Crazy about cats:

The girls got new outfits from Grandma and of course pictures were in order since the sun is out for the first time in ages. This is the coldest spring. So, here are some pictures of the girls to brighten your day. My perfect daughters react swimmingly to my every photographic command: "Now smile and act excited for the camera... work it, work it..."

Oh, never mind. They saw our new cat, Max, walk behind me. The girls love Max more than anything. Max and Buddy arrived at our house when some friends who live by us wanted to get rid of them, as the cat population in their neck of the woods was taking over. Max has proved to be a really nice, gentle, people loving cat and allows Emma to cart him around like her own big baby. Buddy, on the other hand, stays far away and we see him like a phantom, going to and fro about his business of catching mice. He is my favorite cat.

Smile for the camera, Max. Mandy really, really loves cats. We are not sure she is my biological child. If Emma didn't look exactly like me, I would wonder about her maternity as well.

Emma does her best to keep Max safe as Mandy goes in for a full attack involving hugs, grabs, and tackles.
Max gets tired of this scene and exits stage left. Enter the new kitten, Baby Blue. BB is from another friend who had too many cats and I got him and another kitten, Cloudy, for Emma to play with while I was on my trip. While I was gone, we also acquired Max and Buddy, but lost BB and Cloudy when our neighbor took them from our front yard. BB and Cloudy were returned and then we had 4 cats/kittens. But, unfortunately, Cloudy is gone again. So, we are down to Max and Baby Blue, both very sweet cats, and Buddy, well, Buddy is a good cat off catching mice.

Sweet kitten. Who can resist a kitten? Me. This one may be cute, but he poops right in front of the patio door on my deck. On my deck! Yuck.

Baby Blue adores Emma. I have never seen a more tolerant kitten, allowing Emma to cart him around in a sling or in her stroller, all around the yard.

Poor Mandy, she loves those cats, but the cats don't love her. There is something they don't enjoy about being mauled and chewed on. She crawls around the yard growling (literally) and screaming, trying to get the cats to come to her. It is not an approach that is working for her so far. They run much faster than she can crawl.

The other day, while I was planting my garden, Mandy became quite distressed as the cats avoided her at every turn and effort-ful crawl. Max was getting in my way and I said, "Max, could you please just go and let her pet you for a minute? Pacify her and I will get you some milk." Max looked at me with resignation and strolled over to where Mandy sat in the grass growling and beating the air with her fists. He laid down right in front of her and she promptly buried her face in his belly and her fits in his fur with a squeal of delight. Again, he shot me a look of pure torture. For his self-sacrifice, I got him some milk.