Aren't we photogenic?
Well, I've convinced Matt that stray cats are lovable. He still isn't a huge fan of cats, but he tolerates the handful of barn cats that call our house 'home' in the morning and evening. The first time I fed the kitties, he got mad at me..but slowly, over time, he has come to accept the fact that I am going to feed them regardless of what he says. He's actually re-named my barn cats (my original names were pretty boring--i.e. yellow kitty, tiger kitty, black kitty, etc.) and they seem to like their names. 
Meet "Kitler"--he was born last spring and is very skittish. He will come inside and wander around, but the second he hears a loud noise or you approach him, he runs outside. He's named Kitler because of his famous mustache. He has a pink nose, which is my favorite color nose and he LOVES to eat.
Then there's "Marty Jr."--he was also born last spring and is Kitler's brother. Like Kitler, he is extremely skittish and gets freaked out easily. He's named Marty Jr. in honor of the late Martin Luther King Jr. because of his race and his loud voice. You can see him in the background and in the large picture above (on the day I took these pictures, he was being a little camera shy).
Next, there's "Rocket." Rocket was born 2 springs ago and is my favorite kitty. He looks just like my childhood cat, Frisky. Rocket is very outgoing and LOVES to be petted and rubbed. We call him Rocket because he is a) an un-neutered boy cat and b) because every time we open the front door he come flying inside under our feet. He is very loving and has the loudest purr I have ever heard. The best part about Rocket is that he'll sit in your lap or at your feet and meow at you. In this picture, he's sitting on his favorite rug. Finally, there's "Mommy Kitty." Mommy gets her name due to the fact that every fall she gets pregnant and has a litter every spring. She is the mommy to Kitler, Marty Jr., and Rocket (not to mention several other kitties in the town). She is calico and also very sweet--she'll also let us pet her. She comes to eat breakfast every morning and prefers the wet food over the dry stuff. I don't have a good picture of her, so one will come soon.
Each night, Matt and I crack the living room door open and let our 'kids' come inside for a few hours. They eat their dinner and then play in the living room (sometimes
they will just sit and stare at us on the heated floors). When it's time to go back outside, we give all the kitties treats (either actual cat treats or left over meat/meat goobers that I cut off of our chicken breasts or beef before cooking it). They've gotten really spoiled, as I always cook the meat goobers so that they don't get sick from eating the raw meat. Matt says that they kill birds and mice and it that meat raw, but it grosses me out to feed them raw stuff. I made the mistake of feeding them the American cat food, 'Friskies,' at first, so now they turn their noses to the cheap German stuff on the economy. Since the American food is more expensive than the German stuff, I now mix the two together to get the Friskie's food to stretch a bit. The brown pillow that Kitler is sitting on is one of their favorite resting spots. Each night, Marty Jr., Kitler, and Rocket usually play 'king of the hill' and try to knock each other off.
It is going to be really hard to leave my kitties when we move, so I'm trying to get Matt to let me kidnap one of Mommy's new kittens from this spring's litter to take back to the States with me. He says NO, but I'm still working on him. Regardless, our kitties have become kind of like kids to us and they keep us in constant laughter. They aren't the smartest cats--but we still love them like they're brilliant. Doesn't Kitler have a great smile?
