Sunday Pictures

Asher – 6 years

Chancery – 4 years

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Asher: “Thanet is going to go live at a new house today.”

 

Chancery: “We’re just trying to have one last cuddle with Thanet, but he doesn’t seem to be enjoying it too much.”

 

Asher: “We’ll miss you, Thanet!  Be good for your new owners!”

Nice kitty!

 

We found Asher & Thanet enjoying a relaxing afternoon awhile back.

 

Asher was on his DS, ‘petting’ Thanet with his feet.

 

Both seemed to be enjoying the other’s company.  It doesn’t happen often!

 

Prairie Gopher

Since we’ve been enjoying warmer weather, we’ve been leaving the patio door open most of the day to let in a bit of a breeze.  It didn’t take long for Thanet to realize that if he wanted to get outside, all he had to do was run at the screen door & the bottom corner would pop out, allowing him access to the outdoors.

 

After PChad fixed the screen a few times, we decided we had to do something to stop Thanet from going through the screen.  I measured the door, & went to the local hardware store for a piece of wood.  The only problem now, is that Thanet can’t sit on the mat by the door & watch the birds.  So, he pops up like a prairie gopher & sits like that to watch them now!

Peek-a-Boo!

The kids have a blanket fort that they have been using to hide in.  Apparently Thanet wanted to get in on the game…

When the kids were sleeping the other day, this is where we found him.

 

But when he was found, he tried to act like it was no big deal.

 

He was probably just looking for a place to hide from this bunch!

Book Buddies

After Chancery got up from her nap, she found Thanet sitting in a chair & figured he’d like a book read to him.  Luckily there was one nearby, & she fulfilled his request.  Sadly, he didn’t seem all that interested in her choice of books…

Snooze Buddies

I caught these two on the couch the other day.  They had been quiet for awhile, so I thought I’d see what they were up to…

 

Thanet must have thought that it looked like a good plan, because he joined in the action (or lack thereof) too.

 

But all was not quite as it seemed…

 

I’d been duped!  They hadn’t been sleeping at all!

Friends (For The Moment)

Asher began yelling from the other room, “Mummy, come & look!  Mummy, take a picture!”  So I went to see what all the fuss was about.  Asher knows that sitting with Thanet is a rare treat & he has to stay totally still if he wants it to last.

After I took the first picture, I asked, “Asher, are you HAPPY that you get to sit with Thanet, because you sure don’t LOOK like you’re happy about it!”  Barely moving his lips he muttered, “Yes.”

 

I told him, “I don’t think Thanet will notice if you smile just a little bit.”

Animal House

Every time we get the costume box out, Chancery wants to be the zebra. 

She gets really excited as she’s putting the costume on, & as soon as she’s ‘dressed’, she starts showing off her tail.

 

If she thinks someone might have missed the fact that she now has a tail, she says, “Look at my TAIL! … I have a TAIL!”

 

 

She’ll even show it off to Thanet, “I have a tail like YOU, Thanet!” But he doesn’t seem to be too impressed.

 

Not to be outdone, this guy likes to get in on the action too.  Alas, he has no tail.

A Perfect Afternoon

There are different theories about what makes a perfect afternoon.  Some are in this camp:

And there are others in mine.

Highlights

Each night at bedtime, I ask Asher to think back on the events of the day & say "thank you" to God for his favourite part.

Christmas Eve, as I was putting him to bed, he said, "Thank you God for Thanet coming into my room."

I asked, "Was that the best part of your day? Are you sure? Was it better than going to playschool this morning? Better than eating lunch at McDonald's? Better than opening presents? Better than having a special dinner & eating birthday cake for dessert?!?"

He replied, "Yes, Thanet coming in my room was my favourite thing that happened today."

I guess we might as well take the presents back..........

Come Have A Cuddle

After her naptime, before Asher wakes up, Chancery likes to get a little bit of cuddle time in with Thanet.  She's usually in a very cheerful mood, & quite ecstatic if we come down the stairs & discover that Thanet has been waiting for her..... or forgot to move before we entered the room

Thanet: "I'm not ready to vacate the warm spot I've been napping in, but I'm a bit worried about what you might do to me, Chancery."

Chancery: "Who me?  I just want to pet you!  And maybe poke your eyes a bit while I'm at it...."

Thanet: "Yeah, that's what I was afraid of."

Are you Coming In, Or Going Out?

Asher has a habit of coming in & going out & coming in & going out & coming in & going out & coming in & going out! when he is playing outside. So when he came in (for the thousandth time) this morning, & left the patio door open (yet again), I told him that he needed to go & close the door, or Thanet might run outside & go away.


Asher: "Thanet might blow away?"

Me: "Yeee-es" (I know that's not technically what I said, but it'll do)

Asher: "But, Mum, it's not even windy outside!"

Making Friends

A few days ago we had the patio door open a bit because it was quite warm outside. Thanet was enjoying sniffing the breeze, when suddenly he started purr-meowing. There was another cat that had come to visit & he was quite excited about that. They sat together talking by the door for the next 3 hours until I closed it up for the night. Thanet was taking the submissive role; he kept rolling over by the door & putting his paws up. It was quite cute to watch him make a friend.

However, now that the weather has stayed warm, we have had to sleep with our windows open & nearly every night, multiple times, I hear, "Ye-ow, Ye-ow!" from down below.

The other cat showed up during snack time so I asked Asher if we should give him a name. He said, "Yes, his name is 'Candy Juice'!"

Me: "'Candy Juice'? What is 'Candy Juice'?"

Asher: "It's when you put a candy in your mouth & then you swallow it, then you get 'Candy Juice'!"

Sounds lovely, doesn't it? So, I guess Thanet's new friend has been dubbed "Candy Juice".

The Ants Go Marching

For the past week we have had an ant problem. I believe it all started last week, when the power was out & Asher was helping me put some groceries away. Somehow a bottle of juice was dropped on the floor & half the contents spilled out & under the fridge.

Since the power was out, I decided I might as well wait until the power was back on so I could use my steam mop to clean up the mess. Then, since housecleaning isn't the highest priority on my list, it was suddenly a week later & the mess still hadn't been cleaned up. So a few days ago, PChad & I pulled out the fridge & properly cleaned up under it.

We were alerted to the ant problem by Thanet. He has a very distinctive cry that he makes when he is doing something he knows he shouldn't be doing (like going into the washroom, climbing on the counters, etc.). The other day he was in the hallway & started doing the cry, so I went to see what he was up to. He was chasing an ant down the hall & perhaps he just wanted me to know there was an intruder in the house.

These ants are not the small ants that I am used to seeing in a house. They are the larger, garden variety ants that you'd commonly find on an anthill outdoors. Every now & then, Thanet will decide to sniff one, but I think they have pinched him a time or two b/c he ends up shaking his head & running away.


We don't really know where they are coming from, but we tend to find them in the vicinity of the fridge. Thanet has taken up his post & can be found in front of the fridge for a large percentage of his day. When one appears, he lets us know with is little cry, sometimes he'll even sit up & point his paw at the ant, keeping a safe distance.

There aren't a ton of them, we kill around 20 a day. I'm hoping they disappear soon, though. I really hate creepy, crawly things! Chancery has suddenly taken a liking to watching them & I hope she doesn't end up sampling one, like she does everything else she finds on the floor. Although, I hear in some countries, ants are considered a delicacy!

It's For You!

I broke out the old phone awhile ago for the kiddos to play with. Since we have 2, Asher likes to sit across the room & "call" us. He usually tells us that he's busy & will call us back later, but I think he just forgets about us sometimes, because I have sat by that phone & waited for his call TOO MANY TIMES!!! It reminds me of those boys in college.......

"The phone's ringing! I'd better answer it!"

"Hello? Hello?!? You're sounding a bit muffled..."

"Do you think they got the wrong number?"

"Thanet thinks I'm talking into the wrong end"

"She doesn't make a very good secretary!"

Thanet's Whiskers

A few days ago I noticed one of Thanet's whiskers lying on the rug. I called Asher over to show him & I asked if he knew what it was. I gave him a few hint until he blurted out, "It's a whisker from Thanet!"

I told him that was right & then I let him inspect it a bit. He looked it over & then rushed over to the other side of the room where Thanet was lounging on the couch. I figured he was going to have a good look at Thanet's face to figure out where it had come from, but he was saying, "Here you go, Thanet. It's your whisker!"

I asked him what he was doing & he replied, "I'm trying to put Thanet's whisker back on!"

A Saintly Cat

The other day PChad told me he's never had a cat as tame as Thanet. You can seriously do whatever you want with him & he puts up with a LOT from the kids. I caught a cute moment Chancery was sharing with Thanet & couldn't believe he didn't cry, or squirm, or try to get away. He just sat there & took it.

He Was Really Confused.....

One of the things I do before I go to bed at night is clean out the litter box. I have a mat in front of the litter box so that litter doesn't get tracked all over the house. When I clean the litter box I set the lid on the mat & Thanet likes to hide in the lid. The other night was no different from any other night. I finished cleaning the litter box & lifted the lid to discover Thanet, but he didn't run off as he normally would. It took me a minute to clue in that he wasn't sitting on the mat, but he was hovering over the mat!

He finished weeing & I think that's when he realized he wasn't in the litter box. He looked around & then tried to cover up the wee spot. I think he felt kind of dumb b/c he kept trying to sweep w/ his paw, but he was doing it slower & slower like he knew it was futile. Luckily the mat has a rubber back, so the wee didn't go onto the floor at all. I gave PChad the honour of cleaning it up since I have to do the litter box every day I figured it was only fair that he take charge of the "special" situations. The funniest part was just seeing how confused Thanet was, he just couldn't figure out where he had gone wrong!

And now he's embarrassed too!

Our Newest Member

A few weeks ago, we decided it would be nice to have a pet. Since I already clean up poop all day I decided a puppy was out. I'm not a huge fan of cold weather, so me walking a dog was out. At the moment I don't have an exorbitant amount of time to devote to training an animal (we're still working on training the kids), so basically a dog was out. Leaving a cat.

Choosing a cat was fine with me. I'm a cat person through & through. On cold winter days you can find me curled up w/ a latte, a cat, & a book. We bought the classified ads & started browsing for free cats, not too old & crochety, not too young & fragile (we do have a 2 year old after all). We finally found one in a town about 30 minutes away & took the drive to see him.

He was 4 months old, the people who had him had 2 daughters who drug him around, so he was used to some abuse, litter-trained & friendly. We decided to take him home since he seemed a good fit for our family. We contemplated names for awhile & PChad came up with "Thanet." When we first moved to London, England, we lived in a flat on Thanet street. I liked the name too, so it stuck. Plus, when a 2 year old says it, it doesn't sound innappropriate like some other names do.

Here's a clip of Asher playing w/ Thanet.