Welcome Lucille!

Lucille is about 10 weeks old. She's adorable. I love the orange highlights. Timothy got her to keep birds out of the garden. Whether this is a plan that will work or not--we are all smitten with her.

Timothy went and picked her up last night and got home around 9:30 pm. I couldn't help myself and went and got Eli to show him the kitten (yes, he was still awake--grr). I told him we were getting him a drink. At the top of the stairs I set him down and it only took a few seconds for him to notice the kitten racing his way. His face was priceless. He looked at me and said, "Mom, there a cat in our house." Then he stared at it for a little longer then said again, "Mom, there a cat in our house!!"

It was awesome.

Equally awesome was Cowen's introduction to the cat. We hadn't told the kids we were getting one and Timothy didn't leave to pick it up until the kids were in their rooms for the night. We tried securing Lucille in the dog kennel but she didn't care for the smell. Instead, we put her in the bathroom for the night. You can see where this is going.

At about 5:00 am our house was rocked with Cowen's panicked shrieking: "Get out, get out, get out!!" followed by his frantic exit from the bathroom. Timothy got up to calm Cowen and introduce him to Lucille.

And that was when we realized our mistake with not introducing the kids to the cat earlier, or not hiding it better. On the baby monitor (we're trying to train Cowen to stay dry at night--hence the monitor) we heard Cowen wake Eli up to tell him about the cat and then head for the girls' room. Timothy leaped out of bed to stop him, but the children were up horrifically early despite Timothy's efforts.

I managed to stay in bed until 5:30 am when Harriet woke up, but when I tried to go back to bed the kids were up and I didn't want them left alone with Lucy. Instead, I made everyone go outside and I managed to weed 5 rows (yeah!) of the garden while Timothy worked on securing Lucille's "habitat" (Timothy's word).

Wilson seems curious but chill about Lucy. Patsy on the other hand . . .. So many reasons this plan might end badly.

One last thing about Lucille--besides the fact that I love her and she took a nap with me this afternoon and I found that I enjoy listening to purring as I doze in the sunshine.

I took Harriet downstairs with me to help the children fold laundry but I failed to notice when Eli returned upstairs. Then I heard the van horn. I rushed upstairs, got Eli out of the van, and started searching the house for Lucille. She was nowhere to be found. The kids and I each grabbed a walkie-talkie and started searching around the neighborhood. With no success.

I pretty much gave up and figured we'd seen the last of Lucille. I didn't want to have to tell Timothy that I lost his cat. He's smitten with her. Plus, this whole cat plan is his baby.

The story ends happily, however. About an hour later I sent Eli in to use the potty and a few minutes later the kitten waltzed into the kitchen like she hadn't just caused a great deal of trouble. She had been in the tub. We don't know if she got herself stuck in there or if a helpful child put her in there (Eli), but Eli got her out. Yeah!

And that's the end of my Lucille stories. Don't worry--I'm sure I'll have more; we haven't even had her 24 hours yet!