175 - Zeus

I'd like to introduce you to someone very special. Someone very important to my little sister. Someone who will become a permanent part of her family come March. Meet Zeus:

Hmm, not quite what you were expecting? :) Well, my little sister, Gretchen, is engaged, and her fiance, Brett, is the owner of this cute, but not so little, guy named Zeus. And he's not really a cake. He's a living, breathing English bulldog who can easily knock you over as he's about 80 lbs of pure muscle. However, this was the cake for their engagement party -- pretty awesome, huh? It was very lifelike, for sure, and I especially love the details of the cupcake...

For some photos of the REAL Zeus -- when he actually WAS a cute, little, puppy -- check out the awesome shoot The Popes did when he was just a few weeks old!

170 - Chris & Jack

You've already met our friend, Chris, and you've definitely met our kitten, Jack.... so here are a few of the two of them thrown together. It's probably pretty safe to say that Chris is one of Jack's favorite people. Following Josh and myself, of course. ;) Besides being at least a once-a-week visitor (and often more frequently), Chris watched our little cats a few times when we were away, thus endearing himself as one of the "feeders".

But seriously, our cats are awesome, and while they love everyone, Jack especially loved Chris. So we took some photos before Chris left for Milwaukee. And abandoned us forever. And broke poor Jack's heart.I'm not sure how he'll ever recover...

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Are you on your way back yet, Chris? ;)

158 - Roscoe

Even though Jack is Kristin and Dave's first son.... he already has a big brother. Meet Roscoe:

While Roscoe wasn't around for too many of the photos, we did catch him a little at the beginning. He's a pretty darn protective big brother, after all, and had to make sure everything was okay with Jack. Cute family, huh?

132 - How Many Can YOU Count?

When we were out at Valley Forge we had a few visitors.

First Mom ventured out...

Then the babies!

But you've gotta watch out for strange people. Hiding in green grass is the best way not to be seen. Duh. 

But really, as long as Mom's around, it's all ok...

And yes, I know deer aren't really "that exciting"... but I really just sort of go crazy for any animal. And seriously, I think Josh thought I might start hyperventilating when we saw this - I made him sit for about 10 minutes just watching. 

Also, I don't have a wide angle lens, so this is only about half the view (and half the final count). But, that said, it was still pretty awesome. Go on, give it a try. Click on the image to make it larger, then see -- how many can YOU count?

103 - Airika (and her Camera)

Today is my older sister Airika's birthday. She's pretty much awesome. And a great big sister. I wish we lived closer (3,000 miles does make it rather difficult to hang out on a regular basis), but I'll get to see her before too many more months go by. And then, I'll give her a big post-birthday hug. Though to be honest, it'll probably have nothing to do with her birthday at that point. It will still be a "post-birthday" hug, though! Ha! Ok, I'll stop now.

Airika, I love you so much, and I am so glad you're my sister. I love our 5:30/2:30 phone chats, and I'm so grateful for all the love and advice you give me. You're sort of one of my biggest cheerleaders, and you'll never know how much I appreciate that. You help me realize parts of my dreams, and I wouldn't trade you for anything. I love that you're not only my sister, but one of my best friends.

I also wish I had far more fabulous photos to share of you to match how wonderful and amazing you are... I guess now I'll just have to do that session with you and Gerald next time I see you. =)

Oh, and in these photos, Airika was giving me some tips on shooting using manual focus (I don't mind shooting in manual, but I do often just use my auto-focus feature). Also, she can't mind these photos too much because one of her favorite felines in is them (whose name happens to be 'Camera' - pronounced 'Kuh-meer-uh').

P.S. Don't forget tomorrow is the last day to help me out and vote for your favorite photo in the mini contest! Thanks!

98 - Curious Kittens

Cats seriously have the good life. At least, ours do. They get to play around, take naps, eat, take naps, get serious love and affection from humans who think they're ridiculously wonderful (that's us), take some more naps, be curious, take even more naps, be lap warmers, take still more naps... I mean, what's not to love? Our cats love people, and Josh and I totally treat give them way too much attention... so trust me, they've got it good.

Since it's been getting warmer, we've been opening the windows and doors more to get some breezes coming through. While our front/storm door is glass and doesn't have a screen (so no wind/breeze), we still have to keep it open for a few hours because, oh my goodness, our cats think it's just about the 3rd best thing in the world behind cheese and tuna juice.

67 - Cat Nap(s)

Remember our kittens? The ridiculously cute, adorable, friendly ones? The ones who absolutely love each other to death and are forever together? 

Well, they're back, and just as wonderful as ever. This was the scene when Josh and I were eating lunch yesterday afternoon: 

The past few days have been considerably colder and with temperatures dipping below freezing again, we turned the heat back on. I know, it's the end of March... but I'd rather not deal with frozen pipes. Plus I think I'm probably considerably less irritable when the house is at least 63 degrees. 

At any rate, the radiators are back on, and Jack (left) and Mizu (right) have been very happy indeed. And in case you can't tell, yes, Mizu's head is resting on Jack's leg. They're just too cute sometimes. =)

62 - Beethoven's Seventh

You might have to look at the larger image of this one... it's pretty great. I especially love how the scratch marks indicate he's very used to this kind of treatment! I'm quite impressed he didn't actually just jump right out of the car and run along with the traffic... but I guess he didn't need to leave the car when he was obviously having such a fantastic time.

Oh, and yes, in case you were wondering, there have indeed been SIX Beethoven movies made. I checked. So, here's to Beethoven's Seventh.

37 - The Cabinet Cat

I've got another kitten photo for you today, since I didn't leave the house at all (Snow Day #5 in Philly today). Once again, Jack decided to display some of his genius survival ability.

I know I shouldn't admit this, but we are still unpacking a few things, and as such, have a few "empty spaces" in our house, like the bottom shelf of this cabinet. I was putting something away on the top shelf, Jack jumped in the cabinet, and when I started to shut the doors, he didn't get the message and just stayed inside. Brilliant, huh?

36 - Lava Kitties

I've been almost getting behind in my pictures -- the past week has been pretty crazy. Today I realized I hadn't taken any photos, then looked up to see these two giving their full attention to the lava lamp.

I got this lava lamp back when I was a teenager, and I have to admit, while it may not be the in, hip thing now... it is still pretty cool. Yup, I readily admit my nerdiness -- I find lava lamps fascinating. Granted, I only turn it on a few times a year (and Josh actually plugged it in this time), but apparently my cats have inherited my fascination, too. I think I'm ok with that.

20 - Kitten Love

I haven't been feeling so great today, so I spent most of it inside. However, I still managed to find a couple friends... especially of the lapwarming kind. Besides acting as a mini heater, our kittens put themselves in the most unusual positions. Below, Jack is exhibiting one such example.

In the below picture, note that the foot sticking out by Jack's ear is actually one of his back legs. He's literally twisted up and around himself.

Josh decided to say hello to our little, oddly positioned trouble-maker. Cute, huh? I think I'll keep them both.

15 - Yin & Yang

Our kittens, Jack and Mizu, are no ordinary cats. If you've ever visited our house, you know what I mean. They are beyond friendly, follow us everywhere, play fetch, and just constantly want to love on you. But I think one thing I love most about them is that they are absolutely best friends. Most cats are all about establishing territory and maintaining independence.

Ours? If they're not in the same room for more than the time it takes to use the litter box, we either think something's wrong, or, now, since it's winter, assume one is asleep on the radiator in the next room. They are absolutely bonded and totally love each other (don't worry, in a platonic way - they're both fixed).

This is a shot of the two of them asleep on the couch... not an uncommon occurance by any means, but the shape of their bodies reminded me a little of yin and yang. I think it describes them perfectly.

11 - Small World

I don't know if you know... but Josh and I really love board games. And by really, I mean really. At our wedding, our tables didn't have numbers - they were themed after various board games. Our immediate families sat at the Killer Bunnies table. Our Philly friends were at the Arkham Horror table. Friends from my mom's job at an engineering company sat at the Power Grid table. I've also written a few reviews of some of our favorites, and plan on doing many more. 

So, I'm not kidding when I say we really love board games. We love to play together (it's not unusual for that to be one of our date night activities) and we also definitely love to play with friends. Because of fixing up our house and moving, it's been a couple months since we've had a big game night at our place (maybe 10-15 people with multiple games going). However, we've had a few people over here and there for some fun. Tonight, we got to introduce Katharine & Ted to Small World. 

 

Most of my time was spent actually playing the game (it's quite a good one), but I caught Ted studying the cheat sheet for tips on his Heroic Amazons. He took it very seriously, as you can tell. Katharine was having a bit more fun as she checked out her Wealthy Wizards.

Then we played a bit.

And, Jack decided to show that, true to its name, it's a small world - with room for one only (don't forget, our cats love small places/boxes)...

The tag line for Small World is great. When you first see it, you think it says, "It's a world of laughter, after all!"  Then you look closer, and see there's a blood red 'S' in front, so it actually reads, "It's a world of slaughter, after all!"  Hopefully I'll get to do a review of it soon. =) 

4 - Jack in the Box

So, remember how the launch date for this project was a bit delayed due to waiting for internet at our house? It was supposed to start this past Tuesday... but, after many failed attempts, numerous calls to tech support, and three visits by Verizon people out to our house, we finally got it up and running about 11pm last night. Which means that this morning, Josh and I, who haven't had consistent internet at our house for about 3 months, have been sitting in the study, him on the desktop, me on the laptop. We've been catching up on news, social networking (because we both all-but-disappeared), organizing documents, and just hanging out.

Now, there's this thing that happens in our house... wherever we are, there our cats must be, also. Our cats (or kittens as I refer to them, though they're both fully grown at this point) are not your typical felines. They play fetch, follow us around everywhere, come when we call, love each other to death (they're constantly curled up with each other, and if they're not in the same room we think something's wrong), and are so friendly that we have to warn first-time visitors to our house that they'll likely get a number of lap visits during their time in our home.

Since we've been in the study all morning, naturally, so have Jack (short for Captain Jack Sparrow) and Mizu. Our kittens also have a great fondness for being in boxes and resting on top of the radiator. So, for the past two hours, they've been doing both. First Mizu got in, then she got out and Jack got in, then they switched again (Mizu's still in there - Jack is right next to her on the radiator). Here are a few shots of our beloved little kittens...

Jack first (since the title is "Jack in the Box", after all):

Now Mizu:

Man, it's ridiculous how much I love these two - I will readily admit it. They are so our children. =)