Calves

Today we took our dogs to the country vet.

When we were leaving they were feeding little calves.

The boys were thrilled to watch, touch and even have the calves want to suck their fingers.

And here are some pictures from our strawberry picking and rose bud trimming.

Mew Mew Mew Mew Mew

Mama Cat "Shelly Belly" had 5 kittens on Friday, March 28, 2008.  Here they are on April 1st. We weren't here for the birth and didn't see them until they were 2 days old and took no photos until April 1st.

We told the kids they may not name them because last time they got too attached and they are still upset that we gave 2 of the 4 away.  One of the 4 is the Mother here.  Here Mother "Kitka" was run over just before Christmas.  We'd hoped for an all black one, but there are 3 dark grey with stripes and 2 sandy colored ones.  We've had lots of neighborhood kids visiting us to see the kittens. Our kids are trying to find neighborhood friends who want a kitten.

The neighbor who took care of the dogs peeked in on Mama cat for us.  She had 2 kittens Friday night and by the time he was back from walking the dogs, she'd had the 3rd. We came home to 5 though, as it seems to be even an hour or two delay between some of the births. We'd hoped she'd give birth before we left, but no such luck this time.

The cat came back, thought he was a gonner, but the cat came back . . .

Much rejoicing was made in our home today!  

As soon as I'd dropped the kids off to school this morning and stepped back into the house, the phone was ringing.  When I answered it, our son was exclaiming,  "Mom, we found Joe Joe at the door of the school!  Come get him", so I turned around and went back to the school to rescue him.   Joe Joe had been missing for 2 weeks, which was especially worrisome since his Mother, our beloved Kitka was run over a few days before Christmas and we were already sad.  He'd lost his collar, so no one could call us.  The Principal said he'd been hanging around near the stop sign where the kids cross over for a few days now.  

We've also been sad, since our pet hamster Bubba, which Santa brought our youngest, died within a few days.   Then our oldest's only remaining rabbit -- white colored Floppy, got out of his cage and hasn't been seen or found in all this white snow.  We keep putting veggies under the play house, in hopes he's burrowed in there somewhere where the dogs cannot find him. We'll see what spring brings.

Well, Joe Joe is reunited with his sister Shelly Belly and they still like each other -- for the most part.  You can tell he's been roughed up and is quite skiddish, and was suspicious of her at first, but is readjusting.  Here they are together again this afternoon.  

Oh, and the new pet hamster, Rosa has done well, except for when Shelly Belly knocked her cage over to get to her.   Rosa quickly ran up her tunnel tube and the kids all went running when they heard the loud crash.  If we keep the door closed tightly, she's fine.  When they were kittens, they used to stay in this bathroom, now it's the hamster's bathroom and is off  limits to them.  Yikes!  living with animals is work and can be stressful -- that's why I told Santa, the Easter Bunny and my husband to all stop bringing animals as gifts, but my husband assures me all of these lessons are helpful for our children.  As for me growing up,  all of our animals were outdoors as opposed to sharing my bathroom!  Well, I do have a cute picture of "Blackie" my Tom cat sitting in my sink, now that I think of it:)  

Milky Boots Finds a Good Home

We've found a home for Milky Boots in the next neighborhood. At least he's closer now, but they are moving out of state later this summer, so again, the kids are very sad about this. They worry if he's being taken care of or not since he's now a garage cat vs. house cat. Here's one last photo before he goes to his new owner. She's a cat lover thankfully.

A nice home for Shadow

Before the new kitten owners arrived to pick up Midnight Shadow Bear, we took a quick family portrait of them.

We'd hoped to keep the kittens in the neighborhood, but guess what -- the neighborhood is full of cats already! So with MUCH disappointment, weeping, wailing and gnashing of our children's teeth, we did find a nice home for the all black kitten named Midnight Shadow Bear today -- further away than we'd hoped --but to some real animals lovers who had recently lost their kitten. He's being renamed to Dante.