Kids & Kittens

We've been very busy around here the last few weeks. Darrell is recovering from surgery on his left elbow where a tendon was removed and is currently getting ready for the same surgery on the right elbow. So needless to say, he has been unable to work for a few weeks now. Things have been very tight but we we're managing. We have also had many guests with us throughout the last couple months. The tiny,cuddly, furry type... Kittens! We are currently caring for our second litter of 5 kittens. Now before I go any further let me first say that none of these kittens belong to our cats. Both litters were born to stray mama kitties that we feed daily. Our first 5 lil guests were born the end of May. By the time they were 5 weeks old their young mama decided they were big enough to be on their own. Of course they weren't, so after a couple days of hearing them cry and seeing them sleeping in the hot summer sun we brought them inside. Within a couple days they were all litter trained, eating, and becoming very social. We quickly found homes for 4 of our 5 little babies. The 5th lil one I fell in love with and when it was time for her to go Darrell told them that we were keeping her. She became a late Mother's Day gift to me!!! I named her Angel. She loves to cuddle and is turning into quite the lapcat! Within a couple weeks of our first lil guests going to their forever homes we took in our next lil guests..mama too!
This mama kitty was rapidly losing weight after giving birth. We fed her extra food but it just didn't seem to help. It got to the point that we were afraid we were going to lose her and all 5 of the kittens too. So ...in they all came. Danielle, the mama cat, is finally starting to gain weight and all but 1 of the kittens are growing nicely. The runt of the litter is a beautiful lil long haired gray male and he just doesn't seem to have much interest in nursing or eating. Although he is VERY happy to crawl up onto your lap to cuddle and sleep! The lil ones are old enough now to go to their forever homes but we haven't given any away yet. I wanted to give them a few extra weeks to grow stronger and bigger due to their rough start. They are an active bunch and keep us all very very busy. We also have another young guest staying with us for awhile. It's been great having her here and I'm going to miss her alot when she goes home. She has become my second daughter and calls me mom just like my own kids do. She's a great kid and plans on becoming a vet just like Katie does. Mary and Katie have become very close sisters. And last but not least school is starting soon and we are trying to get all the kids ready. This time of year is great for donations. All the summer items are on clearance and there are tons of sales just about everywhere. Don't forget all our young friends in Haiti when you go by those sale racks of sandals, and summer clothing. The children are in need of everything, even school supplies! But most of all they need your prayers. Thank you for taking the time to care and pray for the kids and for us.
P.S. Hopefully we will receive new photos in a couple weeks! I will post them as soon as we get them.