Why I Do This

How can I let them go?  How can I raise them and give them away?  

How can I watch them practically from birth...

and opening their eyes for the first time...

and watch them master their world in wide-eyed wonder...

and then kiss them goodbye and send them on their way??

This would be the reason why.

I received this photo from Clay's new mama Amy on Saturday.  Look at the smiles (on both of them!)  Our boy goes by the name Casper now.  Here is the update that came alone with the picture:

"He's made himself at home here, especially in everyone's laps!  I'm so happy that he has joined our family, there's never a dull moment in the house!  He truly has been a perfect fit for my silly family.  I can't tell you how nice it is to hear giggles from all 5 of my kids whenever they are playing with him.  My 21 and 18 yr olds actually sit on the couch with me now (if Casper's around)! lol"

How could I give him up?  How could I not???  Casper (or Cats purr, as he's known at home) is clearly where he belongs.  

My eyes?  A bit leaky right now, but it's a happy leak.

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The Weekend Report

Abby remains behind for another week.  Our girl's wheezing and sneezing kicked in again on Friday (I know...), so we're hanging onto her and heading to the vet to find out what is wrong.

But...

Mother Jefferson has left the building.  She moved out of the house and into the cat condos at Petco to await her forever home.  I'll miss her sweet snuggly self, but I am a bit relieved to not have to mediate between her and my boys.  Mama was accepting of Abby, but never did adjust to those boy kitties looking at her babies.  They had a part to play in this... after the first butt-kicking that each received from this fierce mama, they hissed, growled, and yowled at her every time they saw her.  So tiny little 7 1/2 pound Mama needed to show them who was boss.

My favorite Mama the Marauder story (sorry, no pictures)... Imagine Simba sitting at the bottom of the stairs when Mother Jefferson saunters by.  He hisses.  She chases.  He ends up on the top bunk in my son's room cowering while Mama swings through the air on the comforter like Tarzan and howling at him.  I plucked her off and, before we even left the room, she started up her purr motor like nothing had ever happened.

Look out Petco kitties.  Your boss has just arrived.

Willie Rae attended adoption hours on Saturday, but was most definitely NOT happy to be there.  She hissed at the other kittens.  She growled at the barking dogs.  She pitched a fit when we put her in a Santa costume.  She glared when we put a holiday collar on her.  She hid out under the blankets for the remainder of the afternoon.  Good thing nobody (and I mean nobody) was visiting Petco with the idea of adopting a kitten.  I brought her home, where she climbed in my lap and purred herself to sleep... brat.

Apparently our teeny tiny torbie has a bit of a 'tude (and might think she is already home and I should just leave her there).

And..... The boys have arrived.

You'll remember that our Adams kittens were merely five of a litter of thirteen kittens.  Most of the remaining kittens have lived with Paula since they were one week old.  At four months old, they are (mostly) still with her and with their mama, getting WAY too attached and still nursing(!).  Mama needs a break and needs to be spayed (and have time to recover).  So five brothers came to live with us on Sunday.  Introducing....

Cooper

Peeps McQueen

IROC (who we will be calling Rocky)

Lincoln

and Woodward

The boys will be living in the front room while Abby and Willie Rae take over the main house.  And now we try to figure out where to put the Christmas tree next weekend ;-)

We're stepping slightly out of presidential order for our boys' last name.  They are related to our Adams kittens but far enough removed from them, having neither been raised with them not in residence in the same season of the year.  As a result, I decided not to make them part of our "Adams family".  It was suggested to me by the wonderful Catherine on Facebook that there were TWO Adams presidents.  So, we've jumped over Madison and Monroe for the time being and named this particular branch of the Adams family tree the Quincy-Adams family (hyphen intentionally inserted where it does not exist in history).

Our next little family will be the Madisons.

And I was starting to worry about having enough kittens to photograph during the holidays...