Did you know it is so, so easy to make real Barbie food? Harlow was adamant that fake food just wasn’t going to cut it when it came to playing dinnertime (or birthday party, picnic, or camping). So, we just miniaturized all the food Harlow normally eats! With the exception of the birthday cake… for that I mixed together the ingredients for a mug cake, then poured it into miniature ramekins and baked at 300 for 15 minutes. Everything turned out really cute (though I did have to put a stop to making Barbie food at literally every meal).

We’ve put a lot of our Barbie play on hold for the last few days. I know… gasp… right? We been busy with a new family member! Technically we’re on day 3 of a two week trial, so it isn’t official-official yet, but we’re pretty enamored with her. Welcome to the family, Lily. She’s honestly so, so sweet and beautiful. We opted to adopt an adult cat for a few reasons, but the biggest reason is that we saw her photo and fell in love. We talked (A LOT) to her foster mom and learned all about her background and temperament and decided it would be a good fit. Harlow has wanted a cat for literal years. She asks for one constantly. My biggest concern was and still is Abbey. She’s almost 12 and I don’t want to ruin her golden years. We did sort of jump the gun on introducing them… our fault. They are both just so sweet and loving that we honestly thought it would go perfectly. Abbey is just in awe of Lily, and followed her around at a safe distance, but after a while, Lily started attacking Abbey, completely unprovoked, and after two or three of these attacks, we decided to separate them and start over. Right now we have Lily sequestered in the downstairs living room and bathroom (someone is always hanging out with her). I have left the gate to the basement open so Abbey can come sniff at the door, but honestly, she doesn’t seem overly interested. She just wants to love Lily. Hopefully soon, Lily will want to love Abbey, too. Or, you know, at least stop attacking her with no provocation. All she wants to do is play and cuddle, which is perfect for Harlow.

Her story is that she is two years old, and found in a nearby town eating out of a bird feeder in someone’s yard. She was pregnant, but in good condition – obviously cared for, but the rescue center thinks she was dumped when she became pregnant. We did the whole process of adoption (there are a lot of steps in the process – I’m used to the barn cats I had growing up where one (or 30) just showed up, we fed them, then they moved on). We hid the process from Harlow until we picked Lily up. It was so fun to see her dawning of realization that we were bringing home the kitty she was holding.

So… that’s what we’ve been up to. Anyone have any cat/dog relationship tips? Love to hear them!!!

Ta-ta!