go Gently

Kitty Cats

It’s Friday! Last day of work before two whole weeks of break. I’m so fortunate to have a job that I enjoy (most of the time) and where I am able to take time off to enjoy the holidays and be with my family. No big plans but I sure hope we don’t have a repeat of last year. Snow sure is pretty but our town is not prepared to deal with it.

Elf sighting today

Simply Cats is an amazing place. This no-kill cat shelter adores cats and works so hard to provide fantastic care and loving homes for cats. Both of our current cats (Pippi & Fred) were adopted from there. If you are considering a cat for your home, please consider visiting them.

Annika went online to their website and found the wish-list of items that they need. She carefully shopped with Daddy and marked several things of the list.

We dropped off the supplies and of course we had to visit the kitties. They have ten rooms for the cats and there are no cages. Just comfy beds, climbing perches and even enclosed outdoor patios to birdwatch.

Lovely and sweet, we met a girl who had been there since June, Anya. She looks very similar to my old kitty Caesar. Even Al commented when he saw her. She is ready to find a fur-ever home.

We would love to bring her home, but two cats is enough for us now. We are so fortunate we were able to sponsor her adoption.

While there, we purchased a few raffle tickets for a fund-raising promo they were doing. And we won! Its a treadmill for cats called One Fast Cat. This crazy contraption looks like a giant hamster wheel for cats. After much bribing with chicken, we were able to get Pippi to take a turn on it.

Check out a cat using it on YouTube One Fast Cat

Meow!

December 23, 2017December 23, 2017 by 365confidenceproject Categories: Animal Shelter, Cats, christmas, Friendship, kindness, parenting, Simply Cats, UncategorizedTags: Compassion, kindness, parenting 1 Comment

Cute little Elf

Here is what’s been going on for the last three days! I have been a bit of a slacker on regular posts but hey, Christmas is coming.

Wednesday Elf goings on

I found this little elf cutout, trimmed one of Annika’s school pics, glued some thick craft paper to the back and viola! We have an elf. I can’t find the darn pattern on the web, but here is a cute idea that is very cute ElfYourSelf

After kiddo finds it, write the date on the back, attach an ornament hook and hang it on the tree.

Letter that came with it along with a bag of deluxe candy canes

and they decided to hang out on a plant shelf by the stairs

Thursday and I think I’m running out of steam.

I say it now (let’s see if it happens) but next year I’m going to type these letters all out before and have everything organized and ready to go before day one! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. Doing this the night before gets old after about day 6. Plus a glass (or two) of wine seems to sap any desire to update the blog.

And this guy came along

The elves tried to hide in the closet at the top of the stairs, but I think they must have been giggling too much as the noise led to curiosity, which led to this. I think the closed-door was a wise decision by the elves as Pippi has tried to eat them on occasion.

Annika came home and filled a medium sized box with books, toys and stuffies she doesn’t use anymore. We will donate today to the Idaho Youth Ranch , a great organization that helps our state’s at risk youth.

December 22, 2017 by 365confidenceproject Categories: Uncategorized 1 Comment

Fred, Red and Friendship

Monday was a Monday! I’ll be doing two days in my post. Last night Annika had Tae-Kwon-Do testing so we didn’t get home till late (had to have celebratory ice cream). She is now red belt recommended. We are really proud of her. It doesn’t come easy and she doesn’t give up.

Here is what the elves did on Monday. They were messing around in the laundry room!

They brought Annika another character from A Christmas Carol, Scrooge’s nephew Fred. Annika delivered goodies to teachers and staff at her school.

Fred

Yoda in the Laundry Room

Tuesday morning we woke up to this.

The elves looked to be having a party at Barbie’s house. There was Wonder Woman, A park ranger from The Grand Canyon, Rey, Poison Ivy, BB8, Coco the monkey and Supergirl.

Here was the note they left-

They left little Christmas notepads for Annika to hand out to her classmates.

Even Godzilla, aka Pippi showed up for the friend’s party!

It looks like a lot of fun.

December 20, 2017December 20, 2017 by 365confidenceproject Categories: A Christmas Carol, christmas, Friendship, kindness, parenting, Uncategorized 2 Comments

NASA Elves and Christmas Yet to Come

The Elves enjoyed themselves last night. They found Al’s TIE Fighter in his closet and must have played with it because now the pilot is missing. They also relocated Rudy to the cat tree. They are getting brave!

Here is the letter they gave Annika-

They left Annika some cool patches.

Today we saw the new Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi. Annika loved it and thought it was the best movie ever. We ran into some interesting folks after the show.

Hope you had a relaxing Sunday. We are counting down the days to Christmas Break.

December 18, 2017 by 365confidenceproject Categories: A Christmas Carol, christmas, kindness, parenting, Star Wars Leave a comment

Yummy

The elves had a fun night messing around in our pantry. Here’s where they were found this morning.

Good thing they didn’t find the flour!

Grandma Mayer came over and we made two kinds of cookies, Chex mix, and caramel popcorn. Annika and her dad delivered a package of goodies to our neighbor who lives alone. He was very appreciative.

A cookie recipe that we make every year, Dad’s favorite, is a treat that Grandma Sue shared the directions for. It’s super easy and they always turn out delicious.

Sue’s Ginger Snaps

3/4 Crisco
1 C Sugar
1/4 C Molasses
1 Egg
2 C Flour
1/2 t Salt
2 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t cloves
1 t ginger

Cream shortening and sugar, add molasses and egg until creamy in large bowl
In medium bowl add mix dry ingredients, add to shortening and mix until well blended.
Roll into 1 inch balls, roll in granulated sugar and place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart
Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes , remove from oven while slightly underbaked. Allow to set on cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes. Remove to a cookie rack to fully cool.

While the cookies were baking, we girls made giant snowflakes. Annika taught us how to fold and cut. They are so cool! Here are the instructions for six sided…we did eight instead and they are beautiful.

Giant Snowflake Video Tutorial

December 17, 2017December 17, 2017 by 365confidenceproject Categories: A Christmas Carol, Baking, christmas, kindness, parenting, UncategorizedTags: Christmas Baking 1 Comment

Tick Tock

Yesterday the elves kidnapped Anni’s alarm clock and broke into my sewing room for some props. When Annika woke up she noticed that her clock was gone. She was suspicious and assumed that Luci and Frida were up to something. Here was the letter she found with the elves.

They were hanging out with Wild-Style on the dining room table.

Annika decided on a movie night with Mom and Dad. She made sure no phones were in the room and we enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – Now on Netflix. Cute and 83% from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes- Guardians 2 Review

How can you not love Baby Groot! Baby Groot Dance -Opening Scene

December 17, 2017December 17, 2017 by 365confidenceproject Categories: A Christmas Carol, Baby Groot, christmas, Guardians of the Galaxy, kindness, parenting, Uncategorized 1 Comment

Day two and the elves brought this little figurine of Tiny Tim and Scrooge. The elves left them in the bathroom along with a note taped to the mirror.

Annika had an awesome day. She even came home to this note in the mail.

December 15, 2017 by 365confidenceproject Categories: Uncategorized Leave a comment

This morning Annika found the elves hanging out in a little bag swinging from her bed(she has a loft bed). In the bag were a couple of candy canes and two Kinder Eggs.

The note they left her…

I was going to post a pic of what she ended up doing, but she was so excited that after I left for work, she wrote a thank-you letter to the mailman and put it in the mailbox along with one of her candy canes before she headed off to school. Success!

Have you seen the Kinder Eggs that are available this holiday? If you are familiar with the European version, don’t get too excited. I guess that in the US it’s not legal to sell food products that contain “non-nutritive” products inside. More info here. People actually try to smuggle these things into the US! Hence, the poor substitute we have. If you are looking for US version, I found them at Wal-Mart. Here’s the story on what compromise had to be made to allow them in the US. Kinder Eggs coming to US

The real Kinder Surprise Egg

The American version Kinder Joy

Thanks for reading!

December 14, 2017 by 365confidenceproject Categories: A Christmas Carol, christmas, Kinder Eggs, kindness, parenting, Uncategorized 1 Comment

Lots of stuff out there on the internet. Google it up and you’ll find plenty of easy, affordable ways for the kiddos to spread some kindness.

Some great places to start-

https://www.naturalbeachliving.com/random-acts-of-kindness-ideas

Cute printed cards for ideas

http://www.allstudentscanshine.com/2016/12/kindness-elf-freebie.html

Calendar of daily ideas for kids

https://www.weareteachers.com/random-acts-kindness-calendar

Advent Stockings-12 days of Christmas

https://www.muminthemadhouse.com/advent-acts-of-kindness-free-printables/

December 13, 2017December 14, 2017 by 365confidenceproject Categories: christmas, kindness, parenting Leave a comment

The Elves have arrived

Annika got right to business reading her book and placing Lucy and Frida in the stockings. They have to be hung up high so that Pippi the cat won’t eat them!