AAAHHH...Biscuit!

Who could resist this sweet little face? Apparently neither of her parents, which is why Biscuit the dog has become a bit of a curse word around here. Let me explain.
Way back, before Christmas, when asked what she wanted from Santa Clause, Grace exclaimed "Biscuit the real dog"!! She then launched into all the wonderful things Biscuit could do... follow commands, shake, wag his tail etc. etc. When it came time to buy Christmas gifts, we left the kids with Allison, and made our way to Toy's R Us, armed with a list, and a little extra patience. (Has anyone else ever braved that place during the Christmas rush?) When we got there, we found everything else pretty easily... easily that is except for Biscuit. After asking several associates who had never heard of the toy, John found a few of them on an end cap isle, and flagged me down looking a little bemused. Biscuit was on sale... for $179.99. That was about two times the budget we had allotted for each child, and it's a stupid stuffed dog for crying out loud! We stood there stupefied while we tried to figure out what to do. Little toddlers occasionally ran past, pausing to cast an awed look in Biscuit's direction. The happy pup looked at us with his tongue hanging out to the side in a triumphant grin of mockery. We'd been duped, and our daughter was an example of the power of advertising. We cursed TV, Hasbro and Toys R' Us, and then decided it best to confront Grace honestly. (With some delicate inserts to account for Santa, of course). We chose a less expensive puppy, and hoped for the best. "AAAHHH Biscuit", I heard John mutter under his breath as we left the doggy isle.
She handled it all pretty well. She loved the dog we found her, and bought our story about Santa not being able to afford anything over a certain amount for each child. She did mention Biscuit a few times after that, but didn't make a big deal over it.
Fast forward a few months to this past weekend. John took the kids on a Target run while I was at Ashlin's house for the night. As he was coming out of the garden center, he passed an end cap isle with three Boxes of Biscuit, with my favorite little orange stickers (I love Target) marked down to $45.99. Grace saw it too, but she did a good job. No tantrums, no whining. She just very calmly told me about it the next day. She then added, "Mom, I know my birthday is a long way away, (Next January) but I still think I want Biscuit". Now how could we deny her this? The next morning, I snuck off to Target, and bought the dog. Now what follows is the reason why I should never be trusted to do anything mischievous. I left it in the car, thinking the windows were tinted dark enough that she wouldn't notice. John and I were planting out front and I looked up to see not just Grace, but her friend Kayla, and Sara, standing next to the car pointing to that dufus dog. Witnesses even. "Mommy what is Biscuit doing in the car?" Grace asked with a grin on her face. UGH.
We tried to make up a story, but it was ridiculous. Now her friends wanted to know too. John moved the dog to the cab of his truck until we could come up with a better place for it. The next morning, in a rush and in heels (and late for choir practice AGAIN), I just didn't have time to move it for her. So, Grace sat next to Biscuit all the way to church. He even fell over onto her, which made her laugh. She wondered again who it was for, but I didn't even try. Biscuit's fate is still yet to be determined. Freakin' Biscuit.