Cookies and floating Doodles

We are once again so grateful to Stacia for sending yummy cookies home for us to eat. This time they're Christmas shapes -- a snowperson and a Santa hat (see left). They were so very delicious that we could hardly contain ourselves while we ate them. Can you guess which one I ate and which on Venus ate??

This weekend was also Mommy's birthday. We helped Daddy plan a full day of fun for her, which started off with Venus bringing in balloons to Mommy. Here is a picture of her after she woke up Mommy and got super afraid of the balloon:
It made her very nervous so we couldn't leave the balloon on her body for very long. Still, we had a great day and we're glad because we like to make Mommy happy. Look for another holiday post soon -- we both have new outfits!

xoxo,
Jigga

Jigga is a cold-blooded killer

Well, my little brother did something super naughty and made Mommy really mad. Her nostrils flared and everything. See, she had this little stuffed ghost named Le Petit Phantom that she brought out each Halloween. Le Petit Phantom went to Mommy's office and sat near the Halloween candy bowl. This year, she brought him home and set him on the coffee table. Jigga must have mistaken Le Petit Phantom for a chewlotta or maybe a Greenie because while Mommy was working, Jigga stole the little ghost from the table and started to eat him. Mommy happened to walk past the TV room and saw little white stuffing strewn about. She screamed out in terror and took Le Petit Phantom's remains from Jigga's jaws of death.

This actually happened in early November but it's just been in the past few days that Mommy has talked about the incident. Below is a pictorial that documents the terrible assault on Le Petit Phantom's little, white, fluffy body. These photos are not for the faint of heart, so proceed with caution.

The full crime scene: carcass, stuffing, and precious nose:

Le Petit Phantom's insides:

Hi little but hardly wicked little white nose that Jigga ripped so effortlessly from the little ghost's face:A close-up shot of the full damage:
Le Petit Phantom will be missed by all, but especially by Mommy. I hope that snuggles from me will make her feel better.

xoxo,
Venus

Gobble gobble, crunch crunch

Hoorah for Thanksgiving! We are really thankful this year for Stacia and Brian because they bought us some delicious cookies. See they are specially made just for doggies. We had so much fun eating them.

We also know that Thanksgiving isn't just about cookies. We know it's a time to appreciate all the people who love us and that we love -- even people we don't love, like the mailman. It's also a nice time to think about helping others that might have less than you. It is estimated that 38 million people in our country (including about 14 million children) live in poverty and often don't have enough money to eat healthy meals. If you have some extra time this week or even a few extra dollars you can help a person or a family get a hot meal on Thursday. Usually local schools, churches, and grocery stores offer ways that you can donate time, money and canned goods. You can also visit the Help the Homeless website to find city-specific projects that you might want to get involved in. We know that less fortunate people need help all of the time -- not just at holidays -- but it's a good time to start.

xoxo,
Venus & Jigga

Turtle gets rocked

Well, really, she got on her rock. When Turtle Face first moved in, we heard that she loved to lay on this really nice rock. But we didn't see her do it for so long. Finally the other night she got up on her rock to stretch her little fins:


The pictures don't come out super clear through the aquarium, but Mommy & Daddy were really excited because this makes us think that Turtle is finally feeling at home with us.

All of the attention on turtle makes Jigga a little jealous. So Mommy had to wrap him in a blanket again and put him down for a nap.

I went to my follow up today with the doggie eye doctor and I got great news. My eye is completely healed! Daddy & Mommy will still put eye goo in for one more week and then I am done and good as new. Thank you to everyone who asked about me but I am still mad that none of you sent boneless babies.

Love,
Venus

Doodle eyeball update 2007

Venus is on her way home with Daddy after her appointment with the furry baby eye care specialist. The doctor says that Venus has a small tear in the outer layer of her actual eyeball, so that is what caused the initial inflammation around the eye and is causing the continued redness. The doctor says that she could not see any remaining cloudiness in the eyeball and feels that the injured eye is dilating just fine now. She expects that the tear will heal just fine and that the injury will not cause any future vision problems for Venus. But now Venus has to get eye goo 4 times a day now, instead of 2. (For tips on how to administer eye goo & drops to your dog, visit this site.) And she has a follow up appointment next Thursday, Nov. 8. Daddy says Venus was really nervous at the doctor and did not like having her temperature taken (in her bum) but that she was a really good girl. I probably would not have been good and would have peed on the doctor and on any inanimate object I could find.

xoxo,
Bean

p.s. Venus still has not received any boneless babies.

Venus is in recovery

We're not quite sure how, but poor Venus has a boo boo on her right eye. It was swollen and red so she went to the doctor and was really brave and got eye drops. Now she has to get eye drops two times a day. I am jealous when she gets them because she gets hugs from Mommy & Daddy. Although her eye is less swollen and appears to be healing, Mommy & Daddy are still worried so Venus is going to see an eye care specialist on Thursday morning. She will probably get more eye goo there.

The good news is that Venus has been a really good girl and is not scratching at her eye. She also has not lost her appetite or desire to bark with me at the neighbor dogs. So no pictures today but please keep my sister in your thoughts. Send her hugs and boneless babies.

xoxo,
Bean

Baby sisters are loud

We are back after a mini-sabbatical. So much has happened over the past few weeks, so we will try to do a couple of posts this week to get you caught up. The biggest announcement is that we have a baby sister. Her name is Turtle Face. This is an aerial view of her.


Isn't she cute? She is little and very green and has an orange dot on each side of her head. She is only about 3 inches long. We will try to get a better picture. It's hard because she likes to move around her room, which sits near the TV and we can see through. The pebbles move around her feet and we get excited. One day Bean got so tired from watching her that he had to take a nap and be under a blanket:


Sorry again for going so long in between posts. We hope it wasn't as hard for you to wait as it is sometimes for us to hold in our pee when Mommy & Daddy have to stay late at work.

xoxo,
Venus

Hasta Luego!

We know we have been total blog slackers this month. Things have been really busy plus Mommy & Daddy are leaving for their honeymoon soon. That means we have to go to camp... again. It totally sucks and we wish that we could go to Pennsylvania to stay with Grandma & Grandpa.

Today Mommy was doing laundry and some packing. We just pouted and hoped that would make her feel guilty enough to not leave. This is us:

As you can see, we are pathetic. But this did not stop Mommy from packing. She did pack a bag for us to take to camp and we saw her put in Chewlottas, Nylabones, and Nutbutters. So at least we will have good snacks.

Since we won't be back online for a few weeks, we thought we'd give you an assignment to work on while we're away. Surely you're keeping up with your favorite presidential candidate but do you know how green they are? You can check out fact sheets on each candidate here and also listen to audio clips from their interviews.

Don't forget about us... we'll be back!

Catalogs are not cool (and we hate the mail man)

Every day the mail man brings tons of catalogs to our house. We used to like it because when the mail man comes we get to bark. To the left is a photo of Venus just waiting for the mail man to get near our door. You can see how excited she is to bark at him.

But then we learned how wasteful all these catalogs are and how companies are using endangered forests to print them. Plus we're not really sure how all these stores got our addresses, so that is kind of creepy. Mommy and Daddy hate all the catalogs and Mommy is always calling the stores to get removed from the mailing lists. We help her by napping and not barking while she's on the phone. This is Jigga helping Mommy tonight:

You can get involved in the catalog cutdown campaign to not only reduce the catalogs you receive but to also help put the squeeze on retailers to change their naughty catalog-printing habits. You can also learn about your privacy rights and how you can get removed from direct mail lists that get sold to stores around the country.

Oh yeah, and if you don't have the chance to reduce the number of catalogs you receive, please recycle them with your newspapers.

Have a good night!

We like to kiss

This is me and Venus at the end of a very long day. We like to snuggle with Mommy on the couch and hold each other and then I like to lick my sister's face until she falls asleeping. She really loves it, especially when I kiss her eyelids.


Have a good night.
xoxo,
Jigga

Toenails are not a great snack

What a weekend! We had many walks, played in the back yard and went to a party. At the party we finally met Patches and a Guinea Pig named Casey. We met two rabbits but my short term memory is bad and we can't remember their names. Patches is super nice and very pretty. We played in her back yard and we each pooped there too. I knocked over a pot and Jigga did nose paintings on Fran's glass door.

And then we got home and Daddy cut Jigga's toenails. And I ate them. I got to the little pile before Daddy got the vacuum. They were really delicious but then my belly hurt a little and I had to grumble and lay in the TV room like a slug. So I figured out that toenails are not a great replacement for kibble.

Mommy & Daddy were complaining about going back to their jobs after Labor Day so that got me thinking about what I want to be when I grow up. I maybe could be a model but I want to be recognized for more than my smooth brown fur and 11 nipples. So I think I will go to college and maybe become a veterinarian or maybe a journalist. Wherever I decide to go, I want the campus to be environmentally friendly. So I started looking at these green colleges and universities so that I can get an early start on my applications.

xoxo,
Venus

p.s. Don't tell Howard but I have a huge crush on a doggie named Daddy. He is on the Dog Whisperer show that we watch. He's really handsome.

Three day weekends rule! And so do Greenies.

You know, it's a busy week in the news and we've had a hard time keeping up with everything between naps and barking. We saw Barack Obama on the Daily Show and really liked him. It seems like he cares about energy and oil dependence but we'd like to know more about clean air & water, national parks, and green spaces.

So we're almost to Labor Day weekend! We are excited because we're going to meet Patches this weekend at a BBQ. We're going to play croquet and grill Greenies. But we are really worried about child labor laws. Places like Firestone exploit children and other workers in Liberia and many other companies around the world are guilty of abusing children to turn a profit. Great organizations like Rugmark are working to end illegal child labor in the carpet industry and instead provide educational opportunities to children in South Asia. Visit this page to find out more about ways you can help and also to get a list of companies you should avoid.

Finally, Venus wants to audition for Flavor of Love 3 and the next Bachelor. Which photo do you think she should use?

This up close one that shows off her lips?
Or this profile shot?

Let us know in a comment, please.

xoxo,
Bean & Doodle

We have 4 footprints, how about you?

This is our friend Dexter. He lives in Rio de Janeiro. He and his feet are pretty little as you can see because he is sitting next to his own Daddy's big hiking boots. Dexter is really playful and likes to chase people around. When our Daddy visited, Dexter chased him... a lot. We told Dexter to be careful about all the footprints he's leaving on the earth from chasing people so much. We hope you are careful, too, and are paying attention to the resources you use each day. If you want you can take this really cool survey Earth Day Network that measures your Ecological Footprint.

We found some Green Living tips on another person's blog and thought we'd share our favorites with you:

• Turn down your heat by 1 degree for every hour you’ll be away from home.

• Replace traditional light bulbs with newer longer lasting/low energy ones.

• Don’t stand with the refrigerator or freezer open while you decide what you want.

• Unplug unused appliances.

We also notice that Mommy & Daddy use water that they've cooked corn and stuff in to water the plants outside. They of course wait until it cools down and they do not let us help. We try to make the plants less thirsty by peeing on them, but that seems to make Daddy fairly mad.

So we hope we gave you some good ideas of little things you can do to lessen your own footprint. If you don't start doing some of them, I will show up on your doorstep and arrest you. I've got this police officer outfit and I will use it. I have cuffs and everything.

xoxo,
Bean

Get to know us better

We thought we would share a bit more about ourselves. You see, Venus is the more serious one. She is very delicate and likes flowers and pretty things, especially when the pretty things are purple. She is very sweet and gentle and wants to please everyone else. She is very shy when she first meets new people but will be your best snuggle buddy once she gets to know you. If she could have a job, she would be an artist so that she could paint pretty pictures for everyone she loves.




I, on the other hand, am silly. I like to tease Venus and play tricks. I even
like to sing. I like to take many naps and only please myself. I will hop on your lap the first time I meet you and try to eat things out of your nose. I get grumpy when I'm awakened from a nap and get cranky when Daddy rubs his whiskers on my nose. My first choice for a job would be to sell kibble at the price of $1 per kibble bit. But if that didn't work out, I would definitely be a jester.

Mommy likes beer and sometimes Daddy picks her up from the bar so she doesn't have to take Metro home by herself. If I could draw a cartoon character based on Mommy, she would look like this:
If you have questions for us, please post them in a comment. Then we'll answer them in a future post.

xoxo,
Jigga

Do you want to get rocked?!?

Tonight Mommy & Daddy going to a Def Leppard concert. Mommy is super excited, Daddy is going mostly just to make Mommy happy. Anyway, when we told our cousin, Maddie, about the concert, she made this face. We think she wishes she could go.

The Leppards that are playing tonight are probably endangered just because hair bands are slowly dwindling. But there are other kinds of leopards that you can help to save from extinction. Visit Big Cat Rescue to find out how you can adopt a leopard and to help keep the sanctuary up and running. It's the purrrrfect gift for someone you love ;)

Our favorite homies

These are our cousins, Henry & Maddie.

They're the lucky dogs that live in Maui. They took some time out from hanging with their homies to do a photo shoot for us.

Then another time Venus hung out with the same homies while wearing her "Mahalo for the belly rubs" kerchief.


She really wants a pair of sunglasses, but I told her that goggles would be more classy. What do you think?

xoxo,
Bean

We're Back to Reality

We are finally home -- back from camp and caught up on naps and snacks. We were super happy when Mommy & Daddy picked us up a day early. It was really exciting to ride in the car on the way home. We made nose paintings on the windows and barked at motorcycles.

We spent much of Sunday catching up on TV. We love The Rock of Love with Bret Michaels, The Real World, and Scott Baio is 45 and Single. But then after we watched the premiere of the Real World: Australia, we heard that the next season is going green. That's right. The 20th anniversary season will have those over-sexed peeps living in an energy efficient house with lots of recycled stuff and environmentally friendly practices.

We don't have an action for you today but we can say that we're glad to be back.

xoxo,
Venus and Jigga

The Globe got Warmer while we were at Camp

It is so hot this week and everyone here at camp is talking about the rising temperatures and whether or not this weather is a result of global warming. We know it exists but we just don't know how to talk to people about it. So we found this really nice guide from Grist Magazine that will help us talk to the biggest global warming skeptics.

We really miss Mommy & Daddy but think that brushing up on this hot topic will help us to pass the time.

Eggs before camp

Today is the day we go to camp. Well, Mommy & Daddy call it camp but we like to call it prison. Still, Mommy made us scrambled eggs this morning, which is one of our favorite treats. We will have stinky farts, tho.

We wanted to show Mommy just how we felt about "camp" so I decided to put on one of my old Halloween costumes:
I'm a prisoner! Hee hee. So then I told Venus to go put on her striped outfit and this is what she came up with:
Not really along the lines of what I was thinking, but she says she is a "jail bee."

So we're off to "camp" soon. We may not be able to post from there because they don't have wireless. If you want to keep current about what's happening in the news around the nation, we think you should read the Daily Kos.

We'll miss you and will see you next weekend!!

Love,
Jigga and Venus

We love collars but we don't love (other) fur

We got new collars from our cousins Henry and Maddie. They live in Maui with Aunties Nikki Jo and Molly. We're super excited because we like getting new things to wear. Unfortunately, we couldn't sit still long enough for Mommy to get a picture with our collars on, so we took them off and she took this picture.

Jigga got the one with the card suits and I got the one with the paws and cross bones. Pretty cool, huh?

After we took off our collars I decided to make Jigga put on a bunny outfit. I can do that because I'm bigger and can make him do things. Anyway, you can see from the photo shoot below that he is pretty
unhappy.


He said he would rather go naked than wear fur, which is pretty strange because he has no choice but to wear fur since it's attached to his skin. But to make up with him, I promised I would do this post to encourage everyone else to go fur-free. Rid your closet of fur coats and choose to donate them to PETA's Fur is Dead campaign. Your coat will go to someone in need either here in the U.S or to women and children in Afghanistan and Iraq.

xoxo,
Venus

Campaign Tail 2008

We're not sure who to endorse yet in the 2008 election but John Edwards is looking pretty good. We like that he's making his campaign carbon neutral and we think that he would give pretty good back scratches. Be sure to read his interview with Grist Magazine. Here is Venus' tribute to his photo from the Grist article.



She doesn't have the bangs but she looks pretty serious and trustworthy. Check back for future posts on other candidates.

By the way, we are super happy to live with our parents but we know many animals don't have food in their bellies, a nice place to sleep at night, or humans to love and care for them. The Humane Society can help you find your local shelter if you're looking to adopt a pet or if you would like to volunteer.

Protest Vick in Style

We think Michael Vick is a total douche bag. Tell others you think so too by wearing a t-shirt or neck kerchief to express your opinion. CafePress has great doggie and human gear.

We love reality TV

Check out this picture of Venus watching TV. We watched "The Age of Love" last night and were sad to see Maria eliminate herself. We thought that Mark should have ditched that nut job, Amanda, before she boils his puppy. She is a bit off her rocker. We are hoping that Jen wins in the end.

This morning we got to have our favorite treat, Nut-tastics. They are delicious because they taste like peanut butter. And we love them because they have a mini size for me (Jigga) and a normal size for Venus. Grandma (Abuela) gets them for us from Pennsylvania.

We have to go to camp this Friday when Mommy & Daddy leave for the beach. We hope that they take us to see Underdog before they leave.

xoxo,
Bean & Doodle

Fight Animal Cruelty...please

Our first blog post

We are Jigga and Venus Messman, two furry babies that live in Alexandria, VA. Our parents are Dave Messman and Bobbi Russell. They let us set up this blog so we can keep our family and friends up to speed on what we do. We probably won't post every day because we need many naps and are busy in the evenings with barking and eating kibble. We also don't have thumbs so typing can be hard on our paws. But we'll do our best.

We hope you enjoy our blog...and look forward to hearing from you.