Flashback Friday~Cat Games

Once upon a time, Renee decided that she and Cannoli should play a game of Clue.

Cannoli took the game extremely seriously, as seen in this next photo.



Who do you think won?

Iz on yer kid...

in controlz.



Mwahhhaaaaa!

Things that make you laugh until your side hurts

In the past week or so, I have come to realize that I miss having the time to invest in our blog. I don't think that we have a ton of followers; it's more for us than anything else, and that's okay.

Although mobile blogging is easy for us and fun for our friends who might be following our adventures from the comfort of their own homes, the best part of blogging is when I have time to sit down and create a post. Going through the photos stored in my computer will always bring a smile to my face. Then, there are the days when I look at a photo and just can't stop laughing! This is a perfect example...

"Yo! I'm Cannoli. I really do like being pushed around in this stroller, but I'm not too sure about this sweater. The hood, the fur on the collar, the shade of purple...do you think it is a good look for me?"

See what I mean? ;)

A Badelves' Halloween

Yes, we realize that it is almost Thanksgiving.

And yes, we know that we are really late in sharing our Halloween with you.

But, because I think it would have been more sad if we didn't share it at all, here is a little recap of our pumpkin carvin', pirate dressin', candy gatherin', Wilson disguisin' Halloween fun!

The afternoon started with the destruction...I mean, carving of the pumpkin. Any idea of what she was going to bring to life on the face of that perfect pumpkin?

Agrrgh, Matey! There be pirates in the Badelves' kitchen!

Fabulous, stylin', mascara wearin' pirates!

We are so lucky to have such a talented seamstress in the family. You may know her as Grammy, or Mare's Mom, or Wilson, or maybe even Rusty. No matter what you might call her, she is extremely savvy with a needle and thread.

Mom made us all matching pirate costumes for last year's Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World. Mark has the scowl down, but he seems to be missing something in this next photo. Oh, where be your costume, Sir?

Renee doesn't seem to be bothered by Mark's missing costume, but instead, ponders about how much candy she will pillage and plunder on this rainy, late October eve.

Pirate Mr. Smarty Pants (sans hat and costume!) makes fun of the amount of photos I am taking.

Which, of course, breaks the serious face of the pillaging pirate into a smile and causes extreme fits of laughter!

I know, I know. I don't have my costume on, either. But it was raining and miserable, and someone had to hold the umbrella! Have you ever tried to do that in flowing, pirate sleeves?

One more stare of doom before the pillaging began. Aren't you seriously intimidated?

The weather that evening wasn't very cooperative, and Mark was very sad that I wasn't able to take anymore photos during the evening of Trick-or-Treating. I don't think it was because I didn't document it. I think it was because he couldn't make fun of me anymore!

Please close your eyes and use your imagination now...

Oh wait. Scratch that. You won't be able to read this if you close your eyes, so read it first, THEN close your eyes and replay it in your head. Sound good?

It was rainy, chilly night in Georgia. The intimidating, stare a hole right through you pirate became a Pirate Princess when she had to layer her pink, fuzzy cape on over Grammy's beautifully tailored costume. She had a fantastic time plundering, pillaging, and visiting the 'non-scary' houses. You should have seen her booty!

And here it is!

Both Cheesecake and Cannoli had to check the booty over carefully before the consumption began. I think they were secretly hoping there was something in there for them!

Once it was inspected...oh, nevermind. Just see for yourself!

Now, I think poor Wilson felt a little left out. She wasn't feeling well enough to go Trick-or-Treating with us, so we had to find someway to include her in on the fun. Time to adorn the Grammy!

Hmmmmm. Do you like the beaded, bejeweled look, or should she go for something a tad bit more menacing?

It's a tough call, isn't it? She does pull that pirate stare off pretty well.

And check out Cannoli! I think he's a pirate just waiting to happen!

Happy Belated Halloween!

Stuff on my cat...and kid

Have you ever seen the website, Stuff on my Cat? It has to be one of the most hysterical things I've ever seen. The idea (I'm guessing from most of the photos) is to see how much stuff you can pile on top of your cat before he/she either wakes up or decides they've had enough.

Unfortunately for Cannoli, I made the mistake of showing the website to the little Miss the other day. There is no need to be concerned for Cheesecake though. She has a sixth sense about these types of things and knows when it is a good idea to stay away.

Personally, I think she remembers when Renee tried to dress her up in a Build-a-Bear Yankees outfit when she was just a little kitten. Maybe that's why she's never come to sit on her lap since that fateful day!

Things started simply enough when Renee thought that her knitting hoops would make an adorable hat. Cannoli thought that it would be better suited as a fashionable choker necklace.



Since that didn't go so well, she decided to make it harder for him to escape. She nested him into one of our hat boxes, and wrapped him up in a blanket. Then, the placing of stuff began. Cannoli watched carefully to make sure he wasn't being taken advantage of.



Then he looked up to me as if to say, "Please save me, oh lady who feeds us!"

Needless to say, it didn't last long. Dolls went flying, blankets were drug across the living room, and Cannoli was long gone.

A few days went by without Miss Creativity thinking of a cat of a critter of which to stack stuff upon. Then, the Easter eggs were emptied and something was triggered in that little brain of hers. How much fun would it be to place one half of an Easter egg upon Cannoli's head?



"Did you really think I was going to allow that for long? Hey, Cheesecake! Come out of hiding and see what they are trying to do to me."

"Really? Are you setting me up again? I am so not into this today."

"Seriously? You're really going to do it? And yellow? You know that's not my color."

"This is ridiculous. I just know you are going to document this and blog about it!"

"I'll just knock it off. Maybe there is something good inside? Cheesie left so I won't even have to share it with her!"

"Not fair! Why didn't they put a cat treat or something inside? I'll show them! I'll bite it and then the edges won't fit together anymore! Muwahhhhaaaa!"

"You know what I think? I think I will send vibes to the lady who feeds me and tell her that she should put some stuff on that kid of hers. Hmmmm...what would be good?"

"Now that's what I call sweet revenge!"

Circus Kitty

Cannoli is such a wacky cat. He loves high places, and will actually climb ladders if you leave them open.

Tonight, I found him on top of our kitchen cabinets.

Considering that there weren't any open ladders around, I don't even want to know how he got up there!

Foodie Cats

Well, I'm really not sure if our cats are Foodies. They are named after food, though. So what does that say about us?

Meet Cannoli and Cheesecake.



Little girl, Cheesecake...



Bad boy, Cannoli...



We brought them home to live with us over four years ago. Honestly, I can't believe it has been that long. It seems like yesterday when we took a ninety minute ride from New York to Pennsylvania to adopt a kitten.

Notice the 'kitten' thing. That would be singular 'kitten', and not plural 'kittens'. Stick with me, because it will all make sense later.

When we were relocated to New York, we only moved one cat and a few finches with us. That was quite a small pet population for our family, considering that it had been a full house a few years earlier. Two dogs, four cats, two doves, many finches, fish in the house, fish in the ponds...it was almost a zoo!

But as hard as it is to swallow, pets grow older and eventually head towards the Rainbow Bridge. By the time we left New Jersey, only Hernie kitty (and her birdie friends!) were left.

:(

Renee loved Hernie. She was the only pet she had ever known, and she loved that cat with all her little heart. But Hernie too, grew very old, and we lost her on Valentine's Day in 2004. I won't even begin to try to explain how difficult it is to bury a cat when the ground is frozen and there happens to be two feet of snow on the ground. Let's just say that a Momma will do anything for her four year old heartbroken child.

Did you also know that when you need (and want) to adopt a kitten from a shelter or rescue group in the dead of winter there aren't any to be found? It's just not kitten season. That's not a bad thing, because we already have too many unwanted pets in our country. It just made a very tough time even tougher for me.

As I continued the search for Renee's new furry friend, I stumbled across Petfinder. What an amazing website! If you are thinking of adding four little (or big!) paws to your family, this is the place to do your searching. They make it so simple to offer a forever home to a homeless animal. Brilliant!

And Petfinder was how we found Cheesecake. She was just a tiny ball of black fuzz, and she had the prettiest little face. She was just adorable!

She was also ninety minutes away, but that wasn't going to stop us. After a quick phone call to the shelter to let them know we were on our way, I threw the cat carrier in the van and began our journey.

When we arrived at the shelter, Renee ran towards the cage Cheesecake was sleeping in. Before she could even get her hands on her, it was love at first sight.

On the other side of the room, another bit of love was going on. I refer to this as 'What in the world was I thinking?' love. Before I knew it, I was paying the adoption fee for two kittens. Crazy, huh?

We won't even go into how demented this second cat turned out to be. I think I will save that for another blog post.

;)

Now we had to come up with two names for the newest members of our family. What a job! It's hard enough to name one new pet, isn't it?

To make that process a bit easier, we decided to keep Cheesecake's name. She was surrendered to the shelter along with that little snazzy title, and it made us laugh every time we called her. When I asked if all the kittens from the litter were named after food items, I was told that they weren't. The kids in the family who had surrendered the litter had named them all different things-Cheesecake, Simon, Fuzzy, etc. I'm thinking that the kid that named Cheesecake really, really loved the dessert!

Now we needed to come up with a name for the boy kitty that would compliment Cheesecake's name. Yes, I know that sounds a bit ridiculous. Really though, it's no worse than parents who feel the need to have all their children's names begin with the same letter!

You should have heard the desserts...I mean names...that were floating around in the air during that long drive home. One of our favorites was Rugulah. Yeah, um, because it was such a cute name.

The one that totally stuck though was Cannoli. It was simple, it fit his spunky personality, and it was Renee's favorite dessert at the time. Perfecto!

When poor Mark came home from work that night, he thought he was going nuts. There was only supposed to be one kitten, but why was he seeing double? And why was everyone talking about dessert? He couldn't find any in the fridge-LOL!

Here they are today-all grown up.



After all these years, they still continue to spread lots of love...and hair! And although I wouldn't have to vacuum as much, our home would be so empty without them.

Speaking of empty homes, I just recently learned of a rescue group in central Florida who would love to see happy pets running through laughter filled houses. This wonderful group has rehomed almost 500 animals in 3 1/2 years. Isn't that amazing?

If you are so inclined, please visit and/or pass along their website. Knowledge and awareness can make a difference, and together, that may give a sweet animal another chance.

http://www.betterlifepets.com/home.php

It made all the difference in the world for Cannoli and Cheesecake.