Happy Halloween!

Chips and Curious just can't handle anything new on the back porch, including our pumpkins. They sniffed, pounced, pushed, and tried to eat them.

Mitts & Chips

Chips and Mittens nap together in Chris's chair while Curious plays in the bushes outside.

I'm still so tickled that they have all the same color markings, even the patches of white between their eyes.

Caught Pepper-pawed

Curious and Chips are not allowed to play in the pepper plants. Sometimes we find them playing in the pepper plants anyway.

"These cats will ruin everything we own." --Christopher

Chips and Curious are about five weeks old now, which means their eyes are turning from blue to yellow, they poop on their own, and they're learning to hunt.

They are being weaned and have mostly moved on to solid food that Mittens brings back from the dumpster, like this ant-covered pork bone:

They also like to drag in toys. Our porch is a mess.

Not pictured: the dirt they've kicked out of our flower pots, the bruised stems of the plants they chew on, and the flurry of bird feathers from Mittens's many hunting expeditions.

Hammock Cats

 The kittens, starting to grow too big for the box, have moved on to Chris's chair.

Smokey Chips

Sometimes Chips likes to wedge her/himself into the ash dish on our charcoal grill.

Rainy Morning

The kittens love to snuggle in the space between the screen door and the glass door. They also love to climb the screen like Spiderman.

Katie met the kittens

My sister met the kittens on Wednesday, and she sure took some cute pictures for someone who doesn't like cats.

Curious gets a bath

At home in the box

Mittens and kittens have moved into an old tupperware box with an old towel.

Exploring the patio

Kittens playing at night

Hungry Kittens

Chips and Curious eating their dinner.

Chips and Curious

In an effort not to get too attached, we named the kittens whatever came to mind first. Chris named the all-black kitten Curious, because he/she kept leaning too far out of the closet and falling off the step. I named the black-and-white kitten Chips, which was supposed to be short for Chocolate Chips but is now short for Potato Chips because he/she naps all the time.

Curious Kittens

The kittens are about nine days old and beginning to explore the world outside the closet.

Mittens had kittens

Mittens is one of several stray cats that hang around our back porch. I went to get my bike one day and found Mittens curled up in the corner with two newborn kittens.