My father-in-law was a cat magnet. He loved them, and they loved him. He also loved to laugh. So, it's fitting that we got our sweet Sawyer from him.



Here's my father-in-law, Glenn, with my daughter and my sister-in-law when he came to see Annie a few months before the "incident".

As I said, cats adored Glenn and came from far and wide to live with him. So it was not surprising that another cat had adopted him. However, he thought this particular cat was a male. So he did not rush to get it fixed. But lo and behold on April Fool's Day, this 'male' cat delivered kittens.



Aren't they adorable? Well, a couple of weeks after Glenn discovered his error and these adorable kittens, he had a heart attack and ended up in the hospital. My husband raced to Kansas City to be with his father. Unfortunately, Glenn did not recover and passed away. As we were making arrangements for the funeral, my husband told me about the kittens and asked if we could keep one. Well, what could I say? Of course! So when we went up for the funeral, my daughter picked out a kitten for us and a kitten for my sister. They were still too young to leave their mother, so we anxiously awaited their arrival to our house in May.



They had not had much human contact because of Glenn's hospitalization, so they huddled together. We had thought to name our kitten, the orange/blond one 'Glenda' after both Glenn and one of our favorite books/movies--The Wizard of Oz. But the day we took them to the vet to get checked out, we discovered that orangey kittens are 95% male. And so, we quickly changed Glenda's name to Sawyer, after one of our favorite characters on the TV show LOST.



The pretty gray one, my sister kept, and she named her Scout.



Now here they are all grown up!






April Fools' Day is bittersweet, as I think of sweet and wonderful Glenn, but it's also joyous in that we have an adorable cat. Sawyer is so lovable. Our sorrow will end one day when we are all united in heaven, but until then we will remember Glenn and his sweet gift, Sawyer.

Labels: April Fools' Day, cats, Glenda, kittens, LOST, Sawyer, Wizard of Oz

Here are a few more pictures of the kittens! The first is Sawyer and Hilo meeting. Hilo becomes very excited around the kittens, and I actually think the kittens like her too. The best way, right now, for them to play, is for me to hold Sawyer and then Hilo sits on the end of my bed. That way she doesn't jump and if she gets to crazy I can step back and put space between us. Hilo has gotten very good about sitting. When I do this, Sawyer begins purring. Hilo noses the kitten, licks her, and Sawyer licks her back and rubs his head against Hilo's. Very sweet!

My daughter is head over heels in love with these kittens. She loves to cuddle them and they seem to like it too. For not having been handled much before coming here they have adapted well to our almost constant attention.

The kittens like to jump to the edge of my bathtub. I found them one morning playing around the plants on the far edge, which are next to the window. Sawyer lost his balance and made a grab for the leaf but he ended up sliding into the bathtub. They are very adventurous and a lot of fun to watch.

Labels: dogs and cats, kittens

The kittens are very rambunctious! They are much more comfortable with us now. Since they haven't been handled much in the past, we are very pleased to how they have become accustomed to us, getting in our laps, purring for us, playing with us. They are very sweet. Our other animals are not too happy by all of this. Miracle, our 7 year old cat, growls at them. We let her stay in the bathroom with them, supervised of course, and she watched them playing for a long time. She's curious but very mad. Our sweet lab, Liberty, was curious about them but she scared them and they hissed and spit at her. So she lost interest. Hilo, our labradoodle, is very curious about them but she is too rambunctious to be near them. So we continue to introduce them. Don't forget to toss out a couple of suggestions for names, and you will be entered to win one or more of my books. If we choose the name you suggested then you'll win 5 books! But if we choose a name of our own, then I will draw 5 winners and give each a book.

Labels: book giveaway, contest, kittens

The kittens arrived yesterday evening. They were nervous and scared at first but they are now playing and purring for us. So sweet! The gray one will be my sister's cat, and the blond one is ours. We thought she was a girl but now we're not so sure. So please suggest some boy names! I'll draw for the winner(s) after we visit the vet on Monday.

Labels: contest, kittens, names

Last chance to enter the name the kitten contest! If you suggest the name that is chosen by us to name our new kitten, then you will win 5 of my books. If no one suggests the name we pick, then I will choose 5 winners to get a copy of one of my books! So make some suggestions. I will make the drawing on Monday! If you've already entered, you can suggest some other names to be entered more than once. That sweet little face needs a name!

Labels: book giveaway, contest, kittens, win books

It's been a rough couple of weeks around here as many of you know from the posts on my FB page. For those that don't know, my father-in-law passed away last week. Obviously, it's been very difficult. One thing about my father-in-law is that he LOVED animals. He had a dog and several cats. He had a new cat that he believed was a boy but that 'boy' turned out to be a girl when she delivered 5 kittens on April 1st. When we went up to Kansas City last week for the funeral, we decided to adopt one of the kittens. She is too young to leave her momma yet, so she'll be coming to our house in the next few weeks. The problem is: trying to find her a name! We have four very independent thinkers around here and we cannot seem to agree. At first, we thought we would name her Annie, because my daughter was in the musical last fall. However, not everyone likes that name. So we have come up with: Hula (as in Rock-a-hula baby because we love all things Hawaiian!), Beatrix (as in Beatrix Potter), and Harper (for Harper Lee). Alas, we have not yet agreed. So I'm appealing to you for help!

Here's the contest, offer as many suggestions as you would like. If we choose the name that you have suggested, I will give you a set of my books: Elvis Takes a Back Seat, Lookin' Back, Texas, Ruby's Slippers, Once in a Blue Moon and Facelift. If we do not choose a name that is suggested here, then I will still giveaway 5 books, one to each that I draw from those who offered suggestions here.

In the above picture, the kitten we will be bringing home is the one on the left. So go ahead: make a kitty name suggestion!

Labels: book giveaway, contest, kittens, names

Eight years ago, we rescued a sweet, chocolate and white cat. She had been hit by a car and was lying in the middle of the highway. We tried to find her a home because both my husband and I are allergic to cats, but because one of her legs was badly injured we couldn't find her a home. While she was at the vet, she had a kitten. It was ten days early and did not survive. The vet hoped she would be able to hold onto her other kittens for a few more days. But that night, she gave birth to two more kittens, which I had to deliver by hand. They were so small. They had no hair and couldn't keep their own body warmth. We were so scared they wouldn't make it. Momma cat had suffered a concussion as well as a leg injury and did not do the things Momma cats are supposed to do. She had no milk to offer, so we had to feed them by droppers. I remember my then three year old daughter praying for those tiny kittens. One only survived three days. But the other thrived. And she is still with us today. The momma cat lived with us for five years until she passed away. She was the sweetest cat ever. We named her Hershey because she looked like she had a smudge of chocolate on her upper lip. The baby kitten that survived we named Miracle, because it was a miracle that she survived and also that my husband and I aren't allergic to her. Today we celebrate her birthday, the amazing story of her birth that we had the privilege to be a part of, and the joy that she brings to our lives. Thank you God for giving us the opportunity to love her.

Labels: birthday, Cat, kittens, miracle, preemie birth