I love me some hedgehog.

A year ago, possibly longer, I started knitting up a Hedgehog for my nephew.  The knitting went well.  The felting, not so much.  The problem,  the fur.  The pattern called for Fun Fur from Lion Brand.  Since I was trying to use up the yarn I had in my stash I just used an eyelash yarn I had on hand.  Once felted, the yarn matted terribly.  It was quite possibly the ugliest hedgehog ever.  I put it in my, UFO pile and there it has stayed, until yesterday.

Yesterday, in a small effort to do some cleaning out I finally finished the Hedgehog.

And it makes the perfect doggie toy.  Not only does it smell like wool, yummy.  It also, so far, has been indestructible.  Add a dog safe squeakier and voila instant Doggie Toy.

And Ginger seems happy.  She love her some hedgehog.

*one of theses days I am going to have to make this with the correct yarn.  It is so Cute!*

The Dog ate my homework?

What an old homework excuse.  If you are like me I am sure you had to wonder what were they thinking when they came up that excuse. Seriously.  I mean who would believe that? Why would a dog want to eat your homework anyway.  It certainly has no appeal to me, but I'm not a dog.

This past winter Emma's teacher had the children make Cotton pod angels.  They were adorable.  Emma was certainly proud of hers and displayed it proudly for just about 36 hours.  That would be just about the time that Ginger decided that Cotton, being a natural fiber was OK to eat.  Complete and utter devastation occurred.  There was just no way to salvage the angel.  According to Emma, Ginger secured herself a position in the "Worst Dog Ever" category.  Now don't judge Ginger to harshly, after all she is a Dog.  A hyper dog, a dog with a small psychotic streak but a dog none-the-less. We contacted her teacher over the Christmas holiday who assured us we would be able to get another angel.

As it happened, yesterday at roughly 5:00p, Mark and Jack were out playing basketball in the driveway.  Ginger was in the backyard, cheering them on.  On the occasion the ball does go over the fence Ginger, traps the ball, then dribbles the ball to a stop and by that time one of the boys has scaled the fence and retrieved the ball.  Ginger it seems has a natural affinity for soccer, which allows the boys to play a number of games with her.

While they played, Emma and I were in the house.  I came upstairs to the computer, a fact I now regret deeply, and Emma took my absence to mean she was free to get up and leave. She did have the good sense to at least take her homework with her.  Sadly, however, that good sense did not extend much further.  Had she actually been doing her homework outside, had she had her homework in her little hand the following scenario would never have happened. (But, what do I know? I'm just the mom.)

 Minutes later the screaming began.  I was jolted out of my seat and raced down the stairs, hearing sobs, screaming, more sobbing, wailing and the occasional foot stomping, (absolute hysteria would be the word that comes to mind).  When I reached the bottom of the steps Emma held up what looked to be scraps of paper, grass, leaves and mud,  "Ginger did this to my homework!"

After taking time to comfort Emma, I began to piece back the paper.  On more than one occasion Mark or Jack would bring in the remnants they found blowing outside.  With much effort and tape we were able to get the sheet, with the exception of 2 small pieces that I assume Ginger actually ingested and that I am not ever going to try to retrieve.  Emma was able to read enough of her paper to get the assignment done, thank goodness, but, to quote her,"There is no way I am taking this to school!"  I was faced with the task of emailing her teacher.

Hmm.  This, to me, seemed like the most unlikely, not to mention embarrassing of circumstances.  I needed to email her teacher, the same teacher I emailed just 4 weeks ago, and explain that yes it's true our dog is hopeless and is still eating Emma's homework.

Dear Mrs. Jones,

This is an email, I never in a million years would have thought I would be writing.   Our dog has once again reeked havoc into Emma's life, and eaten her homework.  I couldn't believe it myself.  This has to be one of the most cliche excuses ever, yet, sadly it's true.  Using our best puzzle solving efforts (not to mention a roll of scotch tape)  we were able to reconstruct most of her History Newspaper.  Much to her relief, she was able to complete the assignment.  Sorry for the sloppy paper, not to mention the dog.

Kristin Hoog

Fortunately, Mrs. Jones has a wonderful sense of humor and replied,

That is hysterical! I will give her mine. Thanks for letting me know!!!!!!!

Mortified.  Completely. Utterly Mortified.  Yes, it is true, some dogs do indeed eat homework. 

Gravity

Lying in bed one night I heard the loudest crash. It hit just as I was starting to drift off to sleep. I was startled awake. For a moment I was unsure if I had dreamed it. I stumbled out of bed to investigate. I walked out into the hall and looked around. Nothing seemed out of place, all the messes were just as we had left them. I was a little relieved to notice Ginger at the top of the stairs starring down at me. Apparently, she had heard it too. Okay, so it was real. The night progressed without further incident.

The next day I heard another crash. I yelled up stairs to the kids. "WHAT are you doing?!" Imagine my surprise when the kids were not upstairs but in the kitchen. "What was that crash?" I demanded. Well, they were just as baffled as I was. All 4 of us crept to the bottom of the stairs to notice Ginger once again standing at the top of the stairs starring back. Hmmm?

Ginger and I spend a lot of time together when the kids are at school. We go for walks and pal around the house together. It is not unusual to have her follow me around the house. Most days she is happy just to "BE". Occasionally she gets annoyed when I move around a lot. But, she is loyal and reluctantly will pick up her bone or favorite chew-toy of the day and follow me when I move to the next room. Such was the case on Friday. She happily followed me from room to room and up and down the stairs for most of the morning. By early afternoon it was obvious she was annoyed with the uneventfulness of the day. She had brought me every slobbery toy she could find and placed it ever so cautiously in my lap. Lucky me. We played a few games, but I just wasn't the good time she was looking for. As I descended the stairs, for what had to have been the 100th time that day, I heard the crash. I barely had time to side-step and miss the tumbling rawhide as it whizzed by my kneecaps. Ginger, much like your average 10 month old has discovered gravity. It appears that she has tired of carrying her toys or rawhide down the stairs and now prefers just to drop them and watch them bounce down all 12 steps. Did I mention they are wooden steps? All the while the toys roll down the stairs she stands at the top, head slightly cocked to the side and watches them. Now daily we listen to the BANG, CLANG, TUMBLE and THUMP of Gingers toys as they bounce down into the great room. All the while she sits peacefully at the top watching.

Ginger has a death wish

Ginger, Ginger, Ginger.  Where to begin.  Hmm.  Ginger has an inferiority complex.  She loves to challenge other dogs, especially those who are smaller.  She likes to be the boss.  We have struggled with her from the beginning.  At least most of the time she acknowledges us as the Alpha dogs or pack leaders.  Since the move Ginger has begun to go a little Power crazy.  The first day here she not only figured out how to open the gate and escape but, she attacked  our new neighbors much smaller dog.  Nothing says welcome to the neighborhood quite like your neighbor telling you your dog attacked theirs while you were out.  Not only were we embarrassed but we felt extremely guilty.  Ginger has since then become infamous in our new town. To give you an example just today while taking Emma into her first day of school a new classmate came up to Emma and said, "I know you.  You have a big dog that attacked my friends dog."  Boy was Emma ever surprised.  Not to mention Emma's mom.  Then yesterday the kids and I decided to go for a short bike ride.  We thought it would be a good idea to take Ginger with us.  Not only is she power crazy but she also has A LOT of energy.  While running your dog is not recommended for all dogs, in Ginger's case it is almost a necessity.  It wasn't the most fun I have ever had.  Not only did I have 3 kids on bikes, in a subdivision that has no sidewalks, but I also had a dog.  Every time Ginger saw another dog she decided to try to take off after it.  Never fear I was smart enough to stop everyone and wait until the dog left or was lead away before starting back on our way.  At one corner I was not so lucky.  Ginger pulled me off of the bike and started to drag me across the street before I was able to get the leash released from my wrist.  Now I had Ginger trying to dominate this little Yorkie in the middle of the street while Emma is crying off to the side and the poor woman, who's Yorkie Ginger was trying to eat, screaming at her dog.  After pulling Ginger off and making it home I was pissed!    I was so ready to kill her or at least give her to the pound.  But none of that compares with what happened today.  Today, I had finally decided to block the sweater I finished on the trip here.  The kids were at school.  John was at work.  It was perfect.  I vacuumed the rug. I laid out the sweater and after measuring and remeasuring, pinned the sweater to the rug to keep it in shape while it dried.  My first clue should have been that Ginger was very interested in what I was doing.  But NO! I am clueless.  I blocked off the area where the sweater was so no one would be able to disturb my  master piece as it was drying.  It stayed perfectly blocked for about 8 hours before I heard Ginger wrestling with something.  You guessed it my sweater!!  Pins were everywhere.  The sweater was covered in dog hair.   And Ginger sat there with my newly finished sweater hanging from her mouth.  I consider myself pretty forgiving, but she had just reached my tolerance level.  Out she went.  I didn't even feel guilty that it was raining.  No one but no one messes with my knitting.  Now I have a slightly damp wool sweater which already smelled like wet sheep, but now also smells like wet dog and is covered in dog hair.  I am not a happy person.

Happy 1st Birthday Ginger

Ginger turned 1 on the 24 th of December.  The kids were very excited to have her an actual number (not just Zero)  Although they do keep asking me how old she is in human years vs. dog years.  I have been asked so many times that I begin to confuse the two.  

Ginger had a Frosty Paws (dogie ice cream) and a beef bone and was never happier.  The candle that the kids insisted we put in her Frosty Paws  TOTALLY freaked her out (as did our questionable singing)  We will have to wait and see if the next birthday party sends her into a dogie anxiety attack.

Green Thumb and Brown Noser

WOW!  What a weekend!  I am exhausted.  This weekend we had a blast with the kids.  We worked outside and inside the house.  Projects are something the kids love to "help" with.  (Fortunately we were granted quite a bit of patience for this weekend.)  Saturday, we decided to do some planting.  Mark was all over this!  He loves nature, earth, anything having to do with saving the environment.  Needless to say he was SO hyper.  He is definitely a "doer."  Everyone helped Dad dig the hole for the new ash tree we put in the back yarn.  Now, if you have ever been out here to see us, you know that we live on a mountain made mostly of rock. ( Need i say more?)  So, it wasn't so much digging as chipping away the ground with a pick ax.  Very different than planting a tree in the Midwest!    John would pound away at the rocks then the kids would dive into the hole to see who could pull out the biggest rock.   So it was by no means a coincidence that mom bought a relatively small tree, so the hole did not need to be too big.    In about 5 years we may actually have shade.  Yeah!  Trees are few and far between here so shade is a precious thing.  

After the tree was in we moved to the front.  We had planted dry root rose bushes that i ordered from a nursery in Tipp City, Ohio.  I had used this particular variety in one of the houses in ohio and it had done fantastically.  But this is not Ohio, so all but 2 died.  Since we were already digging holes we decided to get new rose bushes to replace the pathetic looking  sticks poking out of the ground. 

 I got 2 lavender colored roses for Emma and 2 pink for me.  Thankfully, the holes had already been chipped away and rocks removed from the last planting so the kids were able to do the digging.

Then somehow I was coerced by Emma into hanging some of our fall decorations.  Talk about a project starter.  I baned  her from getting anything else out until the actual change of seasons on September 21.  We even planted pansies, which bloom here all winter.

We finished the planting and started cleaning up.  I went inside to start dinner.  I noticed Ginger had been outside by herself which is never a good thing.  I went over to the door to call her.  There she was sitting, being all cute, with a snout full of topsoil.  Ginger loves to eat topsoil.  My immediate thought was "OH, no the tree."  Oh, the tree was fine.  There was however a 4 inch hole where she had buried her nose into the ground and eaten about 2 cups of topsoil!!!

Dogs and Dolls

Today was a busy, busy, busy day.  John worked from home, which always throws me off a little.  Today we also had a moving company coming to drop of an antique bedroom set for Emma along with assorted other things from Ohio.  In addition to needing to go to the grocery i also had to make a run to the post office, the bank, Walgreen, and Home Depot.  The movers were coming at 10 so the bank run was first. COD on the furniture.  Before I  left, I asked Emma to pick up her Bitty Twins and put them away.  Upon returning, i found the dolls on the floor and their clothes scattered around.  Emma, it seemed had forgotten to put them away.  I reminded her and she gave me the usual list of excuses.  I forgot, I had to go to the bathroom, I was going to do it on the next commercial.  (If you have kids i am sure you have heard them all.)  

The movers came.  Emma and i ran the rest of the errands, with the Bitty Twins now fully dressed.  We got home unloaded and the kids decided to swim.  On a trip into the house to get snacks, I once again found the Bitty Twins naked and laying in a pile with their clothing.  I picked them up and noticed they were damp.   I figured the kids had gotten them wet on their way in the house from the pool.  Why is it so hard to dry off before coming in from the pool?  I made a mental note to "remind"  Emma again.  When I did remind her  she said, "i did put them away."  Well if they were put away why did I just find them on the FLOOR! 

 After dinner we were getting ready for a walk, when I heard the kids screaming at Ginger.  It is not unusual for the yelling to go on in our house, so basically I tuned it out.  When I did resurface to take everyone out for a walk Emma said, "Mom, you will never guess what Ginger did?  She took my Bitty Twins!"  I said, "Well Emma, if you would have put them away."  She looked at me, rolled her eyes and through her hands on her hips.  "Mom,  you don't get it.  She didn't just take them.  She undressed them!!"  Sure enough the dolls were naked, for the third time that day and more than a little wet in places.  It appears Ginger not only like shoes, but also enjoys playing with dolls.