Oh, dear lord, we have a kitten.

It's been just over a week and Pete seems to be fitting into the family much better. All of his kitten supplies are in Heidi's room but he ventures out a lot.

The dogs attack ever 4 minutes instead of every 30 seconds so that's a good sign.

Heidi was up at 6 am on Sunday because Pete was attacking her toes.

Saturday he was very curious about what I was drinking. He came over and sniffed my very hot coffee. I said "No, Pete, that's hot!" Then he did it again. I waved him away. Then, knowing that I would wave him away again he just stuck his nose right in and sniffed up! Commence head shaking and sneezing. I guess that's one way to learn about HOT.

This morning I had to stop my workout twice to get him out of Eddie's old man diet food. Poor Eddie just sat on the floor and watched him eat out of his bowl because the stool was not out and he could not get up there to stop him.

Then I had to run to catch the Bamboo plant he was knocking over while trying to eat.

He plays with anything he can find - Beads hanging from a hook in Heidi's room, the cord to the lamp, balls of paper, the pink to-to on the floor in the toy room, a bee in the bathroom (yes, we still have bee's in our attic)...

And he is very fast on the hardwood floors. He is getting his exercise running away from the dogs.

All of this, and more, had me thinking "Oh, Lord, now I remember what Kitten's are like!"
But the sneezing seems to have stopped.

Sure fire way to cure kitten sneezing? Call new vet and grill her on why she prescribed antibiotics when this is a virus, ask 500 questions as you browse google search results, insure her you will call back if he is still sneezing on Monday.
How can you not love this little face? I guess he's a keeper.

My Challenge - Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010 Wii Game

This year I have started to watch the Biggest Loser. I had caught a few episodes in the past so I get the basic premise and know who Bob and Jillian are but I had never followed the entire season. Now that they are at week 8 I am hooked, rooting for a select few, and motivated to get my butt back in shape.

I am not so good at working out consistently and my exercise of choice is always Yoga and I do that in my office more than a few times a week.

After watching the show I think I would benefit from a personal trainer, someone who will tell me exactly what to do and give me feed back.

We have a Wii Balance Board with the Wii Fit Plus game but my problem with that is you get to pick what you want to do and how many times you will do it. This enables me to say "wow, that was hard, I am not going to do that again."

I simply do not have the time to join a gym. I have run through this in my head so many times.

What time I would have to get up to go, get in a good workout, and be back before Shawn went to work - 4:30 am.

Go to the gym after Heidi goes to bed? I would not leave the house until after 9 pm.

Work out after work or after dinner? I already only see Shawn and Heidi for a few hours each night. I am not willing give up time with them to go to the gym.

I had belonged to a gym in the building where I work. I would go down at lunch and run on the treadmill or join a yoga class a few times a week. After my company purchased another company and I am lucky if I even get to leave my desk to get water. Going to the gym for an hour is out of the question.

I feel my only option is to work out at home. Since I am not at all a night person, it will be morning.

I have had moderate success with DVD's in the past. My complaint is there is no variety, unless you have 7 DVD's. There also is no feedback. Sure, the instructor tells you what a good job you are doing but she says the same thing if you are sitting on the couch or actually doing to work.

Working out with the Wii games gives you constructive feedback using the positioning of the Wii Remote or the Balance Board. They offer suggestions on how to correct your posture. Sure, you can fake the motions or only do have the job but it certainly is better than a DVD.

I went looking for a Wii game that would make me happier than the Wii Fit Plus game I already had and found the Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010 game.

Since I know who Jillian is and I know she will wip me into shape, I picked it up.

I plan to work out each morning at 5:30 am, in my living room, with Jillian. After I complete my first week, I will let you all know how we went!

Wish me luck!

What's For Dinner? Italian Roast Pork with Rosemary

Again, I didn't take a picture but I did make one heck of a port roast the other night.

One of my favorite things to do is cook. I took some cooking classes at the Kitchen Window a few years ago and was able to focus some basic skills. My one goal from in class was to try everything we prepared and I learned that I like some things that I would never have tried (salmon and asparagus) and I confirmed I don't like other things (beets).

I don't have a lot of time to cook from scratch but with a little planning I am able get something in the oven on the weekend.

I had Friday off and a Pork Roast that needed to be cooked which netted this awesome Italian Roast Pork.

2 1/2 to 3 pound Pork Roast
2 tbsp Rosemary
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp butter
1 small onion
1/4 cup olive oil

Heat oven to 350.
Finely chop rosemary and garlic together.
Make 8 to 10 deep cuts in the roast - about 2 inches apart
Insert small amounts of garlic and rosemary mix in the cuts
Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Melt butter in shallow roasting pan
Sprinkle onion over the butter
Put pork in pan and drizzle with oil
Roast uncovered 50 to 60 minutes until the internal temp is 155 degrees
Remove from oven and tent with foil. Let stand for 15 to 20 minutes until the internal temp is 160 degrees.

I served this with boxed scalloped potatoes and steamed Broccoli.

YUM! Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Patch

I love fall! It's one my of four favorite seasons.

Living in Minnesota we get the best, and worst, of all seasons and I love them all for different reasons.

Fall is wonderful because it's normally a relieve from the extreme heat of August. This year August was cold and the colors are not changing as they normally. And with Halloween being the fifth weekend in the month everything is a bit off.

We had planned on going to the Pine Tree Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch like we do every year but due to the rain and cold we didn't get out until this weekend. By this time Pine Tree had packed up all their pony's and all the pumpkins were rotten.

Jess found this place on the Internet. It's called Anoka County Farms. They were a bit different but in a good way. This place pulled all their pumpkins into rows in the yard so you did not have to search through the field. I liked this because you can walk for acres and acres before you find even one good pumpkin.

They also had a ton of cut outs to take pictures with. Heidi really liked this Witch Cat.

I had never seen a white pumpkin before. They had a few sitting around. A quick google search says that they are just called White Pumpkins.

This place purchased the Snoopy bowl and dog bone bench from the Mall of America when it turned over to Nickelodeon Universe.

The filled the bowl with pumpkins.

We put the kids up on this wagon and I gave each of them a gourd. I don't know what Heidi is holding but it is really cool!

It was a little cold out but one of the nicer days we have had in the last few weeks. We needed to wear coats but hats were optional.

The line for the pony ride was crazy long! Shawn waited in line for over an hour while we went off and played.

He was not very happy about it but the things you won't do for your kids.

And is sure was worth it. Heidi had a blast. She just loves riding ponies and horses.

This was a fun place but we did miss the apple orchard and all of the apple treats. Next year will be a toss up to where we end up!

Sneezy Pete

Pete and Heidi are getting along famously! He slept in her room last night and they both made it through the entire night. If I knew that putting a cat in her room would keep her in bed all night I would have done it years ago!

Pete has been moved from the extra bedroom in the basement to Heidi's room. Litter box and all.

Heidi thinks this is great and is really enjoying taking care of him.

He will be going to the vet today for his first check up. We are taking him to Camden Pet where we take all the others. They are wonderful there.

He is sneezing a lot so we need find out if he has a cold or just do not like the dust in our house.

The Newest Kuykendall

Shannon and I enjoy visiting the Humane Society's website and looking at all the cats and dogs that are for adoption. She sends me links of the cats and tells me that she wants the cat. Since she is allergic the cat would have to live with me.

This has never worked. I have never adopted a cat because Shannon said she wanted it. Until yesterday.

I had been looking a pictures of peoples puppies on facebook thinking about how nice it would be to have a new little pet in the house.

We lost our cat, Tiger, last April. I have missed him a lot this last 16 or so months.

Shawn pointed out that Eddie, our 10 year old cat, sure seems to like being the only cat in the house. That was really the only thing that kept me from adopting as soon as we were sure Tiger would not be found.

Yesterday, just before we were going to head home from work, Shannon started to send me links to kitties on the site. First was a puppy. Then a little black kitty.

My heart belongs to Orange Male Tabby Cats. I can't resist. I have had two in my life and I am smitten. Tiger had a lot of white but he was mostly orange as well.

When she sent me a link of a orange tabby with white feet, I fell hard.

She called Shawn and talked him into letting us get this kitty, Jack. We drove out to the St. Paul Humane Society to get Jack.

But when we walked in the door we saw this little all orange tabby playing with the cat in the kennel next to him. He was so playful and full of personality. He was not Jack.

I looked for Jack and found him sleeping with his litter mates. He was so small, not even a pound, and only about 7 weeks old. I took him out and he was so needy. Trying to suck on my ear, climbing up my coat. Our bulldog was removed from his mom at 6 weeks. I know what an animal who has not been properly weaned looks like and I am not going to do that again.

By now, the little orange cat we saw when we first came in had bonded with Shannon. He was trying with all his might to push out of the kennel so he could play with her.

He got so excited that he would flip over and stand on his head.

He was perfect. We took him out of the kennel and he promptly jumped out of my arms and ran off.

We chased him into the Visitors room. I think that was the moment we knew we would be taking him home.

He is so full of personality and knows how to get out of the way when he is nervous. Those are required traits in this house - with the two very large dogs and our crabby old man cat!
His name was Lil' Boo. We changed it to Sneaky Pete because Pete goes really well with Eddie!

He is Heidi's cat and she is so very happy to have him.

Pig, Daisy, and Eddie were not the most welcoming welcome home party. They were very excited and Pete was very nervous.

Shannon and I both have the scratches to show for it!

He spent last night in the extra bedroom with his food, water, and liter box.

I hope to let him wander out today and we are planning on relocating him to Heidi's room for tonight.

Join me in welcoming our newest addition to the family!
I just hope this big guy forgives me soon.

First Night of Skating

Heidi started skating lessons last night at the New Hope Ice Arena. This is her second session but she has not been in her skates since last February so we expected her to be a bit rusty. Not so! She picked up right where she left off last year.

She started out wanting to wear the knee pads that came with the helmet. But once she stood up she quickly changed her mind. They must have been to hard to bend her legs in.

Last year, when purchasing her skates, we found a pair of recreational skates at Dave's Sports Shop. Recreational skates are more like a Rollerblade - very warm and supportive.

They were pink and super cute but cost about $60. Then we came across these used ones, same skate, just in boy colors. We got them for $20 and this is her second season using them! I think that forgives the fact they are not pink.

She was so excited to get to her lesson she could not stop moving for the picture.
She finally stopped for two seconds just to make me happy!
They had to line up and wait to be let on the ice.
They do two very simple tests at the beginning to determine which class they will be in. In her group there are 4 classes.
1. Can't stand up, can't skate.
2. Can stand up, can get off the ice after falling, can shuffle across the ice.
3. Can glide across the ice a little bit
4. Can glide across the ice and are ready to move around freely
When the kids first enter the ice they are asked if they have skated before. If they fall as soon as they hit the ice they are carried over to group 1. If they can move the are sent to the wall to determine which group the end up in.
Last session Heidi was in group 1 but made marked improvement through the year.
Not only was she able to stand when put on the ice, she got her self over to the other kids without help. Pretty good since she hadn't been skating in the better part of a year!
But then she plopped her self down in group 1 because that's where she was last year. She has a great memory and follows directions to a T. When no directions are given she will default to her comfort zone. This means, last night, she was in group 1.
And spent the 30 minutes learning how to stand. Something she is very good at.
And she was the first one across the ice every time.
This is not because she is an awesome skater (though she is already better than me). It is because the teacher did not say "Heidi, please go to group 2."
Next week she wants to go to Group 2 so we will ask them to move her up. Her goal is to skate circles around Shawn. I think that is a good goal!