Happy birthday, ChaCha!

Oh, no. We do NOT spoil our precious kitty, ChaCha! Doesn't everybody get birthday cakes for their cats?

Sweet, sweet ChaCha. We are so glad you joined our family five years ago!

Still crazy after all these years...

In case you've forgotten, yes, we're still the Crazy Cat People!

Work, work, work...

It's yearbook season, and yearbook has consumed a massive chunk of my life! With our final deadline approaching, I've been working late and going to school on Saturdays. Add headaches and stomach ulcers and one stalled Project GOOD, and it all adds up to stressful times at Chez Dub.

Good thing we have ChaCha around to stay on top of our workload!

Sleeping on it.

Now on the cusp of middle school, Katie had a big decision to make: band or choir? She LOVES to sing, and she has really enjoyed performing with her elementary school choir. But band offers the chance to play an instrument, something she's always wanted to do.

A week or so ago, Katie attended the middle school choir's ice cream social and was all excited about signing up for choir. Then came Saturday's instrument fair, and the idea of playing saxophone or flute got her leaning toward band. What to do, what to do...

When I got home from the scrapbooking retreat Sunday, we continued her deliberations. She was really conflicted, and since it was getting late, I suggested we pray and sleep on it.

That's why, when it was time to tuck her in, I found THIS on her pillow:

What a funny girl!

By Monday morning she was still uncertain, but her classroom teacher had her chat with the school's music teacher for guidance. That conversation helped Katie realize that she'll have other opportunities to sing, but band will let her try instrumental music. So band it is! She'll find out sometime this spring if she can play sax, and if not, she'll play flute. Woo-hoo!

P.S. - ChaCha was in a quandary to see this little chair reappear in Katie's room. (It had been in storage for a few months.) Apparently she also chose to sleep on it!

Gotta dance.

Watch us show off our moves!

Thanksgiving Eve.

Brett had to work today, but the kids and I savored every minute of our first day of Thanksgiving break. One highlight: Bolt in 3D!

It's been a l-o-n-g time since I've seen a 3D feature film (since Spy Kids 3D, perhaps?), so I was blown away by the picture quality. Really astounding—and not headache-inducing! Am I the last one to notice this? Granted, we don't see as many Disney films as we did when the kids were early-elementary aged, but still... Wow!

And Bolt? Loved it! Incredible Journey redux with some crazy sci-fi scenes thrown in: What's not to like?

We especially enjoyed the character Mittens. She more than a little reminded us of our own sassy monochromatic feline:
ChaCha, by the way, is already looking forward to the Christmas season. She's already trying out her ChaCha Claus (or would that be Claws?) collar!

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Sneak peek.

One glimpse of Target's Halloween products tonight put Katie in the holiday mood. As soon as we returned home, she was digging in her closet to produce this year's costume:

Biker Chick!

Katie's not the only one getting in the mood to don a disguise:

Lost Luna.

One of my students came to my room after school to work on yearbook stuff, so she brought her cat, Luna. Luna is the Cat Formerly Known as CJ, so it was good to see her again! My student and I left the room for just a second to retrieve some old yearbooks, but when we returned to the lab where the cat had been sleeping, Luna was nowhere to be found.

After about 20 minutes of searching every corner of the lab, our lounge, my classroom, the darkroom, even the hallway outside, we finally found her here:

See her?

How 'bout now?

Now?

What a crazy kitty! See those five books on the floor? Those were on the shelf before Luna decided she needed a nap!

I miss my cat.

KitKat's missing, and since she's been gone since last Thursday, we're having to accept that she's gone for good. And that's not good.

It's truly ridiculous that I love that cat so much. I've never been a "cat person," but KitKat and her sister, ChaCha, turned me into not just a cat person but a certified Crazy Cat Person! I'm the one who was always allergic to cats, the one who always preferred rough-and-tumble dogs, but these kitties just stole my heart. And KitKat was my cuddler. She's the one who would come say hello when Brett or I would work at the computer. She's also the "smart one" who was trained to touch the box of canned cat food every morning. I'd ask her, "Where's your food?" and she'd walk over to the box, reach up and tap her paw on the cans just inside the box opening.

We let her into the yard last Wednesday night, and Thursday morning she wasn't at the door as usual. No biggie—we've been getting up at different times during the day, so maybe I just missed her? The cats sleep through these summer days, so I kinda thought she was in a kid's bedroom or under the sunroom chair. But after VBS that night, we realized we hadn't seen her all day. Strange.

When she still didn't show up Friday morning, we knew something was wrong. Now it's been six days, the city animal shelter doesn't have any black cats, and we're out of hope. And that makes us very, very sad.

Ryan is 12!

We're in the midst of Project GOOD and VBS this week, plus we've got the big party on Saturday. Still, we had to have a celebration for our foursome on Ryan's actual birthday! We went to IHOP (the "official" HCC one) for lunch, ran to Sam's to order the cake for Saturday, and then came home for some cake and ice cream.

Then Ryan got to open a present! After VBS the kids and I watched Alvin and the Chipmunks, pausing the DVD at 11:19 p.m. to celebrate Ryan's birth-minute. So now he's officially 12, and I'm officially in denial.

It was just a mini-party, but apparently it was too much for Cha-Cha!

CCP update.

As I was working in the living room this afternoon, our kitties were working hard, too—at napping! Every time I turned around, they had assumed new positions.

Lyrics by Katie Dub.

Then Forever
(to the tune of American Pie)

A long, long time ago, in a school not too far away,
Mom was learning a little French.
Dad was trying to go to Mars,
but too bad he was goofin' off
in science, math and even art.

Then one day they came together,
First at dinner, then forever.
They were good together,
Happy ever after.
Then one day they had a marriage,
then a little baby carriage.
They were meant to be, we can see.

So we are singin',
My, my, these so lucky guys.
They were happy,
not too crappy,
had some beautiful kids.
They got some kitties,
still one's fat and one's thin,
singin' these so lucky guys,
these so lucky guys.

Thanks, Katie! What a lovely song you've written for us!

Hello again.

Not quite a year ago, we said goodbye to CJ, one of KitKat's babies. The student who adopted CJ brought her to campus after school this week so I could see just how much CJ has grown. And has she grown! She is one long cat!

Here's CJ, now dubbed Lunna.

She's playful and curious, just like her mama, and it's so good to know that she's in such a good home.

Polar bears.

It's a record! April 8 is the earliest we've ever used our pool, which indicates that (a) we have a couple of real polar bears among us, and (b) these may be our last few months in this house so we want to get as much pool time in as we can.

Ryan and Katie were eager to take advantage of the warm temps, so Brett spent the last few weeks getting the pool ready for swimmers. The kids were kind enough to wait for me to get home from work, but once I did, it was time to dive in.

Well, Katie dove in, at least. Ryan took a little longer to take the plunge.

Katie jumped and jumped and jumped...

...while Ryan weighed his options.
Should he go in one step at a time? Should he just jump?

Katie offered to just push him in!

He opted to jump off the last step.

Brrr!

We adults and the kitties enjoyed the nice sunshine
but stayed far away from the chilly water!

Let the record show that Ryan and Katie swam outside on April 8, 2008, when the water temperature was a ridiculous 70 degrees!

Just because.

We are certifiable CCP!