Dude, Where's My Phone?

I know it's around here somewhere. I had it last night when I was surfing the kitty blogs. It was right here when I was reading Robyn's blog... and when I clicked over on that fun link about the cat selfies... Where can it be????

"How you make this work? Are Simba's whiskers in focus?"

"This would be SO much easier with thumbs."

"You see Simba now?"

"Hi Mama Lady!"

"Simba, why you hogging the phone? Let Ruby have a turn."

"Which part does Roo touch to make the clicky noise?"

"Does Ruby look okay?"

"Is this better?"

"Hey, Mama Lady? Roo is tired of 'selfies'. This is good enough, okay?"

"Max has this covered."

"CHEESE, MAMA LADY!!!!"

"Whoa, that flash is bright!"

"Much better... now how about a close up of Mae to remember her by?"

"Wait, she's WHERE?"

"Oops..."

Found it.

Maisy's Little Secret

Pssst!

Mae feels that we know each other well enough now that she can share a teeny tiny secret with you...

Check the picture below and the secret you shall know.

Did you get it?

Good. Because she may not show you again ;-)

************************

Getting to know you

Getting to know all about you

When we are with you

"When we are with WHO? Nobody here but us, Lady!"

Are you sure about that?

Check the lump between you, girls.

Who could that be?

It can't be Simba. He's over on the chair.

Let's see. It's not Max. It's not Ruby. It's not Simba. Who could it be?

"Don't tell them it's me. Mae does not like the song of their people."

We're getting closer, folks.

Catnip on a Cold Day

Hey! Does your house look like this?

Why, yes... that IS over a foot of snow blocking my front door!

Does your driveway look like this?

And your dashboard look like this?

Well, then you might just live in Michigan.

Welcome to winter. The most ridiculous winter in 30 years, easily. My kids went back to school for one whole day following their Christmas break and now have been home for four (FOUR!) additional days to entertain and annoy each other. Yay, me! (And if you get that last part, you most definitely have children)

Thankfully, the cats have no difficulty entertaining themselves. 

Max, for example, discovered that she has the ability to open the drawers in the kitchen.

She learned how to open them wide enough to discover what was inside of them.

She learned that MAX could fit inside of the drawer too!

This particular drawer was especially interesting. It holds the dog brush and the nail clippers.

She found a couple of cat toys in there too. 

Oh yeah... Max found the nip too.

Mr. Simba found the nip and tried to lick it out of Maxie's fur.

"Do you MIND, kind sir? Max was saving that nip for later! Now go away!"

"You too, Chucklehead. Beat it before Max shows you the Paw-o-Doom!"

And when she was done, Max cleaned every bit of catnip out of her fur to make certain that not a crumb was wasted.

She streeeeetched and went on her way, knowing her job was done.

What job was that, you might ask?

Making the Lady clean up the drawer in the kitchen.

Hopefully, she finds something a bit less destructive to do tomorrow.

The Very Best Christmas Gift Ever

Their stockings were stuffed and filled to bursting with the very best items from the clearance shelf. There was one for Max and one for Ruby, a pretty needlepoint one for Mae with the wrong name on it, and socks for Simba and Chuckles too.

Charlie demanded an immediate inspection of his stocking, but only because he smelled food within.

Max checked them all out one by one while the other kitties snoozed and loozed. 

But then she got distracted.

And helped herself to an ornament or two. She especially enjoyed playing a round of tether ball with the one hanging from the long string in front.

The stockings remained stuffed for most of the morning... until Simba was found wresting on the floor with an entire knitted behemoth full of catnip toys. 

This is the one he chose.

A green satin tube full of stuffing and catnip made a grumpy old man as happy as a kitten.

His joy was contagious and, wouldn't you know... there were fabric tubes of catnip in each and everything stocking.

The toys were wrestled,

And rested upon,

And chewed, 

And kicked into submission.

The best 99 cents (times 4) that Santa ever spent.

And when play time was over...

The old man took to his new Christmas bed (which made Charlie very happy to have him out of his bed for a change). 

Snow Storm Snuggles

On a bitterly cold December day up in snowy Michigan, I walked into the living room to find the following scene:

I happen to know that she was there first.

"Max is as shocked as any of the rest of you!"

"He's dreamy..."

"And he loves Max! Right, Mr. Simba?"

Is that right, Mr. Simba?

"Simba was COLD... just cold."