Tuesday 31st January
I am writing this, whilst also hoping that the kittens don't wake up. I can see some movement in their bed, and I am trying to avoid using my voice, or giving eye contact, because that would be their cue to come running to me, shouting their little heads off!!!

3 main things to write about today I think. I will continue the saga of the litter training!!!! In the day time, when someone is in here with them, they are becoming quite good. There have not been many accidents. Overnight I was interested to see what would happen, as that is the time when I usually find lots of little wee patches in their bed by morning. When I looked over the edge of my bed here, I saw, some signs of activity in the little litter tray ( G thankfully had not tried to excavate it overnight), I also saw quite a few little puddles on the newspaper around the tray. Well I suppose this is an improvement. It means they are actually making their way to the right area in the night now. And at least it is easy to scoop up newspaper and discard it all. We shall have to see how today works out.

I have also closed off the kitten box from the kittens. You will see one photograph of Lily sitting in there, next to the little 'throne'. Lily and G can get into the box, and it is all sorted out with heated pad, pampers mattress covers ( very good and absorbent for births) and some towels. G does seem to like to go in there, I think she realise's what is going on. She was looking for places to nest yesterday, which alerted me to the fact that I needed to get things organised for her. I had thought about setting things up in my bedroom, so she could have complete peace. But having seen her and Lily together over the past 5 weeks, I think she would hate that. So I have tried to organise this room, so that she can still have the comfort of knowing her mum is close. And I can still be close to all of them, thus keeping and eye and giving them comfort and support when they need it. ( the kittens are now awake, and piling on top of Lil for milk!!!!)

I have set up the hallway now, so that they can have little runs out there when they are awake. I let them out for the first time late last night, and they came out for a tentative look and run about. ( I am definitely being eyed up by a kitten at the moment......it can only be a matter of time now!!! The little squeals and the little claws clambering up my poor legs!) I will let them have another run out in the hallway later on this afternoon and again this evening. They need more space now to run, and I want to encourage them out of this room more, for when G's babies are here ( only a few more days to go now!!) But I don't want to throw too much space at them all at once, as I really do want them to be totally confident with the litter tray usage.

We had a visit last night from some very lovely people. I was relieved that my little furry babies behaved themselves, even 'Hooligan Girl' became lovely and a sociable girl, that made me a very happy 'mum'!!! Lily was friendly, although did embarrass me a touch when they first arrived!!!!! Galadriel was quite quiet, which was understandable, considering that she is so close to having her babies. ( Lily has just left the bed, followed by squeaking kittens, so I will have to cut this short!!!). It was a very pleasant evening.

I must close now, I will endeavour to sort out photographs as soon as I can.

Monday 30th January
My little darlings have been so very active this morning. They really want to get out of the room now. They know where the door is, and that there is another world out there waiting to be investigated and 'destroyed'!!!!! What I have done this morning, I now have a wooden panel, by the door exit. This way I can keep the door open (I think I was going crazy in here with the door shut for so long). I have taken 2 photos, one of Lily sat there, on the box, looking at the hallway, and one of Lily and Galadriel sitting on the box and you can see at least one kitten sitting looking up longingly. They have managed to work their way onto the pc keypad, the top of the kitten box, but surprisingly not onto the bed where I sleep. I have been waiting for that point where little paws start to crawl over me, and little teeth start to chew my ears during the night.

They seem to respect night times though (for how long I wonder!!!). They woke up about midnight last night, just as I was getting into bed. I groaned to myself, as I thought that I was going to have another hour of them going crazy. Lily did not seem happy that they were now awake again, I think she was cross as I had woken them up. She was doing a lot of grumbling. But I decided that I was going to let the old teacher streak in me come out, and get them organised and back into bed. Radio turned off, light turned off, just the light from my mobile phone. Lily settled in the bed, and I put the 3 very lively ones into the bed, got into bed myself, and lay, very still, very quiet, and waiting. After 5 minutes they were all quiet and asleep. And there they stayed until the morning. What good babies.

The litter training is an ongoing saga. We really are getting there. I taken 2 photos this morning of 2 kittens using the cat litter!!!!! Crazy isn't it, how excited I get when one of them goes in the tray without any prompting from me. One of them this morning started weeing by the side of the tray, so I hastily picked it up and put it in the tray, where it finished off. Phew, you have to have eyes EVERYWHERE when they are awake. (needless to say they are asleep now, so I can write this) However, I get the feeling, that at night time, they cannot be bothered to move out of the bed, as there were quite a few little wee marks when I got up!!!! When they are running around, I remove the bed from the floor, so they are not tempted to use it as a toilet.

I will jut finish by saying, that before I went to bed last night, I sat and read through Galadriel's mating certificate. It was then that my eyes fell upon the expected date of her kittens arrival. Instead of the number 5th February, I saw 3rd February. The implications of this being, that G's babies could arrive any time from ThursdayFriday really. I will be honest and say that for a good half hour, I have a mini panic. I had been arranging cover for the boys to be collected from school next Monday and Tuesday, and suddenly realised that on Friday, I am totally on my own.........no help with school runs, no adult help around for the births until after 9pm at night. I have a feeling that I may end up having 2 children at home with me on Friday, just in case!!!!!

Anyhow, I will now go and try to transfer all the photos that I have taken, (I have taken quite a few this time), and then attach them a little later.

Sunday 29th January
Sunday morning, and I have not written since Friday. I think it would be fair to say, that they have really come on heaps over the past couple of days. How they have grown up, how much stronger they are. How much heavier one or two of them are!!!!!!My not so little Lilac/Caramel girl, really is like a little barrel, LOL, she is well into 500g's now. You know she is in the room, and she stands out from the rest of the litter. She is quite crazy.

Quite a few of them are getting the hang of using the litter tray now. We are still having a few little accidents, but a 1/4 of the ones that we were having. Lily actually 'lowered' herself to wee in the little tray, and immediately 3 little kittens followed her in and did the same. It has been interesting to see, that they copy Lil, but not Galadriel, who has been trying for ages to teach them!!! Now I just need Lil to make a bit more of an effort, and we will be there!!!

Their colours are becoming more clear now. My large girl, is definitely not Tabby, but I cannot decide if she is going to be Caramel or Lilac, she is quite dark. My smallest girl, who is growing quickly now, will definitely be Lilac. I am thinking that all the others are Tabby points, some are looking definitely Caramel Tabby, with their noses, and one is looking more Lilac. As the colours are so very close, it is very hard to be really sure how they will develop, as they change daily.

Lily is spending more time away from the bed now, and takes more time out for herself. It is good to see her start to get her personality back. When the kittens were very young, she hardly ever left the bed. Now she is demanding lots of attention for herself as well. She does not stay away from the kittens for long, she will have a quick 5 minute stroll around the rest of the house, but her strolls are more frequent.

In the photos, you will see one cheeky little kitten, trying to grab some milk while Lil was sitting up. I have tried to take a few of them on their own, but they move quite fast now, so it is not quite so easy!! It is far easier to take them while they are asleep!

Oh yes, we had a visit yesterday, from some friends who are going to give a new home to one of the babies. I like to hope that they enjoyed being crawled over!!!! I know that the babies enjoyed having them visit. Whichever lucky kitten goes home with them, I know will be very very pampered.

I will attach the photos now, while they are all asleep. The sun is shining in this room now, making it nice and warm, unlike outside, which is jolly cold!!!!!!

Friday 27th January
Well, this morning I have made a quick trip to the vets ( and I am going to say lots of lovely things about them, because I know that someone is reading this!!!! Lol). It is always a pleasure to go there. Everyone loves to talk about their own animals, and it always makes you feel good when you are told that they are lovely. I love the attention that we get when we go there!!! Anyhow, the prognosis ( is that the right word?) for our little Galadriel, is that she definitely has 3 kittens, and MAYBE a fourth. She was a good girl, but then she always is.

Ahhh, now the subject of litter training. My favourite part of this whole process!!! I think I can say that we are still only just out of the starting blocks!!! We made a slight advance earlier this morning, when I got one of them to pass a 'solid' motion in the litter tray. But at the moment, they insist on using the lovely new bed that I bought for them, as a toilet!!! Fortunately I keep it covered with towels, so I change them 3/4 times a day, so they do not smell of urine. I don't want to encourage them!! Little G is doing her very best to show them!!! After one weed on the blanket, she made a point of going into the little litter tray, depositing a small amount of urine, and then proceeded to try to cover it, only her covering involves huge amounts of cat litter flying everywhere. We were left with just a heap of cat litter in the tray, which had to be emptied out immediately!!! Poor kitten wondered what on earth was happening. And in the middle of the night, well 4am to be precise. I was woken by the sounds of G starting to scrape in the small litter tray. I had to get out of bed, as I did not want a repeat of earlier. It appeared that one of the kittens had inadvertently left a very small 'solid motion' on the bedding inside the box. G was in the process of trying to cover this up with the blanket, and she was moving into the litter tray, I can only assume, to show the kitten what she should have done and where!!! Now at 4 am, I really do not need this. So I just took away the offending blanket, put a clean one down, told G to stay out of the tray because it was all sorted, and went back to bed. If I had not been there to salvage the situation, I dread to think of the mess I would have found in the morning!!!

I remember last time, thinking that the kittens would never get the hang of it, but when it clicked, it seemed to click really quickly, so fingers crossed that the penny will drop asap!!!
Anyhow, apart from that, the babies are growing well, our smallest one, Spotty, now weighs 414g, the larger ones are around 470g. Little furry barrels on legs!!!! When they are awake they are getting heaps stronger, they want to investigate much more, climb much more, and demand lots more attention and cuddles. I have a tendency to come in during the evening, and find Richard snuggled under the quilt, watching the television, cuddling at least one kitten!!!

I will attempt to sort out the photographs now. This may take a little while, because the pc keeps freezing on me every time I try to work the camera software!!! It is making me very cross.

My babies are all asleep, which is where I should be!!! And hopefully will be very soon.
Oh yes, there is the chance that I may not get to write anything tomorrow, as I am hoping to visit a cat show. So my next entry will be on Sunday.

Thursday 26th January
My apologies for writing this so late this morning. I suppose you cannot live in a house with 2 school going children without falling poorly from time to time. When I got back from taking the children to school, I attempted to lay down. This is a difficult thing to do when cats and kittens do NOT want to do the same. So I kind of lay and dozed, while intermittently getting up, to deal with a kitten here and there. Then at 11am they all fell asleep, so I did like wise!!

They are now up, well and truly awake, and bothering Lily. I think she prefers it when they sleep, she does not like it when they wander too far, and she is currently roaming around the room, grumbling, and watching everything they are doing. They really are into everything that they can possibly get into at the moment. My ears are now very alert, for the sounds of squealing that indicate a kitten needs to use the litter tray. I think it would be fair to say that we are out of the 'starting blocks' with toileting, but we have not got very far down the track!!! I found one emptying its bladder in the tray without any prompting this morning, silly how excited you get over their toileting habits!.

Quite a few of them are eating the Royal Canin Baby Cat biscuits now, they are also lapping the milky mixture that I offer them about 4 times a day. But they are totally uninterested in anything else that is around. But it is very early days yet for them.
I will close now and attach the photos for you to see that we took last night.

Wednesday 25th January
Another sleepless night last night. I was running late with everything, late getting the children to bed. Poor bunny, who is currently in the conservatory, did not get cleaned out until 10.30pm!! It is always an experience to clean her out, you have to be very guarded with your fingers, as she can be a bit feisty!!

Yesterday I put out the play tunnel for the kittens. I have taken a photograph of it for you to see. They flocked to it immediately, and it was not long before they were snuggled up asleep in it! Lily was not too impressed with this, as they were all hidden from her. But then she realised they were ok, and cuddled up to sleep with Galadriel. it was good to see her having a well earned rest.

Golly they are active now when they are awake. Their little legs can run quite fast now!!! And their little claws are getting pretty sharp, I have quite a few 'puncture' marks already, and this is before they have started to climb up legs!!

They are slowly grasping the concept of lapping up other milky food products. They have a good sniff of the food that Lily and G eat, but don't seem to have been very impressed with it so far ( just cod and chicken). They have started to show quite a bit of interest in the Royal Canin Baby Cat biscuits. As I have said before, they are really small, so I am hoping they will start to much a few of them now. They certainly sit there and lick them.

What I have not mentioned so far, is the large quantity of washing this is creating. Now they are bigger, and they have not grasped the concept of the litter tray, despite G's best efforts!!! ( Lil making no effort to teach them at all!!), so their bedding really does need to be changed twice a day now. So the washing machine is always on, the radiators are constantly covered in bedding!! The house sometimes smells like a laundry house!!

They are currently asleep in the tunnel, and Lil is just trying her very best to wake them up, so I will probably have to offer them a wee bit to eat, before I can take my time and have a little cat nap also. I will post the photos that I took last night for you to look at. The kitten sitting on it's own on the heated pad, is the little one (not quite so little now!), which I affectionately called Spotty. She is beginning to look quite Lilac. One of the others shows 3 of them asleep on my lap. In the evenings they love to cuddle up and be stroked.

Tuesday 24th January
Well, we have moved on in this house now. A much more calm start to the day thankfully. The children were well behaved and the kittens have been keeping themselves amused. They really are significantly more active now. I have taken away the box extension, and they have the run of this room. I also went out yesterday and bought a good size dog bed. It is nice a comfy, very soft, and plenty of room for Lil, G and 6 kittens, with room to spare. The other bed was just no good. With just Lil in, it was a struggle for 6 kittens to feed, with G in as well, hardly any room for kittens!! You will see them all in it in today's photographs. Lily has been much, much happier since the kittens are out of the box, and now that she has somewhere really comfy to lay. The plan is to keep them in this room, until they are all competent with the litter tray. Galadriel has been doing a good job showing them how to use it!She goes into the small kitten tray, and shovels cat litter EVERYWHERE!!! you get 6 little kitten faces looking, with intrigue, trying to work out what is going on!!!

At the moment there are 2 kittens asleep with Lil, 2 kittens fighting on the heated pads in the bed part of the box, and 2 kittens investigating underneath my chair. They are trying to climb the pillow that I have put to stop them squeezing down behind the box, and over heating from the radiator.

I weighed them last night, and was very pleasantly surprised at how much weight they had put on in 24 hours. They had slowed down a bit, but yesterday seemed to see a big growth spurt!!! The largest girl was 435g last night, and she waddles around like a little barrel on legs, LOL.

Monday 23rd January
I had another really rushed morning today. Why is it, that when you get out of bed, EVERYBODY wants you to see to THEM all at once, and the minute you dare to get up from your bed!!!! Percy is there waiting, sitting, eying me up, waiting for breakfast. Lily is grumbling at me, expecting to be fed, and for me to take over and kitten sit for her for a while. G just wants to go and stretch her legs. The kittens are swarming around their box like a swarm of ants!!!!! Lily is harassing me, because she wants me to sort them out, and she cannot make her mind up if it is breakfast she wants first, or me settling kittens!!!! My youngest child does manage to get himself up and out and fed all on his own, the reward for this is that he can go on the pc for the rest of the time. My 12 year old boy gets his breakfast 15 minutes before we are due to leave, and he merely grunts at me as I deliver it to him!!!!

I manage to hastily give everyone breakfast, get swarmed over by kittens, whom I have to hastily peel off as it is time to go to school. Lily curses me as I leave them shut in the room. I go out to the boys who are happily scrapping in the car!!! Fortunately for me, the old teacher voice still has effect, even on a 12 year old boy, who is rapidly developing attitude!!! So we all drive VERY quietly to school.

I now have the man in cleaning my carpets. I managed to set the conservatory on fire in November, and we are gradually getting things sorted out. Galadriel is complaining at being shut in here, and is grumbling away in the box. Lily has the kittens with her, just outside the box, in a little cat bed. I have decided that there is not enough room in there for all of them, so tomorrow I am going to buy them a lovely new one. I have to start preparing for when G's kittens come now, and I want somewhere else for Lily and the kittens, so that G can have peace with her babies for the first few days.

The kittens are wonderful now. They are very lively, cuddly, incredibly cute to hold and gaze at when they lay on their backs in your hand. I just LOVE to tickle their little tummies, they are so yummy.

They are so precious, that I worry everyday, and every minute of the day about them. They seem so small, and such a lot of growing to do yet.

I will stop now, and include the photos that I took last night. One of them you will see the whole box area, while they were all feeding, feeding time at the zoo more like!!!!! I hope that you enjoy the photos, and I am hopefully going to grab a little peace when the man has finished my carpets!!!!

Sunday 22nd January
Last night was a more peaceful night. I am very grateful that the girls do respond to the light going out meaning sleep time, and don't bother me time!!

Yesterday I devoted nearly all of my time to the kittens. I was tired so I did not fee like going far, so no gym and no swimming! I kept falling asleep when time allowed. I also had News 24 on all day, and followed the story of the Whale, stuck in the Thames. A sad end to the day.

However, we managed to make a start on this room, so the kittens can have a wander around if they want to. This has actually made me laugh. When they are sleeping, I push the extension to the box, so that they are safe in their safe area. I also keep them in there for meal times, as it helps keep them altogether. But when they have finished and have energy, I pull to 2 pieces apart and let them have a little explore. LOL, Lily has tried so hard now to get them OUT of the box. Now that they are allowed out of the box, she wants them back IN the box! she can cope if I am sitting on the floor with them, and reassuring her, but otherwise, she tends to do the reverse and put them back in. Bless her, inverse psychology obviously works with her as well as the children! After a few days, I will probably open it up completely, but I don't want to cause Lil any more stress, so little by little is the plan.

They are starting to show more interest in the milky food product that I am offering them. Last night I actually managed to get 5 of them round the plate together! I was very impressed, the 6th refused point blank. I think it had a few licks off my finger, but that was about it. They are showing quite a bit of interest in the Royal Canin Baby Cat biscuits. A few of them have stumbled into the water bowl, much to their horror! And they had they first experience of seeing Galadriel using the small litter tray is in their box. She was obviously doing it to show them, because she weed just a little, and then went into the larger box to finish off!!! 3 of the kittens were fascinated by all the digging she was doing!!! Hopefully Lil will start to show them too. I remember last time she was a bit slow off the mark with this part of the educating process! Then you have to be careful, because the little ones will all stand behind her and watch, and if they are not careful, they can get wet!!!! Or even worse!!!

Anyhow, I have taken a few pictures. I took one when 5 of them had their noses in the food bowl. It is a brilliant bowl. I bought it from tescos from the household plate section. It is almost flat, with just a little upturning at the sides. This makes it easier for the little ones to get their little mouths close to the food on it. I also took one of Galadriel, on the edge of the bed settee, and I unintentionally caught her having a good yawn!! Her kittens are due about 2 weeks today. So in another week, I will start to add a few pieces to her pregnancy diary. You can see from the photo that she is growing. She has certainly slowed right down. She used to be such a menace, now she is really quiet.

And the others are just ones that I took during the evening.

Saturday 21st January
I confess to being totally shattered this morning. The kittens are so much more active, and their waking times are much more frequent and last for longer. Lily gets really stressed when they are running around. They have quite a large area, enough to run around and explore. But if I am not sat in with them, Lil just picks them up, puts them under the bed settee and then goes back in with the rest. So unless they are asleep, I don't like to be far away. Later in the day I am going to open up the box, block off the areas that I wish to keep them away from, i.e. this pc and under the chest of drawers. There will be nowhere for Lil to move them to really then. We did this last time with a different room. Although I have to confess, this did not really work, as she then wanted to move them out of the room!!!! It seems that no matter what I do, to make them safe and comfortable, she is always going to keep moving them, until they are big enough for her not to worry. I seem to remember that about 6/7 weeks was the point last time. But it is just very wearing.

Hence I did not get to sleep very early last night, and as soon as I had fallen asleep, my oldest son came in, woke me up, as he had just been sick. So it was about 2am before I slept.

And as soon as it got light this morning, Lil was up grumbling because the kittens were running around the box area, so I knew I had to get up, offer them all something to eat, sort out the children, and then I went back for a little sleep. The washing up is still in the kitchen, I am still in my pj's, and I feel that I am getting nowhere fast!!! L, G and the kittens seem to be settling down now, so hopefully I will have an hour to go and sort myself out. I am hoping to go out with the children later this afternoon, visit the gym for half hour and have a little swim, just to relax and unwind.

The next 2 weeks will be hard, I remember it last time. There is so much for them to learn and adapt to. From being a little kitten that lays and sleeps/feeds 24/7 they are now having to learn all about their little life skills. And Lily has to learn that they are ok to run around. I would never let any harm come to these little things, if only I could talk to her!!!

Friday 20th January
Today will be a shorter entry, as fortunately things have not been quite so hectic as yesterday! I was very tired by last night.

The kittens now have become so much more active when they are awake. It is no longer the case that Lily wants to move them, but more THEY want to move themselves!! They try to climb up the side of the box and pull themselves over, well, this was something they started for the first time this morning. So I had a fraught 15 minutes this morning, making sure the place was safe while I took the boys to school. But it showed me, that it really is time to let them out of the box. I need to introduce the concept of the litter tray, how I love that part!!! Those little accidents. I remember the last litter, 4 of them were brilliant, and got the hang of it straight away. Little Arwen decided that she was not going to 'play ball'! ( I know her 'mummy' will be reading it, and I know it will make her laugh!!!). She would, for 2 weeks, make a point of toileting right by the side of the tray!!!! Then look at me as if to say, 'you are not getting me in there', LOL. We got there in the end, by 7 weeks she was as good as gold. And I think I can confidently say that she has been a good girl ever since. ( she is a little star, gorgeous and full of mischief)

I have actually extended the box extension, so they do have quite a lot of move, but you know kittens, they just want to get out there and explore!!! Curiosity is their strongest drive I think.

They are playing together much more now, they have little wrestles, are starting to clean one another, in fact as I look over my shoulder one is giving another a good wash. It is beautiful to watch them. Their little faces just make you melt.

The photos that I am attaching, I tool last night. Most of them are of them lying together, either rolling around in the cat bed, or there is the lovely one, of Galadriel on her back, with kitten cuddling her tummy. It also shows G';s pregnant tummy really well!!!

After I have finished this, I am hoping to have a little sleep. I confess to lying in the bed here last night, watching The Bill till 1am!!! Tut tut, no wonder I did not want to wake up this morning. It is just so cosy in here at night, with the cats and kittens, you just don't want to go to sleep. But then, in the morning, you DON'T want to get up either!!!

Thursday 19th January
I am going to start Thursday's diary on Wednesday night. It was so early this morning that I wrote my entry, that I considered if I did not write something tonight, I would forget everything in my tiredness!

We have an amusing situation here with feeding. I like to offer Lil and G some kitten biscuits inside the box. I want the kittens to see them eating them. They learn so much from watching their mum and older sister. But the trouble is, if I put them in the box in a cat bowl, L and G try to 'bury' them under the blankets!!! A little habit they have if they don't want to eat something. BUT if I put the biscuits down on a flannel, they think it is part of the bedding, and EAT them up!!! The kittens have been sniffing them, with the odd lick, but at least this way they actually get to see mum and G eating! So you will see in some of the photos, a maroon flannel with Royal Canin Baby Cat biscuits on!!!

The kittens really are becoming so much more sociable. They come to the front of the box for attention if there is no one sitting in the box. Their climbing is not very adventurous yet, but some of them are working on it!! Lily hates it when they squeal, usually because they want feeding, or attention, but it does worry Lil. She usually looks for reassurance, bless her. This is definitely a shared partnership here, only this time between the 3 of us, Lil, G and myself. And of course other family members, who I encourage to spend as much time with them as I can. Lil has been really good about not moving kittens today. She only did it the once, while I was making the boys breakfast ( can you believe, they get breakfast in bed!!!). I cam e in here, to find one kitten on the floor. and Lil looking very sheepish, lol it was almost a 'whoops, sorry mum, I don't really want it out here, please can you put it back'. I wish I could have captured the look on her face, it did make me smile.

It is now Thursday morning, and what an eventful morning it has been! This could be an epic entry today. The kittens learnt last night, how to climb up onto shoulders of someone sitting in the box. They were going crazy for a good half hour before bed!

Ahhh, then this morning! I think I will take you through everything, although in brief detail, just to give you an idea of what my mornings can be like. 6.55am I get out of bed, quietly, so as not to disturb cats and kittens. Percy greets me ( our black moggy), waiting for breakfast. So I prepare his breakfast, prepare mine at the same time, mine gets eaten on the move. Prepare Lil and G's breakfast, and make sure the kettle is boiled for preparing some milky breakfast for kittens. While doing this and munching my breakfast, I am preparing lunch boxes, preparing children's breakfasts, which get taken up to them at 7.30am. Lil and G at this point want out of the room, to have a stretch of the legs. I go into kitten room, only to find 6 kitties, swarming around the kitten box squealing their little heads off. Hmm, I had better offer them something to eat before I get dressed. While I am offering them some milky preparation, half of them are scaling my pyjamas, half of them coming for food. By the time I have finished this, it is 8am. Well, I am supposed to be getting the car out at 8!!!! So quick fly up stairs, throw some clothes on, yell at the kids to make sure they are ready. 8.06am I come back down, only to find that Richard has managed to spill coco powder all over his uniform! This is part of his cooking ingredients, that he could not resist looking at. So he has to go change! We eventually get out of the house, 15 minutes late. After dropping the boys off, I get home to realise that my youngest has left his football boots in the car, quick ring to school. I go into the lounge and find that Percy has vomited a very large pile of cats biscuits!!! Obviously eaten them too fast. I make myself some Green tea, eat a large chunk of cheese!!! Then come in here. Only to find Lily lying on the carpet, out of the box, with 5 kittens suckling from her!!!! This cannot be comfy, as the carpet here is quite a hard surface! So I scoop them all up ( after taking a photo, you will see it at the end of the photos), put them in the box on the bed. G then comes along and tries to sit on the whole lot of them!!! So I have just had to rearrange them, lol. I try to get on the pc to write this and transfer photos, and the machine crashes on me big time!!!!!

So, a peaceful start to the day!!!!!!!!!!They are all asleep now, lucky them. These kittens are getting SO active now, when they are awake, and their climbing skills are becoming quite proficient!!

Wednesday 18th January
It is a peaceful scene as I sit here and type this, I have put a little cat bed in the box, which Galadriel is curled up in. The kittens are in the back part, on the heated pad, and Lil is sitting by them.

Last night the babies were very active for a good half hour before bed. But I made a point of not staying up too late with them. I was in bed by midnight, and they are learning to respond to the light going out. I heard them a couple of times in the night, waking up, squealing, as they looked for Lil. On both of these occasions, I shone the light from my mobile phone, just to see that they were ok, and to guide any kitten that was wandering around in the wrong direction. Then I went back to sleep, to the sound of suckling and purring.

Before bed last night, I sat in the box with them all. I offered a little top up milk for any kittens that came to ask for it ( they have learnt that if they sit on my lap, and yell at me, there is usually something extra for them. ) I eventually had all 6 of them, either cuddled in my lap, climbing over me, or letting me give them a cuddle. They were extremely gorgeous, and it was a lovely half hour. Lil sat back, with Little G, I think maybe she was glad of a little break. I love it when they roll on their backs, and let you tickle their little tummies, they are just so unbelievably cute at this stage. Cute, cuddly and not into mischief yet!!!!

Lil has just wandered to sleep with G in the little bed, I think she has decided that the kittens are ok, fast asleep, so a bit of adult company wouldn't go amiss.
With the photographs today, the one of the Tabby Girl on her own, is of our little Galadriel, looking quite pregnant now! The others are just shots that I managed to take last night, and one of me holding one of the cuddly little furbabies!