two birthdays and a lost baby

This past week marked milestones for two members of the family and a tragedy for a third (nothing like suspense to keep the readers' interest piqued). Diana's big day was on Wednesday. We celebrated with pink cake and pomegranate ice cream. Rather than list her presents, let me assure you that she is happy and that her bedroom (which was starting to look spartan because she prefers packing her stuff to putting it away) is now comfortably crowded. We celebrated Logan's birthday on Saturday. Saturdays for Logan are a love-hate affair. Dad is home all day--love it--but it is also our big cleaning day (think forced labor with mom and dad cracking whips). Serendipitously for Logan, we had a showing of our house on Saturday morning, bumping our cleaning up a day. His birthday was spent in glorious relaxation and gluttony. He opened his presents early so that he could play with them throughout the day. We took in a movie at the cheap theatre (a rare luxury). We consumed half a chocolate cake and a quart of ice cream. We also discovered....the baby, which brings us to the tragedy. Baby was the name A.J. bestowed upon a beautiful stray cat which had been frequenting our yard. We never discovered it's gender (amazing that a couple with six children couldn't determine the sex of a kitten), but it's coat looked like baking cocoa with cinnamon stirred in. A.J. loves all animals and he managed to convince his dad to let him bring the kitten into the house "for just a minute". I sent the older boys around the neighborhood to confirm the kitten's homelessness. By the end of the day, we were talking about making an appointment with the vet for shots and A.J. was referring to "his cat." Just before going to bed, I put the cat out in the back yard for the night. I hesitated, but we did not have a litter box, and after all, the cat had survived outside before we adopted it. Sadly, that was the last we saw of Baby. A.J. is heartbroken. He keeps asking when his cat will come home. He has spent hours calling for his kitten. So, if you find a choco-cinnamon kitten with golden eyes--please send him (or her) home.