Landsharks.

I thought about opening up with the old land shark bit from Saturday Night Live. But, sometimes I think I'm funnier than other people do.

Madelyn and Sawyer are doing Landsharks this Spring. It's a track club. It's not exclusively with their school but because Ben Franklin Academy has enough kids to fill a team, our school has its own team. For the last month, they've had two practices after school each week. This week the meets start.

Last night was their first Landsharks track meet. Their team ran against four other teams. And, I'd say their team did really well. Each school has its own color shirt. Ours is red. There were a lot of red shirts and most of them in the front half of all the packs, if not leading.

How did our Mile High Madelyn and Sweet Sawyer do you ask? AWESOME.

They each ran a 50 meter and 400 meter race with boys and girls of their respective gender and grade. While they did not win either of their individual races, more importantly, they Did. Not. Quit. And, to me, that's HUGE. Also, they didn't come in last. They had great sportsmanship and cheered for their friends, teammates, and each other.

And, most importantly, they earned gelato from Mici afterwards.

Way to go, Madelyn and Sawyer! Dad and I are super proud of you and hope you are proud of yourselves, too!

And, if you still want to see the old land shark bit from SNL, here you go -

via GIPHY

All it took was a little hail.

June 6, 2016, hail storm damage repair is complete.

Among all our other repairs -- new roof, new windows, paint, etc -- the pergola was rebuilt and painted last Fall. Last weekend, Griff hung my patio lights, a Christmas gift from Uncle Jerky, and VOILA! The pergola and deck are ready for primetime.

We inherited the pergola when we bought this house six years ago. I wasn't sure about a pergola at first but, as it turns out, it's nice and really makes our deck usable. However, like a number of things we inherited with this house, it was built but not right.

Pre-hail storm, the top slats were rotting and beginning to fall out in small blocks. Post-hail storm, the pergola was shot. There was no repairing it. But, because our pergola had an obvious pre-existing condition, the insurance adjuster would only pay for half of the total repair needed. So...we ponied up the rest and had it rebuilt right.

And, it's awesome.

If you need us this Summer, we'll be on our deck chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

I just received this email from the art teacher at Madelyn and Sawyer's school -

Sawyer doesn't take art classes yet with Mrs Hinkle so I know this is in reference to Madelyn.

The window of when the art will be displayed is pretty short. But, if you're in the area and looking for something to do this weekend, swing on by the Hilton Garden Inn on Plaza Drive to check out the DCSD (Douglas County School District) Art Show and our Madelyn's artwork.

Congratulations, Madelyn!

Would you like to buy some cookies?

Our Mile High Madelyn is a Brownie with some school friends this year. And, as such, she's been selling Girl Scout cookies.

It turns out that her troop is considered a "super troop" because they sold SO. MANY. COOKIES. last year. Last year, the girls averaged 284 boxes each and that is after the two highest sellers' numbers were taken out. Yikes! Needless to say, our house has been taken over by Girl Scout cookies over the past month.

She (we) committed to her selling 200 boxes. It is her first year, after all. She got right on it in terms of selling. Of her inventory, she sold almost 150 boxes which is terrific!

Her troop participates in booth sales at local grocery stores. So far, through three booth sales, she's sold approximately 110 additional boxes. That goal of 200 boxes flew by faster than a road sign at 65 mph! And, she still has one booth sale left to go.

The remaining 45 boxes of cookies are finally off my dining room table and in the corner of the room.

I crafted our very own set of cookie costumes. That's a Thin Mint on the left and a Samoa on the right. They might be cute and look delicious but please don't actually eat them.

We are incredibly proud of Madelyn and how hard she's worked at selling cookies. She is so well spoken, polite, and can quickly add up the price of her customers' cookies. It's no wonder she's done so well this year. Luckily, cookie sales are over in two more weeks and then we get a break until next February. And, the girls can go to Girl Scout Camp with the money they've raised as a troop!

Winter vacation by Sawyer.

Translations below.

I had fun when I...played with my kitten. I named her Penny. This is Penny.

I was surprised when...I got for Christmas Maz's temple.

I was sad when...I was not sad at all.

The best part was...when I got my new kitten.

Holiday wrap-up.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr, day, everyone! This morning met us with several inches of snow. I got in a workout, Griff trapped a rabbit, and the kids are creating Lego sets in an attempt to win us a trip as a family to Denmark. All this before 10:00AM!

To me, MLK Jr Day signals the official end of the holiday season. You see, since I have a January baby, my holidays continue on a little past everyone else's. I'm lucky like that! We haven't had the 8th birthday party yet. It's next weekend. But, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite memories from the 2016 holiday season -

Class holiday parties and all the fun preparation work that comes with them including 15 Rudolph water bottles!

A collection of artwork featured in the school's entrance titled "Warmest wishes from 2nd grade."

This one was, by far, my favorite. Look at all that detail!

Holiday lights at Hudson Gardens with Madelyn's Brownies troop. It was a cold night but thanks to the preparedness of the troop leaders, the hot cocoa was flowing. When there's hot cocoa involved, these kids can do anything!

This one might be frame-worthy. Love that iPhone 7 camera!

And, the elusive tree that Griff wanted ever so badly to get our picture in front of but the flash was not cooperating.

We, of course got separated from the rest of the troop about halfway through. But, no worries. Team Anderson had fun, stayed warm, and enjoyed the evening.

A beautiful Christmas eve service at Honey and Poppie's church where Honey sang with the choir and Poppie ushered. We may not have gotten to sit with them but it was such a nice evening and a special way to celebrate Jesus' birth.

Our visit with Santa. A certain five year old, who will not be named, wanted nothing to do with this Santa and tried to keep as far away as possible. This picture cracks me up because it reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George photobombs his boss' family's beach photograph and several subsequent Photoshop mishaps ensue as well as Kramer's fake skin cancer screening in an attempt to fix it. The unnamed someone in our picture did get his Santa wish - a  new kitten - so Santa must not have been too offended.

Skippy shenanigans. Remember the time when Skippy replaced our stockings with underwear? I do! Now that he's been with us a few years, I think he's getting comfortable and becoming a little more mischievous.

Penny shenanigans. There are too many to name. But, who besides me doesn't love a kitten belly?

National Western Stock Show fun. We took the Sheriff with us...

...and a rodeo queen!

We also saw a rodeo which was a blast. Getting to our seats was quite an adventure and a wee bit frightening. But, we made it. When I asked Sawyer if his favorite part of the rodeo was the hot dog, chips, or rodeo, he answered, "All of them!" I agree!

And...the birthday. Happy #8, Madelyn!

The obligatory cake and cat picture. This year's picture features a kitten with no fur on her belly. Mental note: Get the cat a bikini top before Sawyer's birthday.

And, last but farthest from least, my sweet birthday girl. 

Happy new year to you! I hope 2017 brings everyone good health, good luck, and much happiness. Now back to the snow.

Lady Penelope of CloudCity aka Penny.

The start of a new (cat) generation began for us this past weekend. We adopted a kitten!

In late October, I reached out to a local Siamese breeder via her website and asked to be kept in the loop should she have any kittens come available. Honestly, I didn't think I would ever hear back from her and I figured we'd just adopt a garden variety cat from a shelter. So, on Thursday morning when I woke up to find an email from this woman stating she had two litters of Siamese kittens ready for homes, I was so excited!

Saturday morning, we drove to Lakewood to pick our kitten. The kids were invited to come with and I was happy for that. I vaguely remember picking up Dusty back in 1980 but I still remember it. I thought it would be an important experience for them to have.

There were 7 kittens remaining and they were all so cute and playful and funny. It was room full of Jilly Boo, JuJu Bee, Jezebel, and Skippyjon Jones! We narrowed it down to two kittens, Pinky and Greenie. The names were based on the color collar they were each wearing, of course. Pinky was a seal point and Greenie was a blue point. They were sisters from the same litter. In the end, we chose Greenie!

Meet our dear, sweet Penny.

We (I) decided she will be registered as Lady Penelope of CloudCity. CloudCity is the name of the breeder's cattery.

She is 15 weeks old. Her birthday is August 18. She is a funny kitten who talks non-stop...even when she's eating. She purrs with her whole body and loves lap time. Bringing home a kitten is never easy but after a day and a half, we're both getting more comfortable with each other. I might still need the noise canceling headphones though if this meowing doesn't let up.

We have truly missed our Sadie cat. Even though it was her time, and we knew it was her time, her absence was still hard and definitely felt. Dear Penny will never take Sadie's place and we wouldn't want her to. She is already making her own place in our home and hearts and will be a great member of our family.

Also, when she's 15 years old, Madelyn will be 22 and Sawyer 20. YOWZA!!!!!

Thanksgiving 2016 - San Diego.

Thanksgiving has come and gone. It truly feels like it came on faster this year than in previous years but I'm pretty sure they didn't take any days out of the calendar, I think. At any rate, we had such a  nice holiday and now all of a sudden I find myself in the midst of the Christmas season!

We spent the week of Thanksgiving (Tuesday through Saturday) in San Diego with family. Unfortunately for us but fortunately for them, Gregg and Cathy were out of town for the holiday with her extended family. However, they were gracious enough to let us stay at their house on Coronado in their absence.

The first day we were in San Diego, we hit up several of our new favorite spots - Spreckels Park, the Coronado Library, and, of course, the beach. The water was too cold for swimming but that certainly didn't stop Madelyn and Sawyer from frolicking and getting wetter than they were supposed to get. We even found several live sand dollars. Pretty cool!

On Thursday, we had Thanksgiving dinner at Uncle Jerky and Aunt Sandi's house. Uncle Jerky was flying the whole weekend we were in town so he wasn't with us. Bummer. Even though we missed him, we still had a fantastic dinner and there was LOTS of cousins playing. Sandra's sister and her husband plus their two sons came over as well. They brought a fried turkey, which I had never had before, and it was SO GOOD.

The whole day was really nice. The only thing that could have made it better was if Uncle Jerky had been with us, too.

Friday: Legoland. Legoland was fun in 2012 when we visited. But, this time was definitely better. An almost 8-year old and a 5-1/2 year old can really enjoy themselves at Legoland. We drove boats, recreated pictures from 2012, found some Lego Friends, and even toured the Sea Life Aquarium.

I did lose Madelyn and Sawyer a few times inside coral aquariums but they seem to have survived. Maybe they were trying to find Nemo? Or, was it Dory?

Our travels were easy and uneventful. I feel so lucky that we can take these trips to visit family and create memories together. Here's to good times, making memories, and happy holidays to all.

Halloween 2016.

We came. We saw. We have a lot of candy to eat.

A proud lion(ess)

+

A rascally, trash eating raccoon

=

The cutest pair of trick-or-treaters I saw all night

From our house to yours, happy Halloween!

Isis Sadie Rula.

I posted these pictures earlier today on Instagram, along with the following -

"Rest in peace, sweet Sadie. May you now enjoy all the ice water, cheese, beer, and tuna you like and may there always be a lap for you in the sunshine."

We lost our sweet Sadie two Mondays ago.

She was diagnosed with chronic renal failure (kidney disease) in October 2014. While it's fairly common with cats, it's still an unpleasant diagnosis. By this past June, she had progressed to stage 4 renal failure which meant her kidneys had lost 85% of their normal function.

Bless her big heart, she did her best to keep trucking along. Mind you, she was no spring chicken. Our girl was just shy of her 16th birthday! At any rate, she was also developing arthritis in her knees and hips which was making life significantly more difficult.

After a long weekend of knowing, both on our part and hers, I called the vet on Monday, September 19, and took her in for one last appointment.

We had her cremated. Today, we buried her ashes under the pine tree in the corner of our yard. She's right below the bird feeder so there's excellent TV. Plus, that spot gets plenty of sunshine. She always did love to sunbathe. We gave her an ice cube, two different kinds of cheese, and some strips of paper to notarize.

I'm so thankful for the life that kitten experienced with me. She loved Griff from the first minute he began coming to our apartment. It's like she just knew! And, I'm thankful for the love and kindness she showed my children. She considered them her babies. She will never be forgotten.

There are so many other Sadie pictures I could share. But, I'll leave it at that.

Isis Sadie Rula

11/27/2000 - 9/19/2016