New collar?!?

Mom told me today in a most reassuring voice that she was looking for a nice safety collar for me, but that she would take the bell off so it wouldn't drive me insane. My question is, why does she think I want or even need a collar. I have no desire to go outside, and I'll even cross my heart and promise not to go out. I guess she forgets that we tried that whole collar thing when I was a kitten and we decided as a family to not do the "collar thing."

Too much stress

Huggy tuckered himself out tonight watching the UT vs LSU game. It was a crazy game. Thank goodness UT won in overtime. Mom and dad were on pins and needles!

Bathtime

Josie is a strong believer in being a well groomed cat so she is helping Maggie out. You know how kittens can be!!

Cat in a Sack

I LOVE PAPER BAGS!!!

Troubles and Maggie

When Maggie isn't sleeping with mom and dad, she's sleeping beside their bed with her new friend Troubles. Troubles was given to mom by dad when they first started dating....a very long time ago. I never knew kittens and puppies could be friends, but Huggy used to long to drag Troubles around the house by his ear. And now Maggie has grown very attached to him. Who knew??

Undercover Josie

Here is how Josie likes to sleep with mom and dad...under the covers and upside down. She loves to climb under the covers and get right up against mom's belly and sleep, sleep, sleep. Josie just purrs up a storm when mom rubs her belly when she's sleeping upside down. Silly girl!

Instant messaging

Here is Huggy teaching Maggie how to IM dad at work. Huggy likes to IM him to tell him to bring more treats and stinky goodness home. Oh, and to say he misses him and he can't wait for him to get home.

Skinny Minnie

Mom calls Maggie "Skinny Minnie" for obvious reasons. Mom says Maggie is probably going to be the smallest of us four. She is very tiny, but man, she's spunky!

Friend's brother hurt in Iraq

Mom and Dad's friend's brother was hurt real bad in Iraq. Mom and Dad are kind of stunned by it all, so we are being good cats and giving them lots of love to soothe their minds as much as we can. Please keep Nathan in your thoughts and prayers while he recovers.

Munchie Josie

Mom and Dad went to the grocery store, which means lots of bags and kitchen playtime. My favorite actvity is trying to climb along the fridge door while Mom is putting things away. With the pantry door open, Josie managed to pull out our Meow-a-roni snacks. Since she had previously chewed the bag, it was in a ziploc. So while Mom put items away and Dad brought more in, Josie chewed through the ziploc and got the bag of treats out. So Dad put a few treats out, but that wasn't enough. Josie pulled out a sample bag of cat food and chewed through that too, and was snacking on it before Mom noticed. Dad put it in our food dispenser (full already, by the way) and Josie could have cared less by that point. I guess once the challenge is gone, she lost interest. Girls!

The sweetest thing

If Mom and Dad ever doubted how right they were to bring Maggie into our family, it was answered last night. Dad was getting ready to fall asleep and was lying on his left side. Maggie hopped up in bed, climbed onto his pillow and laid her head and upper torso across Dad's neck and purred and purred and purred. She's is so happy here, and we're happy to have her.

Homeward bound

Mom comes home tomorrow! We're very excited. We've had fun with Dad, and I do enjoy the bed more when only one person is in it (I even laid with Dad last night for half an hour while he read) but it will be nice to have Mom back home.

A Safari adventure

Safari is Maggie's sister from the big litter of kittens, and her mom is TJ from Dad's work. Today, TJ told Dad about Safari's latest adventure. See, earlier in the month, the quick little Safari slipped out the front door and got 10 minutes of exploration time before TJ realized that she was writing graduation thank you notes without the help of her kitten. (Safari was patiently waiting for her mom on the front doormat when she opened the door with a "where have you been" expression on her face.)

So this morning, TJ awakens to an empty bed. Usually Safari claims part of her pillow. She looks around, searches her apartment, closets, bathrooms ... no Sarafi -- but she does hear an occasional "meow." Well, she eventually narrows it down, and finds Sarafi in her bottom nightstand drawer. TJ had not opened the drawer the night before, so she must have found a way IN probably from underneath or behind, but couldn't manage to get OUT. Those crazy kittens! You just never know what kind of mess they're going to find for themselves...

On the counter

While Josie hung out on the floor, I took a commanding position on the counter. Aren't bathrooms great? 

"Maggie bias"

I was accused of having a "Maggie bias" in my recent set of pictures and neglecting Josie. I must apologize, but come on, Maggie is a kitten and kittens do deserve their share of face time on the blog! But I must also acknowledge that Josie pictures have been lacking. I really like this one, because her face is so pretty and her eyes are captured well, even if the color seems slightly distorted by the bathroom lights. We close our eyes so quickly with the flash that "natural" light captures us best, despite the sometimes sepia coloration.

Where is she?!?

Well, it looks like Mom is gone off to Iowa for a week. Can you believe that? Who could stand to leave us for a whole week? At least Dad is here, and his long day is done -- dropped Mom at the airport at 5:45 a.m., then to work since he was already right there, then teach a workshop for new patients from 6:30-7:30 p.m. We thought he'd never get home! (And I don't think he did either.) But he gives us good loving attention when he's home, and shared some pork with us. More a treat for the others. I've never been a fan of table food. Anyhow, he miss Mom and know she misses us, but she'll be home soon -- just in time for Dad's birthday.

Mom's new purse

Mom got a new purse yesterday and it looked like a perfect travelling purse for Maggie (ha!) but Mom learned better when Maggie decided maybe she should eat the handle instead. Of course, once she was in, she didn't want out either. Girls and their purses!

Face trim

This is me with my face cleaned up. They trimmed my chops a little and shaped my hair. I feel sleek and little now.

My runway

My runway ... When we went to the beauty shop they "cleaned up" our rears and belly in what they call a "sanitary clipping" but if you ask me, it's just a little embarrasing...

Letter to a dog

Dad read Mom and me this letter to a dog from Dog Eat Doug and it is very funny. Dogs are silly.

A day of beauty

We all had a day of beauty today. Josie, Huggy Bear and I all went to the groomer's and had baths and got brushed and trimmed (they did trim our butts and bellies a little more than we expected ... there's a bit of a draft, but "our runway" will grow back soon...) and while we were away, Maggie got a bath from Mom and Dad. Although Mom and Dad expected me to misbehave, it turned out that Huggy and I were very good, but Josie showed her spunk -- she hissed, clawed and give that lady a piece of her mind! But in the end, it was worth it, I think, except I really don't like the car...

Huggy in hiding

Mom and Dad kept hearing a THUMP-Thump-thump, THUMP-Thump-thump, which is usually the sound of Huggy Bear hitting one of the cabinet doors trying to open it. So dad checked the kitchen and both bathrooms, but didn't see Huggy. But the sound continued. He even went into his bathroom and opened the cabinet, expecting Huggy to come darting out -- but nothing! And the sound continued (kind of Edgar Allen Poe-ish, if you ask me). They assumed that it was the neighbor's son banging the cabinet door in their bathroom which shares the wall. Finally, Dad checked under his sink again, this time opening it and getting low to look all around. And there he was, sitting on a stack of towels and looking at Dad like, "What took you so long?!?"

Sink time

OK ... enough pictures of the baby ... sure she's cute and all, but look at me! I like to find refuge in the sink of Mom's bathroom. It's cool and peaceful, and Mom and Dad are always amazed that I actually fit in it.

Sleeping on Mom

Maggie asleep on Mom's shoulder. Just look how sweet she is...

Book time with Mom

Mom just loves Laurie Notaro's books. She is so funny. Maggie climbed up with Mom and tried to read some of the funny stories, but then realized 1) she can't read, and 2) even if she could read, she might not be able to relate to the Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club, so she decided to sleep instead.

Collar playtime

This is Maggie with her collar. It's still too big for it, but Huggy Bear will get it down for her every now and then so she can play with the bell.

Sweet little girl

Mom and Dad just love this sweet picture of the little baby. She got so curled up, and even covered her eyes (or her nose, she was near Dad's stinky feet) while she slept.

Hug on the rug

When Dad got up this morning, he found Huggy sleeping in front of the washing machine with the rug all balled up. Makes you wonder what goes on all night, huh?

Bad day...

Today has been what Mom called "bodily fluid day."

You see, since Maggie has been in the house, she has had her large carrier (about two feet by three feet) so she had a place of her own, and it had a half-size litter box perfect for a little kitten. Well, despite their best efforts, Mom and Dad were unable to keep us bigger kittens from the litter box, and it became our box of preference, which was really bugging Dad since he's the one who cleans it at night, and let me tell you ... a half-sized litter box can't hardly handle what we can dish out! So Dad decided it was about time that Maggie start using the regular box. He did some serious cleaning last night, then showed Maggie the new box twice.

This morning, there is quite a poop stench that Dad noticed as he was getting ready. He looked around, checked out the big litter box for deposits that missed or were kicked out, looking in Maggie's carrier (sans small litter box), sniffed Huggy's butt (just in case) and deducted that someone REALLY needed to go. A little while later, Mom instant messages Dad at work and reports that someone used the plant again, and did it big time! So big time, that she has ruled out Maggie and suspects a disgruntled bigger cat who liked the little litter box. So Mom had to clean the plant, and did manage to stop Maggie from using the plant and got her to the box just in time.

To top things off, I threw up two hairballs in Dad's bathroom and one got on the bathroom mat. And Mom found that and had to clean it up too. And she was not happy about it.

Great day

We had a great Labor Day ... an extra day with Dad and the weather was so nice that we were able to open the windows.

Dad also did something funny today. He was helping clean a cast-iron skillet (I guess that's not the easiest kitchen task, especially for a Dad) and he forgot he had filled a pitcher with water for the plants. Well, he hit the pitcher with his elbow, spilled a bunch of water trying to catch it with his one free hand (other hand holding heavy, hot skillet) and then set it upright, but not completely so the sloshing water upended the pitcher again and Dad caught it again, spilling more water. This startled Huggy, who is usually a good kitchen helper. Dad cleaned up all his watery mess, then took the throw rug out of the kitchen to hang so it could dry and, to Huggy's excitement, he revealed a hidden straw to play with. Everything for a reason, that's what I say...

A game worth napping through

Maggie watched the Tennessee/UAB football game with Dad Saturday. Well, Dad watched. Maggie decided to sleep. She got bored watching Tennessee struggle to a 17-10 lackluster victory. I'm Dad's "Big Orange" cat. I sat in the chair by Dad and watched the whole game with him.

Getting the blinds

Huggy Bear has taught Maggie to get the twisty rod of the blinds in the office. The futon was down after Aunt Tiff's visit, but Mom and Dad set it back up this morning and Maggie wasted no time getting the rod swinging.

Sleeping under the bed

Huggy slept under the bed last night. He doesn't hide too well though. His back feet were sticking out.

Hiding from Maggie

After Mom and Dad vacuumed, a few things ended up on the table. The box provided a good hiding place for Josie while Maggie (climbing on the back of the chair) looked for her. They play well together, but I think Josie had had enough and needed a break.

Busted!

While Huggy and Josie had their naughty moments, and I ate my share of power cords, we never did this: Maggie pooped in one of the plants! Mom and Dad have river rocks in the plants to discourage that kind of behavior, but I guess she's so little that it didn't deter her. (The pile of rocks was a bit of a giveaway, though.)

Sleeping baby

She's so cute when she's sleeping...

Photo lineup

Mom tried to take a "photo lineup" of us, from smallest to biggest. It kind of turned into the opposite of Dog's Playing Poker.

Belly scratches

I was being so good that Mom gave me some good belly scratches. I love belly scratches!