"Twas the Week Before Christmas - Clue Number Three

The creatures have traveled for miles upon miles

With stuff in their pockets and stuff in their smiles

Lots of stuff just for you -- for your Christmas fun

They'll be at your house before day is done.

They're anxious to meet you, and gifts they don't lack

The best one of all's in the pocket in back

With a name that you'll know as soon as you hear it

Though it can be a danger, you don't need to fear it.

You might roast hot dogs on it if you were at camp.

It could keep you warm in the cold and the damp.

They say it about the pants of a liar.

What do you think it is?

It's a  K  __  __  __  __  __     F  __   __  __

'Twas the Week Before Christmas - Clue Number Two

Five creatures climbed into a great big white truck,

And they'll ride straight to you if we have any luck.

They'll ride over bridges, and mountains, and plains.

They'll ride through the snow, and the sleet, and the rain

To arrive just in time at their end destination -

Just in time for the Bowers' Christmas celebration.

Just what kind of creatures are coming your way?

Well, you'll have to guess because I'll never say.

Do you think they'll have fluff on the outside, or feathers,

Or perhaps scaly skin?  Well, it won't matter whether

They wear fur or leather, if they purr or they pounce

Because, as you know, it's what's inside that counts.

'Twas the Week Before Christmas - Clue Number One

 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the house

I heard creatures stirring. (I hoped 'twas a mouse)!

I peeked 'round the corner and what did appear?

Well, it wasn't a sleigh, and it wasn't reindeer.

Five wonderful creatures lined up in a row,

Stuffing things in their pockets and starting to go

Out the door to the east toward the bright rising sun,

And they'll end up at your house before the year's done.

Who are these five creatures?  Well, you'll have to guess.

I'll send you some clues - once a day will be best.

I've already given one, read up above,

And I'll send you another tomorrow, my loves!

Love,

Frito

I Think I Got the Secret Code!

I think I've found the secret code to show us where the chest is. My human says that she took it to the USPS (the United States Pirate Ship). They gave her two papers and they both have secret numbers on them. I'm not sure which one is right.

One number is 0311 0820 0000 3208 9478.
The other number is 0311 0820 0000 3208 9485

If you get on your computer and go to http://www.usps.com/, there is a button on the left that says "Track and Confirm". Choose that button and enter the secret number. Maybe it will tell you where the chest is. I hope the pirates haven't hidden it somewhere. Pirates do things like that.

If you find the location, then you can go to this website: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl and look it up on the map.

Good luck, Mateys!

AHOY, Matey! Frito the Frightful, here -- just back from my travels through the deep forest of North Living Room. I bear news for you.

While making my daily rounds through the forest, I spied a strange wooden box. Creeping up on it slowly, I circled it several times so as to examine it more closely. It was a wooden chest - the perfect size for a cat pirate! Golden rope was looped around it to keep it closed, but after I worked at it for awhile I managed to get it untied. I couldn't wait to see what was inside -- maybe it was an old chest from the sea! My stomach growled when I thought about what might be inside. Maybe it was full of fish!

The latch gave a little clink when I pushed it open with my nose. The lid creaked as I pushed it back with my paws. Shiver me timbers! What a spectacular sight! I just stood and looked at it for a minute. Shiny round things scattered everywhere -- gold and silver and copper. There were smaller chests inside, too. I counted them: one, two, three, four, five, six! It smelled funny. The smell was familiar, but it was not the beautiful smell of fish. Arrrgh!

My human stepped up behind me. "Frito, what are you doing?" she said. "That chest is for Josiah, James, Lizzie, Jacob, Justin and their mom and dad. It's a Christmas present!"

Then I understood the funny smell. I remembered it was the same way the Jason human used to smell when he worked at the candy store at Christmas time. It was the smell of chocolate. Some of the humans like chocolate better than fish, although the understanding of it is beyond me.

I didn't get a chance to see the rest of the things in the chest because my human pushed the lid down and tied the rope back around it again. She says that she is going to take it to be shipped at U.S.P.S. That means United States Pirate Ship, I believe. I don't know why she's giving it to those pirates. She says there will be a special code that we will be able to use to see where the chest is on a map. Maybe it's a treasure map. I will scout around for any mention of the secret code and I will let you know as soon as the code is in my hands.

Happy Birthday, Lizzie!

Hi, Lizzie! I heard it was your birthday today, and that you are 4 years old! I was so happy. I wanted to come and see you and eat birthday cake, but my human wouldn't let me. The last time there was a birthday party here I got into trouble. Your second cousin, Daniel, was here for his birthday and the humans all came over to Grandma's house to eat cake. They brought a very big cake and it looked so good. It had lots of white frosting with pretty green and blue decorations all over it. The humans sang the birthday song and then Grandma cut big slices of the cake and put them on pretty green plates. She took a piece to each of the humans and they all sat down in the living room to eat. They were talking and laughing and eating the cake, but no one remembered to give me a piece. I felt very sad, and then I felt very mad and I decided that I would just get a piece for myself. I went into the kitchen where Grandma had left the cake on the table. I was on the floor, so I couldn't see exactly where on the table the cake was at, but I knew it was up there - I could smell it. It smelled SO good! I just had to have a piece, so I jumped as hard as I could and before I knew it I had landed on the table right in the middle of the cake. There was frosting all over my legs and in my fur and even frosting on the tips of my ears. It was so sticky and felt so awful I had to get it off, so I began to shake my legs very hard. I shook and shook and pretty soon there were blue and green spots of frosting all over the kitchen. There were blue spots on the walls and on the floor. There were green spots on the dishes and the stove and on the cabinets. The pretty blue and green spots were everywhere. My human came into the kitchen and when she saw the frosting spots, she did NOT think they were pretty. First she picked me up and made me put my legs in WATER - she knows how I hate water. She rubbed until the pretty blue and green frosting ran down the drain into the sink. I didn't know where it went after that, but I did know that I was in trouble. Then my human dried my legs off with a towel and started to clean the frosting from the cabinets and the walls and the floor. She did not look very happy. I haven't been to any of the human birthday parties since then. When I heard you were having a birthday, Lizzie, I was very happy. I put on my Cat In The Hat party hat and had Grandma take my picture to send to you. I hope you have a very happy birthday and that no one jumps into your cake.

HERO!

Hey guys, just wanted you to know that I am now a HERO! Let me tell you what happened . . .

My human was heating some food in the microwave - a potato, I think she called it. I don't understand why humans like potatoes - they aren't half as good as chicken or fish. Anyway she left the potato in the microwave and went into the other room to type on the computer for awhile. I'm not sure what happened, but she obviously wasn't paying attention to lunch. This was her first mistake. Cats always pay attention to lunch.

The microwave kept humming and humming while it heated the potato. It kept humming, in fact, for a very very long time. My human must have forgotten that she was hungry because she didn't come back to the kitchen to get the potato. She kept typing and the microwave kept humming and humming and then smoke started to float out of the microwave. At first it was just a little smoke coming from around the microwave door along with a funny smell. I didn't really care - I don't like potatoes anyway, so if this one was a little burnt it didn't matter to me.

The microwave still didn't stop, though, and my human still didn't come to get the potato. She kept typing and the microwave kept humming and the smoke started to billow - not just from around the oven door, but from the side vents and from underneath, too. The funny smell was worse now, and I knew that something was really wrong, and really dangerous. I didn't know how to stop the microwave from humming and turning and smoking so I ran to the other room to get my human.

My human was still typing away at the computer. She didn't know anything was wrong and I had to tell her somehow. I ran to her and tapped her on the leg with my paw and then told her to follow me. I ran to the door of the room and turned around to see if she was following me. I had forgotten that she doesn't understand cat language. She wasn't following me, so I ran back and tapped her on the leg again and ran to the door. This time she seemed to understand and she stopped typing and got up and followed me to the kitchen where I showed her the smoke and the humming microwave. She screamed and began to move quickly around the room, turning off the microwave, throwing the burning potato into the kitchen sink, opening the windows and doors, and turning on the fan to blow the thick smoke out of the house.

The next thing you know, she picked me up and said I was a HERO and that I saved her from burning down the house. She petted me and she even gave me a big piece of chicken as a reward. She said something about changing my name to Lassie that I didn't understand, but the chicken was great!

Hmmmm . . . do heroes get to eat chicken every day? I think I'll like being a hero!