Hot Tamale and Sparkle...

Our new kittens!

As it turns out, despite all of our best efforts, we have a kitten-loving little girl. We have been promising Kennedy "you can get a kitty in the spring," for about 3 years. Well, this past weekend, like on the perfect storm, everything came together at the right (wrong?) time and place, (our cat-chasing dog Tahoe has apparently ran away - been missing 2 weeks now; Kennedy now knows when "spring" is, as in, now; Trina's cat had kittens and were ready to leave their mom while we were visiting...) and the day of reckoning came.

We are now cat owners.

We went to pet smart on Monday, and, as fate would have it, Dustin, who terrorized many cats throughout his youth, spent $85.00 on paraphernalia for two little tiny kitties. You know, I heard this rule and I love it: "There are two things you never pay for: a hat, or a cat." Well, even though we didn't actually pay for the cat, I think we sorta broke it. Oh, well. Just look at these happy faces and tell me it isn't worth it. So we went to Trina's on our way home and the kids picked out their two favorites. We had wanted to only take boy kitties (I'm so not interested in making more. Kitties, that is.) But since Grandma Josie told Kennedy that she needed to get two kitties, so they could be friends, we had to take a girl, too. Kennedy was pretty much in love with "the blonde one" and, even though it's a boy, she named it "Sparkle" and put the pink collar on it. And Hudson named the girl "Hot Tamale," in honor of his favorite monster truck. I don't think cats can be gender confused, but we are trying our best :)

Here is Kennedy, trying to tell her kitty what to do. This has been a pretty common sight this week. She is really working on teaching Sparkle to "shake." I'll keep you updated.

And now that we have been in the cat business for about a week, they aren't too bad. They are pretty fun to watch, and the kids are endlessly entertained when they are outside with them. I do, on occasion, feel sorry for the little furballs, as I watch Hudson dump another little shovelful of sand (or water, or mud, or cat food) on Hot Tamale, or Kennedy try to take a terrified Sparkle for a ride in the basket of her bike...but, really, they were pretty used to being mauled at McKenna's house, and they seem to not mind too much.

And Dustin has surprised himself a little, I think. They wandered away during a rainstorm yesterday and Dustin made a few cold, wet search and rescue missions looking for them. Kennedy carefully dried them off and snuggled them when they came back. So, McKenna, thank you very much! I promise we are taking good care of the kitties and they will be excited to see you when you come visit (soon?)!