HOLY CATS!

I had to take the cats to the vet today. They needed rabies boosters.

I go to the garage to get the kitty carriers. One is easily accessible. The other is up in the rafters. Even if I stand on the "do not use this as a step" part of the ladder, I cann't reach the carrier. So I resort to using a long wooden rod.

The carrier comes crashing down... hits the recycle bin... then flies across the garage, landing in a pile of junk that Michael has left.

I put on my climbing gear and retreive the carrier. Grab the other carrier and proceed into the house.

Carriers in place. *check*

I go into the bathroom to get a couple of towels from the closet.

Towels into carriers. *check* Hey, this isn't so bad.

I walk into the office (where the carriers are NOT) and call, "Kitty! Kitty! Kitty! Kitty!"

Sam comes running... well, as much as a 24 pound cat CAN run.

Scoop Sam up... or rather, muster all my strength to lift him and carry him to the den (where the carriers are). Walk to carrier, bend over to put cat in, struggle with cat to get his four legs off the edge of the carrier door. One foot..... 2 feet.... 3 feet.... dammit! One foot.... 2 feet.... 3 feeeetttt..... 4..DAMMIT! Alright cat! One, two, three... SHOVE. Slam door of carrier. Open door of carrier and dislodge Sam's tail from being stuck in the door.

Sam begins to howl.

Back to office. "Here kitty kitty kitty kitty!"

Yeah right. Ted's too smart for that nonsense. He KNOWS the only time I call is if I'm trying to get him to do something he's not going to like.

So I head upstairs. Dolly and Honey follow me. I lay on bed in a feeble attempt to make Ted believe I want to snuggle.

Suddenly there is a flash of grey and white followed by a flash of copper and the highest pitched barking I've ever heard from Dolly! Teddy races down the hallway and down the stairs with Dolly in hot pursuit.

Yeah, thanks Dolly... that's EXACTLY what I needed to happen.

Down the stairs I go. I hear Dolly barking in the den so I know Teddy must be in there. I start down the hallway towards the den and Teddy comes tearing out of the den and down the hallway towards me with a look of sheer terror on his face.

I quickly weigh my options... attempt to catch cat who is NOT declawed, but has has his claws recently trimmed. Or let cat go back upstairs and under bed where it will take a small army at least an hour to get him out.

I grab the cat.

He begins to yowl. He knows.

Back to the den where the waiting carrier sits mocking me. Yeah, like THAT cat is going in THERE!

Repeat same routine as I did with Sam.. except I didn't slam Ted's tail in the door.

Go out to garage. Open garage door. Open hatch of the van. Back in the house. Grab both carriers. Both cats instantly shift to the very BACK of the carriers which makes both carriers lurch. Get Sam's carrier caught between van and tool rack.

Set Sam down. Put Ted in van. Whole time speaking softly, "I know. It's Ok. We won't be gone long."

Get Sam through maze of junk in garage and into van.

Get in van. Turn up music to drown out yowling cats. Drive to vet, put on blinker, realize this is the pediatrician's office... not the vet!

Turn off blinker. Drive to vet. Haul cats into building. Get accosted by resident dogs... who so desperately need attention! One of them finally left... the other laid on my feet between the cat carriers.

Dr. W decides she wants to see Teddy first. Open carrier. Grab Ted with both hands. Pull carrier across floor using cat as handle. Vet tech grabs carrier. Finally get cat out. Put him on table where he promptly flattens himself out like a pancake and GLARES at me. I just KNOW he's plotting something while I sleep.

Ted's done... time for Sam I Am.

Open door of carrier. Vet tech holds carrier. Get down on hands and knees, grab Sam, pull with all my might. Finally get him out (I swear there was a "pop" sound as he popped out of the carrier). Put him on table. Vet looks up (she was doing something in a drawer) and takes step back, "Wow! That is one big cat!" Yeah, thanks.

Sam gets all checked out... looking good... except she found a couple of fleas on him. How in the HELL does he have fleas in Michigan in the WINTER???

Get Sam back in carrier. Haul cats out to waiting room. Tell receptionist that I need Frontline, and that I may as well get it for the dogs too. Go to van for more money. Haul both cats in carriers, 3 packages of Frontline and 6 pages of receipt (for some reason they have to print one for each thing) out to van.

On the drive home I SWEAR I heard them plotting in the way back.

Teddy Bear

Sam I Am in his favorite pose.

Our New Foster

Here's our new foster puppy. She is a hound mix and is between 1-2 months old. We named her Jasmine, or Jazz for short. She is the sweetest thing! She is going to make someone a really nice pet... she loves Blake, and the other dogs and she doesn't bother the cats (even Teddy Bear, the skittish one likes her).

Snuggling in the chair with Mike.

Playing with Dolly (she's barely even bigger than Dolls!)

Looking regal.

Investigating Sam I Am (she soon realized this is NOT the end of the cat you want to mess with).

A new best friend.

I was perusing the freecycle site and came upon someone giving away a guinea pig. He's been wanting one for months. So I talked to Mike and he said OK. I took Blake after school to pick it up. He didn't know that's what we were getting so he was VERY excited when we got there and he found out!

He named the pig Joey. Here are some pics:

I don't think Dolly has ever seen something smaller than her! LOL!!

Blake is teaching Joey to give kisses :)

Honey to the rescue!

Blake was in the backyard with Honey this evening and he said she ran to something. So he went to check it out. Here's what she had found:

Isn't he the cutest? Mike called the animal shelter and they gave him a number to call for the Cat Clinic here in town. So he called them and they said to bring the baby over and they would take care of it from there. Blake got a shoe box and fixed it up with holes in the lid and washcloths (his favorite ones too) in the bottom to transport the little guy.

The squirrel kept trying to climb back up the tree (not sure if that's the tree he fell out of or not) and he'd get about 3 feet up and fall back down. I thought he was going to kill himself... but then realized if that initial fall (about 20 feet) didn't kill him, I doubt a 3 foot one would!

LOL Dogs

So Ter told me I have to post these pics. I got this little straw cowboy hat at my niece's wedding (her reception was a pig roast).

Here are my girls:

Update on the elusive hummingbird.

Well, I sat on the swing for a great deal of time today.. however not the entire day as I had planned. The not so elusive husband decided today was the day to take down the pool... which meant *I* had to clean the pool so that he wouldn't just shove it in the box all dirty. *sigh* And he was cleaning the garage, so I was helping with that. I also raked some of the stupid acorns from the stupid oak tree. (A really fun thing to do with acorns is to scatter them across the road and then watch as the college students who drive by too fast run over them and freak out because they think they have blown a tire! Hee hee hee!!!!! This trick works best when it's dark and the acorns cannot be seen as easily.)

Anyway. Here are pics that I got today.

I'll try again tomorrow.

The elusive hummingbird!

Ok. So I have been putting hummingbird feeders out every stinking year since we moved here. Hummingbirds are my favorite birds! I have NEVER seen a hummingbird at any of my feeders. Not one single time in 6 years.

Well, we have had a frequent visitor this year and I have been trying my damndest to get a picture of him. The other day Blake and I came home from an errand, and the hummer was at my rose of sharon bush by the garage. I happened to have the camera with me... so I grabbed it, and he flew away.

I have attempted to get pics through the window... but by the time I focus and snap the pic I get his tail feathers as he darts off.

My goal for the day today is to get a picture of that little bugger!!!!

I'll be out on the swing if ya need me!

Another foster doggy

Here is our newest foster doggy. They called her Blondie (which I think is a stupid name) at the shelter, but I was chatting with Stacey and she said, "I have always wanted something named after me." So, I turned around and said, "Stacey, come here girl." and the dog ran right over to me! LMAO!

So much to human Stacey's excitement, the dog is now called Stacey :)

She is up for adoption, so if you are interested just let me know :)

My pup needs PBA

That would be peanut butter-aholics anonymous! She is So addicted to peanut butter, that if I am eating it she will sit on my lap and drool! You can actually SEE the drool forming on the corners of her mouth and then dribbling down! ICK!

Tonight I put an empty pb jar on the floor to see what she would do. THIS is what she did:

Yes, she was actually sitting there licking the jar with it stuck on her head!

I tried to get a pic of her after she got it off her head... because her beautiful ears were just COATED with peanut butter. But, couldn't get that shot.

Life is never dull at the Aylor household!

Sad morning

Blake woke up this morning to find Bob the frog dead :(

He thinks Bob missed Freedom too much and just quit eating so he could go be with Freedom again.

Looks like another funeral is on the agenda for today. *sigh*

Some lessons are just too difficult to learn, and it's not fair.

The hard part of being a mommy...

Freedom the frog died today. I went in to turn on the light and he was floating. He hadn't even acted sick. I know, I know... he was a frog, how would I know if he was acting sick? But really... I never thought I'd say a frog was cute.. but these fire bellied frogs ARE cute. They swim back and forth in their swim area and sit blinking their little eyes on their rock. Sometimes they even put their little feet up against the side of the tank and look at you.

But I digress. The death of Freedom was a difficult thing to deal with. I told Blake in the car on the way home from VBS, and he was so upset he didn't talk the whole way home. Anyone who knows Blake knows this is a miracle in and of itself.

When we got home, he pretty much forgot about Freedom. Until I was doing dishes and found him in the cup I had used to scoop his little body out of the tank with. I asked if he was going to flush him or bury him. He chose to bury him. He made a coffin out of a cupcake paper box.

We dug the hole and Blake was too upset to say any words. He asked to be left alone with Freedom for a few minutes. I took the pic of him sitting by the grave from inside so it's not the best since it was through a screen.

Then we finished burying him, and Blake chose 2 freshly bloomed flowers from the garden to make a cross on the grave with. He wants to go to the river and find a nice rock to make Freedom a nice headstone. We'll probably do that tomorrow.

Rest in peace, Freedom the frog. Leap like you've never leapt before.

Blake just came downstairs and asked if every night after his bath he can go out and read his bible by Freedom's grave. Awww :(

Here's our Honey girl looking for a golf ball in her pool :) She is such a freak for water and her ball that she would rather play than eat!!!

The Barkday party

Dolly and Maggie had a fun, exhausting day. Here are some pics of the party (none of the guests who were invited showed up... apparently they had other plans).

Here's a picture of the cake (Blake helped decorate it):

Here are the girls in their party dresses:

Table decorations (that's their glow in the dark necklaces in the front). The gifts light up and the lights change colors:

Waiting for a treat before the party (while the meat tray was being prepared):

Dolly found a nice cool place to rest after too much cake:

Maggie had WAAAAYYY too much cake:

Kitty weight loss!!

We took the boys to the vet today and they have both lost weight!! Yay!!! Sam I Am has lost 7 lbs and Teddy Bear has lost 11! So now Sam weighs 23 and Ted weighs 16. The vet was SO impressed :-D She said, "Oh just for that you get EXCELLENT on your report cards!" LOL!

So they both got excellent for every category this time :) She said she'd like to see them each lose another 3 lbs by next year, but she figures that won't be a problem at all.

Sam got "Great Job!!" on his report card and Ted got "Fantastic!!".

Way to go boys :) And good job to Blake too for only feeding them a little bit at a time.

Happy Barkday!

My Dolly, and Tammy's Maggie are having their barkday party today. They are 2 years old! Tammy and I have been joking about this ever since we got the pups and realized they were born 2 weeks apart!

So, now our fun has become reality :) I made a peanut butter carrot cake and iced it with peanut butter. I'll have to stop for some frosting so I can write on it :) We have pink plates and pink napkins.

This is what the invitations look like (Tammy and I worked on these while camping). We worked on them by lantern light! Inside they have all the pertinent party information, plus it says, "Please bring your owner(s)." and "No fleas please." Haha!!

Both of our dogs think they are princesses. We call Dolly.. Princess Dolly. They call Maggie, Pretty Precious Princess Beagle. LOL!!!

Stay tuned for pics of the barkday party!!

Larry, Flipper, Bob and Freedom...

The bad news is, Larry and Flipper (the goldfish) have died. Blake was pretty upset by their deaths.... but we didn't have to have a funeral.

Bob and Freedom (the fire bellied frogs) are doing well. They have feeder guppies in their tank and the guppies are having babies in there... so they have a boat load of food! Too bad they aren't eating any of it. Not sure WHAT they are eating though... hmmm.....

Every morning Blake turns the light on for the frogs... and turns it off at night so they can have the darkness they apparently need.

I re-arranged B's room and the frog tank got all shook up when I moved it... so I cleaned it. I did a bit of re-arranging in there too. I took most of the gravel out (I don't think the frogs could see the fish against the gravel. I moved the big rocks so there are clusters of them at either end of the tank. They seem to really like the pool that this created in the middle of the tank. They will swim across the tank and then float with their feet resting on a big rock... then after a few minutes they'll swim back across and climb up on their basking rock... then they do it all over again. It's quite amusing watching them.

Who'd have thought I would actually enjoy having pet frogs?

Bob, Larry, Flipper.....

and Freedom. Yes, we have a new addition to the aquatic life in Blake's room. Freedom. She is another fire bellied frog... and friend for Bob. They seem to like each other. Bob enjoys sitting on her back... hmmm.....

Funny, but Bob has developed 2 white dots on his "shoulders". So that's how we can tell the 2 of them apart. Not sure what these dots are.... I wonder if he is starting to shed? I read that they do that... shed their skin...

Larry and Flipper seem as happy as 2 goldfish in a tank can be.

Bob and Freedom seem irritated by their bubbler... it is a bar type bubbler and leaves a blanket of bubbles on top of the water. I think they don't like it. Mike and Blake think they do. They are still light colored, so I guess they are still happy (according to my online searches).

So... that's the update. Hopefully the child will not continue to purchase friends for his critters with each week's allowance! (He won't... we told him his tanks are only big enough for 2 of each... and that we read it online so he will actually *believe* us! LOL!!)

One Spoiled Puppy...

Dolly threw her back out again today :( She was sitting on the arm of the sofa looking out the window and fell off... she landed on the edge of a wicker basket that is sitting next to the sofa. Since we've been through this before... I immediately put her on bed rest. So here she is in her very own feather bed, relaxing.