Happy Madness

There was all sorts of madness and happy screaming going on downstairs for at least an hour straight before I came down to check out the haps, and this is what I found (running, screeching, tripping, laughing, having some good old fashioned fun)! I absolutely love it when the kids all get along and have lots of constructive fun together! I want them to be BFF!!! (haha)

L.C. MADNESS

Okay, something happened with our sweet kitten...maybe she didn't like that we changed her name... We asked Kurt if we could change the name of our last cat from "Slight" to something else. We all put in our votes, then decided together that L.C. would be fitting. A little more feminine, and cuter than her given name ("Slight Hinricks Gebhards"). Anyway she has turned psyschotic in the past couple of days since becoming a lone cat in our house. She is tearing around the house presently, clawing up the couch, eyes bulging, tail curled, prancing, skipping, crouching, ATTACKING everyone and everything. She has terrified all of the girls at least once in the last two days, including me! I was minding my own business doing laundry this morning, and without notice, L.C. jumped at least 3 feet in the air attacking the piece of clothing I was holding. I think I jumped at least 3 feet in the air. Yesterday she was "in a mood" while the kids were upstairs and Cam was in the bath. L.C. kept running (in skittish, freak-like manner) in and out of the bathroom, which scared Macy who was crawling around (and caused her to cling to me, whimpering) while I helped Cam. Then she was jumping up and walking around the outside of the tub, and I knew something was about to go really wrong...after I threw her out of the bathroom several times, she insisted on tempting fate, and she LOST and fell into the bathtub with quite a splash, and of course a shrill scream from Cam. I was just hoping that she wouldn't freak out and claw Cam in the process! Thankfully, I got to her before there were any serious injuries. Today L.C. decided to check out all of my little people in my Department 56 Village...and again she was thrown out. Maybe L.C. needs to be an outside cat...

Mom! I think I'm feeling sick!! Like I'm gonna- uh-uh (uh oh...)

Yes, Kinley is always happy...I'm not sure what is going on with the rest of them...

She picked a good one... "Hi Mom!" (why are they waving??)
Today I decided to try to get a good picture of all of the kids for our Christmas letter, and I am SO thankful for digital cameras! Attempting to get 5 kids to look the same direction, smile, and sit close to each other is like without biting, pinching, squeezing, or tickling each other is like asking 5 stray cats to share a couch with a Golden Retriever puppy. Nobody listens, nobody cares, they're all screeching, and all they want is to get down and run away. I don't want to spoil the Christmas letter picture, but I'll share a few failed attempts with you...

The STEEP streets of San Francisco

What fun! My college friend Kim and I met in San Francisco for a full day of shopping, eating, chatting, laughing, and almost getting killed in the GHETTO where we parked... but we lived to tell about it! It was so fun to get out kidless and to catch up with an old friend. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to spend time with Kim (whom I haven't seen in years), and to be refreshed and encouraged! And to live to tell the story is an added bonus- between driving in the city and walking in the ghetto for a good block and a half, we were truly thankful!

All I want for Christmas is stuff for everyone else

McKinley's Christmas List

Well, I have received the big kids' Christmas lists (I didn't ask, they just handed them to me), but have no idea what to get for McKinley, so I decided to ask her a minute ago. I absolutely love the way she puts it, so here is as close to word for word what she told me. She had obviously NOT thought much about it, which makes it even cuter!
1. A Cabbage Patch Kid
2. A toy that I don't want for Shea or Macy (???)
3. A microphone that we got that didn't work so I don't want another one (one of last years' gift failures- I actually bought two microphones for the girls, thinking they would just plug into the wall and amplify, and even opened the package before realizing that the mikes plug into an amp (DUH), and that the whole gift was a huge and embarrassing flop)
4. A Star Wars light saber for Reilly
5. A toy for Camdyn
6. Another kitty and another cat
7. A DOG
At this point, I tried to ask her to be realistic and reminded her that this was supposed to be a list of things that SHE wanted, so then she just says, "Just get me any toy that you want and I will like it!" Precious little Kinley!!

Another One Bites the Dust

Well, it's been a pretty bad "cat month" for us... it's actually hard to believe! Our cats have been dropping like flies (or like our house plants in our first month of marriage)!! So Knick "passed" around 6 weeks ago (reference "Wendy and a Dead Cat"). Since then, our cat situation has only gone downhill, as we had a runaway a week and a half ago. Wilbur- one of our kittens, ran away after we forgot to put him in the garage one night. He is a sweet cat, so we wouldn't be surprised if he has been adopted by a nice family. We are thinking about putting up "lost cat" signs, but I haven't pushed for that. The lingering drive in the back of my mind to put up signs isn't because I particularly love the cat, but because I just spent $154.00 getting him spayed and having his first vaccines. It was only two months ago that I spent that much money on him, and at that rate he cost us around $75 a month+food and maintenance (I am the maintenance woman/litter cleaner-upper). So we'll see about trying to find him. He is a very good cat, and the kids miss him, so we'll keep you posted. That's not the end of the cat saga around here.
Jet, our cat of 9 years, started showing signs of illness 10 days ago. I hadn't noticed, but suddenly he was super skinny and laying around on our bathroom floor, drinking out of our toilet, and meowing like he felt really sick. It was a long, distressed sounding, extra-loud meow. So by the time I noticed, it was already too late... hey, with 5 kids to chase around, a deathly sick cat can go unnoticed rather easily. Jet has been such a great cat, that we decided he (of all cats) deserved a second chance, so I took him to the vet. We got in the evening before leaving for Thanksgiving. The vet said he was "jaundiced" (I thought that was just a baby term) and appeared to have kidney failure. What to do... I have never had to make medical decisions affecting the life or death of a cat! He recommended that I administer a subcutaneous I.V. daily to see if we could flush out his kidney (an I.V. for a cat??) and feed him with a syringe! This humored me slightly, but I also did have a soft spot for the cat, so figured I could handle it (I actually did it 3 times!). And the cost was quite minimal (especially considering the monthly rate- 10 years, 120 months- it came to .70/month) compared to the alternative- blood tests, antibiotics, etc. I was getting a little nervous in the vet's presence- I kept asking what the cost was for each of the different medical options he was offering. I was trying to guage his responses to my cost questions as I wasn't sure how sensitive he might be to my inquiries- I mean, we were talking about the life and death of an animal with a potential "animal rights" guy. "How much will that cost??" seemed a little shallow (maybe dangerous!) to be asking...especially multiple times...I think he was also (at least before I asked cost questions 4 times) trying to be sensitive to my (non-existant) emotional connection to the cat. I also wanted to show at least a little bit of emotion, since he knew we had had the cat for 9 1/2 years, lest he think that I was emotionally deficient. So after I asked 4 times "How much will that cost??" I balanced it out with, "Do you think he is in any pain?" I feigned a little sigh of relief.(No? good, because then he'll die peacefully since I am NOT spending all that money for the other treatments...)
The syringe feeding was a little messy- or a lot messy. I ended up with it all over my hands, squirted some on my pants, and got some on my shirt too. Anyway, we brought Jet in a pet carrier to San Jose with us over Thanksgiving, however, we left him there in my parents' backyard next to their beloved cat "Taffy" buried in the corner of their yard. Jet only made it a couple of days before he "passed". Another one bites the dust! The kids took it well- my mom even recorded a little "memorial service" they had in the backyard. They were all bouncing around during the service, so I think they will get over it! Kurt presided over the service, and the kids all put a shovelful of dirt over the grave... we're down to one cat! (The maintenance woman is okay with that!)