June 2015

Might as well get comfortable...this is going to be a long one. It's been a busy month! Let's go back to the beginning of June....

A few weeks ago, I made a quick trip to MN (while my brothers came to hang out in Huron with Dan) and then Trisha rode back with me to stay for the week. Unfortunately, I had to work during the week, but we stayed pretty busy once I got home in the evenings.

We went mini-golfing one night...

We went shopping, ate Chinese food, pizza, and got ready for everyone else to arrive the following weekend.

It was ladies' and kids' weekend in Huron. (Dan had already gone to Chicago for a long weekend.) We took the kids to the water park (and kind of enjoyed it ourselves too)...

Played outside with sidewalk chalk...

We even celebrated Vera's 1st birthday, which was that Saturday, and Sydney's, which is coming up in a week.

I think we all had a pretty good time.

Last weekend, Dan's parents came to visit. It started out with a bit of excitement when Sadie (their dog) was attacked by Graya - the sweetest, friendliest cat I've known. She was just protecting her babies, but poor Sadie never saw it coming.

I made them a yummy chocolate cake...and then I put the cover on the pan and refrigerated it. As you can see in the picture, the frosting stuck to the cover and it was destroyed. I got a laugh out of that, since the last time I made them a cake, it ended up looking awful too. (By the way, I've made this recipe many times and have never had a problem any other time.)

Jeff's (very late) birthday present...a digital photo frame.

So after three very busy weekends, this was supposed to be a somewhat relaxed one, and a chance to get caught up on housework. Instead, well...here's the thing. The kittens are four weeks old now, and quite mobile. They were starting to escape from their box, so we decided that this weekend we were going to set up a nursery for them in a spare bedroom.

I got home from work on Friday and immediately knew something was wrong. Graya normally runs to greet me every time I get home, but this time, she didn't come running.

Now, since the kittens are getting a little older, it was possible she was out hunting for a little longer that day. After waiting a couple hours, we went to pick up some kitten formula "just in case". But I knew deep down she wasn't coming home that night.

When she didn't show up all night, we knew she wasn't coming back...if she was out hunting, she would have been back to feed the babies by then. So, we learned pretty quickly how to bottle feed kittens.

We were planning on leaving them outside for the night, in case she ended up coming back and saw that they were gone. But, as we put them in their box for the night, all four of the darn things climbed right back out. So, we brought them in and I fed them from a bottle every few hours. The feeding process took an hour to an hour and a half each time; since they only eat a little at a time, I rotated them until they'd each had a few turns. Also, you also are supposed to "bathe" them with a damp washcloth and show them the litterbox afterward.

Yesterday morning, as soon as the Humane Society opened, Dan called to see if she'd been brought there. Sure enough, animal control had picked her up right from our yard, mere hours before we were going to bring her inside! Unbelievable. So we had to pay $50 to bail her out of "kitty jail"...and now it looks like she's going to be an inside cat for good.

It was a huge relief, not only to know she was alive, but to know that we wouldn't have to bottle-feed the kittens anymore. Poor mama was really uncomfortable since she'd gone almost a full day without feeding her babies. :(

Basil, boy

Sherlock, boy

Licorice Chip, girl

Patches, girl

She seems to enjoy being inside, though, and doesn't complain about being cooped up in the kitty nursery. It will be a while still before she can come out, since she can't be vaccinated or treated for anything until the kittens are weaned.

She's such a good girl. Last night, the tornado siren went off, so we gathered up all the critters, piling mama and all her babies into a carrier, and went into the basement bathroom. She didn't make a peep the entire time. Once it was safe, we went back up and I let her out of the carrier. She immediately ran into the corner to throw up. I'm sure she was feeling sick the whole time, but was just holding it in.

Now, we have a short work week ahead. Next weekend is the 4th of July already...crazy! We're not sure exactly what we're going to be doing for the weekend yet. but I do know this summer is going to fly by, as usual.