Baby and Puppy Strike Again

Edible Ornaments are Just Snacks Hanging from the Christmas Tree

Right before Christmas, Grandma had Abu and Blueberry over and they made ornaments with cupcake glass ornaments and sugar cones. They were beautiful!

And then they went missing.

I should have remembered that Baby Blueberry really likes to munch on sugar cones. 

Gibson goes without saying. I'm going to hang food on a Christmas tree, which by the way...he loves Christmas trees. I am bringing the outdoors inside...for him. He's sure we bring the tree in just for him. His favorite thing to do with a Christmas tree (and thank goodness it's not to pee on it) he loves to drink the water. Absolutely will drink all the water from the stand, everyday. 

No wonder my tree dried out so quickly. 

Now, of course, I know this crazy dog of mine. I was well aware that if we thought we would put food on the tree it would disappear. 

So we put the ornaments up high. 

And in a few days, this is what I found on the ground. 

Mmm, suspicious. The sugar cone did not fall off by itself.

And then a few days later...I look up to watch a very quiet Blueberry sneaking over towards the tree.

Sneaking. On tip toes. Thinking I'm not watching her. 

But I do watch her and catch her in action. 

Eating the sugar cones!

She ignores me and my camera, as if I can't see her eating the Christmas ornament. Mmm, edible Christmas ornaments. It's a brilliant idea! 

I tell her she can't eat the ornaments and she's vastly disappointed. And as I'm dragging her away from the tree, Gibson, who has now realized there is another ornament at his level, decides to finish off the cone. 

So Baby and Puppy strike again. Eating Christmas tree ornaments right from the tree. It was a delicious Christmas! 

And Gibson thinks we are just the greatest people in the whole world: we brought a pine tree in the house, we gave him pine tree flavored water (no, I did not try it- it might be the next big thing too, he could be onto something) and we put edible ornaments on the tree! 

Next year he's hoping for bones, hams, and whole chickens hanging from the branches! 

And I'm sure Baby Blueberry would help eat them too.

When my Children Were Little Their Faith was Simple

A Reminder that Faith Can be Simple and Sincere and Sweet

Welcoming the Baby Jesus

This week has been so busy and I so wanted to write about Christmas because I love Christmas. So instead I will repost a sweet blog about Bean and Abu and their innocent faith being put into action with the help of Barbie, Ken, and a few toy animals.

http://justtheothermoment.blogspot.com/2011/12/day-four.html

A little Christmas Cheer from Last Year

Happy Friday!

Check out my last year's blog about Gibson eating Santa. Gibson is still a puppy this year but he's growing up. Now instead of eating ornaments he just likes to drink the Christmas tree water dry. Mmm, pine sap flavored water. Delicious!

http://justtheothermoment.blogspot.com/2013/12/gibson-ate-santa.html

Gibson Ate Santa

      If you don't receive any presents from Santa this year- it's probably Gibson's fault. The photo evidence is clear- Santa's hat in the mouth of  a puppy that chews everything.

       I'm pretty sure I saw a jolly happy fellow running for his life as Gibson chased down the reindeer.
    
        Yep, I doubt Santa will be delivering in my neighborhood ever again. Sorry children. It was the puppy.
    
        Gibson probably just wanted to be friends with the reindeer and he probably only wanted Santa to pet him and let him sit on his lap because no matter how big this dog grows, he literally thinks he's a lap dog and will smother you with affection. Or he's trying to prevent you from getting up, I'm not sure which yet.
     But I know for sure what Gibson wanted from Santa's sleigh....the toys. He loves toys. He chews them and tears them apart and sometimes when he eats too many of them he pukes them back up too.
   
     Today he has chewed and ate three jumbo crayons, the handle to my hairbrush, mini candy canes, and two gardening gloves- unfortunately not two gloves of the same pair, but two gloves from two different pairs, making both of them unusable.

   I saw this photo posted to Facebook and had to share it. My problem with dealing with Gibson is because I'm not thinking like a puppy. Like duh!
   

    So see, he wasn't trying to be mean to Santa. He was protecting us. Just like he barks at the squirrels that run around in the pine tree right above his leash and torment him. But if he stopped barking those murderous squirrels would surely descend from the trees, invade our house and eat us all alive. Gibson knows this.
    So he keeps barking...everyday...all the time...because he's saving us. 

    Wow, I should appreciate him more.

     Same reason he barks at the neighbors...they're obviously murderous. And the postman...and all of the girls' friends...

     But I have to say the puppy and Baby Blueberry work well together. The other night, I turn around and she's dipping a calculator in the Christmas tree water.
    Dip. Dunk. Dip. Shake it out. Dunk it some more...all of it.
    I sighed and shook my head. Who needs a calculator? 
    We left for a couple of hours and when we returned there was electronic parts scattered around the room.
   A circuit board. Rubber numbers. Wires.
   The front of the destroyed calculator.
   I had to laugh at that one. At least he had chewed apart something that had already been completely destroyed by the Baby just a few hours before.
   They're such a great team.

   So we finally got our tree decorated. It's only decorated from the top up. It's naked from the top down. We knew between the human baby and the canine baby we would lose ornaments by the dozen if we put them too close to small fingers and sharp teeth.

     I also set up the Nativity way up high and the rest of the house is sadly lacking any Christmas decorations. Why risk it, all that shiny stuff surely looks delicious! ---for Baby Blueberry and Gibson.

    We bought Gibson a huge ham bone and training treats for Christmas, but we had thought about getting him a new home.
       Gibson doesn't know it yet but he has New Years Resolutions. Like no chewing, no biting, no jumping, better listening, no chasing Santa, and oh, just behaving in general.
       
       Perhaps Santa will drop off a dog trainer!
   

Day Four- Children's Faith

Welcoming Baby Jesus

"So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger." Luke 2:16 TNIV


    Last year after we finished putting up the Christmas tree and decorating the house, Bean and Abu insisted that we needed to do more. The small Nativity sets we had weren't enough, we needed another one. So for the next hour they busied themselves putting together something quite special.
    Abu brought out her horse barn for the manger. Bean found Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.
    Barbie in her hot pink pencil skirt became Mary by wrapping a paper towel around her head like a robe. Ken became Joseph after he also received a paper towel treatment. And a Barbie baby was Jesus, lying in a little pink crib.
    They both worked together to find the stable animals. Cows, lambs, goats, piglets, and pigs surrounded the trio and a horse became a camel with two cotton ball humps taped to its back.
    Bean and Abu set up the Nativity under the tree and there it stayed for more than a week before slowly the toys were reclaimed as toys again and played with. But for just a little while they were so much more than toys.
    They represented Bean's and Abu's faith. Innocent, simple and eager. There wasn't questions and anger. There wasn't doubt. It was a simple moment of believing.
    I miss that. When I was child it was so easy to just have faith. Now I struggle with it.

   I feel blessed to have witnessed such a sincere act of faith. Thank you Bean and Abu for reminding me how simple it can be.
 
   The next part of our journey then is to pay attention to the children. For they remember how to have faith.
   Simply and sincerely.

The Blessing List

     I'm great at making lists. I make lists of things I need to do. Lists of business and writing goals. And lists of chores that are waiting for me.
     When I'm in a mood I'll even add things to my list that I've already accomplished just so I can cross them off.
     Pitiful, I know. But it's a great pick me up without the calories from emotional eating.

     When the movie, 'The Bucket List' came out and everyone was composing their lists of things to experience before they died, I made my list too.
      This list was a bit wishful. I would probably have to win the lottery or find a long lost extremely wealthy relative to be able to cross off all my ideas.

      The list I made after I almost died was a lot more meaningful.

       I know people who make list of material possessions they have to own before they die. I wish they would realize that heaven doesn't have a FedEx service. You're not even allowed to bring the clothes on your back. Doubt me? Look at the ancient Egyptians, all those tombs were empty weren't they? (They weren't. Everything they planned to take to the afterlife is still waiting for delivery.)

      What do we take? Only your memories and who you are. Good or bad. Perhaps a list of brownie points (just kidding.)

      But in all these long lists I have made I've never made a list of blessings.

     Lately, I've been struggling with my faith. The crazier the world gets; when people are willing to stampede each other for $2.00 waffle makers, when I have to wonder how the collapse of the Euro will affect me and my community or how 46 million Americans depend on food stamps to feed their families; the less I understand. What purpose is there for humanity and how far off track have we gotten?  Is there even a track to follow? If Dora The Explorer can call for a map at any time which always tells her which way to go, can't I at least get a cheat sheet? A clue? Something? Anything?
    
      In my search for faith I decided to make a list of blessings. And what better month to do that, than in December? The month we associate with peace, hope, miracles, and a chance for redemption.
     For the next twenty five days I will write about a random blessing in my life. They won't be in any sort of order, just written with gratitude and hope. These are deeply personal and meaningful and I hope inspire my readers to make their own list of blessings.
      And if they do inspire you, please forward my blog on to family and friends that might need an encouraging word.

     It's a written search for my faith, fueled by gratitude, humor, and hopefully some answers.