Kurtz Family Blog: August 2012

So, last night we were all winding down after a normal Monday watching a little Land Before Time before bed when we hear a noise and Jared asks "What was that?" It sounded like a cry but I figured if anything it came from outside since the windows were open and everyone was accounted for. Jared heads down to the basement to reassure himself, and I, of course, think nothing of it. However, a few minutes later Jared returns with 2 kittens!! I don't know about the rest of you, but I for one, am not real comfortable with my husband coming up from the basement with kittens when we DO NOT have a cat! (Even if we did it would not be inside!) So I ask him how in the world do we have kittens in the basement?!?!

Apparently, the people that owned the house before us felt the need to cut a hole in the basement for easy access for firewood since they kept a wood burner in the basement. Now, I have seen the door on the wall in the basement, but, quite frankly, it freaks me out so I NEVER open it because I'm afraid something will fall out. There is a covered hole out behind the house that leads down to this hole (I don't look in there either) and this is where Mother Cat decided to have/keep her babies! The 2 kittens that Jared brought upstairs must have been playing around and pushed the door open. Jared went outside to check the space and Mother Cat sprinted out toward the corn field! Jared brings in kitten #3! Now he is in search of hornet spray since he also found a hornet's nest in the outdoor space. When he's finished warding off the hornets I inform him that I believe there is at least 1 more kitty...sure enough when he returns from the basement he has kitty #4!!

The kids are obviously in absolute heaven and are loving their new little friends. Hunter is holding "his" kitty around the neck and keeps pulling it back with whatever he can grab if it tries to get away. He also likes to carry it with its head hanging down. I think I must have said "you have to be nice to the kitty" 500 times in the hour we had them in the house! Mia is also loving her 3 kittens. She named all the kittys: Adelaide is the yellow one (Leah, I think it's safe to say she likes your baby's name!), we also have Sanko, Penelope (I named this one since Mia kept saying different variations of the first two names) and last but not least, Hunter's kitty's name ended up as Keekoo.

So the kids and I played with the kittens while Jared ran to the store for some cat food. We figured we've been talking about getting some outdoor cats and if these little guys will stick around why not?! So when Jared got home we made up a box for the kittens with some food. We put it out back in hopes that Mother Cat will return (she's been stalking from the corn field most of the evening) and take care of her kittens. We explained to the kids that we have to leave them outside and they might not be there in the morning. They weren't too thrilled with this notion but acted like they understood. So we all went to bed a little later than normal, and prayed that the kittens would be safe through the night.

It didn't take Mia long this morning to remember her new little friends so we went out to check on them first thing. Adelaide was the only kitty still in the box this morning! Mia wanted to hold her but she was a little hissy so we decided we will wait and see if she is still there tonight. The cat food was gone and we have no idea where the rest of the family is so we'll see what happens. We will put some more food out and see if they come around again. We'll keep you posted!!!!

Here are some pictures of our fun!