Christine and Jamie welcome kittens to their home

On the way to new home

Christine and Jamie became the owners of two kittens on Aug. 13. They are pedigree Bengal cats, sisters born in May.

The kittens came from a breeder in Massachusetts who gave them excellent care and provided C+J with extensive records of their health and their family history.

Called Morgana and Lavenza, the kittens took only a day or so to start feeling comfortable in their new home - and particularly in Christine's and Jamie's desk chairs. Soon they were exploring the house, playing with toys and trying out various perches.

Lavenza	Morgana

The Cat Fanciers Association describes the Bengal as "a medium to large domestic cat most renowned for its richly colored, highly contrasted coat of vivid spots or distinctive marbling ... Bengals are generally confident and devoted companions. ... Active and interactive, Bengals are curious and athletic and maintain a kitten-like energy and attitude well into their senior years. These affectionate cats engage their owners in play, learn tricks, learn house-rules, or just like to be close."

At work with Jamie

Catnap in Christine's lap

Morgana and Lavenza now have their own Instagram page! You can see more photos and follow their activities @velvetbengals

A Roundup of Holiday Pictures

We hope everyone in our extended family is having a wonderful holiday season.

In this post we're rounding up photos from social media and any others that come our way.

Please send along any pictures, clips or stories you'd like to share!

At Birch Street Headquarters in New Jersey, Christine & Jamie visited for a few days with Dan & Julie and Andy & Shannon.

Gifts were exchanged with A&S on Christmas Eve before they went to Long Island to spend Christmas morning and afternoon with Shannon's family.

D&J and C&J exchanged more gifts on Christmas morning, and everyone was back together by evening.

Genevieve, John and Beatrice spent the holiday with John's family in Delaware. Here's Bea posing with two of her cousins.

Back in New Jersey, Vivien and CJ celebrated their first Christmas with Charlie, who turned three months old earlier in December.

It was also "baby's first Christmas" on Cape Cod, where Gerrit, Angela and big brother Nolan celebrated with five-month-old Josie.

Also on Cape Cod, on the weekend before Christmas Day, Christine and Jamie joined a gathering of relatives at Jamie's mom's home.

Backing up to Thanksgiving weekend - Doug and Lisa returned from their temporary residence in Denver to host their annual "black Friday" gathering at their house in Maryland.

Dan, Julie, Christine and Jamie joined that get-together after celebrating Thanksgiving Day with Andy and Shannon in New Jersey. As Dan and Julie were temporarily without a dining room table amid redecorating, they dined out for a change, enjoying a fine buffet at a local restaurant.

Also at Thanksgiving time, Kathy had the chance to take a couple of photos of both of her grandchildren, Bea and Charlie...

...as well as Leo, who joined them for this Christmas-PJs pose.

Brian's psychedelic cats become Internet stars

For a little over a year, Brian has been taking photographs of cats - mostly Hans and Matilda, the family pets of Marie, Brian and Xander - and turning them into multimedia art pieces.

Brian uses photo effects and animation software to create psychedelic videos and records music to accompany them, then posts them on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube under the name Electric Catnip.



Several months ago, Marie says, Brian's creations suddenly began to "go viral" and draw a large following. As of today, over 188,000 Facebook users have "liked" the Electric Catnip page. The most popular video, "Catnip Rising," has been viewed more than a million times! Hundreds of others follow Electric Catnip's Instagram and YouTube accounts.

Brian has now released an album of Electric Catnip music (available on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play Music, Amazon etc.) and opened an online shop on Redbubble offering various items imprinted with his "cat dreams."

Recent additions to our family's passel of pets

Members of our family have added at least three pets to their households in the past few months. The latest: Maizie, adopted by Rebecca and her boyfriend, Cameron.

Maizie joins Murphy, who moved in last October. Murphy, who will turn two years old in July, seems happy to have a new friend to play with.

Rebecca is also the proud owner of five fancy rats, including this cuddly pair.

In New Jersey, meanwhile, Christine has added a third member to her own rat pack.

While picking up supplies at her local PetSmart last month, Christine learned they were seeking adoptive homes for some babies that had been born at the store.

Christine brought home Nanako, a "dumbo" rat (a variety named for its large ears) with one red eye and one black.

She joins Yukiko and Chie, who've been in the family since October.

And in Virginia, Marie, Brian and Xander have adopted a second cat. Matilda, above, arrived in February, joining Hans, at right, who's been part of the household since June.

"We don't know Matilda's exact age," Marie writes, "but the shelter estimated she was about a year old when we got her. Hans turned one this past week."

Meet Christine's new animal friends

Christine is getting to know two furry little friends.

These two youngsters are "fancy rats," domesticated brown rats.

Fancy rats have a reputation as intelligent and affectionate pets. They're also quite social, and are best kept in pairs or groups so they don't get lonely.

Christine has named these girls Yukiko and Chie (yoo'-kee-koh and chee'-ay) after a pair of best friends in a video-game saga. They're starting to get over their initial shyness and enjoy clambering around on their new friend.

Chie finds a comfy spot

Yukiko explores

Christine has joined the ranks of enthusiastic rat fans -- including, of course, her cousin Rebecca, who has owned rats for several years and currently has six.

Rebecca's new friend: A dog named Murphy

Meet Murphy, a young German shepherd/Doberman mix who's joined Rebecca's household in Rochester.

"First puppy selfie"

Murphy with Cameron

"We adopted him because his owner lived in an apartment and so had no yard for him to play in all day," Rebecca writes.

"He turned one in July. So he's pretty much full sized (65 lbs) but he still thinks he's a puppy."

"He's almost too friendly, and wants to play all the time. He'll look out the window and bark or whine excitedly any time someone walks, runs, bikes by the house.

"We're extremely excited to have him around!!"

Rebecca is also the proud owner of six fancy rats. Here are just a couple of them, looking cute.

Marie, Brian and Xander welcome Hans

Hans has joined the family.

Marie, Brian and Xander welcomed this kitten to their home in late June. It looks like Hans and Xander are already fast friends.

Leo joins the family

Kathy has a new addition to her household: Leo, a shih tzu puppy.

Leo was born Jan. 5 in Connecticut. Kathy picked him up from the breeder on Friday night (March 8) and brought him home, where Vivien, Genevieve and John were on hand to welcome him.

It looks like it didn't take long for Leo to feel comfortable in his new surroundings!

Christmas merriment and memories

We hope everyone is having as merry a Christmas as Jasper here, enjoying the new ball that Santa brought him. This was Jasper's first Christmas with his family -- Kevin, Kathy, Shanna and Kevin.

Who knew there was a tabletop version of Angry Birds? Apparently Santa did, and it was a big hit with Xander.


Below, Christine and Andy enjoyed feeling like little kids again as they opened their presents under the tree.

Please share some of your new Christmas memories!

Cape Cod Times

Speaking of memories, the Cape Cod Times asked readers to "tell us about a favorite Christmas present that still evokes feelings of joy decades later." The story on the front page of the Christmas Day issue included Tish talking about Mitzie, the stuffed cat she received for her first Christmas. Click here to read the full article on the newspaper's website, or click here for an excerpt.

Another round of snow in the northeast

The National Weather Service reports 12.5 inches of snow fell in Yonkers on Wednesday.

"So much snow - so little puppy!" Shanna said after taking her family's new puppy, Jasper, for a walk in the snow.

About 9 inches fell around Birch Street Web headquarters. Long Island was hit harder, with 16 inches recorded at Bridgehampton. Much of Connecticut had 2 feet or more. As of Wednesday evening, it was snowing on Cape Cod and 5-6 inches had accumulated so far.

Please send us your snow stories and photos!

Jasper joins the family

Kevin and Kathy, Shanna and Kevin have welcomed Jasper to their family. Jasper is a 10-week-old pointer puppy. He was recently rescued from a kill shelter in Kentucky by Tails of Courage, a volunteer pet rescue association in Norwalk, Conn.

"We all took the drive up to Norwalk to meet with him and his brother and sister," writes Kevin the elder. "After a short time the four of us agreed that this one fit best with our family."

"I am so in love!" Shanna posted on Facebook. "We met him and two others and he crawled up in my lap and my parents' and brother's and cuddled up to us."

"Within a few minutes of walking into our house, he curled up in his new bed and was fast asleep," elder Kevin said. "Definitely a friendly little guy."