Cat Scratch Fever and One Less Life

Winston staring down his twin
NOT Winston! Don't be fooled... he's MEAN!


Sorry... this post is long, but it has a very happy ending.

As the title would imply, this post is about my furry friend Winston and his little misadventure from today... and last night. As the McLendon family was getting ready for a well deserved vacation, Winston was apparently planning his escape from our home. Apparently he's feeling a little smothered lately. He must have gotten out at around 9 pm as I was deflating all Claudia's beach toys in the backyard. His absence was not brought to my attention until precisely 7:30 am when Claudia started chanting "ca! ca!", peeping around, looking for Winston. At about 7:31, the search was launched. I suppose some cats enjoy going outside and their owners enjoy letting them outside. I do not. Winston's last outing resulted in a trip to the animal emergency clinic on 610 where someone wanted to charge me $2K to remove the layer of tar in which Winston had immersed himself after his rendezvous at the home construction site across the street.

The hunt ensues...

Never one to disappoint, this outing was no less thrilling. There are 3, count them, 3 black cats who live within a mile radius of our house.... a fun fact I discovered today. I tried to force the first one into my car. He treated me to an arm shredding and then his true owner ran out of the house shrieking at me. Not Winston. The second one had a pot belly, so I was able to quickly rule him out. Not Winston. The third one was tricky. He looked just like Winston ... and he conveniently scurried underneath a neighbor's house. My dear neighbor spoke no English, but was kind enough to let the hysterical white lady crawl under the house in an attempt to rescue "el gato negro." I emerged scraped, bloody and empty handed. Not Winston.

Desperation sets in...

After a day of wandering around my neighborhood, screaming "Winstoooonnn!" and harassing any neighbor kind enough to stop, I was hopeless and sunburned. I did what any logical person would do next... had a good cry in a stranger's driveway & called my mom. She and Vernon came over immediately. I'll cut to the chase now. After seven hours of me roaming the streets, Mom & Vernon come over, make a search of the street and discover Winston hissing up a storm in the little alleyway beside our house. Little furball decided to come home. I'm happy to report that our vacation was saved and that Winston is resting up after his street adventure. Enjoy these pics of just ONE of Winston's three neighborhood doppelgangers.

My Winnie is home!

Rachie & Brooksie

Rachie & Brooksie with the Bop
Cheers to old friends!

Cheers to the newly engaged!

Brooksie hoists the Bop

Daddyboy & Brooksie playing a little Wii tennis

Here is the super cute dress Rachie got Bop in Mexico

CC's gone strapless! Daddy's beside himself.

One last pic from the Fourth

CC made this Uncle Sam hat at Creme!

She really liked it & so did I

So this past weekend my very dear friend Rachel came down from Chicago to visit. Rachel, or "Rachie" as we all call her, is one of the kindest and tallest people I know. She fills my heart with laughter. She reads the McBlog, so I promised I dedicate a post to her. Here it is! These are just some of the pics from the fun filled weekend we had. Rachel is newly engaged to Ryan, or as we call him, "Brooksie." I took Rachie & Brooksie to the St. Arnold's brewery, where we had lots of fun. We also went to the Freedom over Texas shindig downtown. Also fun. I am already missing them, but can't wait for the wedding! Now we just have to figure out whether it will be in Chicago or New Orleans. Decisions, decisions!

Happy Fourth of July!

It's the fourth of July!

Run, don't walk, to the pool!
the baby in her baby pool.
I got this awesome star spangled suit last year.
Janie & Jack slash swimsuit prices in August!

she's already ready to get out

side profile of the Bop

oooh!

trying to get her shades on

They are also star spangled

we got some quality time with Audrey on Saturday.

The McGraws hosted a Wii tournament.

Daddy dominated!

Claudia & Audrey playing in the kitchen

Going to Freedom over Texas fireworks show,

in a Radio Flyer. Very American!

Daddy gave Bop a lift on his shoulders

the McLendon family

... all sweating up a storm!

the soon-to-be Mr. & Mrs. Brooks!

(and my foot... nice)

Rachie took CC on a stroll at the fireworks festivities

Claudia missed the fireworks because they started late.

But here are some action shots

Happy fourth!

I love America. It truly is the land of the free and the home of the brave. Every Fourth I get that patriotic feeling in me, dress up in Red, White & Blue and station flags around the house. This year the Fourth was extra special because we got to spend the weekend with Rachie & Ryan who came down from Chicago on Friday. I have lots of pics from this weekend (coming soon!), but here are a few from the Fourth that I wanted to get up. We had a great day playing in the baby pool and then went to Freedom over Texas, a big concert with Pat Green and the largest landbased fireworks show in the country. God Bless America!

Also ... phase 2 of the backyard renovation is happening as we speak. I'm thrilled. Now, time to clean house while Claudia takes her nap!

Bring on the Fourth!

peek-a-boo!

make that peek-a-boo-boo... note major knot on her sweet head
you can't hear it...
but she's signing the Star Spangled Banner to you!
.... in "ughs", "oohs" and "weees!"

door art

Tonight I'm busy taking pics of Claudia's latest art from Creme. This art is all dedicated to the Fourth of July. I've decided that instead of trying to save all the art Claudia creates (aside from the really special pieces worth saving and sharing with others, i.e., Gram), I'm going to take pics of the art and save it that way. So, here we are, some art for the Fourth! Hope everyone is as excited as we are! I'll probably take the art off the door though... Hurricane Alex on his way. Boo!

Summer Stuff

someone has been climbing the walls of our house...
... in an attempt to go outside & play...

So we headed over to Gram & Grandpa's to play

(note the ear tugging... ear infection #4?)

some of us rode bikes

That's my husband on my mother's Schwinn

while I put my peaches to good use!

With Russell's help of course!we put them on my LeCreuset grill pan

and then dunked them in vanilla ice cream

& covered with a brown sugar / butter / cinnamon glaze.
delicious!

These are just some of the beautiful flowers at G&G's house.

Grandpa is responsible for making their gardens grow!

hello, happy sunflower!

three pretty pink ladies in a row

can't beat a beautiful rose

love orange. love it.

I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves here. Summer has kicked into high gear here in Houston. In other words, it feels like its hotter than the center of the sun down here & I'm melting. We braved the heat for an outdoor lunch on Saturday at Little Bigs in Montrose for sliders & shakes... mmmm. Surprisingly, Claudia would not eat the sliders, despite her love of hamburgers. Odd. But she loved the fries! Later I went to the Houston Garden Center to acquire our new plants for the backyard. The new patio furniture arrived and Russell assembled it. Phase I of my backyard project is complete. No pictures until we are done!

On Sunday we went to Gram & Grandpa's where we played indoors and out. Claudia played with her new Olivia doll, jumped on the floor pillows and inspected the flowers. By the end of the day she was not doing so hot... teething pains and what we suspect is another ear infection. She stayed home today with Gram and is already feeling better. Hopefully its just teething pain. Aside from that, it was another fun summer weekend!

St. Arnold, Patron Saint of Brewers

running around the house... with an infant CPR manual

the brewery... they give you free tastes of their entire line

the giant vats of brew - all of which have fun names like

"St Elvis" and "St. Wenceslas"

this is only about half of the vats

tthe St. Arnold's bug. who doesn't LOVE bugs?!

sweet ride Its a Rolls, baby. A tie-dyed Rolls.

me with the owner of St. Arnold's. he was hilarious

Today I found myself wandering around the St. Arnold's brewery here in Houston in connection with a function we did for our summer law clerks. They were more than happy to leave the office at 2:30 to go taste test beers and I was content to join them. St. Arnold's is a great local beer outfit that has a wide range of funky (good funky) beers... Summer Pils is my favorite, but I'm also a fan of Lawnmower, Spring Bock & Elissa IPA. The brewery gives tours Monday through Saturday and man, that place is hoppin'. We toured the facilities, which was formerly owned by Houston Independent School District... they stored all their frozen foods there. The owner told us that when he first visited the place he decided his daughters would forever carry sack lunches. It was a great field trip and taste testing all the St. Arnold's beers was EXACTLY how I wanted to spend my afternoon (after my horrible Thursday I won't speak of).

In baby news, CC has really stepped up her vocab. This week she has said the following new ones: "donkey", "thanks", "done", "car keys"... the list goes on. We are very impressed. Aren't you?!