Coco (Puff?)

So her name, according to The Girl is Poco (because she thought that's what Mr IM was calling this cat) and I think she should be the BOGO cat, because she is...In any case, (not so) little Coco has staked out the master bedroom as her domain. We worried for a couple days that she wouldn't ever come out, but she has even ventured into the bonus room a couple times (only to rush back to safety when a dog is sighted).  Last night she participated briefly in what the Boy called (I believe this is near to his quote) "The triangle of anger"--in which all three cats were in the bonus room, creating a triangle around The Boy, growling at each other, but none so angry or scared that they would leave the group. Unfortunately, I did not catch that event on film. In fact, there are few photos of BOGO, because she is slightly elusive...
 Here is one with glowing eyes, as she hangs out in the "cat hole" in my closet.

 Coming out of the cat hole...yes, I need to clean my closet...


And...that's it.  I'll try to get more later.  You can see in the cat hole picture how big her paws are--she is also very skinny, but is not a little cat.  She is going to be something, once we fatten her up.

In related news, she is considering taking over the Christmas letter, since she is occasionally called "Coco Puff", which is similar to Puff Tiggy (in that the word "Puff" is included).....it makes as much sense as you should expect from a family who let their cat write the Christmas letter....

Welcome, Coco!


Update since I started writing...I was calling our friend, BOGO and the Mister started as well. The Girl thought we were saying POCO, so we now call her a weird combination of all of those (Although I think she knows BOGO is her name and comes running when I call her!)

Names vs Nicknames, Part 2

So after my previous blog about names vs. nicknames, here's the conversation that happened on Facebook (edited, slightly, to protect the innocent...)

Friend B:  I like that you call them by nicknames on the blog, I think it's cute!

• • June 26 at 8:47am · Unlike · 2
  • Friend A:   It's your blog. Do what you want. If she wants to start a blog where she calls your kids by their names, that's on her.
  • June 26 at 9:42am · Unlike · 2
  • Friend J: Totally your call--I have seen it done both ways. Personally, I love "The Boy," "The Girl," and "Mr. Ranch" 

    June 26 at 11:31am · Unlike · 1
• Mr. Ranch:   I think my name sounds like a salad dressing. Can I get a new one?

  June 26 at 1:24pm · Like · 1
• Grandude:  I kinda like the boy, girl, Mr. & Mrs. Ranch. Tell Mr. Ranch he can either be Mr. Ranch or the salad.

  June 26 at 1:32pm · Like
• Me:  Who would you like to be, Mr. Ranch?

  June 26 at 1:59pm · Like
• Mr. Ranch: Inigo Montoya

  June 26 at 2:03pm · Unlike · 3
• Friend C: Those of us that do know you know their names so I always insert their names when I read your posts. Keep using the nicknames.

  June 26 at 2:23pm · Unlike · 1
• Me: Nice, Mr Ranch....

  June 26 at 2:42pm · Like
• Friend G: I call my boys dawg all the time. Like T-Dawg. I also try not to use names online if I can help it for the same reasons as you listed. Plus they're just kids - who knows what implications there will be to what we posted now 20 years from now? It may seem obvious to us/them in 20 years that we never should have even used any kind of social media at all and they won't appreciate that we've splattered the pictures all over the place without their consent.

  June 27 at 12:11pm · Unlike · 1
• Friend G: Mr Ranch, every time you get one of those nametags that says, "Hello, my name is..." you know how to fill it out! Eventually that nickname will stick. 

  June 27 at 12:11pm · Unlike · 2

When we discussed this issue as a family a few days ago, The Girl said she would like to be called "Princess Sparkle Pony", but that is too many words to type every time.  It looks like the consensus is that Mr Ranch is now Inigo Montoya (I shall abbreviate it as "IM", because, like I said before, I'm not that into typing long names) and the kids are still The Girl and The Boy.  Or perhaps Mr. Ranch will now be "The Salad"...we'll see.

Jealous much?

One thing we've noticed about Liberty Dog is that she doesn't tolerate attention given to others very well.  She is never mean, but she does become quite needy when the children or other pets are receiving attention...classic youngest child?  Here she is trying to climb under the blankie with Mr Ranch and the Girl...

 She just looks pathetic, doesn't she?

 The stare....








The creep...









 and in she goes...









 Cozy, right?

I don't think she would have done well when the kids were babies--although the pose above, where she is wrapped around The Girl, is very similar to how the cats used to sleep above her when she was a baby, so maybe she would have done ok after all...she probably wouldn't fit in the crib though. Or under it, either, I guess...

A Field trip with The Boy

Field trip

10/1

When the permission slip came home, Mr. Ranch said, "oh! A field trip to the gold mine?  I want to go!"  Apparently, being a school field trip chaperone is quite competitive these days, Mr. Ranch had to submit his name and wait to find out if he was "one of the chosen".  He ended up with a group of The Boy's friends...some of us moms wondered what Mr. Ranch had done to tick off the teacher...he had a very active group...

The report is that everyone had a great time, despite Mr. Ranch's fears that he was going to have to fish some of the boys out of the river...