Sunday, November 30, 2008

Easy Like Sunday

The other day, Dad went to Target to get kitty litter and they were running the special again where if you bought two, you got a free $5 gift card. So when Mom and Dad went back later, did they use that $5 gift card to buy a bunch of treats or toys for us? No, they bought Maggie a penguin t-shirt!

Maggie's penguin t-shirt
Here's Maggie showing off her t-shirt. She didn't mind this one as much as the other two shirts she has worn, but this one is more of a cape and less form-fitting. She wore this for Aunt Tiff, who is visiting for the weekend. Aunt Tiff is a big penguin fan, so Maggie agreed to wear it. But I think she needs some lessons from Daisy on how to properly model. (I don't think "death roll" is a good modeling technique.)

Saturday, November 29, 2008

PhotoHunt: Metal

Today's PhotoHunt theme is metal, and I don't really need to even hunt that hard for it, because Dad took a picture of Huggy Bear and Maggie just the other day, and Maggie is drinking out of our METAL water bowl.

Huggy Bear watching Maggie drink
Maggie is a bit of a Huggy Bear shadow, and he was drinking out of the bowl, so that meant that Maggie needed to drink out of the bowl, too. We had to get this bowl (which looks like a dog bowl, but Mom and Dad said it's a cat bowl) because we kept knocking over the other bowl we had in the kitchen, which was a fun game for us, but apparently not a fun game for Mom and Dad.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Black Friday = Nap Friday

Mom and Dad were up bright and early this morning today and left the house around 4:15 a.m. to do some shopping. The beans made it home around 10 a.m. with a bunch of bags. They're pretty wiped out so I think we'll get some cat naps with Mom and Dad today. They did get us a new tree to climb, so I think we'll have three trees to terrorize this Christmas. I missed visiting yesterday, but I'm going to try to get around more today, and maybe do some blog updates, too.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thankful Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving

We hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving and gets to enjoy some family time and turkey (especially the turkey). We've been playing catch-up with our time we've been missing with Mom and Dad working so much lately. Maggie won't leave Mom's side, and I'm keeping tabs on Dad to make sure they don't go anywhere today.

We are very thankful for our Mom and Dad's love, and our brothers and sisters, and especially for all our great friends in the cat blogosphere who make each day special in their own unique ways.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Tuxie Tabby Tuesday

Josie was getting some long-overdue love from Dad this weekend when Maggie suddenly hopped up on the counter and started licking Dad's elbow and sniffing him.

Jealous Maggie
Jealous much, Maggie?

Today is Mom and Dad's 13th wedding anniversary! That's before we were even around, and Fluffy, the-cat-who-came-before, was in charge of them. Just one cat back then? I guess as they've aged they need more snoopervision.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Mancat Monday

This weekend I finally decided to try out the tuffet that Mom got for us at Sam's a while back. Mom suspects that I've been in it when she's not home, but I'm not letting on.

Jasper on the tuffet
You really can't beat a napping spot that hugs you back.

Jasper enjoying his tuffet

Saturday, November 22, 2008

PhotoHunt: Reflection

We've been absent from the PhotoHunt for the past few weeks, and 2008 is running low on Saturdays, so I wanted to make sure that we got a few more up. This week's theme is Reflection. I "reflected" way back to March 2005 to this picture of Josie.

PhotoHunt: Reflection
She's between the vertical blinds and the sliding glass door in our old apartment. We used to love to play in those blinds.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Finally Friday

It's Finally Friday! And to celebrate, Maggie says we need to go places we really shouldn't ...

Maggie in the lily
... like in the plant ...

Maggie, jungle cat
... "What, Dad? I'm not supposed to be in this comfy plant?" ...


Maggie, not pooping in the plant
... "But look at all the space just for me." ...

Maggie squeezes into the entertainment center
... "OK, how about beside the cable box?"

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Meme and award time

The Island Cats Wally and Ernie tagged us with the 8 Random Things meme. We're going to share like goods cats should and do two apiece.
Jasper:
1. I'm the biggest and oldest of the McKitten-Cats, but some days I still have a very kittenish expression and look.
2. I spend a lot more time upstairs than the rest of us, usually in the closet or the sink or hanging out at the top of the stairs.
Josie:
3. She is a very friendly cat and usually the bravest when we have company, but she is also the fastest to hiss at the rest of us.
4. At night, she likes to sleep under the covers against Mom's leg (and sometimes claw her leg as she kneads dough) and if Mom is staying up too late she will come and find her and tell her to come to bed.
Huggy Bear:
5. Although he is a House Panther, he likes to meez a lot, especially when Mom is fixing something in the kitchen.
6. He doesn't like to be alone, and if he's in one room and Mom and Dad are in another, sometimes he will cry for them and they call his name and he will bring them balls or mouses and purr excitedly when he finds them.
Maggie:
7. She may be the smallest and youngest, but she's also the bossiest, and she loves Josie, but she has a way of aggravating Josie and making her hiss come out.
8. She does machine paws on the window in the morning to wake Mom and Dad up, then will follow them when they are in the shower or getting ready in the morning and tries to help them eat their cereal, because she knows how important it is to start your day off right and not to oversleep.

Also, The Real Cats gave us an award.


Thank you so much for thinking of us. It is always so flattering to get an award.

I know I'm supposed to pass on both the meme and the award, but I want to get this posted and it is getting late and Mom and Dad didn't even get home until 11:00 tonight (explain that!) and I'm writing a bunch of run-on sentences tonight so I must need to sleep, so ::tag:: you're it! Sorry to cop out, I'll do better tagging next time, I promise.

Also, here's an article about writers and their cats.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Tuxie Tuesday

Dad has been getting a lot of pictures of Josie lately, most likely because she's been sitting with him on the couch. She was the subject of another photo shoot the other day.

Josie closeup
Dad likes these big-eyed closeups of Josie.

My what big eyes you have
Her pupils were really big while he was taking these pictures.

Josie sticking her tongue out
But I think she got tired of having her picture taken and communicated it to Dad by sticking out her tongue.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Maggie Monday

Maggie is working on turning sleeping with Mom into an art form. She now spends the night snuggled up against Mom in one configuration or another. But most of her snuggling pictures come from on the couch.

Maggie sleeping behind Jeni's legs
Here she is showing the classic "Curled behind the knees with tail over nose" pose that I'm sure many of us are familiar with.

Maggie snuggled in against Jeni
This is the less traditional "Lying on your back like a hotdog in a bun" pose.

Maggie wants Mom to lay on the couch and watch TV more so she can work on her napping positions.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Finally Friday

It's finally Friday ... grab your favorite crinkle ball and have some fun!

Huggy Bear and the crinkle ball

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Thursday Thirteen #39: Human food

This weekend Mom was going through some of her collection of recipes from her favorite magazines. Instead of keeping a huge stack of magazines that are mostly ads anyway, Mom cuts out the pages she needs and organizes them into three-ring binders. Mom is going to be helping a friend with food for his birthday this Spring, and wanted to get some ideas.

Maggie wants to make this craft project
Maggie decided to help Mom choose some recipes. But then she decided to mark which ones she liked by putting the toothy death to them. And that's why she ended up in the air in yesterday's Wordless Wednesday picture.

But speaking of human food, here are thirteen of our favorite people foods to go after:
1. Chick-fil-A: Their slogan says Eat Mor Chikin, and I couldn't agree more. Usually Huggy Bear is very good about minding his manners when Mom and Dad are eating, but he goes a little nuts when the "Chick" is in the house.
2. Cheerios: Maggie love the honey of an O and tries to get Dad's cereal when he's eating breakfast. She even snuck and ate some of Mom's cereal when she turned away.
3. Cereal milk: The milk in the bottom of the bowl is so so good!
4. Pineapple syrup: You know the juice that the canned pineapple is in? That is the best thing ever!
5. Salt: I don't eat salt from the shaker, but I lick salty fingertips after Mom and Dad have chips.
6. Cheetos: OK, I'll he honest, I don't eat Cheetos much, but Fluffy who came before us, he was a big Cheetos fan, so it has to make the list in his honor.
7. Shrimp: Of course we like shrimp, but I think we like the thought of shrimp even more than the actual eating of the shrimp, especially Josie, who will beg and beg for shrimp, then snub it once Mom fixes her some.
8. Cheese: Huggy Bear will meez for cheese like nobody's business. I would swear he was part meezer if not for the fact that he's a big house panther. He likes Kraft cheese slices, and some of the soft cheese, like goat cheese and cream cheese.
9. Chicken: Now that's a no brainer. Mom will get the rotisserie chicken from Sam's when she needs some for a recipe quick. She gets what she needs, and then we get a treat from what's left.
10. Kaiser rolls: OK, we don't really eat rolls, but the other day Dad was eating some soup Mom had fixed and Maggie hopped up on the table, gave a sniff sniff, then licked his roll!
11. Bacon: Although we don't get it often, bacon is very good. Maybe it's better because we don't get it too often.
12. Yogurt: A while back Mom and Dad had picked up some yogurt at the store and HB would lick the container after they were done. He really seemed to like it, or at least like the challenge of licking it.
13. Ice: So maybe ice really isn't a "food" but it is one of our favorite things that comes from the fridge. It's especially fun to bat around the kitchen floor, then to leave where it will make a puddle for Mom to step in.

And just a note: We are very excited about Secret Paws!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Some good news

Here's a good news story for you ... thanks to a microchip, a cat in Santa Rosa, Calif., was returned home after being missing for 13 years! Here's a picture of George.

Wordless Wednesday

Jeni displaying Maggie

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Tuxie Tuesday

In a very curious reversal of behavior, when Josie sleeps in bed beside Mom, she sleeps under the covers. Meanwhile, Maggie will sleep at Mom or Dad's feet. But downstairs on the couch, as you saw yesterday, Maggie will sleep under the covers -- and Josie sleeps at Dad's feet.

Josie with Dean on the couch
Here Josie is just before snuggling down in the space between Dad's legs.

Josie contemplating the couch
Josie is very polite, and will wait to be invited onto the couch with Dad (she never has to wait long).

Monday, November 10, 2008

Maggie Monday

I think Maggie was trying to send Mom and Dad a message yesterday about the temperature in the house. She's not as floofy as the rest of us, and tends to get a little chilly, so during the Colts' game Maggie insisted that Dad make a tent with his knees and the blanket and she got under and took a nap.

Maggie under the blanket
"Dad, you could turn up the heat a little..."

Saturday, November 08, 2008

PhotoHunt: Together

The PhotoHunt theme for today is together. Funny, when I hunted for pictures of us together, the constant seemed to be Maggie, who likes to be with us. But the one she likes the most is obviously Huggy Bear. They're buddies, no doubt.

Napping together
Here they are napping together in the office while Mom was working on the computer.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Dona Nobis Pacem

Peace

BlogBlast for Peace

Frog alert

When Mom and Dad came home last night, there was a huge frog by the front porch. It hopped into the bed and tried to blend in to the mulch, but Dad got a picture for us.

Big Frog!!!
Look how big he is! If I was an outside cat, I think I would play with him a lot. He might be the frog that sneaks into our garage, but he looks too big. Maybe he sneaked in last year when he was smaller, but now he's grown.

Whatcha lookin' at???
He doesn't look too happy about Dad taking his picture. I bet he'd be happier inside with the four of us ... ::snicker:: ... I know I would be.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Shy, you will be missed

Ginger's sister Shy will be helped across the bridge today. She has lymphoma and is pretty weak. We are very sad for Ginger and her family. Please send her your prayers today.

Wordless Wednesday

Huggy Bear begging for chicken

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Election day

Mom and Dad voted, but did not write in Cheysuli-Derby, although they did discuss it. Maybe next time, or for a local election (think global, act local, right?). Hope you all got to vote. Mom and Dad spent 3 1/2 hours in line to vote, then came home to surprise us in mid-morning as they needed to change clothes for work, then took off again (after contemplating a quick nap and saying no). Dad offered Huggy Bear a piece of his Chick-fil-a mini, but it wasn't the piece that Huggy Bear wanted (he wanted the big piece) so he let it sit and Dad ended up throwing it away instead. Anyhow, just a quick post while I had a minute. A better post tomorrow!

Monday, November 03, 2008

Maggie Monday

Mom and Dad spent all weekend in the garage cleaning, consolidating and organizing. This was torture for us, since we had to sit inside and listen to them in the garage. Maggie is especially upset because the garage is her favorite place to be -- specifically, high up on the stack of boxes in the garage. The thing is, that stack of boxes is gone, replaced by just a couple of boxes. Mom and Dad made sure to leave a space for her with some blankets, but the path up is not as good, and the stack is not nearly as high. Maggie wanted to know if there was some appeal process, maybe a Cat Blogosphere governing body she could turn to, to get her boxes back, but I think Mom is very happy with the garage now, so I think it's staying the way it is.

"Uh, Mom, where are my boxes?"
"Mom, where did all my boxes go?"