Welcome To the Smelker's AKA a Menagerie
Almost a year ago, our family had to make the hard decision to put our
Maine Coon, Serena, to sleep. She had crept into our hearts the way no other cat has.
We have brought two new cats into the house since then, but neither of them are Maine Coon cats (although we love them dearly). The Maine Coon is special. We have not actively looked for one for couple of reasons, we have four cats already and really don't need another one, and the other reason is we didn't realise how much we missed having a Maine Coon around.
At the beginning of June, Teagan bought a frog. While we were at the pet store, I noticed a gorgeous male Maine Coon. Now, I know better than to buy a pet from a pet store, so I did no more than look briefly at him, think he was gorgeous and enquire how much they were selling him for. I almost lost it when they told me $1000! You can get one from a reputable breeder for less than that!!
When I got home that afternoon, I told Terry about the Maine, and his response was typical - we don't need any more pets. Well of course I know that! Anyway, a couple of days later he had to return to the pet store to buy some crickets for the frog. He called me from the store and said, "OK, that Maine is gorgeous! If we had a $1000 in the budget I would so be bringing him home." Of course, he knows better. Then he said, "You know, seeing this Maine make me realise how much I miss Serena. I really think we should look at getting another Maine Coon." Just a week earlier a Maine Coon Cat rescue group had advertised on craigslist, looking for people to adopt a slew of kittens they had rescued from a Kill shelter in Austin. I asked him if he was serious because we could get one of those kittens for less than $150. He said yes, so I called the woman immediately.
We filled out the paperwork that day! The organisation called all our references, and our vet. We passed the adoption test, but had to wait three weeks for our new kitten. She was severely underweight, was flea infested and so filled with worms they were coming out both ends. She responded well to the treatments and her foster mother fell in love with her. However, this weekend she was ready to come home, so Terry and I made the drive to Austin to get her. Her foster mother has done a great job of socialising this little one, and she has made a seamless adjustment into our home as a result.
We came up with a name for her the same day we saw photos of her. We decided to use an African name, so I picked a Xhosa name meaning 'nurturing love'. The name is Thandi, pronounced Tun-dee.
So, without further ado, here is our new baby making herself at home in the little cat tower we have.
Labels: kitten, Maine Coon, Serena, Thandi, Xhosa
Pageant Weekend
Back in March (or April) we received a letter in the post inviting our girls to an open call for
National American Miss. I checked it out thoroughly before taking the girls to the first open call because the last thing I wanted was to spend money and feel we were gypped. Imagine my delight when I realised this is a great organization, with good morals, and they encourage girls to become the best they can be, without relying on looks. In fact, up until the Jr. Teen level (age 13 and up), the contestants are not allowed to wear make up.
The open call consisted of the girls undergoing a short one-on-one interview, and speaking in public to the people who were in attendance. We were informed that we would receive a call back letter if our girls were accepted. Part of me thought, "Yea right, everyone will receive a letter!" However, in looking at the number of girls who were in our open call, and knowing that two more were offered that same weekend in our location, as well as open calls in Houston, Austin and Dallas, I see now that to be chosen as one of the finalists was actually a great honor. If the same number of girls came to each open call, there were probably close to 900 girls in the South Texas area alone who attended open call. Only 140 made it to state finals, and our girls were two of them.
The weekend was an eye-opener for us. We opted to do just the basic pageant - personal introduction, one-on-one interview and formal wear. There is also a talent segment, an actress segment, a spokesperson segment, a modeling segment and a photogenic segment that are optional. It does not affect the judge's scoring if one participates in those optionals (they have different judges for the optional segments), but we noticed that those girls who were involved in the optional contests were also the ones who scored the highest with the pageant judges. I think the confidence the girls get from being so involved carried over to the pageant part.
Already the girls are talking about what they want to do for next year! Of course we have to go through the call backs again, but they should do just fine. And next year Terry and I will be better prepared - there are so many things we need to do as parents to prepare the girls too.
We had planned on doing on some sight-seeing this weekend. Now we know that it is impossible to do that! Once we were in the hotel our entire focus was pretty much on the pageant! Ah well - next time...
I am posting a couple of photos here, but here is a link to an album I created from the photos we took this weekend:
Smelker Girls.
Labels: Hayley, Houston, National American Miss, Pageant, Teagan, Terry, Warrick
More swim photos
For some reason there are no photos of Carson taken (I work as a timer at the meets, so taking a camera would be a waste of time!) I am sure that in the next meet I will get one of him - perhaps I can ask Clem to specifically take one! Anyway, here are two of Hayley from last week's meet - freestyle and getting ready to dive in for the relay (her goggles broke, so we need to buy some new ones:
Labels: dive, freestyle, Hayley, swim team
Summer's Here, and the Livin's easy
Well the Smelker kids finished school last week and already we are in the full swing of swim meets, swim practice, piano practice, and the like. Actually swim practice started two weeks before school let out. Our team had its first swim meet on Saturday. Hayley and Carson are on the swim team this year. A professional photographer happens to have kids on the team, so he spent Saturday shooting photo after photo. He got a great shot of Hayley as she swam in her breast-stroke race.
She took 3rd, out of 16 - so not bad at all! Carson did not place this week, but he surprised all of us with his turn of speed. He had not been doing well in practices, and I wondered whether he would even finish his race. But he came in 3rd in his heat, and I think took 8th overall (again out of 16 swimmers).
Father's Day is approaching and last week I asked Terry what he wanted for his day. Now, I had just bought him Tom Servo so was unsure of what else to get him. He asked for a lightsaber - one of the ones from The Sharper Image. Part of me thought, "Well, if that's what he wants..." But it seemed so, well, lame.
On Friday (June 6th) Warrick called me and asked if I wanted to go in on a Father's Day gift with him. "What do you want to get?" I asked.
"A Wii," he responded. We had tried to buy one at Christmas but found it impossible. But Warrick knew a local store that got shipments in once a week. He called the store when the shipment came in, and drove over immediately and bought the system. He called me again to let me know he had it. "Do we have to wait until Father's Day to give it to him?" I took pity on him, I think he was more excited than anyone to give the Wii to Terry, so last week Terry his early Father's Day gift. Let me tell you, boxing on the Wii gives you quite the work-out!
Next weekend we are on our way to Houston as the girls will take part in a pageant. We will spend a day at the
Space Center, and on the way home spend some time at the
Houston Aquarium. We had to buy evening gowns for the girls and I got a great deal from a place here in town. When the dresses are altered, and the girls put them on, I will put up some photos - they look stunning!
So, all in all, a busy June, and July is shaping up to be just as busy!
Labels: Carson, Father's Day, Hayley, practice, swim team, Wii
