A joint letter to our Mamas

Dear Mamas,
We, (Mabel, Harley & Maggie) want to request full access to the extra bedroom anytime you are gone from our home.
Until just yesterday, we could count on peacefully and warmly resting under the down comforter on the spare bed. Then, suddenly this morning, we found ourselves exiled to the cold, hard floor of the dog room. 
We want to protest this totally, unfair and unexpected treatment! And, we might add, we have no idea how your sunglasses [and reading glasses] came to be (slightly) chewed up.
And, we don't know anything about the Tissue box and tissues that were shredded and spread all over the backyard. 
And the book?
Well, I heard Mama #2 say she didn't really like it and she'd had it on her night stand for a very, very long time.....
OK. Harley loves books. What's wrong with that?
If you are looking for someone to blame for these little incidents, we suggest you talk to the cats. 

She just looks guilty, doesn't she?

In the meantime, we expect our full access to the extra bedroom to be granted immediately.
Sincerely,
Your Wonderful Diva and her sisters

This is me, Mabel. I'm looking just a little worried. I really want to get back inside and sleep on my favorite comfy bed under my warm down comforter with my both of my sisters.

From Mama #2: Dear Mabel, when you learn how to behave without destroying my stuff, you may be excused from spending your days on the deeply carpeted dog room floor. Remember, this room has your special door to the outside as well as your magically warm blanket? 

When you return to the extra bedroom is up to how you and your sisters behave this week.

The Christmas Card That Wasn't

Hi all, Mabel here. I am laying low right now, because my Mamas think I need to pose for a Christmas Card. You might ask, What's wrong with simply posing for another Diva picture? 

This is not just another simple posed picture.

This is something entirely different.

This Christmas picture of my cousin, Max, gave my Mamas some strange ideas for a Christmas Card.

This is Max, my cousin, wearing an upside down Santa Claus hat.

When Mama #2 saw Max wearing his Santa hat, she got the idea that Maggie, Harley and I should pose for a Christmas Card wearing Santa hats too.

Mama #2 is delusional.

It's just not going to happen.

Here are the Santa Claus hats that the Mamas thought we would wear to pose for the picture.

This is me, Mabel, "posing" in my Santa Claus cap.

The Mamas really, really tried to get me to pose, but this is the best picture they could get of me in that stupid hat.

They had better luck with Maggie. She posed for less than one minute. She does look kind of cute in that hat, doesn't she? (I understand she is trying to figure out how to destroy this picture before anyone sees it. Can you blame her?).

Harley totally refused to wear the hat but she did like it--

that is, she liked how the hat tasted.

Then, before Mama #2 realized what Harley was planning, Harley ran out the back door with her hat.

Now, Harley really did like that hat. Here, she risks getting caught when she stops to taste the pom pom.

This is my sister Harley, not me Mabel, enjoying her Santa Claus hat.

Maggie got into the spirit and took off with her hat, too.

Maggie, stopping to pose with her Santa hat.

As usual, I am not involved in this destruction of property.

This is me, Mabel (the innocent twin on the right) advising Harley to leave the hat and run before she is caught.

How'd that picture get in here?!!

This is me, Mabel, with my sister Maggie, looking the other way when we find an abandoned, destroyed Santa hat in our backyard.

At the end of the day, me and my sisters boldly went back inside and laid on our comfy couch. (I'm the very cute Diva in the middle of the picture, just in case you can't tell me and my twin sister apart). Now that the Santa hats have mysteriously "disappeared," we can safely rest again. 
We are trying very hard to look disappointed that our Mamas won't have a "Santa Paws" Christmas card to send to their friends.

Note from Mama #2: Mabel, I know where you were and I saw what you did.
BTW, I just found some really, really cute Santa Claus caps for next year. There's even a little beard to go with the cap. You and your sisters will look so cute! And we have an entire year to create the perfect picture for next year's card. Aren't you excited Mabel?

An Eventful Forced March

Hi all, Mabel here. I am posing in my warm, sunny and wonderful back yard. The snow, ice and cold are gone! I had to do a little "Diva Dance" when I went outside today!

When Mama #2 took me and my sisters out on a forced march it was still sunny and warm. 

Exciting!

Actually, the march was much more exciting than any of us expected!

All of us, including my anxiety prone twin sister, Harley, marched up and down the streets of our neighborhood. We marched by houses with objects in the yards. When we march at night, the objects are lit up with brightly colored Christmas lights. I love the lights, but the unlit objects look a little spooky in daylight. We'd just marched by a house with many, many spooky, unlit shapes in front when we turned a corner and came face to face (literally!) with shapes Mama #2 called, "Mr. and Mrs. Claus."

They were right by the street we were walking on. 

They were huge! They looked spooky!

And Harley went BESERK!

Harley barked and yipped and jumped and ran back and forth. Her eyes bugged out and her anxiety soared off the scale.

Mama #2 tugged and pulled at Harley's neck rope and urged her to keep marching.

Harley refused.

She wanted to find a way to "take out" Mr. and Mrs. Claus. 

I marched over to her and firmly gave her a gentle shove and told her to move on.

That's when Harley ran under the gray fence.

When Harley ran back under the fence (still barking), I saw she had a gray stripe down her back.

Uh oh!

Mama #2 tried to get Harley to quit barking and march, but Harley (grey stripe and all) kept barking and bugging her eyes out until Mama #2 grabbed her and started to jog.

I picked up my paws and we all ran a couple of blocks. I don't really like running, but I'll do anything for Harley. And Harley really, really needed to move on.

Mama #2 finally put her down and started to look at Harley's new gray stripe. I was afraid my sister might have just turned into a skunk!

Mama #2 rubbed and rubbed, and finally, rubbed that stripe right off Harley's back.

Whew! My sister is not a skunk.

We'd just started marching again, when we marched right into a Schnauzer. Yes, a mid-sized medium gray Schnauzer came out of an alley right on top of us.

Shocking.

Harley had just started to calm down and to catch her breath when she just had to start barking again. 

Sometimes, she just has to bark and a collision with a Schnauzer is definitely barking time.

So, we were off again. We jogged down yet another block. We'd just slowed down to a march again, and guess what?

Here comes that SAME SCHNAUZER waltzing out of yet another alley!

So, it's jogging time again.

We'd barely jogged to the next corner when,

two great, big trucks with big red, blue and white flashing Christmas Lights came screaming around the corner! 

I mean, these trucks were noisy! They zoomed up to house that had some gray smokey stuff hanging around it and then, dozens of people in coats and hats jumped off the trucks and ran up to the house!

Harley had no time to even bark once before Mama #2 tugged on our neck ropes and we were off, jogging yet another block.

I wanted to stay and watch the trucks with the lights, but Mama #2 insisted we keep marching. We marched on, but passed a lot of cars and people that were following those trucks. I wonder if they like big, bright Christmas lights too? 

I wonder if those trucks with the big, flashing Christmas colored lights sit in someone's front yard at night? 

We kept marching and finally, we were home.

And Harley was worn out and semi-calm!

I was so glad to get home! 

I took my chewy bone marching reward and settled down on my favorite comfy couch to catch my breath and get a quick nap.

Maybe night marches in the cold aren't so bad after all.

Here I am, Mabel, keeping my identical twin sister, Harley, calm.

(She's the one in front with the blue collar, just in case you can't tell us apart).

It's my favorite time of the Year!

Hi all, Mabel here. I just got back from tonight's forced march.
I am excited.
EXCITED!
And HAPPY!
I think that now all of my faithful fans are puzzled, because everyone knows that I hate going on forced marches.
Everyone knows I don't like cold weather (anything below 65 degrees).
Everyone knows I don't like marching in the dark --- and sun sets very early now. It's always dark when we go out to march..
And, everyone knows that I walk very s-l-o-w-l-y. I drag my paws  I walk at about 2.3mph. I want to smell every single wonderful smell.
My sisters and Mama #2 want to walk at 3.3 mph.
<Sigh>
We compromise and walk at about 2.5mph.
Anyway, about a week ago, I looked down a street and stopped dead in my tracks. (I wasn't really dead, it's just an expression).
Lights! Bright, colorful lights! I saw a house outlined in lights!
Amazing!
I love lights, so I pick up my paws, pulled on my neck rope, and made Mama #2 walk down the street so I could look at the house outlined in colorful lights.
I slowed down as we passed the house. I looked at it carefully and wanted to remember each detail and every light.

 This is me, Mabel, standing in front of one of my lighted houses

 This my twin sister, Harley, looking at lights

I was so excited, that I jumped on Harley, just to make sure she saw the lights.

At the next corner, I looked all around to see if any other houses had colorful lights.
I didn't see any more lights that night, but a couple of marches later.....
I found 3 more houses with colorful lights!
Lights!
And one even had stuff standing in their yard shaped like (who knows what) that moved and twinkled.
I was in love.
I love the twinkly lights in yards on shapeless things.
My sisters just laugh at me and my love of colorful and twinkly lights.
Mama #2 took a very long time to understand why I was walking faster and why I refused to walk down some street, then pulled my neck rope hard to walk down other streets.
Finally, Mama #2 realized what was going on.....
"Mabel, you like the lights, don't you?"
YES, I shouted. I love the lights!
Now, Mama #2 looks for brightly lit streets and let me stare at houses (and yards!) lit up like daylight with colorful lights.
I have a favorite house. It has lights all around the house, lights all through the big trees in front, and twinkling, brightly lit up shapes on the lawn.
I love this house. I love the twinkling shapes. The shapes even move!
Wonderful!
I could watch it for hours! I make Mama #2 march me there every night.
Maggie, my super smart sister, get impatient with me and usually talks Mama #2 into marching on after a few minutes.
But, every night now, I see more and more brightly lit up houses.
Even the house next door has lights!
Maybe soon, all the houses will be lit up!
I just hope the lights don't suddenly disappear like they did last year.
I was so sad, I could hardly march for weeks.


Note from Mama #2: It took awhile, but I finally realized that Mabel loves Christmas Lights! She loves to look at houses that are outlined in lights, and she especially loves animated, twinkling deer! She could just stand and watch for hours! It's totally amazing!
She walks quickly now, and wants to cover many streets every night. It's my favorite time of the year to take her on walks, because she gets so excited about the lights.
Harley and Maggie don't even seem to notice the lights.