Cat tale

Last week, the kids went to work with me as I reported.  They found this cute little kitty we thought was a stray.  She settled in nicely at our house and we all got somewhat attached to her.  They found this kitty under a dumpster behind my office.  In town. 10 miles from where we live.   On Sunday, I put this photo on facebook.  I then received a message from my next door neighbor.  She asked where we found the cat.   I told her and didn't hear anything back from her.  On Monday, she stopped in my office.  She works next door to me in the insurance office.  She told me that the cat belonged to her daughter.  She told me that her daughter was really sad but that she felt like they didn't want to take the cat away from our kids.  She showed me photos of the cat, and as strangely as she is marked it is hard to mistake her for a different kitty.  We think she rode to town under their jeep and my kids happened to find her.   Strange coincidence!  And sort of funny to think the cat lived 50 feet away but we found her 10 miles from home!  

The kids understood that it was not their cat and we told them we could get a different cat, but they had to return Mary. The neighbors have granted visitation and Madison ran to the humane shelter and got a replacement kitty.  

This little thing is named Ted Bundy.  Teddy is sweet and super friendly.  We are currently having a little difficulty potty training him. Hoping that gets better in a big hurry! 

Quincy's ball photos.

The assistant coach for Quincy's ball team is a photographer.  She took photos last night of the girls.  I thought they turned out really good!

Langfest 2015

Time for Langfest!  We played with cousins, ate a feast, 

Had a few explosions without any injuries!

Played with fire

Lead a parade 

And watched an awesome fireworks show.  

We had a ton of fun!  Dirty, sunburned, stuffed, redneck holiday fun!  

Dive in to the weekend

I told the kids we would go to the city pool today.  I didn't realize that there were going to be major storms last night and that between people busily cleaning up, and the cooler temperatures, we had the pool pretty much to ourselves.  

We were very lucky, both personally and as a city.  Personally we are blessed that Mallory is a self appointed weather woman, and has every weather ap known to man on her phone, so she woke us up to take cover during the tornado warning.   We didn't have any damage here at our house, but the town looked like a war zone. The national weather service has ruled it was a microburst with 80 mile per hour winds.  A lot of trees were lost, a few windows and roofs were destroyed, but nobody was hurt and cleanup was underway.  

I feel like this week was pretty long and I am excessively happy it is the weekend!

Cameron had games last night.  He played really well, however his team lost both of their games.  

And we finally had time to make Colin's birthday dinner.  He got a brisket as a birthday gift from work.  He wanted me to smoke it for him.  I did, but I have never  smoked a slab of meat this big before.  It turned out ok.  I am not a huge brisket fan. Luckily I finished cooking it in the oven because Jack the cat took off chasing Blitz and they knocked the smoker over.  The dog is amazingly smart, sweet and great with the kids, but I hold zero hope of her saving any of us! 

Grand slam and a kitty

Quincy had a game in Burlingame tonight.  She played really well.  She spent the evening at first base and caused a lot of outs.

She cranked a ball down the third base line and had a grand slam!  She was pretty pumped about it!  

This morning, the little kids had to go to  work with me.  They generally don't have to go very often and when they do, they enjoy going over to play at the school playground and taking a moment to go to the city library.  They were walking down the alley behind my office and came in to tell me there were golf clubs in the dumpster.  They were asking if it was ok if they pulled them out and used them to crack rocks in the yard.  I told them I didn't care.   About 10 minutes later they came back not with golf clubs, but with a cat.  

The loss of Adolf and then Johnny have hit the house fairly hard.  We had told the kids that they could get a kitty but that we felt waiting to make sure none of the other outdoor cats were sick might be smart.  Of course finding a kitty seemed like fate!  

I sent them out to ask the neighborhood people.  My sister happens to be a neighbor.   Amy, as well as her across the street neighbor seemed to think the city had been trying to trap a bunch of kittens that had been born to a wild cat and that this kitty was one of them.  Nobody claimed the cat.  The kids were in love.  The cat seemed extremely thirsty and hungry and was covered in fleas and bites.  

And so daddy was asked.  Jim seemed to agree that the city has cats that need to be given homes so he said ok.  

And now I have a bunch of kids totally smitten with Mary Ann Cotton.  Research and the serial killer name provided by Quincy.   Flea bath and flea collar provided my mom.  Snuggles, giggles, a full tummy, and lots of purring provided by a sweet kitty that I sincerely hope was a stray!