The Case of the Disappearing Chocolate Chips...

...in which the true extent of Beanie's chocolate thievery is revealed.

So, remember a few weeks back when I posted an entry about my youngest daughter's surreptitiously helping herself to a pre-breakfast snack of M&Ms? It seems that her career in early morning chocolate boosting knows few boundaries.

We are slowly settling into our new kitchen. Even though it's not complete yet - we've still no countertops or toe kicks and five cabinets have yet to be hung - I've started moving things out of the basement and into the places where they will eventually make their home. One of the areas that's mostly settled is the baking cabinet, a long, wide drawer that contains things like flour, sugar, baking powder, various mixes, dried buttermilk and, yes, chocolate chips.

You should also understand that we've moved into the new living room. The old living room, which will be converted into a sitting room of sorts, is essentially empty right now, awaiting a new floor (I'll explain it all when the celebratory "The house is FINISHED" post, complete with photographs, is issued. Don't hold your breath).

ANYWAY, the girls were in the new living room this morning, watching PBS. I happened to be sitting in the old living room, doing my morning blog check, when I notice Beanie stealthily tiptoe into the kitchen. She silently slides open the baking drawer, then just as silently slides it shut with a hand to her mouth.

I instantly burst into peals of hysterical laughter, which startles the child so badly that she starts to cry. I asked her how long she's been performing that little trick, and she all but admitted that she's been pilfering chips since we moved them there, well within her easy reach, several weeks ago. Again, she 'fessed right up and I, amazed that I'd just witnessed this whole thing and still laughing at not only her skill, but just how damned cute she looked stuffing forbidden chocolate into her face at ten past eight in the morning, assured her that she wasn't heading for the rack as punishment for her crime.

I'm probably going to have to find a new home for the chocolate chips, though.