That’s me in the tube, and Sky down below.

Today is a Big Birthday! Sky and I are two years old today! You may remember that there are six of us in this litter, so that means our sister (Marigold) and brothers (Hunter, Rusty, and Woody) are two years old today too! Hunter is in Dad’s lap, and that’s Woody, Rusty, Marigold, and Sky on the floor. They were enjoying a snack of Baby Food! The photo is from October 2010 when we were about 3 months old.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mommy! Mama Rose (feral) still visits us every day and hangs out on the porch. Human Mom and Dad feed her every single day.

You can all come over for a Game of Thundering Herds of Elephants, enjoy some Stinky Goodness, People Tuna, People Salmon, Niptinis and Meowgaritas (milk for the kittens), and enjoy some Nap Action when you want to rest.

Thanks for visiting us! Be sure to visit The Tabby Cat Club today to see photos of our Birthday Toesies!

We are just taking it easy today. Breakfast, then a nap pile. Feel free to join us if you like to nap! Here is a baby picture of us when we were itteh bitteh! This is taken three years ago today – the day we were born!

This photo was taken a few weeks later. Caramel is the black fuzzball, and I am in front serving as a pillow to my sisfurs. See how big my gold flame mark looked compared to my tiny little head?

Mom and Dad brought us some fun nip toys from Coventry Cats, including a new nip nanner!  Rumor has it there is a new Da Bird, but we haven’t seen it yet.  (We dedded our old Da Bird.)  Come on over to play and eat and nap!

Purrs,
Cookie and Caramel

Today is the Third Anniversary of the Adoption of me, Padre,

and my adopted siblings Panda Bear

and Meerkat.

We are very grateful for a lot of things:

PAWS, Public Animal Welfare Society, in the Cleveland Ohio area, that rescued all of us from uncertain futures.  I, Padre, wound up in a kill shelter before being saved by PAWS. Panda Bear and Meerkat were born under a porch and got sick with eye infections (calici virus). That is why Panda Bear only has one eye, and Meerkat has scarring in her right eye that sometimes looks like a glowing eye when you look at her.

Loving parents.

Safe warm shelter.

Food and water.

Even V-E-T care when we need it.

And of course, great furriends like all of you!

So please, make yourselves at home! There is food, water, niptinis, milk for the kittens, toys, stairs for Thundering Herds of Elephants games, windows for bird and squirrel watching, cat beds for your napping pleasure, and companionship!  Let’s party all weekend!

We have stinky goodness, crunchies, and beverages! Panda Bear has graciously offered to serve as bartender! (ID required for adult kitty beverages, please!) Of course, there will be lots of nip! I am so delighted that you could come to my party!

Mom planted cat grass for us a few weeks ago, so feel free to nom nom nom!

In honor of Earth Day, Mom is going to dig in the dirt outside. She says we can help! It is Spring here in northeast O-Hi-O, and the weather is supposed to be sunny and mild!

Great napping weather! (Isn’t it always great napping weather if you’re a cat?)

Lots of interesting things to sniff in the back yard! Plus bird and squirrel watching!

Feel free to play Thundering Herds of Elephants! We have two sets of stairs – one to the basement, and one to upstairs. By the way, the powder room is in the basement.

If any of you choose to party into the evening, join us in the basement for Mouse Patrol! We will gather on the ledge at the top of the basement stairs at 8:55 pm EDT. Remember to keep your voices down, as we want to sneak up on the mousies!

Also today, my sister Cookie will be competing in Kitty Fight Club at The World According to Misha!

Photo: from Misha’s blog

Kitty Fight Club is a contest that pits two adorabubble kittens against each other for the title of cutest kitten! Cookie is nervous that she won’t get any votes at all!

Please vote for Cookie on Misha’s blog!

and me, Caramel!

Today, we become Young Lady Cats, as we are now One Year Old! Today, I officially graduate from “Diva-in-Training” to “Diva”! I am so happy! Cookie is delighted to be a Young Lady Cat as well!

Please make yourselves at home! We have food and beverages (please drink responsibly),

nip (please use nip responsibly, unlike Panda Bear as shown here),

toys,

cozy napping spots,

treats,

fun and games,

friends and companionship!

We received some very lovely gifts from Mom and Dad, and we are happy to share with you!

Please leave us a comment to tell us you were here! In honor of our birthday, Mom is going to donate $1 (US) to the Humane Society of the United States for each comment received on any of our birthday blog posts. All comments must be received by 11:59 pm on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.

In addition, one lucky winner will receive a Gift Certificate to The Animal Rescue Site store! To enter, leave us a comment on any of our birthday posts! One chance per household will be entered. We will have one of us draw the name of the winner on Thursday, March 11, 2010, in the evening EST. All comments must be received by 11:59 pm EST on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.

Enjoy the Party, Efurryone! Stop by tomorrow to see what Panda Bear gave Cookie and me as Birthday Gifts!

We are very very excited to note that Caramel and I are both Finalists in Huffle Mawson’s Cat-O-Lympics event of Competitive Napping!  We are so delighted to be honored in this way!  Congratulations to all of the Finalists! In addition to being Finalists, Huffle Mawson created this swell badge for us to display forever and ever on our bloggie!

In other, equally exciting news, Caramel and I have a Birthday approaching!  On Wednesday, March 3, Caramel and I will be (imagine Fanfare Music here):

One Year Old!

Well, I mean each of us will be one year old, so does that mean that together we will be two years old?  Hmm … now I’m a little confused.  Maybe what I should say instead is that Next Wednesday, March 3, is our Birthday!

Well, I guess what I really mean to say is

Party! Partee! Par-tay!

Where: Casa Furry Bambino

When: Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Caramel: pssst … Cookie, remember what I asked you to mention?

Right, right! Caramel wants me to remind you that it is our Coming Out Party, as we will be Official Young Lady Cats!

Caramel, where is it that we are coming out?

We had a multi-way tie for the Gold in the Bird and Squirrel Watching event! Give yourself each a Gold Medal. We adapted Katie’s Human Glogirly’s badge, so here is the Official Gold Medal for Bird and Squirrel Watching to proudly display on your blog:

Now, on to our entries!

*** Synchronized Snoozing hosted by The Island Cats ***

Meerkat and Padre are our resident love cats. Here are their two entries. The first photo shows them spooning in a dainty cat bed. Note Padre’s leg placement around Meerkat. This should definitely be worth additional cute points.

The second photo shows Padre and Meerkat cuddled together in a Ying-Yang with a Spooning Maneuver.

Also in Synchronized Snoozing, this is Panda Bear and Cookie, taken last summer when Cookie and I were still itteh bitteh! Note Cookie’s hind leg placement on Mommy’s gardening shoe, displaying added difficulty.

*** Balance Beam hosted by Fin of Housecat Confidential ***

This is Matthew, one of the foster kittens who stayed here last Fall. (Hah! Fall! Get it? What a great pun!) Matthew was the most talented of the foster kittehs at the Balance Beam!

Panda Bear often gets asked if he has trouble with balance or depth perception because he only has one eye. Well, take a look at his entry for Balance Beam, and you will see that PB has grace and style on the apparatus! This photo was taken at the V-E-T, so PB deserves extra difficulty points for the heightened level of anxiety!

*** Boxing hosted by Sparkle the Designer Cat***

These are our entries for Boxing. Here I am, posed graciously in the remnants of a holiday gift box.

*** Competitive Napping, hosted by Huffle Mawson ***

This is my entry. I am carefully color coordinated with the rocking chair, with my tail tucked under my chin like a Young LadyCat.

Also in Competitive Napping, this is Cookie’s first of two entries. Note the extreme cuteness of Cookie when she was an itteh bitteh kitteh!

Cookie’s second entry in Competitive Napping displays a high level of difficulty, as Cookie is shown sleeping in a PTU! Note the concentration which Cookie required in order to actually SLEEP in a prisoner transport unit!

*** Mile Long Machine Kleen, hosted by Tygana of One Cats Nip ***

Panda Bear and Cookie are entering as a team in this competition. Note the care with which Panda Bear washes Cookie’s head.

That concludes our Cat-O-Lympics entries!

And another big Thank You to Fin of Housecat Confidential for organizing the entire 2010 Cat-O-Lympics games!

Here at Casa Furry Bambino, we are hosting the Bird and Squirrel Watching Event. Like Fin, we are not too particular when it comes to rules. Just post a photo of yourself looking out a window.  If you get to explore the Great Outdoors, you can show us a photo of yourself outside. The photos do not even have to be recent! For example, if it is winter where you are, but you want to show a photo taken in the summer, that’s fine too!  Remember, no rules!

This is a good example of Cookie trying to communicate with a squirrel through the window.  Cookie was still a kitten back in July when this photo was taken, and the squirrel was almost as big as she was!

If you don’t have any photos handy, hey, that’s OK too! Remember, no rules! Just describe to us your bird and squirrel watching experiences.

If you live in an area of the world where there are no birds or squirrels, that’s fine too! Tell us what you like to observe instead!  Mouses, possums, raccoons, skunks, armadillos, hippopotamuses?  This is a photo of a Triple Decker Mouse Patrol event from last winter. From top to bottom (Hah! Bottom! Get it? Oh, I crack myself up!) is Meerkat, then me (Padre), then Panda Bear.

If there are birds or squirrels in the photo too, great, you get bonus points! Try to identify the type of bird for all of us. This is a Very Big Bird that we saw in our back yard last fall – a hawk maybe?

This is a Tasty Yellow Bird. (Mom calls it a goldfinch. Whatever.)

If there are no birds or squirrels in the photo, that’s great too! Tell us what you saw, or what you were looking for!  All five of us Furry Bambinos were caught on digital camera squirrel watching last summer.  Left to right, that’s Meerkat, Cookie, Panda Bear, Caramel, and Padre. Accidental cuddling may occur when trying to get the best window seat!

Here at Casa Furry Bambino, all five of us were awarded the Gold Medal for Bird and Squirrel Watching! Award yourself a Gold Medal for making a post about Bird or Squirrel Watching! Thanks to Katie’s human, Glogirly, for making the really swell medal!

Please join us for this mouth-watering event! Tell us about your Bird and Squirrel Watching experiences! (This is our first attempt at using Mr. Linky, so give that a try!) And wish our Daddy a Happy Birthday … he is going to be even OLDER on Saturday.

What, Mom?

Oh.  OK.  Happy NEW Year!  We hope that all of you have a safe and nip filled holiday!

Inquiring minds have been wanting to know, what’s up with the foster situation at Casa Furry Bambino?

Well, I am pleased to inform you that little Mark joined his furrever home on December 18, 2009!  Wow, it’s already been two whole weeks with no fosters at Casa Furry Bambino!  So we Furry Bambinos thought that we should make a post about Mark.

Mark liked to nap.  Here he is borrowing my Gizzy Quilt.

Mark also liked to sleep in The Blue Bed.  The Blue Bed originally belonged to Clyde.

Mark is stretching after a good nap …

… and then Mark yawned real big.

Of all the places that Mark liked to nap, his FAVORITE spots involved Dad.  This is Mark and Dad cuddling on the big comfy chair.

This is a picture of Mark on Dad’s lap while Dad is working at the computer.

On his last day here at Casa Furry Bambino, Mark and Padre check each other out one last time.

At PetSmart, Mark studied his adoption paperwork:

Dad says farewell to the little guy:

Mark was OK as fosters go.  I am happy to report that Mark has his own blog now, called a Tabblo!  Well, OK, he shares it with his Dad, but still!  Check it out for some cool photo essays and a movie.  Mark’s first post was made as soon as he got to his new home.  Now that’s what I call efficient!

Take care, friends!  We will post about the holidays next time!

It has been awhile since we last posted, so here is a summary.  But first, a recent photo of me.  Look at the toe-hawks on my back paws!  Cookie and I are 9 months old now, so my floof is really growing in!

Awhile ago, Mommy was sick as a pig.  A lot of people where she works were sick at that time.  Mommy said that the worst part of pig flu was that it made her really really tired.  On the plus side, I was able to score lots of extra naps with Mommy!

Regular readers of our blog know that Mommy and Daddy volunteer with an animal rescue group called PAWS.  On November 15, The Apostles went to a PAWS adoption event held at PetSmart.  They did not get adopted that day though.

There were lots of cute kitties, including these sweeties, Faith (grey), Hope, Love, and Charity.  Hope, Love, and Charity are all sisters, and Faith is a female from another litter.  Faith and Charity got adopted that day.

As you may know, PetSmart does not mind if you want to go to pick out your food and treats yourself.  Usually, we trust Mommy and Daddy to do that for us.  That day, a pet skunk decided to come to PetSmart to check out the food selections.

In other news, we got to have Real Live Fresh Dead TURKEY on Thanksgiving!

Padre is very fond of Real Live Fresh Dead Turkey.

Cookie and I are also very fond of Real Live Fresh Dead Turkey.  I like it even more than Cookie does.

Meerkat doesn’t really like it.  You can tell by the expression on her face.

Neither does Panda Bear.

Mom thinks that maybe the eye infections that Meerkat and Panda Bear had as kittens affected their sense of smell or taste, since the rest of us nom nom nommed.  As for The Apostles, Matthew, Mark, and Luke liked the RLFDT, but Joann did not.  The Apostles were at boarding school (PetSmart), but came home for Thanksgiving break.

The day after Thanksgiving was a very busy day.  The Apostles went back to boarding school.  Here they are in their dorm room.

Then Padre, Cookie, and I were taken to the V-E-T!  Cookie WILLINGLY climbed into the PTU that was intended for Padre.  And then she refused to come out.  So Mom shoved Padre into the PTU intended for Cookie and me.

That left no PTU for me, as Mom did not want to put me into Padre’s PTU, and the PTU Cookie was in was too small for Cookie and me.  I was thinking that I might have played my cards extremely well, but no such luck.  Mom grabbed me and held me in her lap on the ride to the V-E-T.

When we got there, Mom walked up to the desk to check in, and the girl behind the desk was very complimentary to me!  She said that I was Beautiful!  She asked Mom if she could hold me, and Mom let her.  The girl was very nice to me.  She said that she needed to show me to the Office Manager, or she would get into trouble for not showing her a really cute cat.  So the girl took me back to a very nice lady who held me and cuddled me.  She said that my furs are very soft!  And that the way I let her hold me made her think that I might be part rag doll kitty.  At last, proper treatment for a floofilicious cat like myself!  I was beginning to think the whole V-E-T business was not so bad.

However, Padre was absolutely miserable.  He tried to hide in the back of the PTU.

Cookie explored the exam room, giving it a thorough sniffing, and reported back to Padre and me.

Padre, Cookie, and I each got weighed.  Padre currently weighs 13.0 pounds, Cookie weighs 10.2 pounds, and I weigh 9.2 pounds.

But then!  Oh, the horrors!  Mom asked them to trim my pretty furs!  (Something about litter box issues on a long-haired kitty.)  So they took me to the back and gave me a buzz cut on my derriere.  Oh, the shame.  I am so embarrassed, I can’t believe I am even admitting this to all of you.

Later that same day (Friday, November 27), Luke and Matthew got adopted into two separate families!  And someone else applied to adopt Joann and (possibly) Mark.  I guess because it was “Black Friday” it was a good day to adopt black kittens!

As it eventually turned out, Mark was not adopted by the family that adopted Joann.  Joann went to her furrever home on Sunday November 29.  Luke’s new family calls him “Shadow”.  Matthew’s new family calls him “Neo”.  And Joann’s new name is “Inky”.  But Mark is still Mark.  Or Marko.  Or Marko Polo.  And he still lives with us.  But now he is allowed to mingle with the rest of us instead of having to stay in the foster room.

So Dad cleaned out the foster room.  He removed the food dishes, litter boxes, and toys.  Dad took out the rug-sucking monster, and ran it over the whole room.  While Dad was cleaning, he came across this:

A dead mouse.  Apparently, The Apostles are good mousers!