Baby Shaped Pears

They are almost too cute to eat.

Escaped by a hare

The world's cutest smoke detector "Rabbit" (yes, that's his real name) never needs to have his batteries changed. A handful of hay now and again and this backup alarm could just save the day. That's what happened for Jerry and Michelle Finn. The scratching of the pet rabbit awoke them to escape from their burning house in the nick of time.

Rejected newborn red panda adopted by cat

This big hearted kitty has adopted a baby panda - I don't think it can get any cuter than that! Good kitty!

Holy Bat Bra!

I guess Alfred was feeling a little bored, and rigged Batgirl something REALLY special!

Angel at the Post Office

From the Best of Craigslist:

This is one of the kindest things I've ever experienced. I have no way to know who sent it, but there is a kind soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service. Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God, Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith.

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies.' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away. Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by. Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I am wherever there is love.

Love, God

Rent-A-Puppy

Most college students can't have pets, so when the Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society at Lyon College came up with the great idea of teaming up with the Humane Society of Independence County to hold the first ever Rent-A-Puppy fundraiser.

They raised $405. Half went to the humane society and half to the SAACS. The going rate - 30 minutes of playtime for $10, or 15 minutes for $5. Even better, two of the puppies found permanent homes that day - a win-win situation for sure.

Jingle Bells the Elephant Way

This Christmas, three Asian elephants are set to help spread the Christmas cheer by performing "Jingle Bells" for crowds in Japan. Christmas + elephants = the biggest cute news this holiday season

Love on the 5 Train

So you're on the subway and you see "her" - the heavens part, angels sing and you know you have found the girl of your dreams. The problem is, you loose her in the crowd - knowing that in a city of 8 million people you'll probably never see her again. That is unless you're a creative web developer like Patrick Moberg. When he lost the girl of his dreams on the subway, he drew her picture and created a website nygirlofmydreams.com to find her.

And it worked. In a matter of days he knew that the girl with a flower in her hair was Camille Hayton, a 22 year old intern from Melbourne, Australia. She and Mr. Moberg are now in touch, but they will pursue any relationship without a webfull of onlookers. Posted on the website they say:

"In our best interest, there will be no more updates to this website,"

"Unlike all the romantic comedies and bad pop songs, you'll have to make up your own ending for this."

Who knows, perhaps next time we'll see them hand in hand on the 5 Train, pushing a pram.

happy hens lay the tastiest eggs, apparently.

And the best babysitters are alpacas. I'm betting your kids would rather have an alpaca that the snarly teenager you usually get. They are supposedly fierce and loyal. This is news to me, and it is very cute, so I think it qualifies as Cute News!

:-) Happy happy happy

It's the 25th anniversary of the smiley face emoticon today. Can you believe it? It seems nearly impossible to me that I am that old, but I remember my Dad's trash 80 compy and the text based adventures we would play with much fondness. My favorite smiley lately is the shock and awe one that goes like this 0.o ... So send some smilies today to someone you want to visualize turning their head sideways to read them. Such power!

Who knew?

Who knew that guys who train dogs at a prison could be so cute? And brave? And immune to dog germs? Steve Tugwell, I salute you!
Auugh! I've been kissed by a dog! I have dog germs! Get some hot water! Get some disinfectant! Get some iodine!

Real live Mermaid

This is the best story I have heard for months. A woman who is a double amputee, was asked all the usual "why?" questions about her prosthetic legs by a curious 4 year old. With a sparkle in her eye, she told the child she was a mermaid! Spurred on by the idea, she contacted a special effects company to make her a real functional mermaid tail. Since she is an avid swimmer, it will even be useful in giving her some thrust as she swims. Brilliance!

As Shel Silverstein once pointed out, all the magic I've ever seen, I've had to make myself. Way to make some magic, Nadya!

Diamond in the rough

Want to see something that will make you cry, and then smile all day? Watch Paul sing.

It's space, baby.

A mom is picking up the signal from inside the space shuttle Atlantis on her baby monitor. Maybe baby Jack has big plans to be an astronaut and is trying to tell you something, mom:

"I put the kids down and I put the baby monitor on like I always do and I saw two people floating in space," said the primary school science teacher.

Meilinger joked that her parents believed that her son, three-month-old Jack, had acquired magical powers since they started picking up the video footage from the Atlantis."

Space is not as deep as you think, I guess.

attribution: www.dailymail.co.uk

11 year old saves his teacher from choking

We salute you, Gimundo.com, for having good news every day! This article about an eleven year old boy who saved his teacher warms the cockles of my heart:

Hines says she is amazed by Lester’s courage and grace under pressure. “I told him, ‘You’re not just my student, you’re my hero,’” she said. “I think we will always be joined by the heart.”

Attribution: Gimundo.com

Cinnamon makes you thin!

I have just read something that says when a dessert contains cinnamon, ginger, or cloves, the spices make the sugar hit your bloodstream slower, which in turn keeps your insulin lower, which means the sugar is less likely to be stored as fat! Yes! This means we are making my famous Ginger snaps today. These are better than chocolate, and make grown men cry.

Ginger snaps:

Cream: 2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups shortening
Add: 1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs
Mix dry ingredients and stir in:
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. ginger
Roll in balls the size of walnuts. Roll in sugar. Bake 350 for 12-14 minute. Don't overbake, they should be slightly chewy.

Moms rule the world

We don't usually do crime stories on the cute news, because we are too busy staring out the window thinking how lovely it is, but this story makes me feel like all is right in the world, and the natural order of things is in place:

Robber caught - by mum

A Czech armed robber who targeted McDonald's restaurants was grabbed by the ear and marched to the police station by his mum.

Katka Zahradnikova, 44, from Prague, recognised her 20-year-old son Michal on CCTV footage screened on the local version of Crimewatch.

A police spokesman said: "He admitted he was responsible for robbing a number of the fast-food stores and put up no resistance when she marched him down here by the ear and made him give us a full statement.

"We couldn't have done it better ourselves."

Attribution: Ananova.com

Quote of the day:

Perhaps it is corny, but I love inspirational quotes, so here is the first one for The Cute News:

"A careless word may kindle strife; a cruel word may wreck a life; a timely word may level stress; a loving word may heal and bless."

Angel Cat

I want one of these real bad:

Granny Feng's tom cat has sprouted two hairy 4ins long wings, reports the Huashang News.

"At first, they were just two bumps, but they started to grow quickly, and after a month there were two wings," she said.

Feng, of Xianyang city, Shaanxi province, says the wings, which contain bones, make her pet look like a 'cat angel'.

Heavenly.

Attribution: Ananova

Chocolate Improves your Memory!

Of course it does! Chocolate cures all ills:

"The chemical epicatechin is also found in cocoa, tea, grapes and blueberries and the researchers believe it improves the blood flow in the brain especially in combination with extra exercise.

The study is not the first to suggest a link between 'flavanol' chemicals in certain foods and health benefits; other studies have also suggested that cardiovascular health can be improved by including them in the diet."

It says you need to excercise and you could probably eat blueberries and get the same effect, but I don't believe it. It's the chocolate, do you hear me? Now give me your Hershey's and nobody gets hurt!

attribution: News-medical.net