CeCe: Our Overnight Guest

We have a new friend sleeping over at our house. After a couple of days and deep thought, Adair finally decided to call her CeCe. She is an (approximately) 8 month old, black, gray and tan striped, fluffy kitty cat. She found us on the side of the road and insisted on coming home with us, really.

Mom, Adair and I were driving to Centreville to meet Dad when Adair announced that she needed to use the potty. (I keep a small potty with disposable bags in the back of my car for just such an occasion.) So, we pulled over for Adair to go potty. As I was closing the hatch, I turned around to see this adorable kitty walking up to our car. Now, most of you know, I am a cat person. I have always had a soft spot for kitties, so I bent down to pet her and noticed that she was incredibly boney. After I stopped petting her, she jumped in our car and started trying to get into Mom's coffee. We realized she must be starving, so we gave her the only food we had in the car, a Dunkin Donuts munchkin. We tried to throw it away from the car, so she would eat and we could pull away without running over her, but she gobbled it up so quickly that she was back before we could leave. Mom had her window down and she jumped into the car through the window. She was bound and determined that we weren't leaving without her, so we didn't. Since there were no house for miles (we were in the country) and she was so thin, we had to assume she was homeless. We took her to the vet to have her examined and she has now been bathed, tested for feline leukemia, dewormed, given flea and mite prevention medicine (she had none), and vaccinated.

So, now she is sleeping over at our house and we need to find a good home for her. Eleanor, our cat, has not been very welcoming to CeCe, but is tolerating her for now. She is the sweetest kitty, truly. She is very loving and just follows you around. She has a great disposition, rarely meows, has been very tolerant of Adair and hasn't tried to scratch anything yet. I love her already, as does Adair, but the more practical family member (Hank) says we don't need a second kitty living in our house. I know he is probably right, which is why I am posting about her here. If you or anyone you know is interested in adopting her, she is free to a good home. Please email me at brecca.powers@gmail.com if you would like to know more about her. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

A Mix of Fire and Ice

ICE:

Yesterday afternoon it started "icing" or raining ice. The temperature was so low, that it started to accumulate pretty fast. Hank, Adair and I snuggled up on the couch to watch Toy Story 3 and by the time it was over the ice had turned to snow. We were hopeful we had narrowly escaped the "ice storm" every Meteorologist in Birmingham had predicted and just gotten the pretty, fluffy white stuff. Not exactly. When we walked outside this morning there was no fluffy white stuff, the ground just crunched with each step. Walking on the road was like walking on a sheet of ice...I think if we had had ice skates we could have used them. Every tree limb, bush and flower was wrapped in ice. It was pretty, but it definitely kept us home for the day. Walking around our neighborhood and watching the older children sledding was a fun start to the day, but the end was even better!

FIRE:
Auburn (Hank's Alma Mater) played for and won the BCS National Championship tonight!!! It was a great game and came down to a field goal in the last 2 seconds of the game for a 22-19 victory over Oregon. How exciting and an awesome end to a great season! Auburn was named the National Champions for the first time since 1957 and, for the first time in history, two teams from the same state won the National Championship and the Heisman in two consecutive years (Alabama in 2010/Auburn in 2011).


After the win, Hank had to burn off some energy. He threatened to get a group together to go and roll Mountain Brook Village, but with the icy road conditions he decided that wasn't the best idea. So, he settled for toilet papering the Crepe Myrtle in our yard. It was nothing compared to Toomer's Corner, but it was funny!

Congratulations, Tigers! It's great to be an AUBURN TIGER! War Eagle!

Reflections on the Year Behind

As the clock rolls from December 31, 2010 to January 1, 2011 I find myself reflecting on the year behind us. 2010 was a good year for our family. There are many, many highlights I could share from our year, but I'll limit them to the big ones.

~2010 was the first full calendar year that I got to be a stay-at-home mommy. I count this as a blessing every day and am so thankful that I have gotten to be home with Adair, teaching and training her, playing with her, taking her places and just plain having fun. We have had a great year together!

~At the end of 2009 we decided to start visiting new churches. We visited Mountain Brook Community Church on the first Sunday of 2010 and never made it anywhere else. It was "love at first visit". We have made so many wonderful friends and built a sweet support system in just one year's time. We are both so grateful that God lead us to the place He wanted us to worship and grow.

~Hank started a new job with FindLaw on January 7, 2010. It has been a huge blessing to our family. He now works from home and travels only on a rare occasion.

~In June, my mom and dad moved to Birmingham. This is the first time since I went away to college in 1999 that the three of us have lived in the same city. I grew up in Centreville, Alabama just about an hour outside of Birmingham, but having them 15 mintues away has been amazing.

~Adair started at Creative Montessori School on August 15, 2010. The Montessori method is one that was introduced to us by my mom and after exploring and researching it, we decided it would be a good preschool environment for Adair. She is thriving in this environment and has become so much more independent, self-confident and self-sufficient since she started at CMS.

~2010 was the year of potty training. It didn't take the entire year, but it did define 5 months of our year. We started potty training in July when Adair was just 25 months old and continued until it finally clicked in November. She is now fully potty trained and fully reliable. We are so proud of her.

I would be lying if I implied that 2010 only brought good things to our family. We faced some difficult things as well, the most notable being infertility. But through challenges we only grow stronger and closer to God. I will always be thankful for hardships, because they remind me that God works together for the good of those who love Him. He never promised that our walk would always be easy, only that He would walk with us through it all.

So, 2011, we greet you with fervor and great anticipation. May you be a year of growth and joy.