Christmas at the Compound

We had a very nice Christmas with the Seaman,Cattel,Sauls, clan this year, as usual. We are thankful to be part of a large loving family. We did miss a few this year and that is sad but everyone was there in heart. Poor Rich, he still isn't used to all the "noise" that the family produces, don't get me wrong he dearly loves everyone but I can look at him and know when it is time to take him home and give his ears a rest. I guess it is a good thing we met and married later in life, he might not have survived small children or even teens in the house 24/7 , I remember once Helen and Sarah were at my house and I made a comment that my ears hurt from all the "chatter" they promptly told me thats what girls do. Anyway I digress. Back to Christmas, we listened to g-daddy read the Christmas story and ate like there was never going to be anymore food ever and opened presents. Of course there is one we won't get until July which I just found out about that night... no ones fault but my own , it seems I am not quick when it comes to subtle hints, I can hardly wait to see what this one comes out looking like, how much cuter can a child get than the ones we already have ? Enjoy a few photo's

Troop Recall?

Makes me just a little bit nervous, but Eric, who was just hired last week to do my old job in personnel was recalled to active duty effective 4 Jan 09. He got to work 2 weeks. He is a retiree with 22 years of active duty and has been retired for 9 years. This just doesn't make any sense. That's 31 years including retired reserve service. I did 20 years and have been retired for 13....wonder if Donald and I are on their radar too?
By the way...he's not going to the middle east. They are sending him to Ft. Sill, OK to work in Military Personnel. THAT is even crazier!

Nathan-sitting and other eventful issues

Well, one thing is for sure...Nathan-sitting has it's own brand of excitement. While Helen and Vic were at church last night, Nathan and I spent some quality time together....In the ditch in front of our house!

After our dinner of chili-dogs, he begged to go see the Christmas lights next door and I'm just not able to say no too often....YET. I did make him take one more bite of his dinner before we headed out the door and into the ditch..

Honestly, I know better, but he loves to sit on my lap as we go through the Christmas lights, so I figured it wouldn't be a problem as it's only another couple hundred yards with him sitting there. He sat on my knee as we began backing the truck. I was checking to make sure there was no traffic when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him toying with the mirror (among with other knobs and buttons) and glanced to see what he was doing....without stopping! It was a very slow decent into a very slick ditch. After finally giving up and calling AAA, we waited on "Mater," talked about the stars, and had half a dozen offers to help pull it out (I'd already called for "Mater and didn't want unnecessary vehicle damage). When I got into the truck this morning, my mirror was upside down and, the fan was blowing on high with defroster set...not to mention right side is completely covered in mud.

One other thing of note, I got a notice at work that a new intern position is coming up soon (the interviews are Jan 14). Requirements are firm ....30% disabled vet, BA, and at least 24 hours in Finance or Accounting. I'm really excited about it because they have a very small qualifying group and the starting pay grade is well above what I make now. After completeing the internship, the salary significantly increases. Oh...I forgot to mention, the position is in Contracting....which I've been trying to get into even before I started working on my degree. I've already informed my boss and though I really enjoy the position in personnel, she had to agree that this is a great opporunity and I shouldn't ignore it for the sake of job loyalty.

A hunting we will go

We went on our annual tree killing adventure today with Helen and the kids, hunting for the perfect tree. Helen found her's but alas I could not. You could either see thru them or they were some weird color, they actually looked like they spray painted some of them. Others were very pretty but the type of tree they were they don't hold the ornaments very well. We had a great time running after the kids . Papa, Nathan and even Sam were able to chop down and bring home the perfect tree for them . I found ours at a "lot", it is alot smaller than we have ever had, not quite a "charlie brown" tree but maybe this year the cats will stay out of it. In case anyone is wondering Sam's shirt say's "who needs Santa when you have grandparents" hmmm wonder where that came from ?

Who does this look like

Nathan loves getting my glasses and putting them on, this one cracks me up. Who do ya'll think he looks like in this photo ?

Thanksgiving and Other stuff

We had a very laid back and quiet (mostly) Thanksgiving this year. I was able to NOT spend the whole day in the kitchen which as wives/moms and grandmoms you know how hard that can be. We did and do have lots of things to be thankful for. I am just glad we don't only take one day out a year to acknowledge that but sure am grateful I only have to cook a big ole meal for it once a year ! We ate and were back to the couch in no time. We WII'd and waited patiently for darkthirty so we could go see the Missmuss (Christmas lights) at Uncle Horace's, sorry but last year Nathan couldn't say Christmas, it came out Missmuss and is one of those things I don't want to let go of yet. So at darkthirty the Seaman/Sauls/Vicars/Cox/Cattell clan met at our place and we all piled in the vans,pickups and/or cars with our blankets and quilts to make the annual trek thru the lights. It is so fun to watch the kids (big&little) ooohh and awww over the lights, Sam was even watching them this year, I am sure Gretchen enjoyed them to but she was in another truck, it was a bit cold so the little little ones mostly stayed inside the vehicles, of course we have to go thru twice as you can't see it all in one trip, we got to go three times this year since RJ and Gene were a bit late in making the first drive thru. Oh I almost forgot the "lighting" ceremony at Helen and Ryans, she was most excited as she put the lights up herself. We are sorry that Ryan missed out on it but he was on his great adventure to Wy. I am sure there will be blogging on that trip when he gets home. Well thats about all I have for now, have been a bit lazy in posting so wanted to share something . Again I want to say Rich and I have alot to be thankful for and if you are reading this you are one of them

Busy Busy Busy

I wanted to post so everyone would know we are still here. Isn't it crazy how caught up in life we can get ? But who am I to fuss ? Look at Aunt Carol and Joe...packing up and moving away, Eileen with 3 kids, Hel with 2 little ones, Ryan with 2 jobs, Nance with her big family and teaching Seminary, the list is endless BUT I still seem to run out of time to sit here and post. I have been working at one of our DC's in Fla the past 2 weeks so feel very out of touch with everyone. I must admit it was kind of nice to go off sort of like a working vacation, I worked the evening shift, which means from 4:00 pm to when we were done which might be 1200a or as in a few mornings until 6:30 am, it wasn't as hard as I thought to stay awake all night the problem came with sleeping during the day. I usually managed a few hrs and then up and exploring Lake City, and to anyone who knows that area I was done in an hr or so !!! No really they had a great little downtown area with little shops and a couple quaint cafe's and of course I found several second hand stores. Although much to my disappointment their mall was just like ours--sucky but I still found some Christmas gifts. Rich and I are almost done with our shopping for the season. We are waiting breathlessly to see whose name we get from the annual "name drawing exchange " with the CMAN clan. Papa Rich is so funny about that, he thinks very hard and trys to get a great gift for whosever name he has and I bet if we asked any of the little ones they would agree he has done GREAT, makes me hope he draws my name this year. I don't have any new pictures to post now, but will be putting up the Halloween ones soon.
Last but certainly not least I will be posting some of the Wall, Kudos to Aunt Susie for an awesome job.

The Thomas Train Affair

A picture is worth a thousand words, here are a few thousand words. More to come later.

YUMO

We celebrated Sam's first birthday last Sat and these are just a sample of some of the fun that was had. I don't want to post any more until her Mommie and Daddy do. Just giving you a taste of what is to come !!

" Ten Hut "

We went to Shelly's graduation from basic training at Ft Jackson SC this past week. After a 6 hr trip with a 3 year old that hadn't seen his mommy in about 10 weeks was an adventure to say the least. In all fairness he did very well considering the trip and all. We finally arrived at the base but really had no clue as to where to go. I don't do well with maps so chose to be the driver , that means who ever is with me is the navigator or is supposed to be, my partner didn't do so well so by the time we got there and got on the base to say the least I was a bit stressed. Finally after driving until I was on restricted space I turned around and began to look for an MP to ask directions, was surprised they hadn't found me wondering around on a firing range or whatever restricted area I happened to drive us into. Finally we found one and he pointed us in the right direction...almost there....after driving for a bit more and still not finding what we needed I saw two soldiers standing at a bus stop, I pulled up and rolled down the two passenger windows and before I could even ask "where is Solomon Center please" RJ shouted TEN HUT !! we all fell out, not sure where he learned it or why he said it but it broke my tension and gave us all a good laugh. As it turned out we were AT the Solomon Center but the sign had a different name on it, government--go figure. We went in for a small ceremony and then were going to be able to spend the rest of the day with Shelly. The next day was the actual graduation, "family day" was first. All in all is was a good trip and a little boy that was missing his mommy got to spend two days with her so I suppose all the small little issues were nothing once I saw the look on their two faces once they were back together. The following pictures say it all.

Thank You.....

**DISCLAIMER** I don't know where/who did this originally but it's too funny not to post

I just want to thank everyone for the educational emails over the past year...
Thanks to you, I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel.
I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the channels. I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed. I can't enjoy lemon slices in my tea or on my seafood anymore because lemon peels have been found to contain all kinds of nasty germs including feces . I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking your nose. Eating a Little Debbie sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years. I can't touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom. I must send my special thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing. Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason. I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time. I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program . I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St.Theresa's novena has granted my every wish. I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers. I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day. Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes. Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains. I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas. I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put 'Under God' on their cans. I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer. And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life. I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS. I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.. I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise. I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army. I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for or which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda , Singapore and Uzbekistan . I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman-Marcus since I now have their recipe. Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt. And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a rapist waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.
If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician... Have a wonderful day...

What's in a Name ?

Rich and I have been noticing that we are getting ALOT of strange hits on our blog and have been wondering why, we are getting hits from Chile', Sweden, Argentina, Italy, UK, Philippines and a few others I can't remember off the top of my head. It kind of freaks me out, I have come to the conclusion it is due to the name of our blog "KATHOUSE". I thought we might need to change it as didn't like the thought of some creepy person sitting nude in their office chair in the middle of the night looking for gosh knows what and coming across "our" blog instead of "something" else. Now YES it may be something much less sinister as Rich and I have travelled all over the world but neither one of us knows too many folks in most of those places that would be looking at us. I tried to get him to change our blog name but he says no, I like it too but .
So now I am just telling myself it is just a fluke and we just have a very popular blog that folks want to look at, yeah that's it.

Kitty Scare

We had a real scare on Friday when Garfield (our 4 year old cat) started acting odd and looked to be in pain. He was bloated and far from being the happy go lucky cat we've come to love. He even growled and hissed at me, which he had never done, when I tried to check him over. I called Quailwood and Dr. Branch agreed to meet us at 8:45 PM. Before he arrived though, Dr. King opened the door at Quailwood and checked Garf over. Turns out he had a urinary blockage that we caught very early on. The doctors were able to clear up the problem but they said he'd have to stay at Quailwood for monitoring until Sunday evening. It was really hard because he'd never been away from home before.

It was really scary for us because Vic and I had just been talking about how lucky we have been over the years that none of our feline and canine family have not come up with any serious medical issues. Not 3 hours later, we noticed Garf's problem.

I'm happy to report that he is doing just great. He's on meds (about the size of horse pills) for a while to help with his problems, but he doesn't fight you when they are given, unlike most pets. It's only been a couple of days since he got home, but he seems to be bouncing right back to his former playful ways.

Please make sure that Garfie doesn't hear about this, but when we first met him at the Animal Shelter, we were told that he was a girl. Vickie decided to call "her" Sassy until her spaying became his neutering. Well, he may yet become Sassy again. Dr. Branch told me that this blockage issue could become an ongoing issue during his lifetime, but if we have to take him to the vet to deal with it too often, we should consider surgery....which will effectively make him a girl...again. Please, please don't let him know about this potential option as he may just decide that 9 lives are too much....if he has to be a girl!!

Wii-re Older and Wii-zer

As most of you know, I celebrated my 52nd birthday on the 9th, and it was really made special by some surprizes, not the least of which was a happy birthday song phone call from the Seaman clan, including the vocally versatile stylings of Amelia, Estella, Jed (I think), and maybe even Gretchen chimed in. Thank you.
My other family was wonderful too, presenting me with a German Chocolate Birthday Cake, with just enough candles that I could blow out without help. Vic got me a massage certificate, which she knows I love and clothes that I hate to have to buy myself. She also found me the belt I've been looking for (military style cloth belt) that makes getting dresses for a day off so much more comfortable.
Ryan put the most effort into his gift though....once again saving me from having to cut my own lawn by doing it while I was at work. He doesn't know how much I appreciate his efforts.
After we had cake and ice cream, I thought it would be a great time to set up Vickie's birthday present (a WiiFit System) that we had almost forgotten to set up.
Wii've set everything up and have tried a number of the game's routines but have a lot of work ahead of us if Wii really want to get into shape.

Coming Out

I know you all have seen the most adorable grandkids many times but I have more to show you.We put in this door for our 4 legged family members about 3 years ago but I think all the kids in the family think it was done for them. I am not being partial to Sam but I have about a "quadjillion" picture to look thru to find the ones of Nathan trying to come thru. I will post those once found.

whats more scary, a room full of kids or a hurricane

I suppose that depends on who you ask, you may not want to ask Rich. A few weeks ago Sister Flanders called and asked Rich if he would help out with our Primary Activity, of course him being a weather person his job was to help the children understand about how the weather affects us and how being prepared makes it much more easier. He did a great job, we didn't have quite as many kids show up as we hoped would so they were split into two groups, boys and girls. We had the boys first, they asked great questions and learned alot about weather, of course we had cool stuff like wind up flashlights, a weather radio that we got to turn on and hear about "real" time hurricane info, we had loads of stuff that the RED CROSS gave us----yea Tifton Red Cross. So after that was passed out they moved onto the next station manned (womaned) by Sister Brown, to say the least that was interesting, sort of like getting a band aid on an oiled piglet !! But they did well for the most part, at one point I did mention to Sister Dorsett (forgive me if spelling is incorrect) that I wasn't sure how I managed to raise 2 boys mostly alone and keep my sanity. After a few mins the boys moved on and the girls moved in, they were not near as interested in our hurricane presentation, they pretty much wanted their stuff for their backpacks and to move on so we kept it short and sweet. Oh but here comes the best part. While we all were doing our presentations or games or singing, Sister Flanders and Sis McCray were cooking HoBo Foil dinners and Smores....the smell was making our mouths water and the wait was well worth it. So all in all I would have to say the kids were a little less scary than a hurricane. The vote from Rich is still out.

here are a few photo's from today, notice poor Blue MM's broken arm. The other's are everyone enjoying the yummy food.

Weather Wise

Looks like we are starting to get more than our share of the weather so I thought that maybe some of you would like a link to access the local (Moody AFB, GA) radar loop that lets you keep an eye on these storms that are finding us so often these days. You can just explore the site and if you have questions, let me know. I'm not an expert on the NWS website, but I can help most likely.

http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=VAX&product=N0R&overlay=11101111&loop=yes


















Here is the link to the Hurricane Center that will give you up to 5 days of what they expect systems to do.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at2.shtml?5day#contents

Most of you internet geeks know how to find this, but below is a list that explains the Saffir-Simpson Scale for Tropical Depression/Storm /Hurricane differentiation. These winds are sustained (one minute average) versus gusts (peak winds over a 10 minute period).

TD = Tropical Depression: 23 - 38 mph (20-34 kts)

TS = Tropical Storm: 39 - 73 mph (34 - 63 kts)

Hurricane Catetgory 1: 74 - 95 mph (64 - 82 kts)

Hurricane Category 2: 96 - 110 mph (83 - 95 kts)

Hurricane Category 3: 111 - 130 mph (96 - 113 kts)

Hurricane Category 4: 131 - 155 mph (114 - 135 kts)

Hurricane Category 5: > 155 mph (>135 kts)

One of these days

I couldn't resist and hey don't all families have pictures like that ,that years later the kids want to commit seppuku on you for. Seen Jens blog lately ? That lovely picture of Helen in the neck brace, if that isn't one I don't know what is. Well here is one that Nathan will be complaining about for years to come. I mean he is wearing a SpongeBob party hat and Dora the Explorer swim pants, which is not too bad except years from now I know he will ask "what are those pink panties or whatever is showing under my swim trunks"? Of course I will have the explantation ready providing I remember it, I went off and left his clothes/pull ups in his Mom and Dad's car when we were going to Gabi's 3 rd birthday party so we used her's. Still as a Nonna I love it.

A Sad Sad Life

I guess I shouldn't say things like that but I have been fussed at ALOT for not posting. I have had nothing to post , no diaries, nothing exciting has happened of late, I know I should be thankful for that and I am but there in lies the problem of what to post. I am not witty and funny and able to make you laugh at lifes most simple things (Jen/Carol) . I have downloaded some new pictures of the most beautiful grandchild-sorry Sis Coates,Carol and all the other grandmothers out there but we can "share" that title and it will be ok. So I am posting them for now until I come up with something else. Enjoy. The first two are Sam exploring the cat door, actually all the kids including Madeline and Bella have been in and out that door, poor little Nathan got stuck in it, his head and shoulders were always too big to get thru it without a stuggle

Name Dropper

Well I wasn't asked but thought I might as well put my two cents in, and besides I have been "fussed" for not posting for so long---hey LIFE happens.
I have a few encounters with the "famous" . Of course A. Tippin which Rich mentioned, I just couldn't talk to him, we had just finished eating Chinese food and no way was I going to speak to him with teeth full of rice and goodness knows what else plus I had almost walked right into him so that was almost as good as speaking. Next on the list was Jane Fonda, please dont' hold it againist me, it was a volunteer project I was working on with the local police dpt and she came to check it out. There was Prez and Mrs Carter, I was working on a Hab for Human Housing project down in Valdosta and for whatever reason they chose the house I was working in to help with. It was fun and interesting , they were quite humble and not afraid to get down and dirty, so dirty in fact at one point Mr Carter and I were painting in the same room and I happened to get my paint roller over his rear end, he was most gracious about it, of course I felt like a nimrod ! There was a soap opera guy that I met in Ocilla but for the life of me I can't remember his name, I know he's Greek if that helps..lol
I feel like there is more but am very sleepy and am giving up for the evening.

Famous Encounters

Hmmmm, well, my final reenlistment in the Air Force was performed by Gordon Fullerton.
Fullerton was the pilot on the eight-day STS-3 Space Shuttle orbital flight test mission March 22-30, 1982. Fullerton was commander of the STS-51F Spacelab 2 mission, launched on July 29, 1985. This mission, with the orbiter Challenger, was the first pallet-only Spacelab mission and the first to operate the Spacelab Instrument Pointing System (IPS).
Vickie and I also ran into Aaron Tippin in our Las Vegas hotel, but Vic was a bit timid about talking to him after we'd just eaten dinner including rice (she hadn't had time to brush her teeth). Of course, I met many of the Astronauts during my 5 years supporting the Space Shuttle. Ran into Chuck Yeager a few times there too.
One of the most interesting, which I'd forgotten, happened while I was stationed at Edwards AFB supporting the space shuttle. We got a call one afternoon that the folks in Hollywood wanted weather support for a new series called "Quantum Leap," the pilot of which was to be filmed on the base. After answering numerous weather questions and making 4 to 6 different types of forecasts per day, they got the series of shots they wanted done. One of the assistants called and invited the two forecasters involved over to the set for the wrapup buffet (or whatever it was). We ran almost right into Scott Bacula and were introduced, but he was busy, so we were told to order whatever we wanted to eat and just wander around. It was pretty cool.
The next day, Dean Stockwell and and another cast member came by the weather station to introduce themselves AND ask if I'd like to join the for a round of golf. Unfortunately, I was the duty forecaster that day and the space shuttle was getting ready to launch again, so I couldn't leave the station.
I can't say I've met them, but I watched Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and all of the golf stars play at the Tour Players Championship at Sawgrass (St. Augustine). I did get some cool autographs on my hat, but the most well known of them is Jerry Kelly, who is one of my favorites.

You've been Nathanized

Two weeks and we haven't made time to blog...and there is so much to talk about.
For one thing, Nathan struck again. Let me set the scene for you...
I had just arrived home from work, about 5:20 PM and was in the bedroom changing my clothes.
Nathan was visiting and began to knock on the bedroom door, apparently to help Punkin get my attention. Punkin was also thumping on the door, which was closed to give me a bit of privacy.
When I asked who it was, the answer came back....MEOW....then, your grabson...then...Nathan Olin Bicars (I think someone was prompting Nathan)....Punkin meowed on his own though.
I opened the door and everyone flowed into the room....4 cats, 1 grabson, and my beloved spouse.
Everyone plopped on the bed just as the phone rang...and simultaneously..the front door opened. I figured it was Ryan at the door coming for Nathan, and I assumed he was also on the phone to "call" Nathan. I decided to just give Nathan the phone since Ryan was on the other end. Nathan quickly began to relate the day's events to the caller.
Ryan walked into the bedroom, but wasn't on the phone.
At this time, Nathan had been talking for close to a minute, and now we were curious to find out who was on the line.
Vickie took the phone and found out that it was another telemarketer, who was apparently obligated not to hang up. Seems like some kind of justice was served without forethought or intended malice by making them listen to the babbling of a two year old (no matter how smart he is!). Thank you Nathan for saving us form those evil telemarketers.

And my golf game was finally coming around...

Geesh...what do I do now? I had finally figured out how to beat my golf buddies on a pretty consistent basis and WHAM....I get a job! How am I supposed to keep up my swing consistency when I have to take 50 hours per week from my game? (That's a 40 hour week and 10 hours of driving.)

For those that may have not heard, I was hired by the folks at the Marine Base in Albany as a Human Resource Assistant beginning tomorrow, July 7. In all honesty, I'm quite excited at the prospect of getting back to work, but am not all that hyped about the amount of gas I'll have to burn to get there. I enjoy the drive (did it to Moody too), but that was when gas was "ONLY" $2.00 per gallon. Dang, I remember when I got my drivers licence in 1972, gas was honestly averaging about 40 cents per gallon (we paid more in California, but it was well under $1.00). Now, it will cost me an average of $120 per week to get back and forth to work. I think I'm going to have to start drilling for my own oil...which way to ANWR?

Still, having a job and a paycheck is worth it and I'm looking forward to getting back into the thrill of working (until they start ticking me off...lol)

Welcome to our new Grandkitty

Welcome to our newest family member, Chance, now before anyone jumps to the conclusion that we have upped our herd to 9 we can say it "ain't so" this sweet little guy belongs to the Vicars family. But as you know Papa and I are what you might call suckers for these furry things so of course we have to post a welcome for him. There is quite a story behind this little guy, lets' just say he was meant to be. I will try to keep it short but ya'll know me and how I tend to ramble on. Papa and I had gone to T-Ville for him to take a state test for a job-(no need for that now has he got one at the Marine Base-more on that from him) anyone we were there and Ryan decided to cut our grass for Papa as a Fathers Day surprise, well he was going to use our mower but we had the keys on us, he came and got our truck and trailer and went and borrowed Donald's mower, the entire day was kind of icky, it was hot and stormy. As Ryan was mowing the ditch in front of our house something caught his eye...guess what it was ? Yep it was Chance, someone has tossed this little kitty out in our ditch, he has a huge open sore on his back/tail, we assumed it happened when he was tossed out. Ryan and Helen went and bought some kitty milk and a bottle to try and save him, none of us really thought he would make it, he was so tiny his little eyes were barely even open. He made it thru the weekend so Papa took him to the Vet that Monday, he weighed all of 5 oz and had to be put on antibiotics, they told us not to expect much as he was in rough shape. But as you can see he has thrived due to alot of love and several feedings a day. He went back to the Dr a few times and on his last visit Wed he was up to 12 whole oz !! We all think this little kitty has a charmed life, as the way things happened it can't be anything else, even if Ryan hadn't chopped him up with the mower almost as soon as he finished cutting the yard it stormed so bad and hard there is no way the little guy would have made it thru that.

Here are a few photo's to give you and idea of just how tiny this guy is, this is the smallest bed you can buy, you can see how little room he takes up in it.

The next photo is one of our smallest kitties-Hobo, he was also rescued as a bitty kitty so maybe he was encouraging Chance to keep fighting, again seeing Hobo next to him gives you a visual as to how small he is. And of course the last one needs no explanation now does it ?

Bomb's Away and other things

This is what Nathan and Papa do several times a week, Papa goes and finds golf balls at the course and turns them in to pay for his monthly golf dues, he finds them and he and Nathan clean them up and get them ready to turn in. Last night Nathan discovered that as he held them real high and dropped them they made the best splash !! I am hoping things like this "stick' in Nathans memory bank I know it will ours.












I thought Nathan was having trouble finding the last of the balls, no, he was just enjoying the water .
As Nathan and Papa were washing golf balls I was trying to keep up with Sammie, she may not be walking but she is QUICK.....by the time we have had her a few hours we have to put her in the "cage" , btw we had them last night while their parents went out for a little alone time. Of course I can't have them in the house without taking pictures.
Doesn't she look pitful? and this was BEFORE I got tired !!














America's Next Top Model...don't you agree ?











Sam will be walking before long, she gets a hold of Nathan's "car" and off she goes, its' too funny, we are going to get it on video soon