do appreciate the luxury of being a stay at home mom at this late stage of my life, I absolutely love it, crazy, hectic schedule and all. Training a fairly new puppy, school for Mimi, playdates, baseball, gymnastics, piano lessons and swimming this summer. Also besides doing the daily chores of grocery shopping, cleanning house and laundry, I am working on beautifying our backyard. I have been making quite a few trips to our local Walmart where they have some fantastic deals on plants and such. In the top left picture is our Japanese Maple Tree that came with the house when we bought a couple of years ago. Last year I thought that I would plant a couple of more trees to spruce up our fairly bare backyard. It is a running joke in our family that mom "does not know how to read the instructions". Which is what happened here. I bought the trees just by looking at the picture (and not reading) on the package thinking "what beautiful trees these are" Time goes on and a pretty strong Winter came. By the time Spring rolled around both dad and I thought that these trees were gonners. Everything else was blooming except these trees. So the other day I went out to take a look. Lo and behold tiny little leaves are starting to pop out! I then actually read the package and was surprised to see that I had planted more Japanese Maple trees! Holy Cow! I guess there are different kinds of Japanese Maple trees as the picture on the package looks nothing like the one that came with the house. It does however look pretty on the package picture and yesterday Mimi and I were at Costco (my other home away from home) and saw that they are selling these trees for $54.00 and above. EACH! YIKES! I bought a smaller Japanese Maple tree at Walmart (my 2nd home away from home) for less than half the price of Costco. My apple tree is starting to bloom too. Things are slowly starting to take shape around here. Thank goodness. If you have the $$$ (which we don't), you can buy the plants full grown like my friend Shelley does. She says that she does not have the patience to wait. I on the other hand don't have the patience either but I would rather spend our money at Disneyland (hopefully in the fall) and the Olympics next year.

AT THE PARK

Today was actually much, much nicer than what appears on the camera. Tomorrow is supposed to be real nice too thank goodness as the Lugnuts have a scheduled game. It all goes downhill after that.

A GORGEOUS SPRING DAY

Oh man was it gorgeous yesterday. The temperature was just right, not too hot nor too cold. It was warm enough for Mimi and Blake aka "Dude'" to play outside in the pool. They had a blast squirting ole' Butch with water too. Mom's plants are finally starting to bloom and they make the grayness of our weather look so much more cheerful. In a couple of minutes I am going to pick up Mimi, stop by the house to pick up some snacks and off to the park we will be headed for the rest of the afternoon. It is way to nice to stay indoors. Tomorrow it is supposed to start clouding up again so we have to get the rays in while we can. Tootles for now.

LOCKS OF LOVE

I am definitely all for donations of any kind whether it is giving items to our local goodwill store or supporting the local girls scouts or cub scouts. However I believe that Mimi was given the wrong slip at school the other day. We are trying our darndest to grow her hair out and not cut it off as she has TWICE taken the scissors to her head. Finally, finally, finally it is back to the point of me being able to tie her hair into piggy tails. So I had to chuckle to myself when I saw this slip in her bag the other day.

Speaking of school by the way, we just received a phone call from the school district tonight in regards to a school board meeting that is coming up within the next couple of weeks. They are going to talk about our school budget cuts. That should be quite interesting to hear about.

AFTER THE SHOWER

When the kids came home, Maddie from down the street stopped by to help Mimi with her piano lessons while Halliwell watched. Then it was time for a delicious Mexican dinner at El Coporal. Mmmm good! Mimi discovered that she really likes the bean dip.

A BABY SHOWER

This morning started off with mom's new toy arriving at our house. With our tax refund check we were able to purchase a brand spanking new dishwasher. At the same time Katrina came to the house to help decorate for the baby shower that the mom's in our neighborhood had planned to give to Brandy (Halliwell's mom) who is due on the 24th of next month. Everything went well. It was a good idea to host the party while the older siblings (Mimi and Company) were in school. The younger kids played quite well with each other till they all had some on Janet's homemade cupcakes then things got just a smidgen hairy (it was sugar high plus tiredness) but then it was time to pick the kids up from school. Thank goodness. Phew!

HOME RUN

This evening the Lugnuts had a game and Mimi hit not only one home run but two!!! Of course I forgot to bring the camera doggone it!

BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT

OMG!!! I very rarely watch any reality tv or American Idol but I just happen to catch this story on fancast and then You Tube. This woman Susan Boyle is sensational I think. She sang so beautifully that it it brought tears to my eyes.

GYMNASTIC CLASS

The other day dad made mention of how bad he feels about not being able to attend any of Mimi's gymnastic classes. He is now working way out in Everett and leaves early in the morning and comes home late at night. There are times now that she is in bed by the time he gets home. Therefore I made a couple of videos for him. I know that is not the same as being there but it is better than nothing at all.

One thing I noticed about our Mimi, when she goes to a make-up class, it is always in the late afternoon as soon as school lets out. During that time there are more of the "older" girls there and Mimi takes her lessons much more seriously as opposed to the usual morning classes where she is the "older" student and likes to goof around the majority of the time. She is much more advanced in the techniques than the other students in her group so maybe she is getting bored and needs more of a challenge. I don't know. I spoke about this matter with her coach Ms. Kathy this morning. She tends to agree with me. Ms. Kathy says that she will let me know which Saturday to bring Mimi in and she will test her to see how well she does and it is a strong possibility Mimi will be able to move up to level 2 in gymnastics. I do know that next year she will have to be in the afternoon classes as she will be going to first grade and be in school all day. Gawd how time flies!!!

SPRING SNOW

Between yesterday and today we have seen it all. Rain, hail, wind, snow and sunshine. Can you believe it??? Can't wait for summer to begin. Although now it is getting darker at a later hour. Now it starts to get dark around 8:30 p.m. then in a couple of months it will get dark around 10:00 p.m then by September it will start to get dark at 3:30 p.m. and it starts all over again.

MORE PICS OF ZIGGY, MIMI AND MARLEY

IN THE PARK

Like I said in the previous post, last Tuesday was gorgeous outside so therefore we spent most of our time in the park. Xaunder and his family came and joined us along with their two golden retrievers Ziggy and Marley. Two years ago, one would not catch Mimi anywhere near any dogs let alone the big ones like Ziggy and Marley who are just about the most laid back dogs you have ever laid eyes on. Thanks to our Butch, that has all changed. Butch too really love to play with Ziggy and Marley. While we were in Portland a short while back, these are the two dogs that Butch played with while we were gone.

MORE PUTNEY UPDATES

On last Thursday while recuperating from the previous "progressive playdate", Mimi and mom spent a relaxing afternoon pampering ourselves at the nail salon. That was before our dinner date with Halliwell and her family. Then yesterday after our mini vacation to Hawaii, we dropped dad off at the library where he had his car parked and Mimi and I went over to Sara's to continue on with her 9th birthday celebration. Mimi just adores Sara and her big sis Tasha (the one holding Mimi). Four of us moms took the girls to see the new Hannah Montana movie. I must say that it was quite a nice movie. Dad decided that he did not want to go with us since it really was a young girl's "chick flick" kind of movie. Instead dad had a playdate of his own with our neighbor and good friend Scott at the "Open Mike Night" at our local eatery.

When it comes to riding in cars and if we have to take both cars for whatever reason, Mimi always prefers to ride with mom. On the other hand when it comes to fixing up the house and doing the handyman kind of work, Mimi really, really, really likes to give dad a hand. She says that it is because "Mom never reads the instructions so she can't help you." They are now at this moment going over to Home Depot picking out the blinds for "dad's office", although this is the place where we all hang out most of the time including Butch and sometimes Ollie (who is the one that watches over Butch for us).

MAUI'S KIKI'S

Katarina "Kat" is the tall slender girl usually standing in the back, Auntie Celia is in the red Hawaiian dress playing the ukelele and singing, the little girl in the bottom video is making her first debut with the class.

GOT LEI'S ANYONE???

This afternoon we took a mini vacation to Hawaii without ever leaving the Northwest. Everywhere we went there were Hawaiian music, food and souveniours plus the dancing. I must say that Katarina's class was the best. While the rest of the groups got about a 5 minute performance, Auntie Celia's class performed for almost one hour.

SPRING BREAK

The Putney's are still alive and well. Just super duper busy! With our Mimi, that is the understatement of the year. Last Saturday through Monday was magnificently gorgeous! The sky was amazingly blue and the temperature was purrrrfect. Every man, woman and child and their pets came out of the woodwork. Brandy says that there was actually a traffic jam on our local highway leading into the golf course.

Pictured above is Mimi and dad at their usual father/daughter breakfast last Saturday at Black Diamond Bakery before we had a birthday party we had to go to at My Little Gym for Kate and Ethan's (twims and classmates of Mimi's). After the party both Mimi's and Halle's families went out to Red Robin's for dinner. Mimi just adores all of her friends.

The next day Sunday we went to our Buddhist meeting at the Culture Center. There all of the kids had a German style Easter Egg Hunt. All of the eggs were filled with a penny. They had loads of the fun hunting for the eggs. The picture of Mimi and dad is just outside the Culture Center in front of the Cherry Blossom tree. There are so many of the Cherry Blossom and Plum Blossom trees just blooming everywhere here aroud the Northwest. They are soooo beautiful to look at. In the afternoon we went to Lowe's to buy mom a brand spanking new dishwasher. Woo Hoo!!! In our 14 years of marriage, we never bought any new appliances. They were always second hand. However last year we did purchase a new washer. Next year I hope to get a new dryer. Are you listening dad????

Monday came and we went to Ms Celia's for Mimi's piano lesson which was followed by a trip to Uwajimaya. By the time we got home our day was shot. The good news is, Uwajimaya is planning to open a new store not far from home. Woo Hoo!!! Since Monday and Tuesday were still gorgeous outside, that's where we stayed all day at the park with Alex and his mom. I was able to get some gardening done then too. By the time Wednesday rolled around, we were back to our true Northwest weather. Gloomy with a hint of drabbiness. Then a light bulb turned on inside my head! Why not have a "progressive playdate" ? We started it off with lunch at Erin's. It was an all girl playdate, Erin, Zoe, Halliwell and Mimi. All was going well until I saw Halliwell crying at the top of the stairs and Mimi was comforting her friend. As it turns out, Erin who has been losing her six year old teeth left and right had just the day before lost another tooth and the subject of the six year old conversation was is there or isn't there a "Tooth Fairy" and "Santa Clause". Halliwell says that there isn't and the rest of the girls disagreed with her. If only our world problems were that simple. Sigh. They were able to work things out for themselves and all was well again in their little world. After lunch we all headed over to Zoe's for a couple of hours then to our house for dinner where I had prepared a delicious spagetti dinner for them. While they played at our house, they all came downstairs with the baby dolls, strollers and suitcases packed full of stuff. When I questioned them about what they were doing, they just looked at me matter of factly and said "we're going on vacation!" Duh! Now why didn't I think of that??? They all had loads of fun by the time they went home at 7:00 p.m. I was just about to pass out due to pure exhaustion. Thursday was spent recuperating for me. Thursday evening Mimi, Halliwell and I took Butch out for a walk and then both families went out to try the new Mexican restaurant Mezcal which in my opinion was ok. I still like El Coporal better. I like Esparza's even better but that is way to far for us to go.

Friday was spent taking Sara to Chuck E. Cheese for her birthday lunch. Mimi and Sara had a great deal of fun as they always do until it was time to go back to Sara's in the evening.

Today we spent the early afternoon going to Puyallup to watch Spencer's big sis Katarina perform in a Hawaiian show. I have always loved Hawaii and planning to go back there again sometime in the near future. Mimi is dyingto go too. We are quite jealous/envious of Samantha and Elissa's families who are in Hawaii now having a super duper great time there.

While watching the solo Tahitian dancer this afternoon, I thought to myself "I know I've seen that girl somewhere before but where??? Hmmm???" I usually don't remember names well but I don't forget a beautiful woman nor the huge gorgeous rock she has on her ring finger. "I got it!!!" I said to myself. She is the woman who performed at dad's company luau last year at UW (University of Washington) arboretum! What a small world!! This girl's mom "Auntie Celia" is Katarina's hula instructor! I tell you, it is taking some getting used to living in a small community.

Tomorrow we will go to Grandma's for Easter dinner. Then come this Monday it is back to the old grind again. We are expected to have a storm and possible snow up in the mountains then too.