Look out!

There's a GIANT CAT in that box!

Decoration Inspiration

The other day I finally decided on a color scheme for our guest room.  Something that has plagued me since we moved in 2.5 years ago.

Anyway, I happened to find myself at Home Goods just a few days later and as I was walking around I saw some bedding that I liked.  I took a picture with my phone so I could keep it in mind.

Then I found an awesome vase that complemented the bedding.  I had to have it.  It spoke to me.  It said, "Carolyn, I am awesome.  And there is only one of me.  If you leave me, I might not be here when you return, and you might regret it forever.  Seize the moment and put me in your cart!".  So I did.

With vase in cart I made a decision.  I was going to redecorate the guest room right.now.  I scurried back to the bedding and put it in my cart.  Of course, I would want some other accessories besides the vase.  I found 2 fun picture frames and into the cart they went. 

It would be nice to have a lamp by the bed for reading.  Several trips up and down the lamp aisles later I found the perfect one, hiding behind two other lamps in a corner.  I even found some cool art to hang on the wall that goes with my idea for a collection that I've been thinking about for quite some time now.

Thomas and I decided that if I was going to go to the effort of redecorating the whole guest room, we should really put in a queen sized bed.  The twin is fine when our guests are flying solo, but often they come in pairs...kind of like clown fish...

The twin bed we have now has a ton of storage underneath it, which I am not about to give up.  I'm eyeing this storage bed from Ikea.

photos from Ikea's website

Tons of space to put stuff under the bed.  And the headboard has shelves and the top is really wide, so the cats can still have a perch to look out the window (yes, I am a crazy person who chooses furniture based on her animals' hobbies).  I might paint the whole thing brown so it will sort of match the dressers we already have in the guest room, which we plan on keeping there.  Not 100% decided on that yet though.

I'm hoping to have the room mostly done for when my parents come visit in the middle of March, and totally done by the end of the month.  So we'll see how that goes!

* * * BONUS! * * *

I also found this a-freaking-dorable cat bowl at Home Goods.  Lenny and Waldo don't really have their own water bowls, we just use some bowls from an old set of dinnerware.  I had to get this for them.  Two, actually.  I mean, come on, it looks just like them - how could I not?  And at $4 a piece it seemed like a deal to me!

I'm All Ears

Alice has definitely made herself right at home over the last 2 weeks.  She and Dash love playing together and she's really good with the cats; I think Dash tries to chase them more than she does!

But what really let me know that Alice was feeling at home was that after a few days her left ear starting sticking up.  Like, straight up.  So now she has one ear up and one ear tipped down and it is a-freaking-dorable. 

Totally quirky to match her personality and looks.  Speaking of which, Alice still loves looking in the mirror.  I have never seen a dog spend so much time staring at themselves and the rest of the world through a mirror.  She's not obsessive or anything, just once in a while she'll wander by the mirrors by the front door and pause for a moment or two.  I always wonder what she's thinking.  Okay, let's be honest here, I wonder what all of the animals are thinking all of the time.

Side note: Tonight I got some snuggle time in with almost all of the animals.  I invited Dash onto the couch with me and then Lenny decided to join us.  But before this could be captured on film, Thomas thought it would be even more hilarious to try and toss Alice in, too.  We don't usually allow fosters on the couch, so this was a special exception.  Once Alice was added to the mix Lenny decided it was no longer safe to lay on my tummy and moved a little further up on the couch.

Don't act like you're not jealous of my super awesome made-by-me-in-high-school fleecy pants

Anyway, back to Alice.  Her new favorite toy is whichever one Dash is playing with.  She'll constantly walk over to him and literally take a toy out of his mouth and walk away with it while poor Dash just watches - he's so good at sharing!  Here's how it usually goes down:

Dash doing his very best impression of the saddest dog in the world, let's see a close-up

Very convincing, Dash, very convincing

Last night Dash had a toy but Alice couldn't quite reach it because he was next to the coffee table and she actually cried before finally squishing herself in and taking the toy.  To be fair, Alice isn't a thief all the time.  Dash will often take toys from her and she's fine with it and they also like to play tug of war.  I think it's just that baby phase where the most interesting thing is the thing someone else has.

 So that's what's going on with our critters; can you handle all that cuteness?!

Captains of the Sky

For Christmas this year my brother got Lenny and Waldo pretty much the best present ever.  I mean really, what does every kitty dream of being when he grows up?

A fighter pilot!  Obviously.

Eric got them their very own fighter plane.  We put it together and it.is.awesome.  It was really easy to build; it all fit together into itself so we didn't need any glue, tape, staples or anything like that.

Behold!

Thomas starting the propellor before take-off 

Peeking out the bottom hatch

There's.....something on the wing...some...thing...

Waldo is always very cautious around new things and had to give the plane a good inspection 

Then he decided it was safe to check out the inside

But that's as far as he went for the day.  I think once he figures out what an awesome hiding spot it is he'll be hanging out in there all the time.

 For now he's content just hanging out near their airplane

This is seriously a super cool plane.  The attention to detail on it is amazing, too.  Every inch of the plane!  The outside has the airplane pattern on it, with things like CATS R GR8, FLYING KITTEN, and 9 LIVES written on it.  And the inside looks like the interior of a fighter plane with little controls and everything!

Thanks, Eric!  The kitties love their new hangout and say you're the coolest uncle ever.  Lots of snuggles coming your way from Lenny, and to a lesser extent, Waldo.

If your cats are insanely jealous, and why wouldn't they be, you can get them their very own fighter plane (or tank or fire engine or car) from this very cool website.

Happy Holidays!

Since we have a new member in the family this year it was time for another photo holiday card.  I think we all know that these can be a little cheesy at times, so we decided to just go with it.  We got reindeer antlers for everyone in the family and I picked up some snowflake decorations at the dollar store for a more scenic backdrop.

Obviously, getting all three critters to cooperate for a picture would be hard enough, but while also wearing funny little hats was going to be quite the challenge.  We knew a timer wasn't going to cut it for this, so we asked our friend Blake to come over and help us.

I moved all of our bedroom furniture to one side to clear a space so we could have a blue background and then taped up the snowflakes.  First we put our antlers on since we knew that once the animals were wearing them we wouldn't have any free hands.  Then Dash got his since he usually forgets that he's wearing things like this after a few minutes.  Next was Lenny; although he's certainly not a fan of any outfit, overall he's pretty cooperative.  Waldo was last and the toughest, so we made sure everyone else was ready before he got dressed.  Then I found where Waldo was hiding, plopped him on the bed, put his antlers on and rushed into our room since we knew he wouldn't tolerate this cruelty for long.

Blake snapped away as we tried to keep all three animals in the frame and looking the right direction.  Luckily he was able to get some good shots before Waldo made his exit.

So without further ado, I present to you our holiday card picture for 2010:

And of course, a few of the pictures that didn't quite make the cut:

Earlier in the day we took Dash to the dog park and afterward when he was passed out on his bed I couldn't resist putting his antlers on him.

And a million thanks to Blake, we couldn't have done this without you!