I have heard numerous stories since meeting Brad about the adventures of Storm with flies or bugs. Sadly by the time I came into the picture Storm wasn't into chasing flies or bugs. However, I have naturally been anxious to see Piper in action with her first fly.
Well I was not disappointed the other night when Piper took offense to a fly arriving on the scene. We were in the kitchen fixing dinner together when our attention was captured by the noise of Piper lunging herself into one of our living room windows. At first we were unsure if she was bird watching or seeing something else. Brad soon figured out she was after a fly. The fly likely came in our home thanks to me opening the door to the balcony for an extended look at the rain that was coming down in buckets. Perhaps the fly was seeking shelter!
We then stopped to watch her leap around the room in an effort to gain height. She has a very cute leap! My amusement with the situation increased when my husband wanted to be a good kitty dad by way of assisting little Piper in her quest. There he was hoisting her up in the air to help her get closer. LOL! Man, it was funny. As she swatted with her paws he held her up.
Unfortunately, in the end she was unsuccessful. The fly was later found in the windowsill in a room that Piper has no access to. Better luck next time, Hyper-Piper!
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Pics from Mom's Visit!
This post is mostly a picture post! I figured I would share some pics from my mom's visit. Enjoy!
A very uniquely painted car in the middle of the mall. I couldn't help but take a pic. It has lots of dragons painted on it.
The Build-A-Bear Store now features a pug! Woo-hoo! I've never been interested in the concept of Build-A-Bear until they got a pug! Now I must say it's tempting to build-a-pug! A message to our living and breathing pugs....don't you worry you will never be replaced with a stuffed version! ;) Mommy may add to her stuffed pug collection but there are no replacements for you two troublemakers!
Ahh, yes! The Cardinals tin! We came across this gourmet popcorn store that featured not just numerous kinds of popcorn but numerous tins for the munchies. From sports teams to birthday tins to get well soon tins....you name it! Of course my eyes were immediately drawn to the top shelf where an AZ Cardinals tin sat! Awesome! The tins were impressive but the crazy combinations of popcorn flavors were most impressive. We decided on a bag of jalapeno ranch as a little added Father's day gift for my father-in-law. We also got a mix of butter, caramel, and cheddar popcorn. It was awesome to have all three in one mix! Sweet and savory at it's finest! Believe me!
What do you make a person that doesn't like frosting? A cheesecake with a light cover of chocolate ganache. As previously mentioned in other posts, I decided on making mom a Butterfinger cheesecake instead of a traditional birthday cake this year. Here is the finished product! Not too bad! There are a few frostings my mom will eat but they have to be made by her daughter!;) She actually told me that during her visit, so I'm not meaning to brag in any way! ;) For a change though it was nice making a birthday cheesecake!
This pic and the next one are pretty self explanatory. There she is posing with one of her gifts and then digging in to it in the next pic!
Time to blow out the candles! Just because its not a REAL birthday cake doesn't mean I was going to skimp on the candles. Although I will admit it's a bit harder to get candles to stay in a cheesecake than a regular cake. ;)
Mommy and Piper!
AZ grammie and Piper!
TX grammie and Piper!
Other than pics from our wedding I think this is the first pic of mom with her son-in-law!
A very uniquely painted car in the middle of the mall. I couldn't help but take a pic. It has lots of dragons painted on it.
The Build-A-Bear Store now features a pug! Woo-hoo! I've never been interested in the concept of Build-A-Bear until they got a pug! Now I must say it's tempting to build-a-pug! A message to our living and breathing pugs....don't you worry you will never be replaced with a stuffed version! ;) Mommy may add to her stuffed pug collection but there are no replacements for you two troublemakers!
Ahh, yes! The Cardinals tin! We came across this gourmet popcorn store that featured not just numerous kinds of popcorn but numerous tins for the munchies. From sports teams to birthday tins to get well soon tins....you name it! Of course my eyes were immediately drawn to the top shelf where an AZ Cardinals tin sat! Awesome! The tins were impressive but the crazy combinations of popcorn flavors were most impressive. We decided on a bag of jalapeno ranch as a little added Father's day gift for my father-in-law. We also got a mix of butter, caramel, and cheddar popcorn. It was awesome to have all three in one mix! Sweet and savory at it's finest! Believe me! 
What do you make a person that doesn't like frosting? A cheesecake with a light cover of chocolate ganache. As previously mentioned in other posts, I decided on making mom a Butterfinger cheesecake instead of a traditional birthday cake this year. Here is the finished product! Not too bad! There are a few frostings my mom will eat but they have to be made by her daughter!;) She actually told me that during her visit, so I'm not meaning to brag in any way! ;) For a change though it was nice making a birthday cheesecake! 
This pic and the next one are pretty self explanatory. There she is posing with one of her gifts and then digging in to it in the next pic!
Time to blow out the candles! Just because its not a REAL birthday cake doesn't mean I was going to skimp on the candles. Although I will admit it's a bit harder to get candles to stay in a cheesecake than a regular cake. ;)
Mommy and Piper!
AZ grammie and Piper!
TX grammie and Piper!
Other than pics from our wedding I think this is the first pic of mom with her son-in-law!Sunday, June 22, 2014
Mom's Visit Continues!
My mom's visit is coming to an end in a couple days. We've stayed busy. A good kind of busy!
Last night we had my in-laws over for "Movie Night at the Vaughns". It was our first Redbox experience. Brad went in the mid afternoon to get the movie while my mom and I baked cookies. The movie being shown in our at-home movie theater was 3 Days To Kill with Kevin Costner. Must admit it's been quite some time I've seen Kevin Costner in a movie. I can't recall what movie of his I last saw. It was worth the money, worth watching. But not the type to buy and repeat often. Kevin Costner played a CIA agent, I'm a bit of a sucker for a CIA/spy movie. :)
My mom has done her best to bond with her little kitty-granddaughter. Piper has gotten used to her. She needed time to warm up, since she's a bit on the shy side. Piper has done well adjusting to her AZ grammie. Hopefully next time my mom visits Piper will be more accustom to her from the start of the visit.
Other than last night's movie night we've made quite a few trips to the malls in the area. My mom is going home with plenty of new items that she will have to stuff in her suitcase come Tuesday. Hope it all fits! ;)
Last night we had my in-laws over for "Movie Night at the Vaughns". It was our first Redbox experience. Brad went in the mid afternoon to get the movie while my mom and I baked cookies. The movie being shown in our at-home movie theater was 3 Days To Kill with Kevin Costner. Must admit it's been quite some time I've seen Kevin Costner in a movie. I can't recall what movie of his I last saw. It was worth the money, worth watching. But not the type to buy and repeat often. Kevin Costner played a CIA agent, I'm a bit of a sucker for a CIA/spy movie. :)
My mom has done her best to bond with her little kitty-granddaughter. Piper has gotten used to her. She needed time to warm up, since she's a bit on the shy side. Piper has done well adjusting to her AZ grammie. Hopefully next time my mom visits Piper will be more accustom to her from the start of the visit.
Other than last night's movie night we've made quite a few trips to the malls in the area. My mom is going home with plenty of new items that she will have to stuff in her suitcase come Tuesday. Hope it all fits! ;)
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Mom's Bday and First Few Days Here!
My mom arrived on Tuesday. We have been doing quite a bit. Although we have had some sit back and relax chill time mixed in as well.
We took her to Boston's for her birthday dinner. That's what she chose! I made her a cheesecake instead of a birthday cake. She isn't a fan of frosting so I asked her if she'd prefer a cheesecake. For her bday cheesecake, I decided on a Butterfinger version. Butterfinger candy bars are her favorite! I even got some Butterfinger ice cream in the house to go with the cheesecake. I think she enjoyed her birthday. It seemed as though she did.
On Thursday we had quite the relaxing day at home. Rain and hail threatened to appear during the course of the day, therefore we decided to stay in as much as possible. We went out briefly nothing too far away.
Today we went to granny's. We spent all afternoon at granny's playing games and chatting. Lots of fun! My mom loves to play games. I knew she would totally enjoy going out to granny's farm to see granny as well as play games. Brad beat us all at Scrabble and granny beat us at the card game we played. I had pretty bad luck for both games. The card game is good fun but it's a bit time consuming with the 4 rounds designed to be played.
Next up is Father's day tomorrow. The five of us will be going to a Cajun restaurant because that is my father-in-law's fave. As far as the plans for this coming week?....we'll be doing some mall shopping and taking in a couple movies most likely.
We took her to Boston's for her birthday dinner. That's what she chose! I made her a cheesecake instead of a birthday cake. She isn't a fan of frosting so I asked her if she'd prefer a cheesecake. For her bday cheesecake, I decided on a Butterfinger version. Butterfinger candy bars are her favorite! I even got some Butterfinger ice cream in the house to go with the cheesecake. I think she enjoyed her birthday. It seemed as though she did.
On Thursday we had quite the relaxing day at home. Rain and hail threatened to appear during the course of the day, therefore we decided to stay in as much as possible. We went out briefly nothing too far away.
Today we went to granny's. We spent all afternoon at granny's playing games and chatting. Lots of fun! My mom loves to play games. I knew she would totally enjoy going out to granny's farm to see granny as well as play games. Brad beat us all at Scrabble and granny beat us at the card game we played. I had pretty bad luck for both games. The card game is good fun but it's a bit time consuming with the 4 rounds designed to be played.
Next up is Father's day tomorrow. The five of us will be going to a Cajun restaurant because that is my father-in-law's fave. As far as the plans for this coming week?....we'll be doing some mall shopping and taking in a couple movies most likely.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Mom Arrives Soon!
The arrival of Tuesday marks the arrival of my mom. Her plane is due to land in the early afternoon. She'll be here for a full 2 weeks. We all look forward to her visit.
I did clue the pets in today that there AZ grammie was coming for a visit. Cody ran through the house looking for her then sat down to serenade me with his typical "anticipation whine". He has this weird whine he does when he is anxious or anticipating something good. Simon looked at me with his bright eyes while tilting his head from side to side as I spoke to him. Piper walked around me as I talked but she doesn't understand. My mom will be receiving a brief course in kitty 101, as there are certain things to do and not to do when around Piper for the first few times. Piper is a bit shy. That's something I've already clued my mom into. Piper will likely not even remember my mom, it will be similar to her meeting her grammie for the first time. My mom has about as much "cat experience" as I did before my little Pipey came along.
I'm sure it will be a fun visit, somewhat low-key, go to movies, go to shopping, do girly things, and maybe a couple little ventures here and there too. We'll celebrate her birthday with her on Wednesday. I will spend a portion of the evening tomorrow night baking the cheesecake my mom has requested. This will be only my second cheesecake centered around a candy bar. Most of my cheesecakes are fruit based. Brad will be at tennis so my mom might have to busy herself with her "grandkids" while I work on the cheesecake. She won't mind!
As always I will end by saying to my mom....Welcome to Big D! The fave city of the 5 of us!
I did clue the pets in today that there AZ grammie was coming for a visit. Cody ran through the house looking for her then sat down to serenade me with his typical "anticipation whine". He has this weird whine he does when he is anxious or anticipating something good. Simon looked at me with his bright eyes while tilting his head from side to side as I spoke to him. Piper walked around me as I talked but she doesn't understand. My mom will be receiving a brief course in kitty 101, as there are certain things to do and not to do when around Piper for the first few times. Piper is a bit shy. That's something I've already clued my mom into. Piper will likely not even remember my mom, it will be similar to her meeting her grammie for the first time. My mom has about as much "cat experience" as I did before my little Pipey came along.
I'm sure it will be a fun visit, somewhat low-key, go to movies, go to shopping, do girly things, and maybe a couple little ventures here and there too. We'll celebrate her birthday with her on Wednesday. I will spend a portion of the evening tomorrow night baking the cheesecake my mom has requested. This will be only my second cheesecake centered around a candy bar. Most of my cheesecakes are fruit based. Brad will be at tennis so my mom might have to busy herself with her "grandkids" while I work on the cheesecake. She won't mind!
As always I will end by saying to my mom....Welcome to Big D! The fave city of the 5 of us!
Problem-solving!
Oh isn't it fun having a kitty in the house. She's a little hoot! I think the best part is seeing her personality develop. She's taking on some of Cody's traits along with some of Simon's traits all mixed in with her own kitty-cat style.
We recently realized she can problem solve when she needs to. We buy the large bags of pet food now. For some reason the large bag of cat food is not nearly as large as the big bag of dog food sold. Cats just don't eat as much as dogs do I guess. Anyway we have containers of each type of food in the kitchen area then we keep the big bags, our surplus, in the walk-in closet that is part of the pet quarters. The other morning I went into the pet quarters to get all 3 of them up for the day. When I walked into the closet that is mostly occupied by little Ms. Piper, I noticed a hole had been chewed through the bag of kitty food. I must mention the kitty food comes inside a bag that is made of a plastic material not a paper material like dog food bags. So this was a bit of an impressive feat, she had chewed through a plastic material to get to her food. It wasn't a big hole just big enough for her. Piper-sized! When I told Brad after he got up for the day his response was, "I like it! She's a problem-solver!". He immediately recognized she was hungry and she did something about her hunger pang. Me on the other hand wasn't thinking about it like that at first. My reaction was, "You little stinker. You chewed through the bag and now I have to figure out how to keep this entire bag of food fresh despite the hole you put in it.".
I have now come around to Brad's way of thinking for the most part! It was rather smart. She was likely hungry. Had some midnight munchies going on and she did something about it. However, on a side note...thank goodness it wasn't Simon that ever did anything like that. The bag would have been emptied!
We recently realized she can problem solve when she needs to. We buy the large bags of pet food now. For some reason the large bag of cat food is not nearly as large as the big bag of dog food sold. Cats just don't eat as much as dogs do I guess. Anyway we have containers of each type of food in the kitchen area then we keep the big bags, our surplus, in the walk-in closet that is part of the pet quarters. The other morning I went into the pet quarters to get all 3 of them up for the day. When I walked into the closet that is mostly occupied by little Ms. Piper, I noticed a hole had been chewed through the bag of kitty food. I must mention the kitty food comes inside a bag that is made of a plastic material not a paper material like dog food bags. So this was a bit of an impressive feat, she had chewed through a plastic material to get to her food. It wasn't a big hole just big enough for her. Piper-sized! When I told Brad after he got up for the day his response was, "I like it! She's a problem-solver!". He immediately recognized she was hungry and she did something about her hunger pang. Me on the other hand wasn't thinking about it like that at first. My reaction was, "You little stinker. You chewed through the bag and now I have to figure out how to keep this entire bag of food fresh despite the hole you put in it.".
I have now come around to Brad's way of thinking for the most part! It was rather smart. She was likely hungry. Had some midnight munchies going on and she did something about it. However, on a side note...thank goodness it wasn't Simon that ever did anything like that. The bag would have been emptied!
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Our Week!
Can't believe it took me until the 5th day of this month to make a post. What can I say? I get a little busy from time to time....or all the time! I'm always extra busy on weeks that Brad is off on Friday. Why? Because I try to get as much stuff done so I can somewhat take Friday off with him. Tomorrow is a bit busy though, since I have an appointment to go to. So Brad will get the afternoon to himself. So nice to have him home for 3 days in a row! Sweet!
Last night we went to see the new Xmen movie. It was awesome! Great storyline. Nice effects without being too over the top. Good actors and actresses. I never remember Ellen Page being in an Xmen movie before, but Brad says she has been. It was nice to see her in a role. My only surprise regarding the movie, has nothing to do with the movie, it's the fact that it wasn't featured in the Imax. Yes, I'm spoiled to Imax movies. It was in 3D but never went to Imax here. Odd!
I took Piper to her 10 day check-up a few days ago. Her paws have healed nicely. She seems back to normal. She was quite feisty even in the immediate days after but now she's fully back to her usual self. Much like when Cody had surgery once...I knew Piper was fully back when she started playing, using her paws to play. Cats use there paws a lot more than dogs do when they play, they love to bat at things. Piper puts her two front paws together in an attempt to pick something up, which is fun to watch.
I have to tell of this little moment I witnessed recently. It was literally one of the cutest moments I've ever seen occur between pets, it just so happens it was between our pets/"kids". I went into the pet sleeping quarters of our home to get all of them up for the day. As soon as I walked in Cody immediately rose and Piper bounced towards me. Simon on the other hand gets up slowly. He used to be our little rooster but thank goodness we finally got the point across that his rooster ways needed to go bye-bye. The weirdest part of him barking so early in the mornings in his effort to imitated a rooster was that he didn't get up out of bed. He just wanted to get everyone else up. He doesn't actually rise up out of bed until he knows I've done all the pet chores and am ready to feed him otherwise he's doing his best to get in a little more shut-eye. Anyway back to my story after that brief detour. Simon is laying in his bed. Cody is stretching as he greets me with his happy-go-lucky little face, and Piper is bouncing in my direction. As I begin to take care of things in the pet zone I turn around to spot Piper stroking her head up against Simon's head. She nuzzled him! A few times in a row she nuzzled him, he tolerated it completely. It was adorable! How often does one see a kitty nuzzling a pug? Wish I could have gotten it on video. I'm sure it will happen again though. She refuses to give up on Simon. He will love her eventually! She will see to it! She doing her best to break through his hard shell. LOL!!!
Last night we went to see the new Xmen movie. It was awesome! Great storyline. Nice effects without being too over the top. Good actors and actresses. I never remember Ellen Page being in an Xmen movie before, but Brad says she has been. It was nice to see her in a role. My only surprise regarding the movie, has nothing to do with the movie, it's the fact that it wasn't featured in the Imax. Yes, I'm spoiled to Imax movies. It was in 3D but never went to Imax here. Odd!
I took Piper to her 10 day check-up a few days ago. Her paws have healed nicely. She seems back to normal. She was quite feisty even in the immediate days after but now she's fully back to her usual self. Much like when Cody had surgery once...I knew Piper was fully back when she started playing, using her paws to play. Cats use there paws a lot more than dogs do when they play, they love to bat at things. Piper puts her two front paws together in an attempt to pick something up, which is fun to watch.
I have to tell of this little moment I witnessed recently. It was literally one of the cutest moments I've ever seen occur between pets, it just so happens it was between our pets/"kids". I went into the pet sleeping quarters of our home to get all of them up for the day. As soon as I walked in Cody immediately rose and Piper bounced towards me. Simon on the other hand gets up slowly. He used to be our little rooster but thank goodness we finally got the point across that his rooster ways needed to go bye-bye. The weirdest part of him barking so early in the mornings in his effort to imitated a rooster was that he didn't get up out of bed. He just wanted to get everyone else up. He doesn't actually rise up out of bed until he knows I've done all the pet chores and am ready to feed him otherwise he's doing his best to get in a little more shut-eye. Anyway back to my story after that brief detour. Simon is laying in his bed. Cody is stretching as he greets me with his happy-go-lucky little face, and Piper is bouncing in my direction. As I begin to take care of things in the pet zone I turn around to spot Piper stroking her head up against Simon's head. She nuzzled him! A few times in a row she nuzzled him, he tolerated it completely. It was adorable! How often does one see a kitty nuzzling a pug? Wish I could have gotten it on video. I'm sure it will happen again though. She refuses to give up on Simon. He will love her eventually! She will see to it! She doing her best to break through his hard shell. LOL!!!
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