I love Uh-Oh

Uh-Oh is technically my cat. I love him, and he loves me.


Uh-Oh loves my middle daughter and my firstborn daughter as well. He knows that the middle daughter is an exceptional snuggler and lets him pretend as if her loft bed is his secret hideaway. Uh-Oh is very protective of my firstborn; if she is sad, it upsets him and he will literally wrap his arms around her and "tell her secrets." He puts his face right into her ear and purrs. I promise this really happens.


Uh-Oh does not love Mr. Ed, the head of our household.
If you've read previous posts, you already know this and you already know that the feeling is mutual. Nuff said.


Uh-Oh is wary at best of the baby of our family. Five-year olds don't make for the best playmates. My youngest reminds me of the children's book character "Olivia" and tends to want to "move the cat" like Olivia does repeatedly. Most of the time Uh-Oh tolerates this well...he hangs there in her arms like a limp noodle and patiently waits for her to release him so he can leap out the next open door and head for the woods...


Which is why...the scene below, which is repeated frequently in our home, surprises me every time I witness it:




Reagan is still asleep, so maybe that's why Uh-Oh feels as if he can snuggle with her without worry of being toted off somewhere.


He's trying to decide in this picture if I'm going to make him get up or if I'm just going to continue taking pictures like I always do.

Still keeping an eye on me...it's early in the morning you see and Uh-Oh would much rather sleep in...but ever the cat...he must stay abreast of his surroundings...lest some predator sneaks up on him...

Nah! No predators...Now he's lost interest in me altogether and has gone back to some serious snuggling and sleeping with my youngest. Uh-Oh doesn't snore (like the youngest and Mr. Ed do)...but he does ssssiiiiggggghhhh in his sleep...I promise this happens too!

OH NO, Uh-Oh!! The youngest decided to turn over in her sleep and he was trapped. Not really...it just made him nervous. Remember, I was there taking the picture...the picture looks much more vicious than it really was...the youngest didn't even wake up...

I think he realized about now that she wasn't going to smoosh him so he begins to relax his jaw...

He gets a good strong whiff of her magical hair...

which makes him forget his worry about being trapped and stretch out even more so that he's completely cuddling with her...

Oh, what yummy hair...he truly loves her...even if he'd rather her not be completely aware of it...

Who me??

I love Uh-Oh, and he loves me.

The Firstborn Child

This is my firstborn child...circa 1996...she is about 3 and this was a picture taken for her first dance recital...
Please notice the feet...how can you miss them...she would laugh at this comment herself because she knows it's true. She actually appreciates having feet unlike any other in our house. It means lots and lots of shoes just for her...no one can borrow anything from her closet and she's never missing shoes when she needs them.

My firstborn is a junior in high school this year, and as many smart young girls do their junior year in high school, she entered the Junior Miss Scholarship Program. It is VERY important to the Junior Miss folks that you don't call their program a pageant...so I try not to.

My firstborn and the other girls spent their fall semester meeting weekly for aerobics, experiencing mock interviews, learning about the world around them and participating in community service projects. The part that could actually be called a pageant took place this past Saturday night. My firstborn is pictured below as she plays "A Spanish Melody" for the talent part of the pageant...whoops, program...

Can you say proud??

Can you spell it??

Can you say it again??

Oh yeah, I'm a proud Mama. My firstborn won the talent competition, the scholastic part of the competition and was 1st alternate in the fitness program. She was also 1st alternate for the whole shebang.

I don't need a scholarship program or a pageant to remind me how blessed I am...but of all the pageants....grrr, there I go again...scholarship programs...we've been involved in, the Junior Miss program really seemed to help the girls focus on the most important aspects of their lives rather than all the silliness that sometimes (ok, all the times) is involved in traditional beauty pageants. The young ladies are encouraged to "be their best selves" and to give back to their communities.

My firstborn walked away from this program with a renewed sense of self and her responsibility to others in the world. While I can't bear to think of her leaving me to go out into that world just yet, I know she is better prepared for that big step having been a part of this program.