Daily Kitties ~ What's Wrong with This Picture?

It was funny to see Bunny being the one looking in at Coco rather than the opposite. When the kitties were really small, we kept them inside all the time, so we often saw something more like this:



This time, I had the dogs in while I was puttering around the house, and the kitties were out exploring.


Unfortunately, Pixie is still missing. I'm thinking of putting up signs, but I have a feeling it wouldn't help. Maybe, though, if I put up signs, the person who took her would have enough of a guilty conscience to bring her back.

Daily Kitties ~ Down to One?

We haven't seen Pixie in four days. The last time Ralph saw her, she was headed over to the abandoned house two doors down. People were over there looking at the sign that read about it being foreclosed. We haven't seen her since.

We think the people saw this cute little kitten wandering around an abandoned house and thought to themselves, "Oh, what an adorable kitty! And she's all by herself! Let's take her with us and give her a good home!"

There really isn't another explanation since we live at the end of a cul de sac where cars hardly ever come. The kitties always stay close by, and there haven't been any dogs wandering around.

Sigh.

Bunny is devastated.



Actually, that's a lie.

She's euphoric.

Not because Pixie is gone, but because we've decided to keep her inside until she gets a bit bigger. We don't want other people to come looking at the house and pick up our other girl.

She's been purring non stop since we let her back in the house. She's planted herself in her favorite ottoman and rarely leaves it.



That is, unless there's evil string to be dominated. Then she needs to secure the safety of the house and vanquish it.


She'll sacrifice her spot for our safety. She's noble like that.

She's also still a brat.

The other day she clawed me for no particular reason and then jumped off my lap, when only a moment before she'd been purring contentedly. Ralph looked at her as she ran away and called after her, "That's why no one took you!"

Come back Pixie! We miss you!

Daily Kitties ~ One-eyed Pixie

For some reason, Pixie looks like she's lost an eye in this picture, but really she's winking at Bunny and saying, "She can't leave if she can't get me out of the suitcase."

Daily Kitties ~ Grumpy and Hungry

The kitties have been spending more and more time outside, and Bunny is not pleased about it. Pixie is fine, and is happy to come to the door at feeding time and then scamper off on more adventures when she's done.



Bunny, on the other hand, jumps through the door at each opportunity. She races to the closet with the cat food, only to find weights barring her entrance. Drat!



I actually had to put a ten-pound weight there because they were able to move the five-pound weight out of the way! They would sneak into the food and we'd find them fat and happy when we got home.

Here's Bunny debating whether or not to go outside to get food. She'd get to eat, but then might be left outside to fend for herself in the elements. It's a tough choice.


I finally made the decision for her, put her out to eat, and then let her back in for the evening. She spent it worshiping me purring at my feet.

In unrelated but totally life-consuming news, both science projects are nearing a close. We finished the paper making, thank goodness, and the beans in the population-growth activity are growing nicely.





Unfortunately, the ones that are growing best are the ones in the most "crowded" conditions, but we still have two weeks left, so we'll see what happens.

Daily Kitties and Pulp

I think the daily kitty pictures might slow down a bit, now that they're spending more time outside. A lot of the time they are hiding in bushes or climbing trees (Bunny's managed to tree herself twice without being able to get down), so I don't get very many picture opportunities. I know I can always get a picture at mealtime, though. They never miss a chance to eat.


I love how I caught Pixie in the act of diving for her food.


I also like how the pictures make it look like we live in a jungle, even though that's the only green plant we have right now.



In this one, Ninja is studiously ignoring the girls, as he doesn't particularly like his new outdoor companions.


He'll warm up to them, though, especially when they start hunting and bringing home the bacon. (We got females because they are the better hunters, and the rat population has been quite bad at times. Ralph said that they actually used to crawl into his car's engine and chew the wires and cables.)

Inside the house, we had plenty to keep us occupied. Science partners came over to help with the science fair project: making paper. They quite enjoyed blending the paper and water to make pulp, especially when I put too much water in and it spurted out. That's why we all have our hands on the cover.


I'm really happy that we have a shredder, otherwise tearing all the paper into small, blender-sized bits would have taken forever. Peez was already "over" the project as it was; he asked if he could go play outside while we finished up. Um, no, because for one, I already passed fifth grade and don't actually need to do this project and two, it's just plain rude to leave your friends (and family) to do all the work. (He was actually surprised that I told him no. Sheesh.)

Anyway, I forced him to get his hands dirty (as if they'd been clean to begin with), and had him hold the screen while the pulp drained.


He actually enjoyed that part a little bit.

I also found a use for some of the leftover fabric I had lying around after doing my garlands. I used my pink and red Valentine flannel (since it's so absorbent) to lay down the pieces of newly-made paper.


See? It's good to have random crafty flotsam and jetsam lying around!

Daily Kitties and Critter Kisses

Yesterday I was trying to add a little more Valentine's decor around the house, although I don't think the boys/men (I'm outnumbered 4 to one) could stand much more pink in here. I made a red ragamuffin garland yesterday (pictures tomorrow) and all the critters seemed to want to join in the fun, or at least be nearby.

Bunny got a hold of one of the pieces of fabric I was working with, and was very pleased with herself. See her smug expression?


Of course, Pixie wasn't as pleased about this, and felt the need to start stalking.


You can just imagine what started after this.


Yup. You guessed it.


Wrestlemania 2009.


This started to worry Blue.*



So Coco came over and gave him kisses to make him feel better.


I finally gave separate pieces of cloth to everyone concerned, and that settled the fight for the time being. Bunny was still wound up from the tussle though, and as I gave her another piece to play with, she latched onto my hand and wouldn't let go.


I couldn't break free for quite a while, no matter how much I tried to convince her that I wasn't the enemy.



* Just kidding, Blue's actually scared of the camera, that's why he always looks worried in pictures.

Naughty Kitties, Science Projects and Dejected Decorating

Yesterday the kitties figured I must be bored, so they thought up an ingenious game to play with me called "Find the Smelly Poop."

I only had six children in the house and barely two science projects in the making. I only had to feed five of the six kids, plus I only had to help two of them with additional homework on top of their project.

Obviously, I didn't have enough to do.

So one of those darling, delightful kitties was quite resourceful and decided to poop on a bean bag in one of the boys' bedrooms. They purposely picked a spot that would make me hunt for it and take a long time to find, while still being in a position that allowed the smell to emanate throughout the house.

They are so clever!

This created much more noise and chaos, (hey, it was only at a dull roar, anyway) with science-project partners yelling about the smell and Tweeny fumigating the entire house with his Axe Body Spray, almost suffocating us in the process.

Once I found it, threw it and the kitties outside, it was back to science projects. You can just make out Tweeny's excited expression at being forced allowed to do such an exciting project:


His teacher handed out topics to them, and he got an experiment on population density.



Luckily, after setting it up, we don't have to do too much until they actually start sprouting.

The other group, however, was given free reign in choosing their project, with the exceptions of using chemicals and animals. (Darn, I had two perfect test subjects in mind, too.) The kids all wanted to do something with baking soda and vinegar, but soured at the idea of actually creating a question and hypothesis about it. And forget about actually researching volcanoes. They finally decided to make paper using various materials, which should be fun and extremely messy. I hope we have nice weather for the next couple of weeks because there is no way we are doing that inside.

After finally dropping off the last kid, I came home and tried to relax by fiddling around with Valentine decoration ideas.

While out in the shed searching for clay pots, Ralph and Tweeny came across a beautiful pink hibiscus that was hiding in amongst our man-eating, dog-maiming, gigantic cacti.


I started to fill different jars with candy and was placing them on the dining room table when the boys decided it was time to play with their Tech Decks on the table. For those of you who don't know, Tech Decks are tiny skateboards that you use with your fingers to do tricks. They work best on hard, flat, loud surfaces.

I decided to find something to decorate in the kitchen instead.

I thought I might hang some Valentine fabric from the "curtains" (read: kitchen towels I hung up with curtain loops), but it ended up looking like I was just hanging laundry, and boxer shorts at that.



Sigh.

I gave up at that point, realizing any creativity I'd had left me earlier in the day. I let in the dejected kitties (who now have to stay in the Man Cave when we're not around to keep an eye on them) and snapped a couple of pictures of them before heading up to bed. Well, heading up to read New Moon in bed. Yes, still addicted to the series.

At first glance, this looks like an innocent picture, but Pixie is actually sinking her teeth into Bunny's shoulder, and Bunny is gnawing on Pixie's front paw.



They're such angels, aren't they?

Daily Kitties 1.15.09 ~ No Photos Please

Oh geez. Don't you paparazzi ever know when to quit?



I'm just trying to relax here, people.



I'm ignoring you!



I'm not going to smile for you, so don't even think about it.



Security!



That's it, I'm just going to have to eat you.

Daily Kitties 1.13.09 ~ In the Way

"Um, Pixie? I was kind of in the middle of something."


"Yeah, but this arrow thing is moving around really fast!"


"Sorry, but you'll have to find something else to occupy you."

"Are you sure about that?"



Sheesh.

Daily Kitties 1.12.09 ~ Crawl Spaces

The boys went up to the snow this past weekend, and we were packing in the middle of the living room floor. Pixie decided she'd found her new favorite crawl space.


She padded around in it for a while, making it just the right amount of cozy.




She finally bedded down, only to be rudely awakened by people wanting to use it for it's intended purpose. Sheesh.


Bunny also found a new place to sit/sleep/hide, although hers came to the same disastrous end as well.




What is it with people actually wanting to use their stuff? Can't they see it's occupied?