Snips of snails and puppy dog tails.

Pippi blends in with the rug, but her mess stands out.

Juliette is learning how to read a clock, so I told her last night that she couldn't wake me before 8:00 am.  At 8:02 I cracked open my eyes to see Cosette standing near my bed, asking in a soft but yet whining voice "Mommy can you get up now?"

What is it about sleeping a little bit late that makes you want to sleep some more?  I got nine hours of sleep, and yet I was tired. However, I could hear Juliette down in the kitchen, probably making herself breakfast, and making  a mess while she was at it. Then even Pippi furthered the cause by jumping on my bed- a new thing for her.  She it not a tall dog and we have a high bed but she makes it in one giant leap- usually landing right on me and insuring that I am awake and giving her attention. Then she does her puppy version of jumping on the bed: leaping and frolicking around until either (a) I manage to push her off or (b) she decides to respond to my shouts of "No! Down!  Bah!"

Now it is 9:15 am, and I have  rescued a dead chipmunk from Pippi's jaws (not hers, a present from Piper). This one, at least, was still intact.  Last week she had half a chipmunk in her mouth.  I made Greg handle it, and even he was grossed out.  Guts were hanging out... squishy intestines... yuck.   I've chased Pippi away from the litter box, which she decided held some tasty morning snacks that would apparently suffice in place of the chipmunk. I discovered that she chewed up yet another pair of my shoes- I thought I had gotten them away from her in time but no, sadly, I did not.  I am currently completely ignoring the pile of chewed and shredded paperback books that are on my office floor. Pippi pulled them right off the bookshelf.  I've already complained that she ate a few of our books, but those had been left on the floor.  This is a new and disturbing development.  Fortunately, these were old and in the donate pile anyway, but there is still something tragic about seeing a book destroyed.

Now Pippi is outside with Lucy and the girls.  I just heard Juliette shout "MOM!  Pippi is in the woods and won't come back!"  My response?  "Let her go!"  I know she'll come back- once I clean everything up, she'll be back to make a mess again. As if having two young kids in the house wasn't enough... who thought it was a good idea to throw a puppy into the mix?