Li'l Angels

Any mother of toddlers will say, "They're so sweet when they're asleep."  After breakfast, a bit of rough-and-tumble, and Celeste hauling her babies up and down the hall, this is how I find Celeste and Ralph every day.  They snuggle together for a nap, and groom each other's face and ears when they wake up.  It wasn't long after this yesterday and they were up again and Ralph was ambushing Celeste.  His favorite hiding spot is the stairwell and either she's very good at pretending or she really doesn't think he's going to jump out at her.  There is a wrestling match and then a chase sequence that usually ends with Celeste boxing Ralph's ears and a quick take-down.  Then they go back to bed or to neutral corners for another nap.  Mama's li'l angels.

I had a most pleasant visit with my friend Linda at The Pub in the afternoon for, as she put it, a holiday libation and a shared appetizer.  We don't talk as often anymore and it was nice to catch up on news.  She surprised me with a Christmas coffee mug ("Be naughty, save Santa a trip.") filled with Heath bars, which I love.  Before leaving, we stood outside for awhile to enjoy a lovely, warm day.

Not long after getting home, suddenly there were Camille's three escape artists at the door.  One of Cam's neighbors had an oak that fell and crushed her fence.  Buddy was taking full advantage of the opportunity to investigate the neighborhood and Sammi and Honey were along to keep him company on an adventure.  What do do?  Honey knows the house rules, but the other two do not and they like to chase cats.  I grabbed a handful of cookies (milk bones) and enticed the trio into the now-empty chicken pen and called Camille.  Busy in the house, she hadn't noticed her li'l angels had left the property.  She drove up immediately to retrieve them.  I couldn't swear to it, but I'm pretty sure Bess Anne went along the pen fence, saying, "Nanner, nanner, nanner.  You're in jail and I'm not."  After their run to freedom, I'll bet those dogs were ready for a nap when Cam got them home.