New Year's Eve

This is New Year's Eve. Mom was going to post pictures from the New Year's Eve she spent in Russia, but she'll do that another time. Our Mom gets sad on New Year's Eve, so we're all going to do fun things together today and try to stay happy.

Tonight Mom and Dad are staying home with us instead of going out to celebrate. We're all having shrimp. They eat the front part and we dogs eat the tails.

Then, at midnight in New York, where our Mom and Dad are from, when the big ball drops, they'll drink some Champagne. We'll each get a cookie. 

We want to wish all our bloggy friends a very happy 2011. We look forward to seeing all the fun you have in the next year.

The Top Three

Remember the Cabbage Patch dolls and Tickle Me, Elmo? Toy manufacturers and parents are always trying to guess what the most popular toy will be each year.

Well, pet parents do the same thing, and we're wrong just as often as the other type of parents. This year I made my guess and chose this cute little turtle. It's an interactive toy, which appeals to me.

The human sticks the head, tail and legs inside the shell and the dog then enjoys pulling them out. As an added incentive, each appendage has a squeaker.  The manufacturer didn't warn me that I'd break two nails trying to tuck the legs in. What dog wouldn't love this toy? Mine! I don't think it's been touched, even though I've tried showing several of them how much fun it is.

I'll now show you the top three Christmas toys as chosen by my pack of experts.

The third most popular toy was this rather ugly anteater, which I found at the dollar store last summer and tucked away in my gift closet. I felt it was too ugly to send as a gift, so I threw it in the toybox with the other new toys.

This fellow has a stretchy elastic tail, making him a perfect tug toy for two pups to play with together. He also is easy to fling by the tail, so it's good for throwing, chasing and pouncing upon. Morgan, especially, likes this toy and has carried it around all weekend.

The second most popular toy is the little snowman.

This toy is small and very light weight. It has no squeaker, but did have a tasty hat and scarf that were eaten on Christmas morning. The best feature of this toy is that it's so light. Throwing it in the air and catching it is a really fun game that has kept several of them amused for long periods. I discourage throwing toys in the house, but this one won't hurt anything.

Here Sky demonstrates the technique.

Far and away the most popular toy this year was the hedgehog.

This toy has two very desirable qualities. First, it's small enough to fit inside the big mouths of my dogs, so one doesn't know the dog is carrying it. Second, it makes a disgusting pig sound when squeezed. The best game is to come up behind an unsuspecting human and suddenly squeeze the toy hidden inside the big mouth. The human usually jumps upon hearing the disgusting pig noise behind them. This seems to amuse my group and they've all been trying it.

Here Tsar is taking his turn with the hedgehog.

There is great demand for this toy and I predict a short life for the hedgehog. Maybe someday I can convince one of them to play with the turtle.

Santa Came!

Santa came to our house and he brought lots of surprises. This morning when we went outside it was snowing.

We all had breakfast, cranberry nut bagels with cream cheese.

We went out to feed the hungry birds.

Then when we got back inside, Santa had been there and left a bunch of new toys.

Dad opened the toybox and we crowded around to see what was inside.

Here's a short video of us choosing our toys. In the video Mom is saying "No" to Bailey because Bailey was trying to open the packages Santa left for Mom and Dad.

We each got to pick out stuffies and balls and squeaky toys.

Tsar pulled the long ears off this bunny right away.

 Sky picked out a snowman and started tossing it in the air and catching it.

 Then we settled down to play.

 Santa even brought presents for Holly and Cloud, honey seed sticks.

Mom said we had to play quietly, so we did.

After such an exciting morning, we got tired and some of us took naps.

Doesn't it look like we had fun?

 We hope Santa brought you everything you wanted. Merry Christmas!

A Christmas Wish

It's Christmas Eve and I have a wish. It's not something that can be put in a box and wrapped in shiny paper. You can't tie a bow around it.  It's something that I've wanted for some time and it's becoming more and more important to me.

 My wish is for tolerance and acceptance.

 

 I have dear friends who celebrate Chanukah.

I have dear friends who celebrate Kwanza.

 I have dear friends who celebrate Christmas.

I have dear friends who celebrate Ramadan.

I have dear friends who celebrate Vesak Puja.

I have dear friends who celebrate the Winter Solstice.

I have dear friends who celebrate several of these,none of these, or something else that is just as important to them.

It saddens and frightens me to see those who insist on playing the "My God is better than your God" game. I see it more and more often lately. The haters among us feel empowered to attack those who are different.

If only Santa could bring a little kindness and acceptance to those who feel the need to put others down for their beliefs, skin color, or who they love.

Enjoy your holiday, whatever you celebrate. And to all a good night.

My Solstice Swap

Yesterday was the winter solstice and the mail carrier brought a special package to the door. It was my swap gift from Lynn of Rocky Creek Scotties. It came on the exact day. How perfect is that?

 It really was too pretty to open. Look how festive it looked. What was inside?

First there was a tin  of chocolate truffles. Robert couldn't wait. We had to try them last night. He's even more of  chocolate fiend than I am.

Next was this sweet little Scottie box. The box itself was special, but inside was a pair of hand knit socks for cold winter nights.

 Finally, there were ten bright, merry doggy print bandanas.  With ten dogs, I never expect anyone to give them each a gift. That's over and above the demands of friendship, but Lynn made and hemmed one for each of my pooches. They will be sporting them on Christmas Day so I'm sure you'll see a picture or two with them showing off their finery.

Thank you Lynn, that was a very special gift and it brightened a short, dark, gloomy day. The boxes are appreciated almost as much as the contents. I love decorative little boxes to store my treasures. In my opinion the swap was a big success. Thanks to everyone for playing.