The phrase "sweetening kitty" seems to be a cute and endearing way of referring to adding sugar to one's tea or coffee. When broken down phonetically, the word "sweetening" can be transcribed as /ˈswitnɪŋ/, with the stress on the first syllable. The word "kitty" can be transcribed as /ˈkɪti/, with the stress on the first syllable. The combination of these two words, therefore, would be pronounced as /ˈswitnɪŋ ˈkɪti/.