Amazement

As any of you who have read our blog recently know, our cat Rosie was expecting kittens.

As of Thursday evening, this is how she looked.  Such a sweet and forbearing thing to put up with being hauled around the house by the kids.

 We had been keeping close watch on Rosie with hopes that kittens would soon make their appearance, and yesterday was the big day.  I was home, and she had kept quite close to me all day.  I'm told that most mother cats are very private about having their kittens, but she seemed to want my company.  Yesterday afternoon, she laid on the living room floor in a different position, and I could tell that the big moment was near.  I took her down the basement, and she hopped right into a box filled with newspaper shreds that she would previously have nothing to do with.  She lay there calmly and purred as I stroked her.  I left her be, and when I returned 10 minutes later, a slimy little calico kitten was with her.  I brought Dane down to take a peek, but he wasn't too impressed by the wet mousy-looking creature.  I stayed there and watched her have a little black kitten within a few minutes.  I could swear Rosie purred right through its delivery and then calmly went about cleaning the kitten up. Another hour and a half passed before an orange kitten arrived.  We had been invited to our friends' for the evening, so we left, and returned to find one more orange kitten.  They are all thriving and precious. 

 I am so in love.  Oh, I think the kittens are nice, but I'm really talking about this sweet momma.  She wasn't my favorite of the kittens last summer, but she has now won me over.  From her patience with letting me feel her squirming kittens in utero, to her allowing me to witness their birth, I have developed this amazing bond with her.  She loves her kittens and has purred constantly since their birth.  She will not leave them to eat or drink, but waits for food to be placed near her.  I tried to get her out of the box for a moment to eat, but she was so distraught by their crying that she hopped back in without taking a bite.  She is patient while we all sit and admire these squirming little miracles.  If all goes as planned, she will never have kittens again, but she will always hold a very special place in my heart.

So far, we are not sure which are males or females, so names are pending.  I'm sure this won't be our last kitten post!

Farm kids

 And for the sake of randomness, here are my beautiful hyacinths.  I wish I could make your screen scratch-and-sniff; they smell wonderful!

Waiting for May flowers

They should be wonderful after our many April showers, both snow and rain!  We braved the wet weather to walk to the mailbox and pick up the mail this afternoon.  The kids enjoyed the puddles!

 We were all sick over the long Easter weekend, so we didn't do anything very exciting.  Easter Sunday brought nice sunny weather, so we enjoyed a big Easter lunch of tuna sandwiches (sorry, I was pretty under the weather) on our deck.

Nora played tick-tack-toe with Daddy and her new sidewalk chalk.

Both kids were finally feeling much better today, but still spent some time lounging inside since it was so rainy outdoors.

Waiting for kittens

Our cat Rosie is about to have kittens.  I was hoping they would be born on Easter, but no such luck.  We are keeping her in the house (in our basement most of the time) until the kittens are born and get a bit older.

Enjoying some attention from Nora



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She patiently lets me feel her kittens kick and squirm.

Faces that I love

Spring?

Hello??? Are you there, spring?

(No reply but the sound of falling snow.)

Saturday morning, we awoke to a winter wonderland.  Except that's it's really not so wonderful when it's the middle of April...

 Tulips poking through the melting snow.

 The snow was melted by today, and I spied these hosta buds (and dead ladybugs).

 Nora helping to paint the shelves of her new wardrobe earlier this week.

 Dane tries out the new putting green.

 Swinging diva.

 Tea party with Daddy.

Shots of Early Spring

After a long winter, I think spring has finally sprung.  We have been spending many hours outside the past few days.  Our snow is nearly gone after today, and the driveway is finally firming up from the muddy pit it had become.

It was warm enough to have a picnic lunch on the deck earlier this week.  I haven't gotten our patio furniture out of winter storage yet, but the kids didn't mind sitting on the deck.  You can still see the big snow drift in the background that has since melted.



The sun was so nice, and the deck was dry, so they played for quite a while.

Mike "inherited" this batting cage and pitching machine recently.  He rigged it all up in his dad's shed, so now his has his own personal batting cage.  Dane loves to feed balls into the pitching machine, and Mike is living his dream!

As I got home from work the other day, this was the sight I saw as I was driving up the driveway.  The whole crew (pets and all) out gopher trapping.  They have only caught one so far this spring.

Dane somehow got onto this swing over the water the other day.  He thought it was great.

We had our first bonfire last evening.

The kids got more of their toys out today.

Gardening

Sunny

Rosie.  We are awaiting the arrival of her kittens in the next few weeks.

First snake sighting of the season.

Isn't Teddy beautiful?

Baby Olive

We got to babysit our nieces this afternoon, and I couldn't resist taking some pictures of this little dolly.  She is perhaps the calmest baby ever...

These chubby cheeks and big baby blues remind me so much of Nora as a baby.

Pretty big sister Morgan, too!