Monday, March 31, 2008

Midnight Monday

She's Mom to all of us, but yesterday Huggy Bear wanted to make sure she knew she was his Mom. She got up right beside her on the couch, pressed himself about as close as he could, then placed both his paws on her so she couldn't go anywhere.

Holding on to Mom
To top things off, Mom was wearing her Bad Kitty pajamas.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Dad's new toy

Dad got an iPod Nano -- anyone want to place bets on how long it takes for one of us to put the toothy death on it?

Saturday, March 29, 2008

PhotoHunt: High

For the PhotoHunter's theme today I'm going deep into the vault, about a year ago. The theme is high, and back in May we did a photo series of Maggie coming down from her perch way up high. She would sleep either in an old old old baby cradle that Mom and Dad put on the highest shelf in the garage or in the boxes right beside it, as high as she could get, and follow a maze-like path down which included a stretch through the base of a wire stand and a jump over to the top f the refrigerator where Mom or Dad would usually pick her up.

Here's Maggie, about as high up as she can get in the garage, about bumping her head on the popcorn ceiling. She's given up on that napping spot for a different stack of boxes that has an old comforter on it that Dad set out for us.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Cat Fight Friday

It may look like we're fighting, but we're really playing and having fun. There was no crying, no butt biting, no hissing ... just a good ol' cat wrestling match!

Ready for the pounce
Here I am, waiting for Maggie to pounce.

On the attack
Greco-Roman style cat wrestling.

Quick strike
Maggie's quick ... you can tell because she's just a blur in this picture.

Tussling
But I'm strong, and if I can just keep a paw under her chin I win. It's my equivalent of a pin.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Thursday Thirteen #18 -- By The Numbers

Today's Thursday Thirteen is "By The Numbers" -- a numerical breakdown of the McKitten-Cats. I'll be sure to answer the question most asked from yesterday's Thursday Thirteen: How much do Huggy Bear and Maggie weigh...

One: Number of cats Mom had before me.
Two: Boy cats and two girl cats in the McKitten-Cat family
Three: Pounds that I weigh more than Huggy Bear (I'm 18, he's 15).
Four: Size of the litter that Josie and Huggy Bear came from.
Five: Pairs of rechargeable batteries that Mom and Dad have purchased for the digital cameras since getting the first one a few years back.
Six: Years old that I will turn next month.
Seven: Pounds is Maggie's weight.
Eight: Rhymes with ate, which is what I did just before writing this list.
Nine: Time I'm writing this Wednesday night (but will post Thursday ... yes, I write some posts ahead of time, depending on when Mom and Dad will free up the computer for me to type some.)
Ten: Size of the litter that Maggie came from.
Eleven: Dogs when you count two houses in any direction from our house (and why we'll happily stay inside, thank you very much...)
Twelve: Pounds that Josie weighs.
Thirteen: Different places I could sleep in one day and still want to nap.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Tuxie Tuesday: Meowie and Tent

Just a quick post today ... I wanted to show this cute picture of Gracie with her kitten Meowie. Gracie is Mom and Dad's friends' daughter. She turned four on Easter, but this picture was taken during the Super Bowl. It is one of Gracie's favorite pictures, and also Meowie's favorite napping spot in the big pink chair. I wish we had a big pink chair like that!

Gracie and her new kitty, Meowy
Gracie is our favorite sticky person, but she has a little one-year-old sister Clara Ann who visited with Mom last Friday. Clara Ann is pretty cute too and we had fun investigating this crawling thing. Who knows, she may give Gracie a run for her money!

"What's in here?"
Here she is trying to get a toy out of our new red cat tent. Fortunately Josie decided to leave the tent a few minutes before this little adventure.

Clara Ann inside the cat tent
She really tried to get in, but I think she realized that this is definitely a cat tent, and not a sticky person tent.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Maggie Monday

Saturday was such an amazing day outside that Mom and Dad actually decided to eat lunch on the deck! This doesn't happen often ... it's not that they don't like the deck, or that they don't like eating outside, it's just that they kind of forget, and there's no TV or cats out there, which really has to take away from the dining experience. But Saturday they thought they'd eat outside, and figured maybe Maggie would tolerate the harness and sit with them while they ate.

Maggie all harnessed up
Maggie isn't great about letting them get her harness on, and she likes to roll around and try to attack it, but they used some treats to calm her and get her used to wearing it (Huggy Bear and Josie also benefited from the treats). Then Mom carried her outside and set her down on the deck.

"Can I go down the stairs?"
Maggie was a little more adventuresome than Josie when she was on the deck. Josie explored the deck some, but Maggie was more curious about the stairs.

The bottom of the stairs
Mom let Maggie go down the stairs to the paver at the bottom of the steps. Maggie looked under the steps but decided against trying to go under (I don't think Mom would have let her go under anyway) and decided to come back up.

Huggy Bear watches Maggie
Huggy Bear watched Maggie from the kitchen window. I don't think he understood why she was out there. And when the wind kicked up, Maggie couldn't understand why she was out there either. Mom decided at that point to bring her back inside.

Sniffing the air
I think Maggie had fun exploring the outside stairs, but Maggie thinks the air smells better from the other side of the screen, where there is no harness and plenty of soft couches to sleep on.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easy Like Sunday

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

Easter is a great time for us, even though we don't get Easter candy or get to chase "the rabbit" (as Gracie, our friend's daughter calls him) we do get to chase the foil wrappers from the Cadbury Creme Eggs. Hope everyone has a great Easter!

-----

I know I keep mentioning Mom and Dad's trips to IKEA, but so much fun stuff came from those trips. First of all, they have to drive three and a half hours just to get there, so when they go it's a big trip, with lots of things bought. Yeah, I like the new desk and the cat tents and the bookshelves that I haven't shown you guys yet, but I think I found my favorite thing from IKEA yet -- the giant blue IKEA bag!

The cat's in the bag
Mom and Dad were doing some work in the garage last night making a cornice for the guest bedroom which meant that we had to snoopervise. That's when I found the awesome bag. I wasted no time hunkering down into it. It's a great place to lay in wait, to hide from a pouncing sister, or just to relax and enjoy the garage.

IKEA bag

Saturday, March 22, 2008

PhotoHunt: Metal

When I saw today's PhotoHunter's theme was metal I got very excited, because I know I've done a lot around the house in my role as big brother and thought that this was a perfect time for Mom and Dad to award me with a medal, but then they pointed out that the theme was meTal, not meDal, and that I would have to wait for my gold, but that's OK. So instead, here's Huggy Bear...

PhotoHunt: Metal
Huggy Bear was watching out the window on top of Mom and Dad's new metal chest from IKEA that they had to get because their new desk has no drawers. The sunlight lit up his face nicely in this picture...

Huggy Bear on the metal drawers
...but he looks more kittenish in this picture. Today was actually the first time any of us realized that we could get up there, and HB was the first. He's not much of a jumper so it's something for him to get up like this.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Finally Friday...


Maggie snuggling
Originally uploaded by jenianddean


YIPPPEEEE!! It's finally Friday and we have mom and dad all to ourselves this weekend. We are free snuggle all weekend. It looks like Maggie has already gotten a head start on snuggling with mom.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Thursday Thirteen #17 -- Hairing up the clothes

Getting our hair on Mom and Dad's clothes is an essential part of our being. It is necessary so that everyone understands, first, that these are our people and that they belong to us, and second, that they are cat people and should be respected appropriately. There are many ways to ensure that Mom and Dad are fully cat-haired up. Here are 13...

1. As demonstrated in yesterday's Wordless Wednesday, I prefer to take the Superman pose and lay on the clean clothes that have made it onto the futon but have yet to be folded.
2. If no clean clothes are available, you can always put your hair on the dirty clothes instead. Although these will face the challenge of the washing machine I've found that certain garments will still retain cat hair.
3. Josie is a pro at rubbing her hair on Dad right before he goes out the door for work. Since he carpools, he will usually have a few minutes waiting, so she makes sure to serpentine between his legs, covering all sides fully.
4. You can always approach the cat-hairing through a secondary vector, like the bedspread. If you put your cat hair on the comforter, when Mom or Dad brushes against the comforter they are sure to attract some cat hair.
5. Of course, we have plenty of cat hair on the couches. These are essentially off limits for Dad before leaving for work. We work hard to recover the couch after every vacuuming to ensure our presence is felt.
6. Then there's just the presence of cat hair in the air. Spring is coming and we are shedding, so if you run quickly you should distribute you hair evenly throughout the house, ensuring good coverage of both Mom and Dad.
7. Maggie uses the sneak attack. She waits until Dad is distracted with his morning cereal and then puts her hair on him ... then she drinks his milk.
8. Maggie also likes to get her hairs on Mom by climbing the back of the computer chair. If you take this approach, I recommend not clawing your Mom's back as this will make her hop away from you and make it harder to hair her up.
9. Huggy Bear has been leaving hair clumps in all his favorite napping spots, kind of like hair land mines to trap Mom and Dad.
10. You can also get you hairs on the bath towels so when they get out of the shower they rub your hairs on their faces. They make work to take that hair off, but their expressions are priceless!
11. Josie likes to sleep against the ironing board so Dad gets hairs on his clothes as he irons. Of course, this will backfire if your beans don't iron.
12. Just get a Huggy Bear, because Huggy Bears are shedding machines and this will guarantee cat hairs everywhere.
13. And my personal favorite is napping in the closet just below the clothes, so my hairs can migrate up onto their clothes. Plus it's a cozy place to sleep.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Tabby Tuesday

Maggie's not the Wicked Witch of the West, but she did end up under the cat tent, which makes you wonder...

In the tent Maggie, not under the tent
She made all kinds of racket playing in the tent and she likes to dart in real quick. I guess she darted a little low and ended up underneath it instead. Good thing for her Huggy Bear or I wasn't in the tent. She'd have been squished.

Silly Maggie
Mom just loves her little paws in this picture, almost like she'd praying that she's not stuck under the tent forever.

Speaking of cat tents ... Mom and Dad got us a red one just like this one now, so we don't have to fight over just one. Now we can fight over two!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Easy Like Sunday

The weather has been warming up. Sure, yesterday we had some crazy storms, including a few tornadoes in our area, but overall it has been a lot nicer. We even all gathered in on place by the guest bedroom window to enjoy some of the nice weather. A definite sign of better days to come!


A very rare sighting indeed ...
---

Also, yesterday Dad was looking at the stats on our Flickr page because he finds it interesting to see which pictures people look at more, and where people come from to find our pictures. Well, from our stats he found this one site that had used a Flickr hack to use several small pictures to create a big picture of Gene Simmons from Kiss. It's kind of cool, but the cool part is he used pictures tagged "kittens" to do it, which means that some of our pictures were caught in that net. Since Saturday was "I Spy" on PhotoHunters, it was kind of ironic that Dad ended up doing an I Spy on this mosaic to find us. (Mousing over the pictures says where the pictures came from, and this kind of use of our pictures doesn't bother us, unlike Max's issue earlier this week...)

Here's a link to the full sized picture.
You can find Josie 11 rows down from the top, and 6 over from the right.
Maggie is twice, black and white, 13 from the top, 4 from the right, and 14 from the top, 5 from the right.
Huggy Bear was the first one Dad was able to find, 5 from the bottom, 6 from the left.
At first I thought I was left out, but I'm in there too, 9 up from the bottom, 3 from the left.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

PhotoHunt: I Spy

The PhotoHunt theme is I Spy, which I think is a really fun theme, To start, here are some things we have spied out our windows.


Back in October there was a sassy squirrel on our deck. Can you see him giving giving Huggy Bear the business?


And back in the summer Maggie spied our neighbor's dog investigating our mailbox. He's a little dog so he's pretty hard to see.


See how little he is? That's not his driveway, either. He likes to visit, and will come and visit Mom and Dad sometimes when they are working in the yard.

But the PhotoHunt theme was really for a "hidden" image, like the old I Spy books. In the picture below there are 10 cat toys. Can you spot them all? You may have to biggify it to see them all.


To see all 10 cat toys, go to the Flickr page and there are notes showing each toy...

Friday, March 14, 2008

FURminator Friday


Mom read about the FURminator (I think on Chase's blog) and looked into it. When she went to the website she was amazed to see how much of the loose fur it removed. She was also amazed at the price! But after seeing how much Huggy Bear is shedding right now, she decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. WOW, what a difference! Mom has been furminating us when she gets a chance, and the hair just keeps coming off. She's being real gentle, because the instructions do warn that it can irritate the skin if you push real hard, but even with some gentle brushing there is so much undercoat coming off. We thought we were soft before, but now we're even softer, if that's possible! I like the FURminator the best, then Josie and Maggie. Huggy Bear, who needs it the most, likes it the least, of course, but Mom has figured out that if she puts a hair band under the scale in the bathroom, Huggy Bear will lay out trying to get it and let Mom brush him. (We suspect Huggy Bear thinks Mom is trying to steal all his fur and that's why he walks away when she tries to brush him, but he's just leaving his fur all over the house anyway -- so much that when Tish was watching us she thought we'd had a cat fight!) Anyhow, I think the FURminator is worth what Mom spent on it because she's gotten so much excess fur off of us -- it's just nuts! (I know I have a picture of the first brushing around here somewhere ...)

Here it is....I'll have mom take some more this weekend.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Price

The Price, one of Dad's favorite Neil Gaiman short stories, is up on Last.fm, read by the author, and about a black cat. Take 15 minutes and enjoy this one. (You can click the little play button below and play it here.)

Neil GaimanThe Price

Thursday Thirteen #16 -- Random thoughts

Today's Thursday Thirteen is a bunch of random thoughts I've had lately. Spring is in the air and I've been hanging out on the old desk that is up near a window in the poop room (yes, it will eventually become a nursery whenever that time comes, but right now it has boxes of books and our litter box, and now the old desk) -- where was I, oh, yes, I've been staring out the window, or resting on a box, and doing some thinking, which is what cats do, you know. So here are my thirteen random thoughts.

1. First, I think it is funny doing a Thursday Thirteen on Thursday, the 13th. Maybe I should be doing something on luck, or unluckiness, but no, too many random thoughts...
2. I think Mom and Dad need to get the cat stroller out of the garage and back in the house so they are constantly reminded that they need to take Maggie for a walk (and give us a brief reprieve). They take it out from the front door because the big garage door made Maggie about come out of her skin the first time they tried it.
3. It would be nice if someone would make an ice crusher that a cat could use so we don't have to wait for Mom or Dad to make crushed ice for Josie to lick, or for Maggie to chase.
4. Mom got us a Furminator and I like it, and the others are warming up to it, but more on that tomorrow on Furminator Friday...
5. I'm glad that we have a new computer, because it's fast and works and Dad fusses about how slow his computer at work is getting (although his work isn't wholly dependent on his computer it's nice for it to do what you want when you want it to.)
6. Having a new computer also means that now Mom likes being on the computer again, which also means that we get to hang out in front of the monitor more.
7. You know, hanging out in front of the monitor when Mom is not trying to do something on the computer is strangely unsatisfying.
8. Coming up with worthwhile Thursday Thirteen topics is more challenging than I thought, but I'm sticking with it ...
9. We are almost as excited as Mom and Dad about new TV shows returning because it means that we can hang out on the couch with Mom and Dad again.
10. They played Scrabble last night while watching Law & Order, but when I tried to help Dad make a word he made me get off the table.
11. (It would have been a good word, too, if only he had a W -- "meow")
12. BTW, Mom always wins at Scrabble, but Dad always agrees to play anyway.
13. All this thinking is wearing me out ... I think I need to go find my box again. Maybe I can get Mom to put on some Cat Stevens, or Stray Cats, for me to listen to while I sleep...

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Tuckered out Tabby Tuesday

Maggie gets so tuckered out, playing hard all day, hanging out with Mom, snoopervising... Here she is on her favorite blanket all tucked in with Mom on the couch. I think she would have slept there forever if no one ever moved.



Maggie doesn't know it, I don't think, but this makes Mom so happy when she snuggles in with her like this.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Midnight Mancat Monday


Mr. Yellow eyes
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Huggy Bear loves to help out. When mom was cutting out the million rubber duckies for Clara Ann's birthday party, Huggy would keep the scrap paper under control by laying on it. Good job!!

The yellow paper really intensifies his beautiful yellow eyes.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Easy Like Sunday

Mom and Dad like us to share the bed so we try to be nice to each other like they want and co-exist on the bed. Sometimes, though, keeping the comforter between us helps...

Sharing the bed

Saturday, March 08, 2008

PhotoHunt: Different

The PhotoHunt theme of different was perfect timing, because our desk is different! Our old desk is now in the other room, looking for a new home, and we have a cooler, bigger desk. With Aunt Tiff visiting, Mom and Dad put her to work and she helped Mom and Dad get the desk put up.

Jasper on desk

Mom and Dad stained the desk legs to match the cabinets, then they all assembled the cabinets and mounted the cabinets and shelves on the wall, put the desk in place, and the cool wire that will soon hold hanging photos of us. Everything came from their IKEA trip two weekends ago, and fortunately Aunt Tiff was coming and was able to bring some of the bigger parts in her Highlander.

New desk with Jasper

We are very excited to have so much more desk surface to lay out on, and I know Mom and Dad are too, because sometimes I like to stretch out on the desktop while they're working on the computer and now they can continue to work (which I guess partly defeats the purpose of me lying out in front of the computer.) Two of us can even fit on the desk without causing a major disturbance in the Universe!

Jasper snoopervising the blog

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Our new tags

Our Auntie Susan bought us some very cute little tags.

Josie's says "Smarty Cat."
Huggy's says "Cool Cat."
Maggie's says "Sassy."
And mine says "Purrrrfect", but since I doesn't wear a collar, mine is waiting for me in dad's change bowl.

Thanks Auntie Susan!

Thursday Thirteen #15 -- Pounced by Maggie

On Tuesday, I showed Maggie and I tussling. Maggie is a pretty playful little sister, which can be OK, but can also be a bit much when you're not expecting it. Today's Thursday Thirteen is thirteen places Maggie will pounce you from.

1. The top of the bed. She likes the aerial attack.
2. Under the bed. Good for a sneak attack.
3. Around the corner ... also a good sneak attack.
4. From between the stools in the kitchen. She'll actually jettison herself off the stools with her feet.
5. Down the hall, usually in a low sprint.
6. Onto your napping spot.
7. On the bathroom counter. She'll even bully you out of the sink.
8. The windowsill, although she will also share.
9. Down the stairs.
10. From the ledge above the stairs.
11. Oh, yes, the top of the desk.
12. Or from the back of the desk chair, too.
13. I could have made this easier by just saying "everywhere" because I think Maggie has a little prankster in her, and she'll pounce you just about anywhere, really...

PS - Look who's featured on House Panthers today...it's my little brother, Huggy Bear!!! YIPPPEEE!!

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Tabby Tussle Tuesday

Sometimes Maggie and I just have to tussle a little bit ... she usually picks a time when I'm not in the mood, which puts me in the mood real quick.

Come here sister!
It may be up to debate, but I will argue that I'm winning here. The paw to the lower jaw is usually effective against Maggie. But I'm combining that with a good bite, too.

Do the tussle
Some may be critical of my technique, but I've always favored the "lay on my back, flail with all four legs" approach to tussling. I think it does OK, although it does seem to expose my soft white underbelly.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Midnight Mancat Monday

Huggy Bear may look like he's in jail here, but this is actually one of his favorite spots in the hall at the top of the stairs. It really is a good place to sit. The stairs curl some, so I'll perch on the other part of the hall overlooking the rest of the steps. We figure it's a good mancat thing to do, to watch over the stairs...

Huggy Bear in jail
Mom and Dad and Aunt Tiff have been working hard re-doing our office, so we were away from the computer all weekend, but we were doing a lot of snoopervising while we were away. They have a few things left to finish the office, but we are very excited by the progress already.