It's a happy hedgehog christmas!

Last week the gang had a new addition to the family.  They were in Chinatown for some shopping and Ed & Ted came running out of an alley holding hands with a black and white hedgehog.  His name is Abercrombie.  He's a regular size hedgehog, all black with a white belly.  He has spent his whole life in Chinatown hiding out behind a Chinese restaurant, hoping every day that nobody would find him and turn him into dinner.  He was a little nervous when he first saw the whole TOMH&R gang but he soon started to settle in.  Ed & Ted are very eager to show him everything and help him to fit in ... Abercrombie really likes Alphonso, since he looks different than the others too.  He's so happy to finally have a safe, warm home with so many friends.  He's quickly getting used to it all and starting to relax and enjoy his new family.

This was Ricky and Abercrombie's first Christmas!  They didn't have any idea what it was all about or what to expect, but were both very excited.  They all went to sleep together on Christmas eve and woke up early to see what Santa had brought for them.

Since Abercrombie just got here and wasn't able to go see Santa at the mall with the others, Emilio wanted to make sure he got a gift anyhow.  He got him a goldfish like Joe ... Crombie's fish's name is Finch.  He'll live in the fishbowl with Joe, so it's kind of like a gift for Crombie and Joe together!  Ricky got gift certificates to an all-u-can-eat buffet ... he may put them out of business.

Ed & Ted had asked Santa for camouflage outfits so they could blend in.  They thought a true camo suit would be like Harry Potter's invisibility cloak and they'd blend in to everything no matter where they were, but Gustave explained to them that it doesn't work that way.  They did get camo though ... each 2 complete sets of pants, jacket, gloves and hat - one in brown, one in green.

Lola still uses her bedazzler that she got last year.  This time Santa brought her some bottles of glitter glue, in many sparkly colors.  Jed was eyeing them up too, he thought they were fabulous.  He got some gift cards to Starbucks, so he'll probably share them with Lola in trade for some glitter.

Chico and Jorge got some mexican music cds and maracas so they can  play along.  Luigi got a big spice rack full of all the spices he ever heard of so he can make some tasty italian treats.  Fred got a handy dandy woodworking hobby kit to keep him busy until hockey starts up again.

Guerrero got a cardboard box to sleep in in the sun ... his own personal Ed&Ted-free zone.  Freddy got some queen memorabilia that Luigi had seen him eying up when they were at the Olympics.  Raoul got some new kneepads and elbowpads for skateboarding ... safety first!

Pierre got a copy of Gray's Anatomy so he can read up on body parts when he's on his break at work in the lab. 

Al wasn't home for Christmas this year ... he decided to treat himself to a bonus trip to Vegas.  

Emilio got a digital camera so he can take pictures of everyone when they go out on the town or on vacation.  Upyours got some new Converse sneakers for breakdancing.

Alphonso got some white rubber boots ... they'll blend in with his natural pale-ness and keep his feet clean on rainy days!  Julio got some snazzy earmuffs ... they'll keep his ears nice and warm and block out Ed & Ted noise - it's a win/win!  

Gustave is so happy to see how big his family has grown.  He enjoys every minute he spends with them.  He got a  digital picture frame so that Emilio can share pictures of everyone with him, then he'll still see his family even when he goes away on vacation.

Ned has been working hard for weeks now perfecting the new treat for Santa.  Last year was cookies, so this year he decided to go with something else.  He whipped up a batch of double chocolate brownies with walnuts, chocolate chips and a dash of cinnamon.  He put them out with some milk on Christmas Eve .... when he got up Christmas morning and checked to see if Santa had eaten them he found a note:  "Ned ... 3 words    Oh. My. God.  thanks, Santa"   Ned was so pleased he liked the brownies and will keep the note in his lab.  Santa also left him the coolest tshirt ever ... he's been wearing it ever since.

That evening they had their Christmas dinner ... turkey, roasted taters, carrots, yams, cole slaw, cranberry sauce, and cheesecake lollipops for dessert.  Ricky was very excited about all the food.  Abercrombie had never seen such a feast!  He and Ricky had a fantastic first Christmas with their new family.

RICKY!

 Ed and Ted decided they wanted a pet.  Originally they wanted a dog.  Gustave took them aside and had a little talk with them about this.  First he showed them a dog up close.  Next to the hedgehogs a dog is HUGE.  Then he showed them the dog's poop.  He gave them a piece of wise advice:  don't get a pet whose poop is bigger than you are.

So they were out in the yard and found a caterpiller.  It was orange and black, fuzzy and soft and walked all over them, tickling and making them laugh.  He's the perfect pet!    They named him Ricky.  Emilio told them that if they're going to make Ricky part of the family it would be their responsibility to take care of him.  

They got some string and tried to make a leash for him but since Ricky has no neck he just crawled through and out of it. They don't want him to get trampled or lost in the grass so they take turns carrying him on their heads ... this way Ricky is up off the ground and has a good view, and it frees up Ed & Ted's hands to do other things.  If they want to go spinning they put him on Gustave's shell so he'll be safe.

The reason they had first wanted a dog was to play fetch, so they decided to teach Ricky to fetch instead.  They got a tennis ball and threw it across the room and told Ricky to go get it.  Ricky thought about  it and started to go towards the ball but he got tired about halfway there and decided to curl up and take a nap.  Once his nap was over and he was all rested up they tried again.  Ed threw the ball and they called out "ok Ricky, go get it! Go get the ball!  You can do it!  C'mon boy!".  Ricky just sat there and looked at them.  Ted ran over and got the ball and brought it back to show him how it's done.  Then Ted threw the ball and Ed went to get it.  Ricky just sat there and watched.  Ed and Ted took turns throwing and fetching the ball over and over to show Ricky how it's done.  Ricky still just sat there and watched.  The rest of TOMH&R stood nearby watching and giggling ... it seems that Ricky has turned the tables on the twins ... instead of them getting a pet, Ricky got 2 pets and taught them to fetch.  Ricky just sat there and smiled while they chased the ball all afternoon.

Later on the whole gang was surrounding Ricky, everyone trying to get close to pet him because he's so fuzzy and soft.  He got tired of being mauled and headed for a wall.  As everyone watched Ricky crawled up the wall out of reach.  They were amazed at his skill at going vertical.  He showed off up there for a little while, then crawled back down.  After this gravity-defying feat he was very tired so Ed & Ted picked him up and put him to bed to rest up.

Ricky very quickly became a great addition to TOMH&R.  He's got cool skills and a great sense of humour.  Sometimes when Ed & Ted are standing side-by-side Ricky gets on one of their faces and pretends to be a mustache.  Then the mustache creeps over to the other face.  They think this is hilarious.

 

Ricky may be small, but he has a huge appetite.  He can eat a large cookie in just a few bites.  He can pop a chicken drumstick into his mouth and spit out the cleaned bone off in just a few seconds.  Everyone was awestruck by how much and how quickly the little guy eats.  He has a great metabolism and is always hungry ... must be because he has 800 legs and needs the energy.

It's halloween and Ricky has been pondering what he'd like to be for trick-or-treating.  He thinks maybe he'll be a pipecleaner.  That or Batman.  I think he's leaning towards Batman.  Emilio knows a guy who makes costumes so he'll see about getting him a cape. 

dibs!!!

The gang had chicken for dinner tonight. As usual, they all wanted a drumstick. To sort out who gets it they did dibs, eenie meenie miney moe, 1 potato 2 potato, rock papers scissors ... while everyone was trying to figure out who won, Lola sneaked over to the platter and took a drumstick for herself. Quietly walked away and had a good time eating it.
The others couldn't figure out why the bird only had one left!  They were sure it had two a minute ago.  I guess they should find a quicker way to decide these things!

Ed & Ted

Ed and Ted, as you know, are twins.  They are miniature hedgehogs ... much smaller than the others and are often mistaken for babies.  They are always reminding everyone "We're not babies, we're just small!".  They puff up their arms to look muscley and walk around talking in growly voices to sound tough.  

They are exactly alike.  They are exactly the same size and color, their voices sound exactly the same, and they love it!  Only Julio (Coach) and Gustave can tell them apart.  They love being alike and tricking everyone who can't tell them apart.  If someone asks "which one is Ed?"  they both answer "I am!".  If they ask "which one is Ted?"  they again both answer "I am!".  Then they laugh and laugh.

When they grow up they say they want to be 6 ft 13" tall.  They dream of being in fight club, then everyone would know they're tough and definitely not babies.  

They idolize Guerrero and follow him around all the time.  They ask him often if he'll teach them some fancy ninja moves but he says they have no discipline and they're not ready.  Plus Guerrero would rather just sleep in the sun, he is a cat after all.  Sometimes when he's sleeping and the twins are restless and wanting him to teach them, they spy on him.  They stand in his sunshine and make shadows on him, hoping he'll wake up.  Then they pull open an eye to see if he's still sleeping ... when he doesn't acknowledge them they quietly back out of the room.  He always knows they're there, and often he's not even asleep when they come around, but he pretends to be so they'll leave him alone.

The whole gang was watching a show about Titanic on tv.  Everyone was very serious and a little sad about what happened ... until the narrator said "poop deck".  Ed and Ted looked at each other and tried very hard to keep a straight face but it was no use.  It was just too funny.  Ever since they've been giggling about it ... one will say "poop deck!" and they crack up laughing.

Recently they were outside having a great time spinning in the yard and making a lot of wind.  Coincidentally, the others were inside watching tv ... there was a big tornado on the news.  Ed and Ted were very excited about their whirlwind and came running in the room shouting "Hey, guess what we ....." then they saw the damage on tv, quietly backed out of the room.  I think they thought they caused it.

Last Christmas they were so excited to get leather suits from Santa.  They put them on and walked around acting and looking so tough.  They were standing together with their arms all flexed, making muscley poses, then Lola came along with her bedazzler.  She paused long enough to put a few sparkles on each of them, smiled sweetly at them and went on her way.  She thought they looked great!  They looked down at their sparkly leather suits, then at each other, unflexed and went to find something else to do.

They would like to get camouflage suits someday.  Maybe that's what they'll ask Santa for this year.  They think that if you wear camo you'll blend into wherever you are, like Freddy the chameleon.  Gustave tried to explain it to them that it doesn't work that way, but they still think it does.

They love to play games, especially checkers.  They yell out "King me!" after every move.  It drives the others crazy.

Ice-cream!!!

Fred was out all day driving his semi.  Then he called home with a message.  He said he had a big surprise!  Everyone was so excited and could hardly wait to see what it was.  Their imaginations were running wild with all the possibilities.  

Ed and Ted sat in the window watching for him to arrive.  Finally they shouted "He's here!  He's here!" and they all went to the door to see what the surprise was.  Fred drove in and on the trailer of his truck were 3 big tubs of ice-cream!  None of them had ever had ice-cream before but they knew it looked like something they would like.  

Emilio told them to line up and he would hand out bowls.  There was a tub of chocolate, a tub of vanilla, and one of neopolitan (3-flavor) ice-cream.  Lola squealed "we need chocolate syrup!" and ran to get a bottle of it.  She knows that everything is better with chocolate syrup.  Emilio brought out a bowl of nuts.  Alphonso got the whipped cream.  Raoul went to get the sprinkles while he waited his turn.

They had so much fun choosing what flavors they wanted and adding their toppings.  Of course Alphonso had vanilla with whipped cream ... he would probably have liked other flavors but he didn't want to get dirty.  He was very happy with vanilla though, and sat off to the side to eat it safely.

Once everyone had a bowl full of ice-cream and had chosen all the toppings they wanted they all sat down and dug in.  It got very quiet except for the sounds of slurping and "nom nom nom" as they gobbled it up.  

Chico was eating his ice-cream when all of a sudden he closed his eyes tight and yelled "BRAIN FREEZE!".  Very soon the rest of them were feeling it too.  Ned tried to explain to them that they needed to slow down but nobody would listen.  They would take a few bites, then yell "BRAIN FREEZE!" and once it passed they would do it all over again.  They all sat together on the floor eating, laughing and having brain freezes. 

Emilio looked at Julio and saw that he had whipped cream on his nose.  Emilio pointed and laughed at him.  UpYours saw that Emilio also had whipped cream on his nose and he started to laugh too.  It turned out they all had whipped cream on their noses and were all laughing at each other.

Ed and Ted finished their ice-cream first.  They loved it so much they even licked their bowls clean.  They were such a mess - they were both covered in ice-cream with smeary, sticky faces.  Then they looked at each other and yelled "FONSO!" together.  Alphonso had just finished eating his vanilla ice-cream and was very pleased that he managed to stay nice and clean until he saw the twins coming.  They chased him all over the room laughing and saying "Give me a hug!!"

Alphonso ran as quickly as he could but they were too fast for him ... nobody can out-run Ed and Ted.  They hugged him and got their ice-cream faces all over him.  

Finally everyone was done eating.  They all had round full bellies and sticky faces and hands.  It was definitely time for a bath.  They all hopped into the tub to rinse off and relax.  Ed and Ted spun around in the water and made lots of bubbles.  Finally when everyone was all clean they got dried off and headed for bed.  They all gave Fred a hug and thanked him for bringing home such a wonderful treat.

Happy New Year!!!!!

This was TOMH&R's first new year and they were so excited!  They were very happy to have spent the past year together having so many adventures and good times.  They were all decked out in party hats with noisemakers and horns to blow, yelling "Happy New Year!" to each other.

Ted and Ed somehow managed to get themselves each inside a balloon.  They held their prickles down close to their bodies so they wouldn't burst it and were rolling and bouncing all over the place.  Then they  decided to go down the stairs.  They went bounce, bounce, bounce right down the stairs ... once they got to the bottom they stuck out their prickles and the balloons went POP!   They sat there laughing at each other - AHAHAHAHAHA!!!, then ran back up the stairs to get a new balloon and do it all over again.

There was music and dancing with everyone singing along.  They heard all their favorite songs, inserting the word "hedgehog" whenever they could.  They sang "you ain't nothin but a hedgehog" again, and then "I've got the moves like hedgehogs".  They love to do the twist so they were all wiggling and dancing all night.

Gustave strolled around the party among all his friends, enjoying all the happiness and asking what their New Year's resolutions are.  Most of them didn't have any, but a few did come up with something.

Emilio said he's so happy to have so many friends, he's going to cherish them even more

Alphonso is hoping to stay white and clean without having to wear the biohazard suit so much.

Lola wants to get even sparklier (she's really enjoying the bedazzler she got for Christmas).

Ted and Ed are determined to become true ninjas in fight club.  Guerrero just rolled his eyes at them and went back to pretending to listen to his ipod.

Jorgé and Chico decided they'll accompany Gustave to Cinco de Mayo this year.

Luigi wants to eat more pasketti this year.

Ned is going to put all his efforts into figuring out his time machine.

Fred really wants to fine tune his zamboni driving to achieve the perfect sheet of ice.

Finally Al told them that he's going to practice landing so he doesn't have to tuck and roll.  He's planning to fly Gustave, Jorgé and Chico down to Cinco de Mayo this year so they don't have to walk so far.  Gustave is very glad for that (it takes him MONTHS to get down there).

Al celebrated hard and had a little too much beer, he may be throwing up in the morning.  He was having a good time though ... next time they may have to get him some "near beer" instead.  He'll never know the difference.

Jed learned that Cosmo isn't just a magazine, it's also a fancy drink.  He thinks it would be great to drink a cosmo while reading Cosmo to celebrate his New Years Eve from now on.

When it got close to midnight they all sat around the TV watching the ball drop and counting down.  Then they all yelled "Happy New Year!!" with lots of hugs and high 5's, blowing their noisemakers and throwing glitter around.

Then Upyours came in from the kitchen with a huge tray balanced on his shell, full of sandwiches.  There were pb & j and some just pb for Alphonso.  Everyone feasted on the sandwiches with all their favorite drinks.  Emilio had his cranberry juice, Alphonso and Chico had milk, Ted & Ed had lemonade, Jorgé had his gatorade, and Freddy of course had tea.  

Everyone ate, laughed and played until they were all full and all tired out from the intense celebrating.  Then with full bellies they all piled up together and went to sleep.