It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

...and that means ornaments and strings and other fun things for Rambo to play with.

Ella And Her Best Friend

Up Close and Personal

Fall Dogs

They're so cute.

I Wish

I wish this is all I had to do every day. In the second one it looks like Rambo is whispering secrets to Leo.

Ella's New Bed

I know, I didn't think she'd fit either.

Why my clothes are covered in cat hair.

Dog Days

Aren't they just the cutest?

Rambo and The Little Ugly

So for our baby shower one of Beth's friends bought Abby a stuffed animal called a Little Ugly. It truly is an ugly stuffed animal, but for some strange reason, Rambo LOVES it. He carries it around with him. He cuddles with it. He plays with it. It's so strange. Tonight I saw him walking into the kitchen with it firmly in his mouth. I followed with the camera and caught the following gems on film.

Best Buddies

Charles in Charge?

I don't think so...

Awwwww....

Uncooperative dogs.

This morning my goal was to get a cute picture of Abby and the dogs sitting together, maybe cuddling, maybe kissing, but at least just plain looking cute together. Alas, it turns out the dogs don't like touching (or even thinking about touching) the chair in which Abby was posed. I tried and tried to get them to sit up close on either side of her but the more I pushed them toward the chair the farther they inched away from it. So, this is what I got--two indifferent/peeved looking dogs sitting *near* an indifferent looking baby. Not what I had in mind.

Charlie fur

This morning I saw two Chipping Sparrows outside the back door gathering up nesting material. When I looked closely, I noticed they were focusing their activity in very particular areas--the spots where Charlie lounges during the day--and on one particular material--Charlie fur. They're going to have a nice warm nest this year!

Kitties got a new toy

And they love it.

King Leo

The king surveys his domain from his throne...

My how my girl has grown...

Fur Ball

This picture demonstrates quite nicely why cats are sometimes called fur balls.

Cat Boppy?

Apparently Rambo appreciates the boppy as much as Abigail does. The other morning this is where I found him...

Bath time

Since the weather has been warming our backyard has once again transformed into a giant mud hole. As a result we were forced to bathe the dogs. This is what the bath tub looked like after said baths.

The Crib

What is it about cats? They seem to have a sixth sense for finding the places that you absolutely DO NOT want them to be and then consistently being there. For example, they like to sit on the computer keyboard while I'm typing. Or when I'm knitting, they insist on laying between my face and my knitting project. At night, of all the warm places on the bed, Leo insists on laying on my pillow with his face buried in my hair. Their latest discovery is that I don't want them laying in the baby's crib. Rambo has been obsessed with the thing ever since it came into the house. We finally shut him out of the bedroom so he would break the habit. Then I bought some netting to put over the crib, thinking it would prevent them from laying in the crib. Apparently the netting by itself is not enough. Sigh.

Marnie

Marnie loves Alex. So much so that she will follow him up a fallen tree just to give him a kiss.

Snow Dogs

This is what Charlie and Ella do in the snow:

This is what they look like after they do that:

Fun with Packaging

Rambo is obsessed with boxes. The second we get a package in the mail, he starts trying to figure out how to get inside it. He's pretty successful too. Last week we got a monstrous package in the mail and as a bonus, it was filled with packing paper. We can't bear to throw it out now that Rambo has established it as his own personal fortress.

A Cat after My Own Heart

Every morning when I get up, I head straight for the heater vent where I sit for the next 15 minutes, letting the hot air blow down my back. It's a wonderful way to transition from the bed to the real world. Rambo has caught on to my routine and figured out that it is indeed a wonderful idea. So he joins me every morning on the heater vent (he's actually quite greedy and I often end up periodically pushing him back so that at least some of the heat gets to my back). Usually I have to get going before he does--apparently chasing invisible butterflies is not as pressing as getting to school in the mornings. Here he is, after I have vacated, taking in the glorious heat.

Happy Kitties

Happy Dog