Kitties like Thomas the Train, too!

Wordless Wednesdays

Happy Christmas!

from Aidan & Athena

Up North Photo Journal

Once upon a time (two-ish weeks ago), we decided to take Aidan up north. Going "Up North" in Wisconsin is kind of like going "Down the Shore" in NJ: you stay out way too late, party, eat crappy food, mock the locals, and when the trip's all done, you need a vacation to recover from your vacation. The last time we were up north was back in September of 2008; Aidan was an infant, and the weather was warm and sunny. This time, Aidan is a toddler, and the weather was cold and rainy. Oh, and I forgot my camera so all we have are crappy phone photos. I love my Droid X, but I don't believe for a second that those 8MP are doing me any good.

Friday

Before we left, I made sure to take pictures of the kitties so Aidan could say night-night to them before bed.

Here's Aurora pretending to be indifferent about our impending absence.


Here's Gaia begging us to stay.


Here's Jazzy purring because she's getting some attention.


And here's Athena already simmering a grudge because she doesn't get to come with us like she used to when she was a kitten and we were childless. Next time sweetheart, I promise.


So off we go passed the famed Hwy 8 towards Minong. We arrive without mishap, and Aidan is excited for our adventure. The first thing he says as he exits the car? "Mama, ride 4-wheeler, please?" How the kid knew there were 4-wheelers up there (when none were in sight) is beyond me. I swear the kid can sense them. Cabin? Check! Woods? Check! Ohh, must be a 4-wheeler around. Score!

Here's what we find in the cupboards.


And here's what greets us on the opposite wall. "I'm sorry, Aidan, but you cannot ride the deer."


So instead, Aidan makes himself a slide out of the cooler.


Saturday

Amazingly, Aidan slept well in the bunk room. He also had enough sense to be quiet when he woke up. So quiet, in fact, that it took us a while to realize he was awake and helping himself to his version of breakfast. whatever, we're on vacation. Fraggle Rock on the tele and Mama gets to sleep in. Oh, and Chad made pancakes. Bliss.

AND then it started to rain. AND then we decided to go 4-wheeling anyway. No pictures, of course, since it was raining, but I did take some when we got back.

Here's Aidan gazing so lovingly in the distance at Daddy putting away the 4-wheeler. "4-wheeler go night night?" Yes, dear.


Here's Aidan trying to catch rain on his tongue.


And here's me looking like a drowned rat. I can't believe I'm even posting this.


Here's Chad, also soaking wet.


AND here Aidan, still standing in the rain long after Chad and I had gone inside to dry out. "Ride 4-wheeler again, please?"


Dinner time was exciting. Chad and I had a hankering for cheeseburgers, but we didn't have any buns. Chad's solution? The MEGA BURGER.


He used the foil to flip the burger. We also toasted the bread.


Chad was very proud of his creation, and honestly it was the best "burger" either of us had ever had. Mmmmm.


After dinner Aidan and I played our favorite game of chase me...until I chased him into the back of the lazyboy and he gave himself a black eye. Woops.


So we decided to play cards, since that was a safer game.


But he soon grew board, and went back to jumping off the cooler again.


Sunday

As promised, we took Aidan 4-wheeling one more time before leaving. It rained on and off, but I did get two pretty pictures to finish off the weekend.


This picture would have been even better had I remembered my real camera, but you get the idea. Black eye aside, it was an awesome weekend and I definitely want to do it again sometime.

Ideally with Athena and without the black-eye part.

Kitty Updates

My Four Fur Daughters

I realize that I've been a bit remiss with giving my four fur daughters their due exposure on this blog, so that's going to change today. The cats have all been doing well, despite all the changes in the last 2 years.

Athena

Athena is a total sweetheart of a cat, even moreso now than she was as a kitten. She cuddles in bed with us every night (sometimes under the covers), and follows us around the house all day long. She's always the first to come running whenever Aidan is crying, but she's also not nearly as patient with him when he tries to play with her. I think she's beginning to realize that Aidan is growing up, and is therefore expecting him to treat her more gently. Athena is very in tune with my moods and has done wonders to cheer me up these last few months. She gazes straight into your eyes so lovingly, that I just feel like she knows. This cat is my soulmate and I wish she could live forever!

Gaia

Gaia still helps me with the washing every evening, and is also very sweet. As soon as Aidan goes to bed she's in our face demanding attention and love, and will meow loudly if we ignore her. Gaia is also continuing to perfect her food-stealing skills. Most recently, she pulled out rabbit scraps from the garbage (cooked, fortunately). Gaia still rides on my shoulder and runs from Aidan; however, since I've been having Aidan feed her she's warming a bit. She still doesn't trust his sudden movements, and honestly I don't blame her. Gaia loves going outside in the pen.

Aurora

Aurora is still Mama's girl, and is probably still hoping to wake up one morning to find Aidan has mysteriously disappeared. The only time she ever lets Aidan near her is when he's holding her food dish at mealtime. Still, she's yet to scratch or bite him and does come around more often. Aurora was very happy when the cat door broke, allowing her easier access to outside. She still cuddles in bed every night and wakes us up (early) ever morning by pawing at the door.

Jazzy

Jazzy is still fat, and still thinks she's starving. I wish I could get her weight under control so I didn't have to constantly chase her away from everyone else's food bowl; she's becoming increasingly skittish as a result, and it makes me sad. Jazzy is such a sweet, loving kitty, and I just want her to be healthy! Jazzy helps Aurora get us up early every morning, and still brings me toys throughout the day for fetch. She's less nervous around Aidan these days, and I've sometimes found her napping in the rocking chair next to Aidan's bed. I really hope, as Aidan matures and learns to be more gentle, that they develop a bond.

We've been busy! Take a look at what's new!

This is what my garage looks like after several full days of cleaning & organizing. Special shout-out thanks to Luke (who helped with the heavy lifting), Grandpa (who removed 20+ bags of garbage for us), and Grandma (who watched the boys so we could focus on work). Laura got a pass this time around because, by the time Sunday rolled around, we were actually done. I wasn't brave enough to take any "before" photos. I assure you the mess was of epic proportions.

*Extremely* happy to have his own tool bench (made with love by Grandpa) and tools (though he still prefers Da's tools). This made cleaning the garage all the more worth it. "Toolz! Mama open! Open peeeash!"

Inordinately pleased with himself (he climbed up there all on his own)

Off they go on another adventure! ***

Aidan loves his "Nee-nah".

*** Please excuse the multitude of dandelions currently found in our yard. I haven't let Chad put anything on the lawn since Aidan was born, and it does take SO very long to dig up each one by hand....

Athena and Aidan, out for a walk

The word I probably hear the most often these days is "au-shide?" which in Aidan-speak means "outside," or "Can I pretty please go outside right this minute even though I was already out twice today and I really love to be outside. Outside? Outside!" My response is usually to ask him to get his socks (cocks), shoes (shhhooooos), hat (-at), and jacket (he has a really bizarre word for jacket I won't even begin to try to spell out). Yesterday he got a little ahead of himself. He thought he was ready when I took this picture:

What was impressive is he that got his hat on all by himself and without me having to ask him to put it on. Unfortunately (for him) he was still missing some things. Amazingly, he is extremely helpful getting dressed for outside playtime. I wonder why? In no time, we were off!


Ok, now we're rolling! Athena is a happy kitty because she gets to come, too! Aidan is very pleased to be holding the leash all by himself. He was so good, he didn't drop it once!


The pair even posed for a quick picture...


...before running off to find adventure!


Athena is Queen of the neighborhood. She made her rounds, ate lots of dried grass, rolled in the dirt, and helped teach Aidan how to let HER walk HIM. Much happiness, amusement, and fresh air was enjoyed by all. When we finally went inside about an hour later, Aidan begins his chant:

"Hot cocoa? Cocoa cocoa hot cocoa?

Of course he can say THAT clear as day.

My Athena-teena-beena is 7 years old!

Happy Birthday to the bestest kitty in the world!

Aurora-bora is 6 Today!

Happy Birthday to my sweetness!

Happy 5th Birthday, Jazzy Jasmine!

I can't believe my baby kitten is FIVE years old today!

Fur Daughters: Aurora and Jasmine

Really, I should have stopped with just two cats. Two cats is the perfect number. But of course, two wasn't enough, and so soon there were three. Aurora is an F6 silver spotted bengal cat from my good friend Karen Soeteber.

Aurora was nothing like Athena and Gaia. Even as a kitten she was extremely dominant - a trait she's maintained to this day. At 5 years old, Aurora is 12 pounds and a total mama's girl. She's the only one of my cats that truly seems jealous of the baby, and if we forget to close the door to his bedroom she will sneak in there and meow as loudly as possible until Aidan wakes up and starts wailing. I can't fathom why she does this except that she finds it amusing. It's like having an eternal toddler living in the house who can and does get into everything. Aurora is by far the smartest and the naughtiest of my fur daughters. She can open all the doors and knows just how to get our attention when she feels ignored. She gets on my nerves sometimes, but I love her all the same. She's cuddled with me every chance she gets, and usually ignores everyone else (unless they have food, of course). She also owns everything in the house...except the ottoman, which clearly belongs to Athena. I, of course, own nothing.

You can imagine her annoyance when I got a laptop, and Chad got a flat screen monitor. No more heating pad to sleep on (aka SRT monitor)! Fortunately (for them) all the cats have recently discovered just how warm the top of the fish tank is, and we gave up trying to keep them off (pick your battles, right?). During the winter they also spend a good amount of time on top of the fireplace.

And last but certainly not least is Jazzy Jasmine, the cat I'm not supposed to have :). Jazzy is a silver marble bengal cat who's so far removed from her ALC heritage I can't even count the Fs, and is also from Karen. Jazzy is unique in many ways: she is my only cat with the marbled pattern, and she is the only cat I obtained with the explicit intent of breeding.

Jazzy is as submissive as Aurora is dominant (they are actually related: niece/aunt). When she first arrived, all the cats went into their normal hissy fit and I was bogged down in preparation for it to last at least a month, as it had with prior additions. Within two days it became clear, though, that Jazzy was very, very different. Jazzy is one of those pure soul beings incapable of any unkind thoughts. When the other cats would hiss at her, she would just purr and rub against them. "I'm so cute and sweet, surely you must all love me". And more quickly than I could have ever imagined, they did.

When Jazzy was a bit over a year old we sent her out to stud for a week, and fortunately for us, she came back pregnant! Her six kittens were some of the most fun I've had. They were born in May 2006 right in time for my birthday, and by September they were all sold and in their new homes. I still get e-mails from kitten buyers on occasion and love hearing how well everyone is doing. I loved raising kittens but Chad did not. He did have a valid point, though: our townhouse is tiny, so there's really no escape from the cats when there are so many (4 adults + 6 kittens = 10 cats in my house). Part of me would love to do it again some day...but that day will not come for a LONG time. In the meantime, I am happy with my four fur daughters.

One final note about Jazzy: technically, she was supposed to be rehomed when I was done breeding her. This was an agreement Chad and I originally made before she came home. Maybe I would have rehomed her, but she's such a sweet cat that I just couldn't bring myself to part with her. She never causes any trouble in the house, so Chad agreed that she could stay. I do feel badly that I let her get terribly overweight after she was spayed, but we're working on that now! She was up to 13 pounds (which is HUGE on the frame of a cat that was 8 pounds when she got pregnant), but we have her down to about 10.5 pounds now, and she's doing really well on her diet. I hope to get her to at least the 9 pound mark, but we'll see. My neighbors joked that she had postpartum depression from missing her kittens. I think she just enjoyed all her gourmet meals and didn't want to give them up. C'est la vie.

We actually put everyone on a diet here, which didn't make them too happy...but they're healthier for it and making due. Trust me kitties, I know how you feel!

So there you have it: my four furdaughters! I love them like my own kids and wouldn't part with them for anything! I do feel a bit bad that they haven't gotten as much attention as they're used to since Aidan was born, but I fully intend to rectify that this summer. Come hell or high water, they're getting their outdoor playpen this year!

Next up...Aidan Ryan, the fiery little king himself!

Fur Daughters: Athena and Gaia

I've always had an obsession with cats, and late into my senior year of high school I happened to discover a new breed that fascinated me: bengal cats! What could be better than an outgoing cat that looks wild but acts domestic? I was totally sold.

But then I moved to Manhattan to attend NYU, survived 9/11, and decided (for many reasons that I won't get into) that I needed to get FAR away from home. My first thought was to go abroad, and to this day I'm really not sure why I didn't. Ultimately, I ended up in the middle of Minnesota, as one of only 7 transfer students at Carleton College, having never before visited the college or the state. What an adventure!

At this point I'm going to skip over a lot of history. Ultimately what you should know is in May of 2003 I drove over 1000 miles and returned with a 7 week old, furry little being I named Athena.

Chad conveniently failed to mention to his parents until I was, oh, about 20 minutes from this house, that not only was I coming to live with them for the summer, but I was bringing along a furry little intruder. After a couple of bumps, Athena settled in fine and became the best cat anyone could ever ask for. She took easily to walking on a leash, learned how to sit, stay, and beg (for food), and is just generally a sweetheart of a cat...with just enough naughtiness to keep us on our toes. She's been everywhere with us, and is quite simply awesome.

Athena is a brown spotted F5 bengal cat. She was purchased as a show alter but decided after her first cat show that she wasn't cut out for the show hall. At nearly 6 years old she weighs about 12 pounds and will eat *almost* anything. Her favourite pastimes are playing in the bathtub (she loves water), playing with strings, and taking walks outside. I know it sounds odd, but she even smells good. Athena was supposed to be MY cat, but decided she usually prefers Chad. Really, she likes everyone though, so that's fine with me. My Athena-teena-beena even joins me under the covers after her morning meal to snuggle. She is probably the most well adjusted cat I've ever met, and I truly don't know what we'd ever do without her.

Then along came Gaia the F3 savannah cat. Gaia was supposed to be Chad's cat, but decided she'd prefer to me my cat. For the longest time she wouldn't go near anyone else. She bonded to me and to Athena, and that was the way life was supposed to be. Though she is actually 2 weeks older than Athena, Gaia came to us at 5 months old, and it took many years and thousands of hours to get her to come out of her shell. Over the years we also discovered that she had several food allergies. Within days of changing her food, she became a totally different cat, and has only continued to improve with years.

Gaia has a very sensitive soul and loves to be scratched on her nose and chin. Also 6 years old, she weighs 10 pounds and is very tall and lean. In the last few years she's decided that taking long walks outside on a leash is great fun, but riding on the back of mom's shoulders is even MORE fun. I really should get a picture of that. In the meantime, here she is being sweet.