Visit With Barney the Library Cat

Conall has been asking for awhile to visit Aunt Susan's library and to see the library cats "in the library". We went to visit her, and the new Head Library Cat, Barney today.

Barney eating snacks from the kids and entertaining them with his tail

 

Aunt Susan had been forewarned that Conall wanted to give Barney some "snacks" so she had his treats ready. The kids loved giving Barney the treats and some catnip and Barney liked the kids while they were feeding him. He tolerated them really well, but it was the end of the day and Barney was tired and the kids were very excited to be there. Barney eventually decided he'd had enough and went and hid in the stacks. The kids chased him down and then he went to Aunt Susan's office to hide. Poor kitty!

Aunt Susan also had set aside some books she thought Conall and Caitlin would like. Conall enjoyed going through them and showing off his reading skills. Caitlin pretty much just loved seeing Barney, but she picked out some books as well.

Caitlin visiting with Barney -- he looks thrilled, doesn't he?

Conall also learned about Braille, since Aunt Susan's library is at the School for the Blind. He got to see how a machine makes Braille on paper and see his name in Braille. He loved that!

Feeding Barney his "snacks"

Calling All Animal and Book Lovers!

Alex, the head library cat at the Arkansas School for the Blind, is in a battle for the top 5 spots in the Bissell Most Valuable Pet Contest that ends at midnight tomorrow night. Please visit their site and vote for Alex!

Here's Alex's bio.:
Alex: Head Library Cat at AR School for the Blind

Pet Parent: Susan Loesch
Entrant #: 0102147

Alex started coming to school as an "Assistant Library Cat" when he was a three week old bottle baby, a rescue I was fostering and later adopted. Now 6 years old, he was promoted to "Head Library Cat" upon the death of Big Footsie, who preceded him as Head Library Cat. He adores our students and they him. You should see him sit patiently as our youngest visually impaired students explore his nose, whiskers and ears. He and I come to work together every day & he sleeps with me every night!

If the link above doesn't work, here's the URL: http://mvp.bissell.com/mvp_PetDetail.aspx?id=8589935526%20


P.S. Susan is a dear friend of ours. She cat and dog sits when we are out of town, has helped with our cat's illnesses, is a true friend to all animals, a great animal rescuer, and a wonderful person and friend. She is also the librarian who has loaned us all of the Harry Potter books in large print so that Conall can "read" with me as I read them aloud to him.

Kitty Friend

When we got to Pop Pop's this weekend, there was still snow on the ground. The kids couldn't wait to play in it, so we let them play while we unloaded the car.

Caitlin immediately found a cat friend and let him in Pop Pop's house. We got the cat back outside and he played with the kids for some time, even climbing a tree to show off.

Caitlin and her kitty friend

Caitlin telling the kitty to "get out of the road!"

Conall waiting on the cat to finish drinking water so he could play again.

The kitty well camflouged in the tree and showing off for the kids.

Caitlin's kitty friend

BTW -- the cat is just playing with Caitlin in the video. He didn't use his claws and was very gentle. You can hear her giggling in the video. The kitty seemed to be familiar with kids and was still pretty young, probably an older kitten. Believe me, if he'd hurt her, Caitlin would have had four people running to check on her (me, daddy, Conall, Pop Pop) and of course, I wouldn't be standing there videotaping it rather than checking on her.

The kids are still talking about playing with the kitty in the snow -- it seems to be quite the memorable experience for them!

Funny Birthday Stories

Yesterday was my birthday, which is much more exciting to the kids than to me. It was a wonderful day, thanks to the efforts of my sweet husband and the kids. And, thanks to Aunt Amy and Na Na and Po Po for watching the kids on 2 different nights this weekend -- Stu and I actually got to go see two different movies in the theater!

At lunch yesterday, Stu brought me some lovely floral scented candles and some yummy gourmet hot cocoa mix. For the rest of the day, Caitlin kept bringing me her toys and saying "Here Mommy, this is for your birthday."

After Stu got home from work, we celebrated with cake and gifts. Conall asked "Mommy, how old are you?" I asked him how old he thought I was. Conall immediately responded "60". Great, thanks Conall!

Conall got a big kick out of giving mommy birthday spankings, including the "one to grow on". He told me he can't wait until next year when he gets to give me more!

Caitlin gave me a cat coin for my cat coin collection. Conall was really excited and told me it was "to buy another cat. We can get a kitten and name him Luke after Luke Skywalker." And he went on and on about this kitten. I'm sure Inkspot appreciated it.

Conall got me a white teapot that has vines on it and is reminiscent of a pumpkin. Before I opened it he said "Daddy and I went shopping and looked at a bunch of old junk, but we found you a teapot. Here it is."

Stu got me a beautiful sapphire and diamond ring, which he had originally intended for a gift for our 10th anniversary, but couldn't wait until December. Caitlin immediately wanted it! She kept trying to take it off my finger.

Stu brought me a flower arrangement with yellow and white daisies and other flowers. Conall had requested that instead of getting me roses (what Stu usually gets me) that daddy get me some "sunflowers." I think this is the closest they had. This morning at breakfast, Conall kept complaining and saying that he couldn't eat breakfast because it "stunk in here." I finally convinced him to smell the flowers, because I knew that was what he was smelling. He said "That's the stink -- real sunflowers don't smell like that."

Caitlin asked me this morning why my birthday was black. I was really confused and kept trying to get her to explain. Finally she said "your birthday cake was black." I laughed -- my birthday cake was a fudge chocolate Silvek's cake.

Caitlin and her Guardcat

Home Now

We are home now and glad that we will all be sleeping in our own beds tonight. We all have fevers, sniffly/stuffy noses, and Caitlin has diarrhea again. Conall informed me tonight that he doesn't want to "go anywhere to visit anyone tomorrow." I think all of us are worn out!
When we got home, Aunt Susan had left a gift (thank you!) for the kids to unwrap. They were excited about more "presents" until they saw Inkspot come around the corner. They both dropped their packages to run up to him and love on him. I think he secretly LOVED it! It is a pretty big deal for an almost 2 and almost 5 year old to drop an unwrapped gift to see someone!
We took some pictures over the holiday, but between getting so many visits in and being sick, there aren't a lot of photos to post.

The Knight, the Princess, the Dragon, and the Monster

Conall and Caitlin went trick-or-treating with the boys next door again this year. Although it wasn't planned, Conall's costume was a knight, Caitlin's was a princess, Kanton's was a dragon, and August was a monster. Pretty funny, huh?

The kids really enjoyed trick-or-treating together (and with Aunt Amy, she went with us). Caitlin usually made it up to the door last, and either people felt sorry for her or thought she was cute, because she always ended up with twice the amount of candy that people gave to the boys.

She also always said "tank you" and "bye" or "bye guys." Conall kept trying to go inside people's houses and at one point requested a particular kind of candy "do you have any Skittles?" Otherwise, he remembered his manners.

We also had a cat follow us for awhile, until the boys took off running after it yelling "kitty, kitty." At another house, the cats came into the yard to greet us and hung out with Princess Caitlin for awhile, letting her pet one of them -- the one that supposedly was usually more cautious with strangers. She loved it!

The kids had a great time, got lots of candy, and, of course, didn't want to go to bed. Conall is pretty upset that "tomorrow is November." His favorite holiday is over for the year.

More pictures coming in a slideshow!

More Caitlin and Inkspot

Aren't these precious? I'm just so glad I thought to grab the camera.
The one I posted earlier is still my favorite, though. Which one do you guys like best?

She's hugging him in this one

They are both looking at the same thing ...

And, of course, she has her "spot" printed outfit on while hanging out with The Spot

Caitlin and Inkspot

The Cats Are Giving High Fives

Conall came running into the living room from our room tonight all excited.
Conall -- Inkspot is killing Derby!
Stu -- What?
Conall -- Yeah, the cats are giving each other high fives!
Stu -- What? (he goes to check to see what our cats are really up to)

I'm in the kitchen making dinner and Conall comes running in:
Conall -- Inkspot, Derby and Daisy are giving each other high fives.
Me -- Well, that's really cool Conall. How are they doing that?
Conall -- You know, they are giving each other high fives with their paws.

About this time, Stu comes back from our room laughing. Apparently the cats were having a slap-cat fight over a spot on the bed. Who knew that was giving each other a high five!

The Cat Goes Everywhere

Conall takes Rusty, the stuffed animal cat, everywhere. He even tucks it in for a nap and "feeds" it. He's even starting talking about time as "before I had Rusty" or "I had Rusty."
I looked over the other day and this is what I saw:

Rusty buckled into the highchair

I guess he really does go everywhere!

Sleeping Angel (Complete With Cat)

Here's a picture of how Conall fell asleep tonight -- with his stuffed cat, Rusty, on his head. Although you can't see his face, I think he looks like an angel -- well, at least until he wakes me up tomorrow morning, hitting me with a pillow saying "wake up, Wake Up, WAKE UP MOMMY!"

Mutts and Mooch

Caitlin may have a new nickname soon. She has learned how to say "yes" (instead of yeah) except she says "yesh" like Mooch the cat in the comic strip Mutts ( http://muttscomics.com/ ). It really is cute. If Mooch had a nicer name I think we'd already have given her the nickname.

Rusty the cat

On the way to school today, Conall informed me that he didn't want his cat to be named Sassy. The cat is now a boy and is named Rusty. Conall took it to school again today. Yesterday, he took the cat to school and last night he told me that he washed it in the toy sink and used "pretend" water and "pretend" soap to wash it.

Sassy the Cat

Conall has a Himalayan (he says Siamese) stuffed animal that Grandma bought for him. He spent most of the weekend playing with it and his caterpillar. He has named the cat Sassy, after the cat in the movie Homeward Bound, one of Conall's favorite movies (he calls it "The Cat and Dog Movie"). He rocked the cat, fed the cat, slept with the cat, covered the cat up with blankets, pretended the cat puked everywhere, etc. You get the idea -- the cat did everything. When we were on the patio at NaNa and PoPo's, he put the cat in a chair. I was taking so many photos of Caitlin playing in the water with PoPo, that I felt I needed to take some of Conall playing, so I took some of him with the cat. He now wants to make another "movie," but this time with the toy cat.