My boy, almost expelled from school

The "kids" were all lined up, sitting nicely on their chairs. There was a moment of panic, when a baby did not want to sit up straight and kept toppling over. Once she was positioned against the back of the chair, it was fine.
Class was about to start.
Ms. Kaitlyn's Kindergarten class, that is.



The school building is beautiful, naturally with the American flag!









Oh, and NO dogs or cats allowed! Sorry, Fudge and Hootie...










I asked Ms. Kaitlyn if my son could come to school. "Of course", she replied. "And if you want, you can stay with him since it's his first day. Giraffe's mommy is here too." That's all right, I said. He will do fine.
I did come into the classroom briefly to take pictures. I moved Zander's high chair a little closer to the others so they would all fit in the picture.










As I proceeded to take a picture of his other class mates, Ms. Kaitlyn looked over to him and noticed that he had grabbed Cheetah by the ear and was trying to pull her off her chair.
She ran over to him, got Cheetah to safety and then moved his high chair to where he could do no harm to the other kids.
"Don't do that again, or you will have to go home", she said sternly.











My son was neither overly impressed nor subdued by that statement.
I may have to look for another school.
Sigh...

Slick puppy

Meet Fudge, our newest family member:

He is a German Shepherd/black lab mix and is sooo sweet!
He came home with us from a shelter on Tuesday and has adapted extremely well. He does not like to be alone and will follow us around "like a puppy" you could say...:)
He tries really hard to be friends with Hootie, but Hootie doesn't want to have anything to do with him; he will hiss at him when he comes too close, or swat him. It will take that cat a little while to accept Fudge. Meanwhile Hootie has been snacking on Fudge's water and food to his heart's content.

Now, about the name of this blog...
Yesterday Jim tied Fudge in the garage with food and water, then brought the kids to Danyelle for Zander's speech therapy and went to work. I would pick up the kids from Danyelle's after work, go home and take Fudge for a walk (Zander in the stroller), since it was such a gorgeous day.
I parked the car outside, opened the garage door and there was Fudge, still tied to the pole where Jim had left him. He was yelping and howling, ecstatic with the prospect of being able to jump on us in greeting, happy to soon be released from his pole prison. I saw he had knocked over the bag of potting soil, but not much had spilled. Then I noticed the paw prints. Dozens and dozens of prints littered the floor and covered his leash, food dishes, and several boxes and picture frames around him.
Even though they were brown it did not smell like poop, so I got a little closer look.
Then it dawned on me: motor oil!
Last week Jim had changed the oil in my car and, since we did not have any container to put the used oil in, left the pan with the used oil in the garage until we would be able to dispose of it. I have to admit that my thoughts towards my husband were not very nice at that moment. Not very nice at all.
Okay, let's tackle this and get it over with.
While I tried to calm Fudge, who was trying his utmost to jump on my suit, I told Kaitlyn to run upstairs and put on her oldest clothes. Then she could walk Fudge in the backyard while I changed and together we could bathe him and attempt to get most of the oil off him.
When she came back down I untied Fudge, who immediately jumped on Kaitlyn, deliriously happy that he was finally loose. In his enthousiasm he scratched her arm, which prompted Kaitlyn to start wailing for me to get that dog off her!
Plan B
I tied Fudge to the pole again (sorry, baby) and brought Alexander, who had been napping in the car, upstairs and changed hurriedly into my old jeans and my Salon Maison shirt (the shirt I use when I dye my hair, since I ALWAYS seem to spill dye on myself). Then I ran back down and let Fudge give me a proper greeting, complete with wet doggy kisses!
Together Kaitlyn and I washed Fudge's paws, belly, and under his chin. Luckily he did not get any oil around his mouth and Kaitlyn went to fetch him some fresh drinking water, which he slobbered up the way only a puppy can. When I was sure I had gotten all of it, I rinsed him and Kaitlyn dried him off carefully. We let him run in the back yard a little to dry off completely and, finally, were ready to head into the house.
First things first: I poured myself a glass of wine and took a sip (okay, more like a few gulps...).
Then I fed Alexander, changed him, and got Kaitlyn's dinner ready. She wanted bread with butter and a boiled egg and asked if she could eat it while watching the dog movie (How to take care of your puppy). Needing a little time to myself I agreed (yes I know, the tv is not a babysitter. So bite me!) and told her she had to make sure Fudge would stay away from her plate. She sat down on the couch and Fudge promptly snatched a piece of bread from her plate and devoured it in 3 seconds flat. Okay, so maybe that plan didn't work out too well.
Later that night, after putting KK to bed, tidying up the house and getting things ready for the next day I plopped down in front of the tv with my son in my arms, ready to relax for a little bit.
At 11pm I fed him once more, put him in his crib, walked Fudge, and fell into bed. I think it took me a whole second to fall asleep.
I woke up sensing someone standing by my bed. I opened my eyes and looked at my daughter. Kaitlyn was wondering why Fudge was not sleeping next to her bed and where was he anyway and could she go get him and take him to her room? I slowly moved my head to look at my alarm clock. It was 4:15am...sigh
Whose idea was it again to get a dog?!?!?