Two More

 It didn't take long before we had two new ornaments on our Christmas tree!

Can you find them both?

A Lap Full of Kittens

Katie never had a problem having General Washington and Mr. Limpet close by. Now she has to share her time with Gilbert and Wilson.

The cats are always welcome with me!

All Done!

The North Pole Village looked great in the end!

Aunt Jennifer and I make a good team!

Starting to Look Like a Village

It takes time, but it's always fun when the random pieces start looking like a village.

I get to choose where most of the pieces go.

All the Unpacking

A big part of putting up the Christmas village is unpacking the houses and accessories. It takes a lot to protect the easily-breakable pieces.

It takes some time, but I can do it with a smile.

That Time of Year

Katie always loves when she gets to help put up my sister's North Pole Village.

When we first start, there is so much empty space to fill.

Time for Cuddles

Gilbert and Wilson love getting close to snuggle.

Both cats get right by your face.

A Night Out

We had fun a little while back going to a Kristin Chenoweth concert. She has so much talent, and both her Christmas music and non-Christmas music are amazing.

Even though it was a late school night, it was completely worth it!

Tap Tap Tapping

Katie still very much enjoys her tap classes.

Pull Backs are tricky, but I love doing them!

Telling Them Apart

Gilbert and Wilson look very similar, but we figured out how to tell them apart.

Gilbert has more defined stripes.

Wilson's fur is more blended.

Always Together

Wilson and Gilbert love each other and are very connected. They will play on their own, but when it's time to calm down for a bit, they always find each other.

We are each other's best friend.

Getting to Know the Cats

Katie spends lots of time with the kittens, getting to know what they like and building a friendship.

Both kittens like to get really close when they are ready for attention.

Their ears sometimes flatten out, which makes them resemble Yoda.

Talk Time

Katie is figuring out how to move from being a "kid" to a teenager. Sometimes she's her old "kid" self, and other times she can very much be a teenager. One thing has never changed though. Every night before she goes to bed, she loves to just sit and talk about her day.

This is my time to tell my mom how my day has been and hear about hers.

First Night Pictures

These are just some of the pictures from the kittens' first night at home. 

Katie's List

Katie has a list hanging in her bedroom. It is called, "Katie's Bucket List Before She Moves Out." Even though she has quite a bit of time to accomplish her goals, she wanted to start quickly with one: Get a kitten and name him Wilson. She was on the lookout for the perfect Wilson. Last week, our humane society had a promotion with 50% of cat and kitten fees. We went there just to see the cats they had. Katie found two kittens that had been together their whole life. She asked to meet them to see which one was more like a Wilson to her. Of course she fell in love with both cats, and needless to say, we went from a 2-cat household to a 4-cat household!

While the kittens were at the humane society, they picked up an upper respiratory infection that was contagious. They came home with medicine, but Mr. Limpet and General Washington had to go to my sister's house, so they didn't get sick too. They will be meeting the kittens soon.

This is Gilbert, and...

...introducing Wilson!

A Pretty Start

It's always nice to start the day with a beautiful sunrise!

The sunrise colors don't last long, so you have to enjoy them while they last.

The Other Side

After we spied Mr. Limpet in the middle of our tree, we looked at the other side.

If we hadn't seen Mr. Limpet's eye, this would have given him away!

Less Than 24 Hours

Less than 24 hours later, there was a new ornament on the tree.

Mr. Limpet had added himself to our tree. Can you find him?

The Tree is Done

It didn't take us long and we were done with the tree!

I was happy with the final result.

Katie's Humor

We have a snow owl at the top of our Christmas tree. After we put that on, Katie put the three baby owls close to it. Then she said something so quickly and seriously that it cracked me up.

"It's the mom and her three babies. The dad must have gone out for milk."

The Favorite Ornament

Katie was so happy to find her ornament that she made in her art class last year.

My reindeer ornament is back!

Another Tree Skirt

Katie has officially been chosen as the tree skirt expert.

This sure isn't my favorite job, but I guess it's mine.

Time for the Tree

We always put our tree up a little later than we used to because the cats don't leave it alone. Both Katie and the cats were excited to see it come back out this year.

As soon as we opened the bag, Mr. Limpet started exploring.

Nighttime Bonding

It was time for Mr. Limpet to get his daily pets.

Mr. Limpet always starts his motor as soon as you start petting him.

Just Being Katie

One morning I was getting ready for school, and Katie wasn't up yet. I remembered she had been using her Chromebook in her room and that she needed to remember it for school. When I was upstairs, I grabbed the Chromebook for her so it wouldn't be forgotten, and it made me smile when I saw the note she had put on it.

You might as well make fun reminder notes.

Sharing School Work

When my sister is over and Katie is doing school work, Katie always shows her everything she has been working on.

I like to share with Aunt Jennifer.

General Washington

General Washington always tries to keep a quiet eye on Katie.

Who was I looking at? Katie, of course!

Mr. Limpet's Ears

We love that Mr. Limpet has unique ears. Both of his ears have now been ripped in wrestling matches with General Washington. Both tears on in the same spot.

When the cats wrestle, they're usually playing. Mr. Limpet's tears are small, but look just right on him.

A Sore Thumb

Katie hurt her thumb while playing volleyball at school. It's not broken or swollen, but it's sore, and it makes it hard to write.

I never realized how important my thumb was until it got hurt!

The Return of Nigel

Our Christmas elf has returned for the season.

Nigel is a well-behaved elf!

A Commonality

Katie loves to wrap up in a cozy blanket, and so does Mr. Limpet.

The only thing he'd like better is to be buried in the blanket.

A Whole New World

Katie has been having some difficulty seeing distance, so she went to the eye doctor to get her first pair of glasses.

I can't believe how much clearer the world is!

Exploring with Markers

Katie usually loves drawing with a pencil and doesn't color, but lately she has been exploring with some of her art markers.

I've been working on shading.

More Manga

We didn't really use Black Friday to go Christmas shopping for others. We went to Barnes and Noble because they were having a sale to get Katie more Manga books.

This was one of the books that I was excited about getting.

A Chilly Walk

Chilly or warm, it's always nice to go on a walk.

Aunt Jennifer makes a good walking partner.

A Snapchat Thanksgiving

 It was a holiday, so it was time for Snapchat.

Out Comes the Stuffing Pot

Thanksgiving means getting out the stuffing pot, and getting out the stuffing pot means it's time to see if Katie still fits in the pot. It has been a good run, but at thirteen years old, Katie can no longer fit in the pot. Does that mean she can stop getting pictures with it? No.

I will try to be a good sport for these pictures!

Tapping

Katie was the only one who showed up for her tap class this week, so she got a private lesson.

My teacher is nice, but I miss my friends when they're not there.

A Dirty Dog

Katie was helping us put together the pumpkin pies. After we put the pumpkin in the bowl, she let the dogs lick a little bit of pumpkin that was left in the can. They were so happy!

I didn't know that Sophie would stick her whole head in the can!

A New Haircut

Katie decided she wanted to try bangs at her last haircut.

I like how they turned out.