More Family Dinner May 31st

Here are some more pictures from the Barbeque we had....Brigg and Brayden had fun climbing in our kitties new 'jungle' boat that we had just gotten a few weeks ago....no harm done...they were so cute climbing in it! Brigg was in heaven with the pringles that Lara had brought...he loved them!

Family Dinner May 31st...

EEK I just realized that I hadn't posted the pictures from when we had Family Dinner at our house back in May....I downloaded them I just didn't upload them to the blog. It was a lot of fun, everyone was there (except Danny's family of course), Jen even made an appearance after she got off work :)

Chandler's Visit

I was able to travel to Aunt Joyce's house today to meet Jon's little boy Chandler Jonathan today for the first time. He will be 2 years old on September 2nd. He's a very cute little boy. Is a spitting image of his father. It was a lot of fun to see him, as well as to see him interact with Braden and Brigg (Mike & Nikki's kids). You can see more pictures on my mom and dad's blog (like about 30 pictures :).

Shower Gifts

Tonight I attended a baby shower for my cousin Kristen Sierra, she is having a baby girl in August. I took/made a gift that was a hit, and a lot of fun to make and take :) I made a baby journal, and photo album, as well as took some baby items that I had from when I was trying to have an online baby store (Love N Kisses Baby) which didn't exactly take off like I had hoped. Sandra had asked me where I got the items and I mistakenly gave her the wrong web address it is www.crybabyzboutique.com When I got home and told Rob about it, he said "You have so much stuff you should put it on ebay or craigslist or something to sell it. So I figured why not offer it here if anyone is interested. If you want anything please email me cprcheetah@comcast.net and I can arrange to bring it to work (in Bountiful), you can pick it up in Lehi or I can ship it to you (you pay shipping). Just let me know!

Here's what I have:
Paci Pockets: Has a strap that attaches with velcro to just about anything, purse, diaper bag, car seat, never have to dig a pacifier out of a diaper bag again :)
$10.00 Each (Retail for $12.95 on Cry Babyz Site)
(I have 1 each of the pink ones and 2 of the blue ones)














Diaper and Wipes Cases:
Fits a diaper and a travel case of wipes
$12.00 (Retails for $14.99 on Cry Babyz Site
I have 2 each of everything but just 1 of the pink one














Mini Diaper Bags: Our mini diaper bags hold 3 diapers a travel size wipe container, a bottle, pacifier and go ahead and throw your keys and cellphone in. The outer part is made from geniune soft oil cloth.
$25.00 Retails for $28.00 sale price on Cry Babyz site













Pacifiers $5.00 Each (Retails for $6.99 on Cry Babyz Site):
I have 3 Blue, 3 pink, and 4 yellow ones

Here come the sleepless nights.....

First thing this morning I get a call from Petco, wanting to know if we could take a tiny kitten into our adoption program, of course I said yes, I'm a softie and have a special talent of raising baby orphaned kittens. 2 Years ago I had 12 kittens (3 different litters) that were at the local shelter at the same time. It was tough but rewarding, my cat Sissy LaRue is one of the kittens I raised. Anyways the guy brings the kitten in, she's a beautiful probably medium to long hair probably will be a blue tabby althoug a little hard to tell tabby at this point. She's about 2-3 weeks old and was found INSIDE this guys trucks engine. SCARY and lucky she didn't get eaten up in the engine. So for the next week or two I will have to get up every 2-3 hours during the night to feed this little one milk replacer with a bottle. I've named her Mercedes since she was found in a truck.
The first picture is of her snuggling with 'surrogate' mama a stuffed kitten that has a pouch for a heating pouch, and a 'beating' heart that tends to calm baby kittens, the 2nd picture is of the 'mama' then a picture of Mercedes in my hubby's hand, I should say that my hubby's hands are HUGE, and then just the little cutie, she has a NICE set of lungs on her, she's very noi


Today I was SO excited to get home from work and go get the mail, as Shellie's new "Walking Harness' came today. It's called a Gentle Leader and it goes on their face 'mimicking' how where their mother grabs them when they are puppies, the back of the neck and the nose, they are totally awesome and can curb even the strongest pullers not to pull. (Hmmm....maybe I need to suggest one for Buddy the lab that comes to doggie daycare....we literally have to just let him run to the front without a leash on because he WILL dislocate your shoulder from pulling so hard). I have been using one to walk her, and I ordered her a 'deluxe' one that is decorated and padded, it came today. I was SO excited to walk her my 'excuse' that tonight was the season finale of "Numbers/Ghost Whisperer and Flashpoint" did not even PHASE me (besides, hubby has them recorded for me every day). Here is Shellie in her new 'gentle leader' You can read more about it here: Gentle Leader Dog Head Collar Website (btw, we did 45 Minutes walk tonight)

Our Latest Addition to our family....

Rob's work is doing away with the swing shift, so he had to either go to days or graveyard shift. He really didn't want to go to days so he picked graveyard, well that leaves me home alone 5 nights a week....UH not my favorite thing in the world, I was a little freaked out, so Rob agreed to let me adopt Shellie, a Golden Retriever. For those who really know Rob, this is a HUGE deal as I've been BEGGING for a big dog for 4 years.....While she's not a Great Dane....Shellie is an AMAZING Dog! I already feel safer. I know I have my 'cats' and 'chihuahuas' but what really are they going to do? 2 of my cats would run and hide, DeeJay would show them to the fridge, and Mini Dee would beg for loves and attention. The chihuahuas Sebastian would make a loud fuss but he's all bark and no bite, Zoey might bite their big toe, but that's not really what we need, one kick and they'd both be dead.

Meet Shellie (named after Shellie Elkins---> Golden Retriever who was missing for 4 years then reunited with her family due to being microchipped---my Shellie has the same expressive face).....she is our newest family member. She has something called Osteochondritis Dissecans and will need surgery on her shoulders (once confirmed with better xrays on tuesday). She is 7 months old, and is one of the BEST dogs I have met, so far she knows sit, lay down, heel (needs work), roll over, off, and only chews on doggie or kitty things....no shoes or furniture. She is very mellow especially compared to several 'adolescent' Goldens we have that have been coming for daycare 11 months old, both are boys and are HYPER! (Maybe it's a boy thing). Shellie is such a sweetie. She loves attention and will 'sit' on your feet, she likes to be right where you are, she loves to play with squeaky toys, play tug of war (even if you don't want to, she brings the toy and plops it on my laptop) Here are some pictures of my beautiful girl:
Here she is on her way home for the first time, she's sleeping in my back seat on her bed that the owners sent with her. Then just her happy face, look at how expressive her eyes are

Notice the food on the left, she is trained to sit and wait for food & water until you give the okay, she is up to 5 minutes, you can't leave the room yet but she is getting there.

Just another happy girl shot!

You can see more pictures of Shellie and read more about her on our 'zoo' blog
http://thethompsonzoo.blogspot.com

Frugal Tip of the Week....

I found a link to make your own Laundry Soap off of my friends page on Facebook:
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm
Or a Video made by someone else: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/821928/make_your_own_laundry_soap/
The ingredients are:
1 Bar of Ivory Soap unless you can find the Fels Naptha Laundry Soap then 1/3 bar
1/2 cup of Borax
& 1/2 cup of Super Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
& Water
***We doubled the Borax and Soda for added cleansing power.

It made 2 gallons and we figured out it cost us $1.12 to make 2 gallons which is 64 loads using 1/2 cup which equates to $.02 per LOAD of laundry. Lately I've been using Gain Expressions for $4.75 for a 24 load bottle which is 20 cents per load. I use one of these per 3 weeks. Its gonna save us so much money, and was super easy to do. I estimate that the 2 gallons is going to last us at least 3-4 months.

And if you are wondering if it actually works, I am on my 3rd load with it, my whites came out so much brighter and cleaner, hubbys handkerchiefs are brighter and cleaner! I'm very impressed. They are less stained as well.