Monday Mischief - Better Late Than Never

Since we had a late Christmas with all that was going on, Fred was a little peeved.  Oh, he was worried about Emma but those unopened presents from our gift exchange buddies Wally and Sammy from The Chronicles of Wallace and Samuel, way over in South Africa, just ate away ate him and put him in a sour mood.

"Talk to the ear 'cause the face don't want to hear it Momma!"

Finally the week after Christmas I decided regardless what was going on, I had to shut Freddie up let them open their gifts.

"Come on Freddie.  You and Gloria can open your gifts from Wally and Sammy."

"Really?"

They both had no problem diving right in!

"What is it Freddie? What is it?"

"I don't know Gloria.  Get your big snout out of there and I'll see!"

"Rawhide!!"

"Okay, take it and buzz off Gloria and let me at the rest!"

rip,rip,rip

rip, rip, rip.........

"Ahhha! Finally, new toys!"

"Back off Gloria.  Don't you see what it says?"

They got three new stuffies!

Which Fred would not share.

"I don't care! I'm not sharing!"

And lots of yummy treats! Look, they're for Best Friends! Awwwww!

That were lick curling good.

So Freddie hoarded the toys.........

and Gloria hoarded the rawhide.....

and all was right with the world again!

Thank you Wally and Sammy for the wonderful Christmas gifts for Freddie and Gloria.  You're the bestest friends ever!
P.S. - The package we sent to South Africa for Wally and Sammy still hasn't arrived yet but we are holding out hope that their gifts will still arrive safely!

Update - We just heard that Wally and Sammy's parcel arrived in South Africa! Yay!!

Happy New Year!

I just thought I'd do a quick post to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I haven't been on the computer nor have I felt like it so I thought I'd give a quick update as to why. Our New Year has turned out extra special as we can thank God our little granddaughter Emma is still with us.  We almost lost her in the wee hours of Christmas morning.  She contacted a virus that turned into pneumonia which triggered a life threatening asthma attack.  Emma wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for the fact that her Mom (Brandi) was so worried about her after having her to emerg twice (the last time just getting home at 5:30 p.m. Christmas Eve) that she took her into their bed Christmas Eve and seeing she was in distress rushed her back to emergency at 2:30 a.m. because she couldn't breathe, the doctor and team in Woodstock worked on her and saved her life. Once they got her stable they sent her by ambulance to Sick Kids in London where she then had an allergic reaction to the meds they gave her and spent 3 days in ICU before being moved to the pediatric ward. She is now home and still recovering but it is something we will never forget. I still feel a little shaken and tear up very easily.  We are looking at this as the best Christmas and New Year's we have ever had as we are so grateful we still have our Emma! 

This was Emma the day before she came home from the hospital after they removed most of the tubes and wires. Her Mom sent me a picture from her phone so I could see she was okay. She was such a little trooper through the whole ordeal.  Five days after Christmas when she was able to come home she sang Christmas carols all the way home because she thought it was Christmas day.  And I'll tell you it was the best feeling in the world to see her, as weak as she was, to be so excited to come home and open her presents with her family.

This was Fred and Gloria waiting for Emma.  Little do they know it will be awhile before they can see her.

I'll probably be back to my regular blogging and catch up next week but while I'm gone remember, life can change in an instant, so go give the ones you love a great big hug! 

Happy New Year from all of us to all of you!  

Christmas Decoration Countdown & Christmas Card Count

This is Sylvester.

This ornament is probably around 36 years old.  Yes, I had a kitty and his name was Sylvester because he reminded me so much of the one in the cartoons with Tweety Bird.  If ever there was a heart cat he was it.  He was actually more like a dog when I think about it.  I had him before I met my husband and Sylvester was so jealous of my hubby that he would always want to lay between us on the bed.  When my husband would first get into bed, Sylvester would walk up and bite him on the nose as if telling him "Back off buddy, she's mine!"  Sadly Sylvester was hit by a car when he was 10 years old but his ornament is always the first one I put on our tree.

Now on to the Christmas cards!

Freddie and Gloria were pretty excited to see the mail yesterday.

They got four more cards!

 The Christmas card count..........

Fred and Gloria ............fifteen........

Stevie and I............................one!

"Hehehehehe!!"

P.S. - Yes, that was Freddie's real tongue yesterday. Even we didn't know it was that long! LOL!

A Parcel!!

IT'S HERE!!! IT'S HERE!!! ALL THE WAY FROM SOUTH AFRICA!!!!

Freddie and Gloria's gift exchange presents from Sammy and Wally!  I can't believe it came so fast.  We sent our exchanges early as the post office said it would be 4-6 weeks for delivery. I sure hope they get their parcel from Freddie and Gloria soon too!

"Momma, Freddie won't let me see!"

"Fine!  Here Gloria have a sniff."

"Oh, it smell really good in here Momma!"

Their box was filled to the brim with presents and treats and they each got their own card!

Look at the treats.  They are Slobber Chops! Wally and Sammy posted about them awhile ago.  You can read all about them here.

They are all home baked with natural ingredients and a percentage of sales goes to Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centers. Freddie got peanut butter and Gloria got biltong.  I decided to let them have the treats now and save the presents for Christmas.  

Gobble guts Gloria was right in there.

"Nom,nom,nom............."

Freddie Spaghetti loved them too! I had to monitor them so they didn't eat the whole bag.  Even though Freddie and Gloria are a little ticked at me because I'm making them wait until Christmas to open their presents, they still managed to get in the spirit of Christmas to thank their friends.

"Now Momma?"

"Yes, Fred."

"Thank you Wally!"

"Thank you Sammy!"

Christmas is Over

Fred's having a tough time dealing with the fact that Christmas is over.  I tried to have a little talk with him yesterday to snap him out of his mood.

"Come on Freddie! Don't be so depressed. I'm sorry Christmas is over." 

"At least there's still New Years Eve......right?.....Fred, Freddie Spaghetti, Fredrico, buddy."

"Will Santa be there?"

"No."

"Will there be presents?"

"Well, no."
 

"Ughhhhhh!!!! Then wake me up next December!"

Christmas

Christmas Eve we had one of our family gatherings.  I spent all morning preparing the food.   Fred and Gloria were right in there helping.   We all had a big night ahead of us. 

Don't you just love my candy cane striped lounge pants!

Once the food was done and the house was cleaned I tried to shine up the hounds a bit. They had a busy meet and greet coming up and I wanted them to look their best.


After their big night of entertaining they both tried to curl on my lap. 

Which was good because Santa would soon be coming. By the look of them, you'd think they got into to the ole punch bowl!

Santa didn't disappoint and brought them some squeaky toys and chew bones.

Gloria even attempted to play with her toy (this is a rare event).  She was doing good until it squeaked.  Then she ran and hid by me.
                                          

Fred was still too tired to even stand, so he just laid on the floor and chewed on his toys.  I think he kept squeaking his on purpose just to scare poor Gloria!

Awwwe.......look how enthusiastic he is!

So now that the hounds had  new toys and  more messy chew bones everything was good.  Especially since my daughter and her husband got us this bad baby for Christmas!

This will make life so much easier when it comes to cleaning up after two messy basset hounds! Not that I look forward to a mess, but I can't wait to try it out.  Today we have our kids and grandkids for boxing day dinner as we just do presents and brunch on Christmas.  So throw two hounds into the mix and I'm sure there will be a mess by the end of the day.  Then I will get to try our new Bissell Little Green!

Wishing for Snow

I'm just sitting here this morning having my coffee wishing for snow. I usually don't worry too much about getting snow as I always think it is my Christmas present from my Mom every year. You see, she passed away just before Christmas 12 years ago yesterday.  My Dad followed 2 years ago on the 20th. I used to phone her no matter what time of day when we got our first snow fall because I love snow so much and she would always laugh and say "Yes, Janet I see the snow." Every year since she has passed we have had snow even if it is green until Christmas Eve, it suddenly will snow. I always tell my kids, "See, I told you Grandma would send snow!" So in keeping with the snow theme I thought I'd share some pictures and just maybe, just maybe..... give Mom a little nudge.

These pictures were taken at the beginning of May this year.

This next one.......

.... is Gloria before we got her with Fred's Mom Lola at Autumn Blaze Bassets last winter.

Doesn't Fred look like his "other" Momma!

These next ones of Fred..

... were taken two weeks ago!

So like our sign says.........

 

.....BRING ON THE SNOW!!!!

Merry Christmas  Mom & Dad!