And then...

After the husband and I had that wonderful week to ourselves, we joined the children and spent several nights with the grands.

During which I saw my first 3-D movie...The Last Airbender. Now THAT was an act of love on my part. T's tank is surely FULL.

Little Bit didn't walk while we were away, HOORAY!!! But she is increasingly mobile and daring.

T and his brother sifted through boxes of transformers? Not really sure - guy stuff - and matchbox cars. Little Bit found those ugly men most entertaining. (And tasty.)

And the matchbox cars, too.

We had the most wonderful lunch on the road on the way home...Whataburger.

Whatasmile.

Whatacup.

And whatasucker. (Her first.)

And when we got home...

WHATAMESS!!!

You'll never guess who figured out a way to jiggle the locks on his ginormous kennel to get out???

You'll never guess who had his own little partay???

You'll never guess who ate my needlepoint pillows??? (That I bought for a steal...but it's the replacement cost!!!)

You'll never guess who pottied in several places???

You'll never guess who pulled the pillows off the guest bed???

You'll never guess who pulled all the stuffing out of one of my pillows???

You'll never guess who ate my moss covered rocks???

You'll never guess who ripped T's Star Wars poster off the playroom wall?

You'll never guess who tore up the little mink (or maybe rabbit) stole that had been our dear, sweet neighbors - it had been a gift to Sister...???

Guess who???

That precious little blessing who just turned one.

Our sweet neighbors who were caring for the pups in our absence cleaned it up. They even had to employ a spackling knife to scrape up the, ahem, mess Warrior left on the carpet upstairs.

That is love.

This will NOT happen again. Thank you very much. Five carabiners later, with BOTH kennel openings secure, I am not worried.

And if it does happen again, Warrior's hide would make a nice little bedside rug. Actually, I think it would look kind of nice in the kitchen.

And I'm not sure what to make of my response. I was just like, "Whatever. Whatever." My blood didn't boil and rise over the top. I didn't yell. Didn't cry. I was just very quietly like, "whatever." And I proceeded to pick up the rest of the fill that was scattered here and there, to launder the dirty pillow case, etc, to roll up the poster, in general, to clean up the bits and pieces that were left. And T was so apologetic and insisted I immediately begin looking for replacement pillows. Unfortunately those were probably a once in a lifetime find. That's ok. I've just added them to my mending pile. If nothing else, the mended rips will be a reminder that it's just stuff.

Happy day to you!