These days my kitchen floor is covered with chewed up bits of paper towels and my living room has squeaky toys in every corner. Each time I want to leave the house, I embark on a treasure hunt to find one of my shoes that has been buried under the couch. It’s not that my housekeeping has taken a turn for the worse, but a new addition has joined our family - an adorable 10-month-old hound mix puppy named Katie.

We recently adopted her through a wonderful local rescue group and our home is now filled with the energy that only a puppy can muster. But the amount of love and joy that she brings to our home has been worth every minute of work. She waits at the front door for us and gives us a hero’s welcome even if we just went to the mailbox. And it’s impossible not to smile when watching our silly puppy run around the house with our belongings in her mouth to get us to play a game of chase with her.

It has made me proud as a mom to see how much the kids have helped with training her, taking her out and throwing endless balls for her to fetch. While our other dogs tolerate the kids, I have to say that Katie loves them with every wiggly bone in her body. And the fact that she snuggles at the foot of Laure’s bed each night is totally worth the price of replacing a few shoes.