Our cats

Last September I told you about our kitten Whiskers and the painful accident that caused him to lose a leg. (see Compassion for a Cat). I also said I would post a picture of him in a couple of months.

I am posting several.

Whiskers and his brother Stuart will celebrate their first birthday next month. The cats were part of two litters of four kittens each born to identical all-white cats named Lovey and Dovey on the same day - March 11, 2009.

The cats were owned by a couple in Caldwell, which is where I am from, and featured in a newspaper story in The Daily Jeffersonian, where I work. They may be brothers or they may not. In the days following their births the mothers each nursed and cared for all of the kittens and by the time we arrived to pick them up in very early May they were for the most part separated from their mother(s) and weaned.

Stuart is a black cat – the only one in the two litters - with just a small patch of white on his belly and in the areas of both underarms (front legs). He has black whiskers, a black nose and black foot pads. He has yellow eyes.

Whiskers is a black cat riddled in white. He has white whiskers and eyebrows (giving him the appearance of a mischievous old man), a pink nose, and black and pink paw pads. He has yellow eyes.

The cats look a lot alike but are very different.

Whiskers and Stuart are the best of friends and routinely clean each other, sleep near each other and antagonize each other.

Whiskers’ disability has caused him few problems. He is slow to bat at toys on the floor although I have seen him use his head to push things along. His litter box manners are messier than Stuart’s in that he can’t deposit all the litter from his paws before he exits the box. Therefore we have tracking areas that contain the litter at both boxes and that has helped. Aside from those two factors, Whiskers continues to run around the house, up stairs and jump on beds and furniture. He is not declawed; having one “deadly” front paw might save him if he ever escapes.

Stuart is declawed (front paws only) and it’s a good thing because he’s active and very ornery. Stuart escaped the house just yesterday and Will just about bawled me out. (Hey, I didn’t leave the front door open.) Will, having found a cure for cabin fever by trying out his Razor Spark kick scooter he got for Christmas, found Stuart on our front steps. The cat might have been outside 5 minutes.

Stuart typically sleeps all day and some of the evening and begins his romping about midnight just as we’re drifting off to sleep. Stuart likes to collect toys from the carpeted living room floor and carry them upstairs to begin batting them around on the hardwood floor in our bedroom. In the past month I’ve collected a TechDeck tool, Playmobil dog, Imaginext sword, plastic nut and screw, pirate costume earring, plastic tree, pet rock and plastic Wendy’s spoon.

Whiskers is more laid back than Stuart and it shows. He weighs a whooping 14.5 pounds compared to Stuart’s 12. Both Stuart and Whiskers are neutered.

Whiskers is more vocal than Stuart and is a cuddle dud with all members of the famly but especially Will, who early on shunned the poor cat after he came home from the animal hospital. Will has come along way.

Whiskers and Stuart both have a fetish for string and have even eaten (and digested) a shoelace. The Old Man last night observed a string (from the boys’ magic kit) hanging from Stuart’s mouth. Similar to a yo-yo string Stuart snacked on a couple of weeks ago, The Old Man instructed the oldest son to get it away from him - but not in time. Gulp.

I haven’t cleaned the little box yet today.

The costume kid

For the past four or so years Superhero son has sprinted around the house, outside the house and even on errands incognito.

He’s been our costume kid.

Neither of his older brothers have enjoyed the costume box as much as Superhero son.

The Old Man and I have enjoyed his escapades but realize most cute things sometimes come to an end.

Are Superhero son's days of role play over?

He wasn’t too excited to receive one of Aeromax’s latest costumes earlier this month, the white Jr. Astronaut Suit, though he had requested it – but that was a year ago. The new costume has a cap, not a helmet (sold separately). And a really cool space backpack, space gloves and space boots also are available!

The first costume I remember him wearing - possibly inspired by watching episode after episode of “Thomas The Train” - is a Jr. Train Engineer uniform by Aeromax with cap, gloves and red bandana.

A couple of years later a firefighter’s costume aided in conquering his fears after our babysitters’ house burned down (on a weekend while the children were not there; no one was injured).

Aeromax Jr. Fire Fighter Gear w/Helmet comes in three colors – tan or black (or yellow-the newest). We have the black one. The costume - which is so authentic that I was tempted to send Superhero son to his preschool wearing it when they visited the firehouse – features bib overalls with pockets and knee patches, adjustable suspenders, a coat with buckles, zipper, pockets, authentic gauntlet cuffs and reinforced elbow patches. Plus, it comes with an awesome adjustable hard helmet – there’s no breaking this helmet!

And then there’s the Aeromax Jr. Police Officer Suit – a one-piece shirt and pants ensemble with official looking patches and a cap with a badge. Ours also came with a duty belt with radio, a baton (confiscated by the Old Lady), hand-cuffs (confiscated by the Old Lady), a whistle (confiscated by the Old Lady) and ID wallet.

Last summer just before the H1N1 virus became so widespread in many of our communities, our neighbors observed a new professional riding his bicycle up and down the sidewalk. The Aeromax Jr. Physician costume is perhaps the most real to me. It includes the white lab coat, real working stethoscope, scrub top and bottom, and hat, mask and shoe covers.

What I like best about Aeromax’s costumes are that they don't fall apart even after the 10th washing; the stitching and other details make these costumes stand up to plenty of wear. They have very cool accessories. Kids can be kids in them. They are kind of pricey so consider if your kid will wear the costume more than just a couple of times.

Now Superhero son will tell you that although he enjoys role play by dressing up in real-life costumes, he much prefers superheroes.

After all, Superhero son got his name honestly.

He loves Spider-Man - and the appeal of ripping off the Venom costume (black Spider-Man) and putting the blue and red one back on, plus Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. Not to mention Ben-10.


The most difficult costume I had to create - because the costume makers apparently don’t know that kids want the villain costumes as well as the heroes’ - was Sandman from “Spider-Man 3” movie.

In the movie, Sandman, played by Thomas Hayden Church (previously best known to me as Lowell Mather on the TV series “Wings”), wears khaki pants, which were easy enough to find, and a navy blue and kelly green wide striped short-sleeve T-shirt.

Do you know how hard it is to find a blue and green striped T-shirt in a size 4T?

Are Superhero son’s days of wearing a mask coming to an end?

We’ll have to see if “Spider-Man 4” ever comes to pass and if Superhero son has a new villain to conquer.

To check out the huge selection of Real Gear costumes by Aeromax, visit Aeromaxtoys.com

Keep scrolling to see some photos of Superhero son.

Gumby

Isn't it ironic?
One of the first things I saw today when I turned on the computer was that Art Clokey, 88, died Friday.
Friday. The same day we bought Lee his first Gumby and Pokey.
Clokey, an animator, was the creator of the bendable dolls Gumby (1955) and his friend horse, Pokey.
Gumby grew out of a student project Clokey produced at the University of Southern California in the early 1950s called "Gumbasia."
I played with Gumby and Pokey in the 1960s. I watched the TV show.
In fact last night I went into detail with my husband about how I used to play with Gumby and Pokey - on my grandparents' cypress knee lamp (similar to the one shown here), which also was popular in the 1960s.

I loved that lamp, and Gumby and Pokey.
Gumby's TV debut was on "The Howdy Doody Show" in 1956. That year he appeared in his own NBC Saturday morning TV series, The Gumby Show.
Eddie Murphy revived Gumby's popularity in the 1980s on Saturday Night Live, which is where David said he first became acquainted with the clayboy.
Lee's Gumby and Pokey were purchased for $4.99 each at Cracker Barrel.

My passion

What started out as a symbolic gift to my husband on Father’s Day 2004 has turned into a passion for me and just recently a visual aid for learning for our three young sons.

I collect antique Lord’s Prayer chromolithographs, most of which were created in the late 1800s.

Sunday night the boys were watching a 2006 version of the “Ten Commandments” on TV with their father. They were very interested in the movie so I took the opportunity to tell them they could see pictures of the Ten Commandments right in our own living room.

A wreath of vignettes illustrating the Ten Commandments surrounds a center oval of the Lord’s Prayer in three of my lithos.

All but one of the six lithos are beautifully printed with bright pastel colors and gold, and are displayed in antique frames. A lone print, which I’ve not framed yet because I’ve misplaced it, is a vintage greeting card size black and white print of the Lord’s Prayer written in several languages (very tiny print).

My favorite chromolithograph – the largest - hangs above our fireplace mantel in a stunning ornately-carved, high-gloss wooden frame that belonged to my late grandparents, Fred and Ruth McDonald, who lived in Caldwell, Ohio.

The first one I bought for David because he prays the Lord’s Prayer every night with the children before they go to bed. The 16-by 22 litho has an 1892 copyright and was published by Standard Supply House, Chicago, Illinois. I found it at an area antiques/garden store and later I was excited to learn, via the Internet, there are lots of other lithos of the prayer out there!

At least two that I’ve acquired were printed by Geis & Co. Buffalo, N.Y. with copyrights of 1877 and 1881. The former also states it was “Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1877 by M. Yauck, 18 University Ave. Rochester, N.Y. in the office of the librarian of Congress in Washington.” That one was published by S.T. Buck, Milton, Pa.

One hangs in a Victorian Adirondack frame - the same kind of frame in which you may find paper punch and cross-stitch samplers from the same era.

I also have three old cross-stitch Lord’s Prayer samplers though one is just a phrase from the Lord’s Prayer: “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread” and appropriately hangs in our dining room. I even have a Lord’s Prayer sampler in our bathroom, because the thread colors match my shower curtain!

The Lord’s Prayer is the most widely recited prayer by Christians. Two versions of it appear in the New Testament of the Bible – Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.

It’s “just a soopr day” that I can finally share one of my passions with the boys.

“For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory Forever. Amen.”

Merry Christmas

Do you remember the story about the four adult siblings, all adopted as children, who were reunited live on TODAY on Sept. 23?
Earlier that week brothers Randy Joubert and Gary Nisbet appeared on the show to tell the story of how they met in July when Joubert took a job at the furniture store in Maine where Nisbet had been working for years. After being told repeatedly how much like brothers they looked, Joubert confirmed in September they were indeed brothers who had been taken from their abusive mother 35 years ago and adopted by different families.
When their story hit the local media, a half sister Joanne Campbell came forward and reunited with the pair.
The three appeared on TODAY and announced there was one more sister.
That sister turned out to be Kathleen "Kat" Cooper who the next day met her siblings on TV.
Kat's blog was mentioned in one of the online stories I read. Curious about this woman I spent hours reading her blog and in the process learned she is a non-believer. At that point I felt compelled to send her an e-mail:

ME: “ I just spent too many hours reading your blog after seeing the link the national story (TODAY) about your long-lost siblings. I think you are blessed but just don't know it. I'm disappointed you don't believe in God … take care and think about what has happened in your life in the past couple of days and consider that God played a part in this.”

KAT’S response in italic(which is posted on her blog; she did not reply to my e-mail):
“ I really don't want to offend anyone, but I'm getting an overwhelming amount of emails from a lot of people who believe in the big dog up in the clouds, every single 1 of them is saying that this is proof of his existence, that they followed the story here, read, read my blog, and were extremely disappointed to learn that I am an atheist.

take care and think about what has happened in your life in the past couple of days and consider that god played a part in this

Sorry, no.
It's all just coincidence, just the way it goes, it's totally awesome, but completely random events.
No religious miracle, no god did it or god chose this time of our lives to reunite us, none of any of that mumbo jumbo holy man nonsense.
It would take a whole lot more than this to make me suddenly fall to my knees and believe in a magical dude in the universe.
I appreciate all of the comments, I really do, but this was nothing more than random events, super awesome terrific random events, but completely random.”

I am saddened that Kat doesn’t believe but I was pleased to see part of my e-mail on her post and to know so many believers contacted her like me to tell her they are “extremely disappointed.”

I am also saddened by Godless billboards that popped up across the U.S., including those in Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati, last month.
They say “Don’t Believe In God? You are not alone” and were placed by chapters of and funded by the United Coalition of Reason – an organization of nontheistic (atheist and agnostic) groups.
Apparently this organization wants believers to be aware there are people who don't believe in a god.

"The point of our national billboard campaign is to reach out to the millions of humanists, atheists and agnostics living in the United States," explained Fred Edwords, national director of the United Coalition of Reason. "Nontheists sometimes don't realize there's a community out there for them because they're inundated with religious messages at every turn. So we hope this will serve as a beacon and let them know they aren't alone."

In response to the billboard being erected in Columbus, media there interviewed random people on the street who all appeared to be believers.
Now the purpose of this blog is to remind believers that in the end times the Bible says these kinds of things will happen so we shouldn’t be surprised.
It is also a request that believers continue to spread the Word of God – in any way they can – and to celebrate the birth of Christ – a real “religious miracle” that was not a “random event” - this Christmas.
Merry Christmas!

Easy Bake Oven for boys too

A while back Will and his older brother Christian said, "Girls get everything!"
I know first-hand that is not true, but I sympathized with them when they explained they meant cool stuff .... like the Easy Bake Oven.
A trip through the toy section with the boys recently revealed the oven comes in a sea-foam green color. I had thought it was pink. Has it ever been pink?
I showed Will the oven and he perked up but then scoffed saying it wasn't blue enough, and there was a girl on the box.
Nonsense.
Boys can bake too.
So I told my mom and she bought him the oven for his birthday, which was earlier this month. Will is 9.
The "appliance" is still operated with one standard 100-watt light bulb - a bulb that CANNOT be long life, soft white or high efficiency - that really narrows it down!
I bought a pack of daylight bulbs.
Yesterday we baked two pans of brownies.
Will allowed his brothers to participate. The boys stirred the 1 1/2 teaspoons of water into the mix and "poured" it into the pan, which had been sprayed with non-stick spray.
The directions said to bake the brownies for 8 minutes. Maybe that daylight light bulb isn't as strong as a good old-fashioned regular 100 watt bulb. But since they apparently don't make those anymore the brownies went back in the oven for a few more minutes.
Now boys are not as attentive as girls and while the brownies baked they continued their horseplay in the living room building a fort using blankets draped across the sofa and loveseat.
When I announced the treats were done, not really to my liking - they were still gooey - they fussed and I caved and they wolfed down the first pan.
I doubled the cook time on the second pan and that seemed to help. The boys shared that pan with their dad at dinner. Mind you the round pans have a diameter of 3 1/2 inches and they cut the brownie into fourths so everyone got a bite.
I cleaned up and put the oven away thinking "Will really didn't enjoy that."
Today I read his Christmas list - which he revised after we baked the brownies - and he wants an Easy Bake Frosting Pen!

Rap sheet

It's unusual for me to post two blogs in one day but I just have to share this with you.
The boys stayed overnight at David's parents' house last night (see previous blog). Lee, in addition to a portfolio of several new drawings, came home with a rap sheet on his brothers today (see image).

Translated:

mom and dad
christian hit me in the nose
with a baseball
will gave me a sidewalk burn
christian dragged my face in the
grass
From Lee