I did not, by the way, send a picture (there isn't one) of the automatic pencil sharpener she temporarily destroyed by stuffing and breaking off a crayon in it. Green, it was. Now fixed.

A follow-up to yesterday's dog-walking adventure:
Yes, that really is Dodo's leg.



Below is a series showing Rizzy's latest accomplishment.
She ate the whole thing, leaving nary a drop inside or outside the container. Very well done.

Well. we haven't quite doubled the total number of household denizens, but close.

So we come home from KK's at the very end of the day, because of the staff meeting, and we are met with a very insistent and purring cat. Whose back legs are soaking wet. And who has a bloodspot on a knee. Hm. So I follow the practically prancing Moo down the hall, and she leads me, purring the entire time, to the trundlethings in Cerah's room. Where there's squeaking. Moo proudly hops in, and nurse the two of them, still purring, while I trundle her back under the bed.

I bring her water, then close the door, and we hang out with Dodo for an hour.

We return. Now there are five. Or six. Hard to tell with all the wiggling. Moo looking slightly less energetic, but appearing to nurse them all. Thus far, much better than I was expecting.

We may need a replacement Malaysian sarong.

Rizzy is currently dipping her fruit leather in her water cup.

I find the dogs much more manageable on their double leash when cinched down to 8-12 inches per dog. Athena was much more cooperative with that then Ms. Huntress.

OK, so the dogs have had their first romp. Only 30 minutes though. I don't know why I thought the scary rushing river in the backyard would be a deterrent. It wasn't. They were relatively polite about it, until I was busy taking pictures of the roiling water, then they made a break for it. We had two cars out looking for them - quite a production. I was unnecessarily worried about that scary water and unpracticed dogs. Anyway, Zoe and Dodo picked them up on Daniel. She also walked them both around the block today - separately.

Mimsy's going to be terribly upset when she discovers there's a nasty buzzy thing in the backyard, too. Extra collars are here, so we can start that again.

Rizzy went to sleep easily again tonight. She's been running pretty tired at the end of the day. Tonight was more so because she was relatively patient through the two-hour season finale of Lost. They've now fixed it so they can re-hire Shannon, as far as I can tell. Whoo-hoo. By the way, they finally did the right thing and knocked Ty out of Dancing with the Stars. I figured that was going to be tough to do.

Zoe-ism of the day, in the midst of a discussion amongst overseas-bound 5/6ers: "If you're in Thailand, where is it midnight?" She'd already figured out the time change and knew when she asked that it was, in fact, midnight in Thailand.

Rizzy really likes puddles. Had a great time in the wet weather. Her 'bye' was already sounding very clear. Now she's adding 'yeah' and 'hi' to the list that sounds natural.

Oh, and the bike's back. As of Monday, all silent-like. All photos from today.

The dogs have not yet been out of the perimeter unsupervised! And Zoe even took them out. The rule, mostly, has been to do it separately. Mom and I (yes, that's right!) took them on a long walk in the neighborhood today - she got Mimsy, who pulled and tracked the entire way. Athena was relatively manageable. Mimsy appears to respond consistently to the flags next to the driveway - thinks the only safe way out is through the driveway, but she's been careful about that, too.

We got a new cat today! A calico kitten was stuck in the fence at McGuffey, and we just couldn't resist. Absolutely adorable, older than Moo when she arrived. Squalls up a storm. Lovely with people. Name suggestions?

Mimsy's appetite seems definitely down, though her energy is not, I think. Got her staples out today - everything looks good.

Risty put the phone down her pajamas today, and it got stuck at her foot. She kept kicking both feet in the air to try to shake it out, but it just wouldn't work. KK reports she has wanted to sleep lots and lots yesterday and today. Sleeping normally here, though through the night yesterday. I suspect she's finding it tiring with you off on Asian adventure. She's been pretty usual otherwise.

While we were reading the Richard Scarry book, she was pointing out the boats, I was saying 'boat,' and she'd say, 'buh.' Then she pointed quizzically at a mouse in a crowd. I said, 'mouse,' and she sucked on her fingers. I said, 'mouse,' and she moved her hand back and forth across her teeth, frowning at me. I said, 'mouse,' and she stuffed her whole hand in her mouth, shaking her head. 'Oh!' I said, 'mouth!' and she beamed.

P.S. - just kidding about the calico. He was at school. He will be staying at school, or going home with somebody else.

News of note, in random order:
1. Risty can reach up to her elbow across the table from standing. On the floor.
2. She can also stand from sitting in the highchair at Post, if not strapped in.
3. She has cleverly done away with her kid-sized toothbrush by giving it to the dogs as a toy.
4. Moo has just been licking my sleeve, and fell asleep with her nose on my arm. It looks uncomfortable.
5. No sign of the prodigal shock collar.
6. I'm excited the pin number came through, so hopefully contact will be straightforward tomorrow.
7. Looks like beans are not a good idea.