Midnight Mancat Monday

Here's Huggy Bear's new portrait. Isn't he cute?? I will post some New Year's Eve party pictures later.

Easy Like Sunday

Mom and Dad got a new camera, upgrading from their old Canon PowerShot A40 2.0 megapixel camera to a PowerShot A720 8.0 megapixel camera. Quite a leap from 40 to 720 ... it means that Mom and Dad are now following us around the house taking all kinds of pictures of us just to take pictures to see what the camera can do in this light, or that light, or this mode. This was Dad's first cat picture he took on the new camera. He was really excited about it. I like how it focused on my eye ... good depth of field in the macro setting. I just hope they let us relax since it is Easy Like Sunday and all, and don't flash us with the camera too much. It's raining today, which is perfect napping weather!


[Laurence Simon is hosting his final go at the Carnival of Cats before passing it off in the new year. I've never participated in the carnival of cats, although I linked to Is Full of Crap years ago. My Uncle Doug pointed me to Is Full of Crap and I would visit it infrequently and randomly, but I just wanted to acknowledge what he did for us cat bloggers. I know he's stepping away from the cat blogging, but he did a lot to pave the way for a lot of us cat bloggers, and it's important to send head bumps and purrs to cat blogging pioneers like him. Thanks, Laurence, for all you've done for us blogging cats!]

PhotoHunt: Messy

I missed the PhotoHunt last week because Mom and Dad left the computer off when they went out of town, but we're back. Today's theme is messy and I think Maggie is going to take the lead in these photos...

Most of you probably remember this picture of Maggie making a big ol' mess of the toilet paper in the guest bathroom (now stored in the cabinet), but I think this picture fits the theme best.

But Maggie isn't always messy, either. She takes a lot of pride in her cat stroller.


Here she is doing some maintenance on her cat stroller so that it doesn't get messy and break down on us during a walk. She's checking the tires, looking for pebbles that may have gotten stuck in the tread that may make the ride rough, which can make a mess of a good stroll.

Patiently waiting

We've been waiting, as patiently as cats can, for Mom and Dad to come back home, and guess what ... they finally came home! They said they went way far away to Mississippi and Alabama and saw the Gulf of Mexico. I don't think I'll ever go to any of those places, they sound too far away for me to ride in the car, and Mom and Dad came back tired, so obviously you can't catnap in those places so it's no place for me.



You can see here Josie did a great job watching for Mom and Dad. She said if she ever went to the Gulf of Mexico she'd have to stay in one of those houses with a widow's watch so she could watch over everything because that's what she does best.

(We need to tell everyone that Mom and Dad's friend Tish has been promoted to Aunt Tish status after checking in on us the whole time. She freshened our litter boxes, gave us treats and water and food, and even vacuumed before Mom and Dad came home -- no evidence of any parties -- don't tell Mom. Aunt Tish is a superstar!)

Midnight Monday -- Waiting for Santa

We are all sitting, eagering awaiting Santa. Huggy Bear keeps watching the tree. I tried to tell him Santa won't come until he goes to sleep, and that that is why I keep going to the closet and sleeping under Dad's pants that hang low and make a warm spot for me. We hope Santa brings you everything you asked for and more!



Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

PS. I think Dragonheart's little brother is just the cutest Christmas present I've seen all year (not that I'm asking for a kitten or anything...).

Huggy's a big helper

Huggy was a big helper the other day. Mom and Dad were gathering up the gifts from under the tree (and pretty much emptying the tree of gifts) so they could mail them out to the nieces and nephews. Huggy Bear thought it was best to go ahead an make sure there was plenty of room for all the gifts, and to ensure that the box could withstand the weight of the gifts.



I did caution Huggy Bear to be sure to get out of the box before Mom got it all taped up and ready to mail (he did) or there would be another Christmas present in Knoxville...

Thursday Thirteen #7 -- Mom and Dad's lame excuses

Well, as you may have noticed, we have not been visiting your blogs and commenting on all the amazing and adventurous things that are going on in your lives as much lately. It's all Mom and Dad's fault. So here are Mom and Dad's 13 lame-o excuses why they haven't been letting us go visiting.

1. Christmas shopping -- really? Because we all know they did the majority of the shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
2. Wrapping gifts -- OK, Mom did go to Dad's work and wrap a bunch of gifts for everyone there so they didn't have to do it at home, but what was that, three days? Not a convincing excuse.
3. Holiday baking -- sure, Mom did some baking, but she was up into the wee hours of the night. What was she doing for the rest of the day? We could have used her thumbs to help us visit blogs!
4. Company -- their friend Chris visited on Sunday through Tuesday, and he did have Mom busy. He was nice, although he did accidentally lock HB and Maggie in the dark garage for about 15 minutes. So maybe this one is OK ... maybe.
5. Cleaning house for visitors -- honestly, Mom and Dad keep a neat house, but they haven't been doing any hardcore cleaning.
6. Working on their own blog -- fat chance of that ... they have been behind on the human blogging for a while now with very random and haphazard posting.
7. Dad's working on the cars -- after poking under the hood of the VW (have you ever looked at the engine of a VW -- it's encased in plastic and you can't really do a darned thing, but anyway ...) after looking under the hood of the VW Dad realized something for sure -- he's no mechanic. He checked the oil in the Maxima, but has no idea where the coolant is leaking from in the VW. Yeah, so after 15 minutes he still knows nothing. That leaves plenty of time to get back in here and help us blog.
8. Christmas cards -- sounds like a good excuse for sure, but reality is the cards just went out this week (a little late by Mom's standard), so this one doesn't really fly.
9. Time going by at double-time -- well, time is going by faster. My naps even feel a little shorter. But I'm sure there's a few minutes in the day for visiting friends.
10. Raking leaves -- this one I don't even understand. They rake these things up, then they just come back. Seems to me they could be inside visiting blogs instead. The blogs come back, too, but their return is much more interesting than the leaves'.
11. Dad's tired after working all day -- likely story! Dad's tired from sitting around. I haven't been to his work, but I know from his fussing that work is slower this time of year, so I don't know why he's tired.
12. Holiday stress -- none of those Christmas songs we have been hearing say anything about stress, so I think Mom and Dad have made it up. I mean, really, dinners, parties, gatherings. Shopping, looking at Christmas lights, running back out to the store for that "last thing" ... where's the stress in that? And how better to de-stress than to visit cat blogs?
13. A million things to do -- if you have a million things to do, why not just add one more? One more thing hardly holds any statistical significance when you are in the millions. If you were a scientist, that "one more" would never even make it into the equation. So go ahead, Mom and Dad, add one more thing to the million things you're already doing and visit those blogs!

So you be the judge ... I think they're all a bunch of lame excuses, and even if it's a viable excuse, it doesn't make up for the fact that Mom and Dad are not allowing us proper blog visiting time, and for that, we all apologize. So hopefully, once the holidays and the visitors and the chaos is passed we'll be back to normal and catching up with everyone. In the meantime, it we haven't visited and commented, just remember, it's Mom and Dad's fault.

Tabby Tuesday

Maggie loves being under the tree (and in the tree...) and she has been camping out under the tree and tucked in amongst the presents a lot. Since it has cooled down I think she's under the tree even more, probably because it is nice and warm.



This is one of Mom and Dad's favorite recent tree pictures of her. She's all tucked in as far back and under the tree as she can be, and peeking through the branches like a jungle cat. But don't worry, unless you're getting treats or crushed ice, there's little chance of her bounding out from under the tree any time soon.

Midnight Monday

Huggy Bear can be such a challenge to get good pictures of because he's such a house panther. But every now and then, when the lighting is just right and he's sitting just still enough we manage to get a good shot of him.

Here, HB is sitting in front of the fireplace screen. He likes to sit on the black marble against the black fireplace screen and disappear into a shadow where he can watch everything go on and not be seen.

PhotoHunt: Small

Today's Photo Hunters theme is small. There were several options for small and, since I featured myself last time, I didn't want to leave anyone out this week. So here goes...

For starters, I like to get in small things ... small boxes, small spaces, or in this case a small basket. Believe it or not, although I look uncomfortable and about to tip over, I actually was really happy here.

When Josie came into our family, she was really small. Her collar could barely stay on. She's grown up, but Mom and Dad say she's still small compared to us big boys.

Huggy Bear was once small too ... I have proof. Here he is with Josie. When they were kittens they used to nap together.

Here's more proof that Huggy Bear was small. You can actually see under his belly without having to push back all his floofy hair!

And of course what would be a small PhotoHunt without small Maggie. We had so many small pictures of her, but when I hunted past this one Dad chuckled a little at the contrast of Maggie and me. (I did have a small picture of myself, but since I ended up in half these pictures I figured you'll see more of me again soon...)

Secret Paws is here!

Thanks Abby and Boo for the wonderful Secret Paws gift! I can't tell you how excited we were when Dad came in from hunting and brought the box in. Mom had been feeling run down and sniffelly and this brightened her day too.

Maggie and Josie were so excited when Dad put the box down for us. Maggie started clawing and headbutting the box right away, while Josie investigated carefully, as she always does.

Josie read us the card from Abby and Boo (Mom taught her to always read the card first...).

Mom helped lay everything out for us so we could investigate and pick our favorites. It's a tough call to pick a favorite.

Huggy Bear and Josie decided to share the gold glittery ball, but Huggy called it first and played first. He was nice though and let Josie play with it shortly thereafter.

Of course the Temptations were a hit! (This is me "resisting Temptation" -- hehe)

Thanks again Abby and Boo for this excellent Secret Paws gift! We'll be enjoying it for a long time. And we helped Mom pack up our Secret Paws package to go out ... just one more thing to complete it and it'll be in the mail Saturday.

Thursday Thirteen #6 -- Sticking out her tongue

The other day Maggie was sticking out her tongue at us. Huggy Bear, Josie and I have discussed why we think she'd be sticking out her tongue. These are our guesses...



1. She's a sassy little girl and is showing us all.
2. I called her "naughty" and showed pictures of her in her naughty t-shirt last week and she's not happy with me.
3. ::raspberry::
4. She was sleeping in front of the space heater (before it turned hot outside).
5. She thinks she needed some pink in the picture to offset her fur.
6. Dad used day-old milk in his cereal and she drank some.
7. Tired of the same old treats.
8. She's expressing her disappointment that all those new toys and treats coming into the house are for Secret Paws and not for her.
9. She's really a snake.
10. Girls just like to razz boys any way they can.
11. She's the youngest so she knows she can get away with bad behavior.
12. She told a joke and we didn't laugh so she suck her tongue out at us.
13. She didn't think Santa Claws was looking so she had to get the "bad" out of her system real quick by sticking her tongue out at me.

(Not exactly) Wordless Wednesday

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::whispering on Wordless Wednesday:: If anyone would like to get a Christmas card from us or exchange Christmas cards with us please email your snail mail address to jenianddean AT gmail DOT com. Mom and Dad finally gave up on getting a group picture and compromised and the cards are cute (if I say so myself) and ready to go out...

Tuxie Tummy Tuesday

I'll just roll over
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Josie loves the guest bed, especially when it's made and the morning sun is shining in. She will curl up, stretch out or just roll around on it. I think she was begging Mom for some tummy rubs here. And, really, how could Mom resist?

Moncat Monday

We are big helpers!
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Some cats may say it's not very Mancatly to play with your sister and fold laundry, but I disagree. Mom and Dad were fluffing the sheet up to fold it and I did a complete cannonball into the middle of the sheet. Josie thought it looked so fun that she joined in. Mom and Dad even had fun with it watching us pounce the sheet and chase the wrinkles.

PhotoHunt: Long

I have been wanting to start doing some PhotoHunting but just hadn't gotten around to it, what with all the napping and decorating to do, but today's PhotoHunt theme was just too appropriate to pass up. I knew I had a perfect long picture, me stretched out on Mom and Dad's bed! Huggy Bear had requested that I use a picture of him stretching on the kitchen floor, because he does that a lot (and Dad keeps taking the picture like it's something new he's doing), but I don't think I'm being rude by telling HB that for the first one I want it to be me since I to the work on the blog, and they just get the glory. I promised him that he'll get a turn soon.

TP Thursday

Oh Maggie, Maggie, Maggie! ::shakes head:: You see, Maggie has this thing for the toilet paper roll, but it seems to only be the one in the hall bathroom. The other day Dad found it on the floor, so he thought he'd be bright and put it on backward (backward to him is rolling under, not over) so when Maggie tried to unroll it it would just spin instead. Well, Maggie showed him!

As you can see, Maggie went into shred mode, making TP confetti instead of just unrolling it. She even put the toothy death on the roll!

I like the paper hanging from her mouth... nothing quite says caught-in-the-act like that!

And of course the finished product... Maggie managed to knock the entire roll in the trash can, where it belongs after her work.

PS Mom finally posted the raspberry almond cake on her kitchen blog.

Christmas Cards

If there are any kittens out there that would like to exchange Christmas cards, please email me your snail mail address at jenianddean AT gmail DOT com.

Widebody Wednesday

Mom loves to get pictures of me all stretched out especially on my back. Well the other night she and dad were downstairs watching TV (and trying to keep Maggie out of the Christmas tree), I went upstairs and snuggled in for my evening nap in mom and dad's bed. I love having that big bed all to myself. No Maggie, Josie, and no Huggy Bear - just me, me, me. I was enjoying my dreams of crunchy treats and chasing orange fuzzy ball, then all of sudden FLASH in my eyes. There was mom saying things like "Awwww...he's so cute" "Look at his question mark tail" "I love his white spot - remember when he was a kitten" "Gosh he really is very floofy." I tried to ignore her, but she decided to take a squillion pictures. I have to admit, I did do a little posing for her, but I was annoyed while I was doing it. Then she gave me tons of tummy rubs and kisses, so I forgave her for waking me up.

Tabby Tuesday

Mom and Dad insist on buying t-shirts for Maggie. I hope this trend remains a "Maggie thing" because I don't want to have to put a hairball in their shoes anytime soon. As it goes, I think Maggie gets the shirts because they fit her, and she's starting to get used to it. She's no fashionista like Daisy, but she tries her best.


Mom tried to bribe Maggie with treats, but Maggie was a little unsettled by the t-shirt on her back and just sniffed them.


You may notice this is no ordinary t-shirt, though, it is a "Naughty" t-shirt, so maybe that's why Maggie is wearing it. They must have known that she'd be playing with the tree and the ornaments, so they got her a naughty Christmas t-shirt so everyone knew.


Despite her naughtiness, she tried her best to be a good model. (And later she did admit that she thought it was cuter than her other shirt that fits her more snugly.)

Midnight Monday

Peek-a-boo
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Huggy Bear just loves to poke around the corner and keep tabs on things. His favorite spot is in the upstairs hall bathroom, half on the cool floor, half on the carpet, peeking around corner where he can monitor both Mom in the office and the activity from the top of the stairs. This is his second favorite spot, in the space between the garage door and the kitchen, waiting for treats or a piece of ice to chase and play with.

Christmas tree

Mom and Dad worked hard today to get the Christmas tree up in the living room. To Mom and Dad, it is a Christmas tree ... to Maggie, it is her favorite toy that she only gets to play with one month out of the year. Even before all the balls were on the tree, Maggie had climbed more than halfway up, knocked a few balls off, and been sprayed with the squirt bottle. Huggy Bear is trying real hard to teach her that you can lay under the tree and enjoy the tree without getting into trouble, but right now Maggie isn't listening. Thank goodness for Martha Stewart's shatterproof ornaments or we might have a pretty bare tree.

How I see myself in my dreams

Mom and Dad were browsing through Flickr with me and I found this picture of a lion leaping across a pool of water and I said, "Wait, wait ... that's me! When I close my eyes that's exactly what I look like!" but I think all they heard was the rumble of a deep purr that represents the lion inside me.

Floofy Friday

Question: Do all moms think they are funny? My mom sure thinks she's funny. Look what she did to my beautiful fur. I was up in bed with her, and she was giving me my morning brushes, and then all of a sudden she was brushing me the wrong way! And then she started laughing and taking pictures. Let me tell you something, I was not happy, not happy at all! My beautiful ginger fur sticking up all over the place like that. What will kittens think???

Well she did brush it back down and gave me lots of snuggles afterwards, but that's not the point. So I'll ask again, do all moms think they are funny? Let me know.

Thursday Thirteen #5 -- Answers and thoughts

We got so many great comments and questions about Josie's Wordless Wednesday yesterday that I thought I'd to a Thursday Thirteen of answers (and a few thoughts, too)...
1. Josie was helping Mom bake a cake for Thanksgiving at Dad's work.
2. This is an old Williams-Sonoma recipe from one of the cookbooks that Mom has been making for about 14 years now.
3. It's one of those recipes where when you go to open the cookbook it opens straight to that page.
4. Josie didn't get to eat any of the cake, but Mom did let us taste the icing and let's just say YUM!
5. The cake didn't last long enough to share, but I'll ask Mom to post it on her kitchen blog soon, because I know she took pictures of it.
6. Dad said it was one of the best ones she's ever made, and the raspberries were some of the best raspberries we've found since moving to South Carolina.
7. The cake has raspberry jelly between the layers, which brings me to a funny story...
8. ... Once, when Mom was first making this cake, before we were around, Mom had another cat named Fluffy who was helping in the kitchen...
9. ... Mom was melting the jelly for the in-between layers when she touched some metal on the pan and burned her hand ...
10. ... as she burned her hand, she dropped the pan and melted raspberry jelly went all over the place, and all over Fluffy...
11. ... fortunately, Fluffy was very fluffy and did not get burned, but Mom rushed him to the bathroom and he licked and licked and licked the jelly off before Mom could get him cleaned.
12. (I bet it tasted good, but I don't know if I want jelly splattered on me...)
13. And a totally random thought ... Mom and Dad watch Lost, and really enjoyed reading Hurley's blog (OK, the actor's blog) ... it's very fun, and there's a post about them feeding the cats that they find in a parking lot near Roy's.

PS We got our Secret Paws' names! We are so excited!! And as always...Thank you, thank you, thank you to DKM!

Wordless Wednesday

Sandy Paws List

With all this Christmas talk lately, I think I know what I'm asking Sandy Paws for....THIS!

Tabby Tuesday

Warming Tracey and Clay's bed
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

When company comes it means we have increased responsibility. Maggie's job was one of the high-demand jobs around the house -- warming up the guest bed. Mom and Dad try to stop us from doing this when Aunt Tiff comes (something about allergies) but Maggie was all over this job before Tracey and Clay and Garrett came for Thanksgiving. You can see how hard she's concentrating on her nap here. That's dedication.

Mancat Monday

So whatcha thinking about Huggy Bear?
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

We had company for Thanksgiving. Mom and Dad's friends Tracey and Clay flew in from Iowa and brought their two-and-a-half-year-old son Garrett with them. Garrett was fascinated with us, but Huggy Bear (Huddy Bear to Garrett, whose nose was stuffed up) was the one who was Mancat enough to dare to be near Garrett. Maybe it was because HB weighed the draw of the turkey scent over the fear of sticky fingers, maybe he was drawn in by someone who wanted to play feathers-on-a-stick with him, but by the end of the weekend Garrett was sitting in Dad's lap watching Conjunction Junction over and over again (he liked trains a lot) and HB was laying pressed up against Dad's leg letting Garrett gently pat him. Although we were a little out of sorts with the little guy around, it's only been a day and we miss him already.

Thanksgiving Thursday

Thanksgiving means getting a little extra down time around the house, but it also means company and the oh so wonderful smell of turkey wafting through the house. We have friends of Mom and Dad's visiting from frozen Iowa (our windows are open right now...) and their little soon-to-be-three-years-old son Garrett visiting. Garrett has been playing with us a lot (and wearing us out so we will sleep hard, and hide under beds). (The smell of turkey is currently overriding Huggy Bear's misgivings about Garrett and he's spending a lot of time snoopervising in the kitchen...)

Since this is Thanksgiving, it is time for us to give thanks.
Maggie said she is thankful for her orange blanket that she loves to sleep on and nuzzle, for treats, and her high napping spot in the garage.
Huggy Bear is thankful for morning treats when Dad first goes downstairs, for Maggie who always wants to hang out with him, and for not getting fussed at when he begs for turkey.
Josie is thankful for brushes under her chin, and the coat closet hiding place, and special Mom time when Josie gets under the covers and snuggles against Mom's leg at night.
I am thankful for my sink to nap in, my catstand to nap in, and brushes on the corner of my mouth.
We are all thankful for our family, our wonderful blogging friends and the good health of everyone.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and I hope everyone gets some turkey today!

Wordless Wednesday

Mancat -Toesies Tuesday

Since mom was so rudely gone all day Monday and I didn't get to post a Mancat Monday picture, I decided to do a two for one today. Here is a picture of my giant mancat paw on my mom's leg. I'm giving her the business for not being home all day yesterday. Please note my winter floof coming out from between my toes.Here is a side of my giant paw. Look at all that winter toesie floof!

Easy Like Sunday

We all nap like pros, but Maggie has been the big cuddler. We suspect that Mom and Dad are keeping the heat set low so that we'll be more apt to snuggle with them. So far, it's working with Maggie who has been sleeping pressed up against Mom all night, every night. Here she's tucked deep into the comforter that Mom was resting under downstairs while watching some football.

Mom and Dad just love how she rests her chin on her little paw. I guess as sisters go I could have done worse...

Floofy Friday

Dad says we are starting to get our winter floof. What do you all think? Is anyone else getting their winter floof? I have tons of extra floof between my toesies. I guess I'm supposed to go outside in the snow or something. I don't think so. We are indoor cats. It's nice and cozy in here. (Also we don't get much, if any, snow here in South Carolina.)
PS Aunt Tiffy - I will trim my toesies before you come and visit for Christmas. I know how my toesie floof bothers you. But if I trim my toesie floof for you, what are you going to do for me? I hope whatever it is it comes in the shape of catnip or a new mousie. Thanks!!

Tattle Tail Thursday

Well I unfortunately don't have time to give all the details, but dad locked Maggie in the linen closet all night. He says it was an accident. Maggie is fine. The funny thing is I don't think she cried or anything to get out.

I'll tell the rest of the story this afternoon.
As Paul Harvey would say, and now for the rest of the story...

You see, Mom and Dad have company coming for Thanksgiving (well, I guess technically we all have company coming, but Mom and Dad are doing all the prep work for the visitors), and Dad was putting the towels away last night. As he did this, Huggy Bear rushed into the linen closet and curled up in the bottom. Well, Dad saw HB there and left the linen closet open until HB decided he was done. It was late and Dad did a quick check (obviously too quick) and thought the closet was empty and shut the door and went to sleep. There were no audible protests from Maggie, and Mom and Dad didn't even notice us come to her rescue and camp out at the door as we sometimes do when one of us is locked in somewhere.

Fast forward to morning, to top things off, Dad overslept by almost an hour. So poor Maggie wasn't just stuck in the linen closet, she was stuck in the linen closet for an extra hour. Dad woke to realize that his carpool ride was sitting in the driveway. He called her to say to go on without him and he went to the linen closet to get a clean towel and wash cloth (good thing he's dirty and showers every day!) and when he opened the linen closet there was little Maggie, curled up in the bottom of the linen closet in a nest of wash clothes she had pulled down. She had picked at the carpet some like she had tried to dig her way out, but there were no "accidents" (although Dad may get an "accident" on his pillow if he does this again...). Maggie got some "we're so sorry" treats from Mom and now she's acting OK, hanging out with Mom and cleaning her a little.

Widebody Wednesday

Does this tiny Maggie cat make me look big??

What'cha lookin' at dad?

peek-a-boo
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Maggie loves to smack her toys under the couch. The way she tells mom and dad that her favorites are under there is she gets down really low, and stares under the couch like there is a bug under there. Then dad or mom gets down and looks under the couch. It's really hard to tell what you are going to find under there. This day it was a green crinkle ball, an orange ball, a green mouse, and a Dots candy box from Halloween. Maggie loves to play with candy wrappers. Silly sister!