Maggie plays along

I didn't realize until Buzzerbee pointed it out that the last couple of pictures all featured Maggie playing with someone ... Maggie playing Trivial Pursuit with Mom and Dad, Maggie playing sink with Josie, Maggie playing trashcan with Huggy Bear, and Maggie chilling out with me. I guess this is evidence that when you have a kitten around they really are in to everything!

Solitaire Showdown

At lunchtime, Mom will get on the computer and play Solitaire Showdown with Dad on MSN Messenger. They tried to explain the game to me once ... said it's kind of like regular solitaire, but at that point nothing was making sense to me anyway so I stopped listening. But Huggy Bear and Maggie have their own little computer game they play with Mom while she's trying to play cards with Dad. They get in front of the screen so she can't see what's going on and so Dad will win. They think it's a lot of fun, but I don't think Mom would agree.

Tale of Two Tails

Mom calls this picture a Tale of Two Tails. I was relaxing on the table and Maggie curled up in the chair below me. I was impressed that she didn't pounce me.

Dear Max

Max is taking questions for a "Dear Abby" type section of his next book, so if you have a good question for him and want to see your answer in print, all you have to do is ask...

Under the door battle

Maggie and Huggy Bear decided to try to get each other from under the door. They stayed like this for a good five minutes before giving up on the "under the door" technique and simply walking through the other door and wrestling.

Sink time

Josie was enjoying some "trickle of water" time with the sink and Maggie decided to come explore also. I like how you can get both good sides of the girls in this picture. But they need to turn that water off so I can sleep in the sink again!

Huggy-in-the-Box

Mom has been working on her magazine project, tearing out all the good articles and putting them in binders to organize them. This is one of Huggy Bear's favorite times because he'll help her and then he gets in the trash can and plays with the paper scraps. Maggie is helping from the outside. Mom said Huggy Bear looked like a Jack-in-the-Box.

Maggie plays Trivial Pursuit

When Aunt Kelli was visiting, Maggie helped them all play Trivial Pursuit.Maggie really enjoyed moving the pies and rolling the dice. She's a big helper.

Maggie versus Red Bug

That blur is Maggie chasing the "red bug" (don't know how the camera strap got in the picture -- how embarrassing!).

Josie's "red bug machine"

Josie has been napping with her new favorite toy ... the "red bug machine" that Aunt Cathy and Uncle Doug gave us for Christmas. Sure, it was for all of us, but Josie has really taken ownership of it.

Cleaning Mom

Mom must be pretty dirty because the whole time she was on the phone with Dad, Maggie was cleaning her free hand. This must have gone on for a good five minutes!

Mom's bedtime

Mom gets very project oriented around 9 p.m. and will often work late into the night/early morning. This does not suit Josie very well, since Josie likes to curl up between Mom and Dad under the covers and sleep. So if Mom is up late working, Josie will come in and talk to her and try to break up her work. When Mom does decide to come to bed, Josie is so excited and races her to the bedroom.

No collars

The other kittens had a great day today. Mom wanted to let them relax a little, so she took off their collars last night and they got to spend the whole day without their collars. That meant I didn't get any extra warning when Maggie would stalk me all day, but I'm sure they enjoyed it. But the bells are back on now ... thank goodness!

Singing our names

Do all Moms and Dads do this? Our Mom and Dad will sing to us, but not just sing ... they replace words from songs with our names. So they might sing "Maggie Maggie Maggie get your cat treats here" to the tune of "Lolly Lolly Lolly get your adverbs here" from School House Rock. They do this for all of us, even when it doesn't really make sense. Is this normal Mom and Dad behavior, or do they need professional help?

Call us McCabinet-cats

It looks like we should change our name from McKitten-cat to McCabinet-cat. Sunday, Mom and Dad ended up frantically searching the apartment (I mean, really, come on, it's an apartment ... how far could any of us go?) because they hadn't seen Josie in quite some time. They searched all her usual spots and even pulled out ice cubes and shook treats, which usually brings Josie a-running. After a little more searching, Mom sees Josie poke her head out from the closed door of Dad's bathroom cabinet. Apparently, she had been sleeping soundly under there all warm and tucked into the extra towels. (Mom thinks she even got in there last night to sleep.)

So later on, Huggy Bear is under the kitchen sink nestled in among the plastic grocery bags Mom and Dad save to remove our used litter. Fortunately, he never shows any interest in the bad stuff under the sink.

To top the evening off (and tell on myself a little), Dad took me into his bathroom to check my bottom after a trip to the litter box. As Mom put it, I dropped a bomb, and sometimes some maintenance is required. So Dad shut the door to isolate me and clean me up. While he's helping clean me up, he looks down and there's Maggie! I guess she got under the sink, too, because she was nosing her way out from underneath.

They are all so silly. If you ask me, nothing beats a nice comfy couch or an unmade bed.

Our new enemy has a name, and that name is Dyson

Mom and Dad are very excited about their new Dyson. We, on the other hand, have a very different opinion! Even Huggy Bear is avoiding this vacuum ... maybe because it's new, maybe because it is a little louder, but it really does suck the hair and dirt out. Mom was having a lot of fun vacuuming the apartment this evening, so much fun that I think she may vacuum every day?!? Could you imagine?

Dead vacuum

We have been working hard at defeating the vacuum for some time ... about 13 months. Give Huggy Bear the most credit, because he will stalk the vacuum, hold down the cord when Mom tries to vacuum and in general defend the rest of us from the vacuum. But the rest of us, we did our part too, shedding as much as we could. The timing couldn't have been any better, either, because Dad said the warranty had just expired about a month ago!

Mom started to vacuum just before Aunt Kelli came and it started making an awful smell and Mom and Dad realized the belt was burning. We thought this was only a brief setback as Mom and Dad changed the belt, but it did it again! Unfortunately, I think they said something about Sears yesterday, so we may have a new enemy soon. But now we have resolve -- we've beaten it once, we know we can do it again.

Cleaning Dad

Maggie was just so silly the other day. When Dad was helping me take that napping picture of Josie, Maggie got on the chair next to Dad and started licking his hair. I don't know if she tasted the product he uses in his hair to keep it from looking real big or if Maggie just thought he needed a bath, but she was working pretty hard. Good thing his hair is real ... it he wore a toupee it would have been off. Even still, it was pretty funny looking at his hair when she was done. It was sooo big!

Josie sleeps through the Golden Globes

Josie was watching the Golden Globes with Mom and Kelli but she got tired around the middle part and decided to take a nap. Her whiskers are so great in this picture, aren't they? She just looks so peaceful with her pink nose resting across her little white paw.

My new little box

When Aunt Kelli got here, she opened last year's and this year's Christmas presents, which means more boxes for us! In all my cat skills, I squeezed my big body into this tiny box. I just love this box!

Getting the camera

Maggie isn't very patient with Dad trying to take her picture. She just can't stand to not eat the wrist strap.

Huggy's big stretch

Huggy Bear loves to stretch out on the floor like this. He arches his back and curls his tail into a big question mark and takes up as much space as possible. Isn't he just a big fluffy yummy hairball?

Kitten with Legos

Dad found this website while bored at work ... er, while working hard ... apparently, this lady pulled out her old childhood Legos and started building with them and her cat Precious would enjoy playing in the buildings she built. Sadly, Precious passed away at the very early age of three, but this is the cathedral that had been built, now in memory of Precious, with several amazing pictures.

Speaking of kitten appearances online, this funny video briefly features a cute cat at the end and this amazing short film (thanks to Uncle Doug for the link, plus the must-read background on the movie) has a very cute cat during the credits. Enjoy...

Eating cereal

Maggie always enjoys breakfast time with Dad. He usually eats cereal for breakfast and treats her with a little bit of milk in the bottom of the bowl when he's done. She is normally pretty patient waiting for her milk, although sometimes she will nudge the bowl or Dad's hand while he tries to eat (he eats while reading his morning comics online so she gets on the desk to make it more "interesting" for Dad). Well, this morning, when Dad was getting ready to fix his cereal, he poured his Frosted Flakes into the bowl (yes, sometimes I think Dad eats like a child) and when he turned to get the milk from the refrigerator, Maggie hopped up and took a frosted flake right out of Dad's bowl and ate it! Cereal! Not even with milk on it yet. You'd think they never fed that girl.

Aunt Kelli

Aunt Kelli has come in from Iowa to visit with Mom and Dad (but more Mom) for the week. We are very excited to have another friend to hang out with and sniff, even if it means the office is off limits at night.

All nipped up

I'll let the kittens chase the red light all they want. This is more my speed right here. Mom and Dad brought home a fresh new scratcher all full of catnippy goodness! What a good day!

Red bug on the run

Josie tries to keep up with the spinning red bug. Aunt Cathy and Uncle Doug got us this red bug machine that keeps the red bug dancing in circle for us to watch and chase. While we all enjoy it, Josie just can't get enough of that red laser light!

All gather 'round the window

It was another nice day here in South Carolina so Mom opened the office window for us. It chilled down a little bit, more than it had been here in some time, so the windows didn't stay open long. But we all got together to enjoy the nice fresh air.

Something in the air

Huggy Bear enjoys having the windows open and sniffs the fresh air. (Huggy doesn't get enough solo pictures ... he's kind of hard to catch in a good picture, but I really liked this one.)

Bugslayer

Oh Maggie was just so proud of herself last night. Our weather here has been unseasonably warm to the point that we have been able to have our windows open and enjoy the nice warm air. And that nice weather means that some of those buggies are less motivated to try to come inside. But yesterday a cold front came in and we had real heavy rains, so the bug hunt began! Maggie was the first to claim a trophy -- a moderate-sized "Palmetto bug" (translation: roach) that she brought into Mom and Dad's bedroom and presented to Dad at the side of the bed. She sat beside it with her head held high until she got Dad's attention, then he flushed her kill (flush, shouldn't he at least consider a mount?) and the rewarded us all with Pounce treats! The weather is better today, so the next hunt may have to wait...

[Note: Please don't think a roach in the house means Mom and Dad are dirty people ... it's a product of a few factors: 1) We live in the South, so bugs are a fact of life. 2) We live in an apartment, so bugs are a fact of life. 3) Our apartment backs up to woods, so bugs are a fact of life ... not that I'm complaining. Just don't want anyone getting the wrong idea.]

Top Ten Sources for Cats

I got bored today and did a search for "Jasper McKitten-Cat" and, well, my blog showed up. But I also saw that my blog had been referenced on the site Top Ten Sources for Cats in a pretty humorous article. Blogging friends also referenced include Buzzerbee, Oreo, Diva Kitty and Max (Psychokitty). They also referenced a few other cats I haven't met and one site called Stuff On My Cat that made my Dad laugh but disturbed me a little. And be warned, if you let your Mom visit The Daily Kitten you may end up with a rapidly growing family because they are very cute.

Poopy start to the morning

I'm going to have to have a talk with my littlest sister Maggie. She is a short-haired kitten, and only about six months old, and she has a tendency to not cover in the litter box. And you know who ends up paying the price? Her? No, me, with my long hair and three-times-her-size body. My hair ends up dragging through her poop, or I make my own mess trying to avoid her mess and I still get it in my hair. I'm good and go straight to Mom or Dad (of course, this morning they were both in bed still) and report so they can address the issue. This usually means I get a quick sponge bath (not fun at all ... but necessary). So it looks like I'm going to have to have a sit-down with Maggie because this cannot go on. Fortunately, as soon as Mom and Dad get us out of this apartment and into a house they have plans for a deluxe litter box center for us! I can't wait!

Disappointed Josie

Josie was so good and patient. She sat right at Dad's feet while he peeled five pounds of shrimp for some gumbo Mom is making. Five pounds! That's a lot of shrimp (and patience), and not one whimper or whine or nibble of Dad's achilles to get his attention. Just her quiet presence. And you know what she got for being so good? A Pounce dental treat. That's like a child watching their parent eat a huge piece of cake, and getting Dentyne to "brush their breath." There has got to be some governing body we can appeal this to!

[Update: A while later, Mom did boil a little shrimp and cut it into tiny pieces for Josie, Maggie and Huggy. She fixed some for me too, but it wasn't really my thing. Maggie worked on it pretty good, as did Huggy, but Josie really enjoyed her little reward the most, I think.]

Our Christmas cards

We received two Christmas cards this year. One was from Virg, our dear friend from the Quad Cities of Iowa/Illinois and a fellow cat lover, addressed to Mom and Dad and the McKitten-Cats. Her card featured a cute cat swatting a Christmas ornament. Her friend actually adopted my mom from the shelter the day after I was adopted. The other card came from Dad's Uncle and was addressed to Balls of Fur. This one had four cats on it, each holding a letter J-O-Y-!. The uncle drew an arrow to the last one labeled "Demon Nation" and inside, the card was signed (in columns):Orange Cats: Mickey, Fat Elvis, Skinny Elvis, The Big Lebowski; Black Cats: Dot, Sir Shaggims; Grey Cat: Demon Nation and followed by the statement: There is no quiet in my house. Mom and Dad said this was the funniest card they got all year.

Clip nails

Well, Maggie tried to jump up on the desk yesterday while Mom was cleaning up around the computer and she ended up trying to use Mom's arm and leg to get up. Her claws came out, then Mom's blood came out. Mom was not very happy, so last night was nail clipping time. Mom and Dad managed to clip Maggie's nails and mine, and Huggy consented to one paw before decided he wanted nothing to do with those clippers. So I guess tonight will be Huggy and Josie. Admittedly, we are not the most cooperative, but we're learning.

Back to a routine

I think we're finally getting back to a routine here after the holidays. This will be Mom and Dad's first weekend home in a month and we are very happy. I just wanted to make a quick post because it's been a while, but I'll have more in the next day or so ... photos, my favorite Christmas card ... some fun stuff.