Kittens in my Christmas Tree!

Now this is really going too far!  Our kittens have decided that our Christmas tree is their own personal climbing gymnasium.  No amount of squirting with a water bottle has any effect either.   They climb, knocking down dozens of ornaments in the process, we squirt -- they bail, knocking down dozens more ornaments in their frantic and remarkably clumsy attempts to evade the water, we turn our backs for half a minute, and they're back in the tree -- happily batting at the few remaining ornaments still desperately and pathetically clinging to the branches.

The carnage is unbelievable, expensive and in some cases heartbreaking.  We've lost more ornaments this year than I can count and some were very sentimental.  Even the kids are mad!

Now, I've put up with a lot from the destructive duo (aka "Muffin" and "Timmy").  For example, their favorite past time after doing their business in the cat box is to jump up on the kitchen counters.  Apparently, they consider that the best spot to dust off.  And no matter how many times we refill their water bowl with fresh water throughout the day, they insist on licking the spigot of the Sparkletts dispenser. ... isn't that lovely?  Once they managed to turn the handles on the bathtub faucet in the upstairs bathroom.  They're wicked smart about such things.  The stopper happened to be in the tub too and I just managed to discover their mischief before the tub overflowed and flooded.  I can only imagine the destruction if they'd pulled that one when we were gone for the day.  Needless to say, I now keep the stopper in a drawer and the upstairs bathroom door closed.  When they figure out how to turn the handle, I'm calling the pound.

They're also relentless at night.  As soon as I'm good and asleep each night, they never fail to jump up on the bed and start licking the inside of my ear.  Take my word for it, that wakes you up real fast!  And once they have you awake, they're relentless.  If you don't pet them, they meow.  If you pet them for 10 minutes and then try to go back to sleep, they meow.  If you hurl them out of your room and slam the door, they meow... and meow... and meow.

I've never had such needy kittens!  Our two older cats (who we also got as kittens) are just disgusted.  They watch the antics of the young 'uns and then look at me in disbelief... you can pretty much see the cartoon balloon over their heads saying, "You're not seriously going to let them get away with that are you?"  I squirt and squirt to get them off counters and away from water dispensers and basically that leaves me with a very soggy house and two kitties patiently biding their time until I put down the water bottle and try to be functional for the day.

It's a darn good thing for them that they're so ridiculously adorable....