A new baby in the family...

 No...it's not what you think.

I'm not pregnant.

No...we didn't adopt...

Well, we didn't adopt a "real/human" baby.

 We did however adopt a sweet 3 year old kitty from the shelter and from the looks of it, she's already a perfect fit to our family and friends.

 Katarina came to the shelter as a stray and had kittens while there.

 All of her sweet kittens were adopted out.

And then this past week, her "crate mate"/friend was also adopted, leaving this sweet girl all alone!

 Katarina is part Russian Blue and has a Tiger stripe tail.

 She is sweet and affectionate...but even at 3 years old...still has the spunk and playfulness of a kitten!  The boys are in love with her!

 She seems to have adapted to our home/family quite well.

On day 1 she was already eating, drinking, using her litter box, and exploring.

She doesn't seem to have any bad habits, as of yet.

So far, we've been able to trust her pretty well.

 On our end, we need to work on playing with her and tiring her out more before bedtime, LOL.

She seems to want to get up and play each morning around 4:00 a.m.

 When I play with her around 11:00 p.m. she seems to settle in nicely for a good night's sleep...so I need to make that my goal.

 She kind of likes to get her days and nights mixed up like a baby...napping all day and staying up at night.  I keep telling my boys they need to play more, snuggle less, haha!

 When the boys are home...

 You can pretty much always find Katarina on top of one of them snuggling!

This photo cracked me up.  Jamie keeps his Bible on this shelf and she jumped on top of it...so...I've entitled it, "Standing on the Word"...hehe!

We are so happy with our new addition.

If you are ever looking to add a fur-baby to your family...be it a cat or a dog, look no further than your local human society or rescue shelter.  There are so many pets looking and waiting for their "fur-ever" home/family.

We love you Katarina!

First Day of School...a little late ;)

After we got back from our Island trip...Nate started back to school the following Tuesday.

Most moms take a picture before the kids leave that morning, but I'm too unorganized (and barely awake) at that point.  So Nate let me snap one when he got home.

He started 8th grade this year and is doing great!

I can't believe Evan is in college now.

I'm embarrassed to say I didn't take his picture, but hey...

Kids don't really let you take their picture on their first day of college, do they?

He probably would have obliged if I'd have asked, but honestly, the first day of college isn't quite the same as elementary, middle, or high school.

They're coming and going, different classes at different times, different days.

He's adjusted really well and loves all the food options on campus, LOL!

So proud of both of the boys.  They're both doing so well this year!

Blink...and we were gone! (One last Mackinac Island visit before fall)

 We took one last trip up to our favorite destination (Mackinac Island) before fall.

Evan had already started his college classes but was on Labor Day break.

Nate didn't start middle school until after Labor Day, so we took advantage of what most consider a 'long weekend'...except when you travel to Mackinac, a 'long weekend' is gone in the blink of an eye!  We enjoyed our time, but it literally felt like we were already leaving right after we got there.  We spent our first night in Mackinaw City and grabbed some pizza at Mancino's.  The boys played in the lake (too cold for me!) and then swam in the hotel pool.
Of course we had to stop for some Mickey's ice cream after dinner too!  Best value ever!  Those things are huge!

It rained at some point each day we were there.  But we were prepared.  We brought jackets, rain ponchos, and umbrellas and we hiked, tromped, and roamed the Island despite the rain!  We didn't let getting a little wet stop our fun!

Between the rain and the humidity, my hair was atrocious.  By day 2, I gave up and threw some gel in it and scrunched it and let the natural wave take over.  Here we are hiking our way over to Sugar Loaf.

Selfie Saturday at Sugarloaf!

I never tire of looking at the way the trees grow and fall in the forest on the Island.

The "Is It You" rock from "Somewhere In Time" and a freighter passing by...

Dinner at the Round Island Bar & Grille.

Coke doesn't make a "Melody"...so just call me "Liz"...hehe!

We had a great time, but like I said, it was such a short trip, we were literally gone before we knew it!  We hardly had time to catch our breath, we buzzed around to get so much done in our short trip!  Well, now it's back to school...back to work.  Time to settle in for the long winter!

I hope everyone else had a wonderful summer!