Girls' Art

Cora's newest hand-crafted clay mask is at the top. Each represents a D&D character she has created. 

Best one yet!

She is taking ceramics in school and came home this semester with these. So pretty!

Below, we have a cross section of a dragonfruit, and a lemon.

And I found this amazing creature in Vi's sketchbook. Hope it doesn't become real!

The girls are now off school three weeks for Christmas break.

The Big Introduction(s)

 After nearly a week of seeing each other through the window, we were all ready to let Sebastian meet Winston and Evie face to face. We borrowed a crate from Colleen and Rigo, and put the kittens inside in the living room on the first day, so Seb could walk around them and they could all smell each other. All went well.

The next day, we brought one kitten out and put it down in the living room, and the cats met. Then we swapped kittens. All went well!

We were all concerned that Seb wouldn't like the babies, though we know he's a generally easy-going guy. 

Thankfully, his only negative reaction was hissing when they would try to get his tail, as if his tail was a toy. Totally understandable! 

Violet got in the habit of saying, "Seb doesn't want to play Kitten right now" to whichever little cat was annoying him.

Seb decided they couldn't be that bad, because they came with better food. Our foodie big guy! 

He kept eating their dry food, which we would typically leave out for the kittens to free feed. So, we'd pick up the dry food and put it up on Violet's shelf - which Seb discovered. 

Now, we put the dry food up on the tank inside the bookshelf where he definitely can't get to it.

Though it's not like Sebastian has "adopted" the kittens as his own, and snuggles with them, we couldn't be more pleased with how the transition has gone. He really is chill with them, and is getting used to their attempts to play with him. Sometimes, he even gets a little playful, himself.

It's so interesting how the kittens immediately knew to climb the cat tree or curl up in the cat bed. And both of them together can share the bed with room to spare, while Seb totally fills it. 

Ventura Boat Parade

Stace, Violet and I went with Colleen, Rigo and Liana to Ventura Harbor on Saturday evening for the Christmas Light Boat Parade. It was our first time going, and it was a nice evening out. We waited in a long line to get dinner, but it worked perfectly as a window table opened up as the boat parade started.

O Christmas Tree, Our Christmas Tree

We didn't just bring kittens home this week - we also picked out a Christmas tree.

It had been a few years since we bought a real tree, so it's a bit of a treat for our family.

Discussing the pros and cons of various tree options - serious business!

Our winner winner. Not too tall, not $499 either.

Stace had the urge to recreate a family Christmas photo from 2015, so he insisted we bring the Vibe for tree transport.

Awww!
 

Evie and Winston Move In

Saturday was a big, happy day for us, as we brought home two new family members. Cora is holding Evie, and Violet is holding Winston, as we picked them up from the home of their foster, who bottle-fed them as tinier babies. 

The foster, Cheri, was fantastic, so helpful and knowledgeable. And she sent us home with food for several days and lots of their favorite toys!

We had a bit of a drive home and the little guys were silent in their carrier.

We had them spend their first couple of nights in the bathroom, as they adjusted to the big move. They were very good about everything - used the litter box (placed in the bathtub) perfectly, didn't start meowing early in the morning, etc.

They are so tiny! None of us have ever had kittens this small. I always had adult cats move in with us before Spencer and Seb, and they were 4 months when we got them. These two are a month younger and a good deal smaller. 

By midday Monday, we moved them into Violet's room. They had fun exploring, racing around like crazy. They both purr easily and like cuddles, with Winston being a bit more of a lap cat than Evie.

He also is a maniac at wet-food feeding time, eating super loudly and growling if you get near him. He also insists on eating out of Evie's bowl, so they switch bowls throughout feeding times. It's pretty funny.

They are so cute together. Evie was born Sept. 14, and Winston was born around Sept. 25. I love getting a pair of kittens, so they have each other to roughhouse and be crazy with. We could just sit and watch them all day!

So far, we've spent the first week with the kittens locked in a room, so that Seb can slowly get used to their presence. They make noise, so he's aware, and we've exchanged scented items like blankets so they can get used to each other's scent. Thankfully, he seems chill so far - no hissing at the door! 

And this perhaps is the one time where Violet's odd window situation is a positive - the cats have all now seen each other through the window. Seb was staring, wide-eyed, the first day, but got used to seeing them.

Relaxing with a kitty is pretty awesome. And a pair of kittens? Perfection.
 

Week in Review

Stace, Vi and I went to our church "Christmas Kickoff" fun event Friday evening, while Cora played D&D. 

I love that Violet is more willing to go places and do things the past month or so. I'm attributing it partially to her schooling change, and and an overall happier attitude.

Also this week, I had a theatre boosters meeting for Cora's old school, since I'm still the treasurer. Very happy to report that my dear friend Christina has agreed to fill my shoes!
 

Stace's coworker brought in a big bag of guava from his tree - what to do with these unusual tropical fruit?

They taste good, but have lots of tiny hard seeds inside. I looked up recipes and decided to turn them into nectar.

I cut off the ends, pureed them in the blender, and strained out the seeds/pulp. It was quite thick, and the recipe called for adding another cup or two of water and cup or two of sugar. 

I didn't want that much extra sugar, so we left the juice thick, and mixed it with orange/pineapple juice to make our own version of POG we'd get in Hawaii. 

That Hawaiian POG is passionfruit/orange/guava juice, but pineapple/orange was easier to get at Ralphs. It was yummy!

Stace and Violet got the house decorated outside...

...and December is officially here, with the girls' sweet Advent Calendars up on the mantel.

Desert Camping - by Stace

 Rigo had wanted to get a group of chaps together to go camping for some time, so on Friday, I finished work early, met up with Luis, and we set off into the Mojave Desert in search of our weekend camping spot.

After we left the main road, we headed into the desert, where we camped in the middle of nowhere.

The nights were very cold, after the fires had gone out, and the winds picked up as the sun went down and hammered the tents. 

The sunrises in the desert were stunning, as we woke on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

During the day, we went on some short hikes, did archery, pistol target shooting, and ate and drank.  

I also saw my first tarantula in the wild. And no, this is not my hand shown here, giving the size reference. 

Rigo's Bronco was made for this kind of adventure. Late Sunday morning, we headed back across the desert to the main road and made the 90-minute journey back to Santa Clarita. A good time was had by all. 

Seasonal Fun

Other than cat news, two Christmas things happened this weekend. My dad and I went to Magic Mountain's employee  Family Night, though the girls were party poopers and didn't want to go.

Mom was working as Mrs. Claus, so Dad and I waited in a short line to get a photo with her and Santa.

We enjoyed our free tamales, chips, cookies and s'mores. Seeing all the little kids enjoying the activities made me reminisce about the girls being younger and coming to this event over the years, playing the man-made snow.

It was cold enough that I didn't feel like riding the rides. Maybe next year!

On Saturday, Violet and I went to Placerita Nature Center for the annual Christmas Craft Fair. I was so pleased when she had asked me a week ago if we could go again, after creating yule logs last year.

Colleen and Liana were free and interested in joining us, which was fun.

Nice!

Kittens

It's been a rough week, especially for Violet, and me as well. 

We've been giving Sebastian so much extra love this week, and at one point we found him inside the tunnel, where Spence was hanging out a few days ago. But truly, Seb has been acting fairly normally, for which we're grateful.

Along with our sadness, we're thinking ahead to getting new kittens. Violent went through a phase a couple of years ago of desperately desiring kittens, as she's never really had the experience. She was only 1 when Spencer and Sebastian were babies.

It's helped her to feel a bit better to look at Petfinder and find kitten pairs we might take a look at. Plus, we don't want Seb to get used to being an only cat.

One afternoon this week, we went to play with the adoptable cats at our Petsmart.

I contacted a rescue with a lot of kittens, and on Saturday, the girls and I went kitten-looking. 

We went to two different Petcos and to the home of a woman who fosters cats, and saw three different pairs of bonded babies. Playing with them all was good for our hearts!

Here's Lucy, who had the most beautiful eyes.

Violet is holding Flower, Lucy's littermate. Flower liked to nuzzle right up in our neck area.

And here, Cora is holding Winston and Vi has Evie, a sister of the two above. Winston isn't related, but was raised with Evie and they're very attached. He was found all alone at a few days old, and Evie and her litter were also found without their mother, so all these were bottle-fed from a few days old.

We also visited with these brothers, named Ben and Jerry (photo taken from the web site). I would have taken them home, but to Cora, they were too much like Seb and Spencer when we got them (and she DOES remember their early days with us). 

We've decided to adopt Winston and Evie, and we're excited for them to move in.