Sheep Christmas

I am settling in nicely in my new home. We went to the North Pole to see how the elves live and I was forced to help in the mailroom:

As soon as they gave me a coffee break, I was out of there! I scurried back to my nice cozy new home and the next thing I knew, Erin, DJ and Chris were back. At first I was worried that they were going to take me back to Seattle, but then they explained that Erin is related to the family I live with and they get together a couple of times a year. Whew! I'm liking all the snow here and all the toys make downtime fun.

Racetrack!

I don't know if that compartment is 5-star safety rated

How does this steering wheel work?

Uh-oh

Not a baby toy, but still fun

I think they were a little jealous of all the fun I have here!

Merry Christmas!

(Click to enlarge)

It's Finn!!

Hi everybody, my name is Finn Puxley and I am the newest member of the herd. Recently I saw the movie Toy Story 3 and I'm not too proud to admit it, the scenes of the day care really scared me. So I got myself on eBay and after a harrowing 7 days I was finally "won" - packed carefully in a box and mailed to Seattle. Ooh, Seattle, I thought, visions of raincoats and umbrellas and muddy boots floating through my head.

But when the box was unpacked, I realized that there must be some mistake. No kids in sight! Only three other sheep, and one of them had a horrible burn on his chin. Just when I thought that I must have ended up somewhere worse than a daycare, Erin came home from work and scolded the sheep for opening her mail and then explained that my journey wasn't over yet. She shoved me, DJ and Sheepy in a bag and we flew back to the Midwest as carry-on luggage. Then we drove in a car for a long time. I was beginning to get worried. This was more than I bargained for. When she finally took me out of the bag she told me to say goodbye to Sheepy and DJ then she stuck me in an even tinier and far less comfortable bag. Oh, what torture was waiting for me next?

It turned out, I was finally going to meet my new owner. Perhaps I was a bit hasty in choosing one because it turns out he is quite young:



Maybe too young:



But then I found out he is what they call a "fluff butt" and my faith has been restored. He's already taken me to meet Santa and promises that we will go other fun places very soon.

Happy Halloween!

The costume parade was not the only thing we did this year to celebrate Halloween. This year Erin said we could have friends over and carve pumpkins. We were very excited. Especially DJ who always want to play with knives. So we gathered up some pumpkins and friends and got to work.

Ooo so many to choose from.

We each picked a pumpkin and started gutting. D.J. dug right in. Erin said she should have made us wear our rain coats. We got a little messy. Jesse saw the mess and decided that holding the pumpkin was just as good as carving it.

Num...guts!

Erin made us sort the seeds from the pumpkin slim. She said she would bake the seeds for us later. I estimate that we got 9 cups of pumpkin seeds! We will be eating them for the rest of our lives!

I decided to carve a traditional Jack-O-Lantern for Halloween. They are my favorite. Erin helped me.

A little more off the side...and perfect!

D.J. wanted to do something a little more modern. So out came a stencil, a knife, and Paul, who helped D.J. with a Felix the Cat. It come out really well. But don't tell D.J. that, or we'll never hear the end of it.

D.J. I think that knife is a little big for detail work.

And Jesse, well...Jesse just held the pumpkin, saying something like, "pumpkins need love, too."

It's okay pumpkin, I won't hurt you.

I think Jesse needs a vacations. Too much work. Eventually we figured out that Jesse just didn't want to get dirty nor play with knives. Which is okay. We had plenty of friends around to help carve. And the results were awesome!

Happy Halloween!

In the end we had 7 pumpkins carved. For some reason Erin said we couldn't play with knives by ourselves. So from left to right is the names of the humans that helped us on each pumpkin: Erin (owl), Angela (spider), Savita (small pumpkin), Erin (traditional), Vijay (Trick-or-Treat), Paul (cat), and Amol (undetermined). Thanks everyone!

On a sadder note, this year while carving pumpkins I got injured. I was playing with the candles and got burnt. But it is a good lesson learned to be careful around the holiday times. Because being injured is no fun. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

2010 Halloween Costume Parade Roster

Another great parade has come to an end. With 19 entries, it really was a great one. We would like to thank all the entries once again for taking the time and sending us your wonderful pictures in costume. We has been fun, and we hope all our participants and readers did too. Here is the final rosters for the 2010 Halloween Costume Parade:

1 - Shaun the Sheep as Little Bo Peep


2 - Quinn as a Traffic Engineer Intern


3 - Riley as an Important Doctor


4 - Franklin as Lady Gaga


5 - Aerin as Tarzan


6 - G. Raffe is a Winter Princess


7 - Sammy as Bathtime Ducky


8 - Broar as Santa Claus (Kerstman)


9 - Baxter as a Pirate


10 - D.J. as a Sock Monkey


11 - Andi as a Beach Bum


12 - Taylor as The Great Gazoo


13 - Jolly Mäh as Magician


14 - Chris as Lady Liberty


15 - Pink Bear as a Fairy


16 - Hawkeye as Makkuro Kurosuke


17 - Heart as a Bride


18 - Jesse as Robin Hood


19 - Val as a Bus Driver


What a wonderful and unique set of costumes. Did you have any favorites? We know we had about 19! But then we might be a little biased. ;) Let us know what you think.

If you missed this year's parade, don't worry. We will have another one next year. And you can even send you picture in now! That's right. You can send a picture of you plush therapy buddy in costume to Sheep. 4225SC @ gmail .com from now until October 1, 2011. We'll be happy to hold on to it and make a special place for it in next year's parade. Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Beep Beep!

Val as a Bus Driver

Val is bringing up the end of the Halloween Costume Parade as a Bus Driver. We're not entirely sure what school Val will drop you off at if you get in...but then again, we're not sure if Val knows either. We appreciate you taking the time to be in the parade this weekend and picking up any parade stragglers as you finish off the route. Thanks Val!

Val's favorite movie is Ernest Scared Stupid. One of those movies that makes you feel better about yourself.

Hiding Out in Sherwood Forest

Jesse as Robin Hood

Our next entry into the Halloween Costume Parade is Jesse. Jesse is going as Robin Hood. But don't be mistaken, Jesse wants to be sure that everyone knows we are talking about the "newer" Robin Hood from the BBC TV Show. Jesse really likes that one and was sad when they canceled the show. As Jesse pointed out, no need for a funny hat. Apparently, the BBC Robin Hood is way cooler. Sheep...who knows?

Anyway, Jesse found out that the sheep are on detail for handing out candy this year to the kids that come to the house. So Jesse of course was very excited to be able to hand out chocolate gold coins to stay in character. Jesse, you are a character. Thanks for joining the parade and sharing your wealth...even if you stole it from Erin.

Jesse's favorite horror movie is Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Yes we tried to explain to Jesse that that wasn't a scary movie. But the sheep insisted that guys in tights are scary. I guess you can't argue with that. At least we can't. Don't believe us? Well take a look for yourself.

I Do

Heart as a Bride.

Heart is a pink pony. She is loved by our little friend Anja. (Anja also watches over Pink Bear...we get the impression that Anja likes pink therapy buddies.) Heart is wearing the costume that Heart says she has "been (forced) to wear on several occasions so that I could be married to William's monkey. To a monkey!!" We feel your pain, Heart. Thanks for sharing and coming to the parade!

Heart's favorite movie Halloween/scary movie is Beetlejuice. Why? Because of the exorcism scenes at the end where they use the wedding dress. (The part where they take over the family and make them dance and sing!)

Come out! Or we'll poke your eyeballs out!

Hawkeye as Makkuro Kurosuke

Hawkeye is dressed as a Makkuro Kurosuke this year for the Halloween Costume Parade. Makkuro Kurosuke (also known as Susuwatari) are the pitch black dust bunnies from the movie Tonari no Totoro - better known as My Neighbor Totoro in the US. Hawkeye, you make a great dust bunny! Thanks for joining the parade!

Hawkeye's favorite scary movie is Scream, because Hawkeye loves to Scream while cheering on the Hawks. We're with you Hawkeye, GO IOWA!

(If your wondering about the title of this entry it is what Satsuki and Mei shout at Makkuro Kurosuke to make him come out. I like it.)

Fairy Dust

Pink Bear as a Fairy

Pink Bear is back, and looking o so fine in her little pink fairy costume. Her favorite part about the costume, you ask? It's pink, of course! We're glad to have Pink Bear back in the parade and hopes she has as much fun being in it as we all have watching it. Thanks Pink Bear!

Pink Bear's favorite Halloween movie is Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie. Scary and adorable, what more could you ask for?

Coming to America

Chris as Lady Liberty

Chris was feeling a little patriotic this year. Thus decided to go as one of the great icons of America, The Statue of Liberty. Chris stands at 11 inches, only 151 feet shorter than the real Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World but with as much heart. Chris enters the parade today on the 124th anniversary of the real statues' dedication. Thanks for joining our parade today Chris and for giving us a walk through the history books.

When Chris isn't holding a torch for America or a torch under D.J. and Jesse, the little sheep is watch a favorite scary movie; The Tale of Sweeney Todd starring Sir Ben Kingsley. Good, classic choice, Chris.

Magic Jolly Mäh

Jolly Mäh as Magician

Our next entry comes all the way from Spain to partake in the festivities. Jolly Mäh, from Raquel's blog Mis peluches Nici, decided to be a Magician, like Harry Potter, for Halloween. He is trying really hard to make a few tricks happen with his crystal ball. What do you think will happen?

Abracadabra

We think he is trying to fill up his pumpkins with candy. Or maybe, Jolly Mäh will get his favorite movie to start playing. Jolly Mäh likes THE EXORCIST! We're scared! If Jolly Mäh conjure up that movie, we're going to go hide in our room until it is over!

The parade will start again, just as soon as we are no longer scared and we crawl out from under our sheets.

You Called, Dum-Dums?

Taylor as The Great Gazoo

The Great Gazoo came all the way the planet Zetox to be in our parade! Well I guess news of the parade has traveled to the farther reaches of the universe...hey, wait a second...that's not Gazoo, that's Taylor. Well, Taylor, you fooled us. Taylor is flying by in a brand new flying saucer. Very aerodynamic. Thanks Taylor for bring a little space age and a little prehistoric times into the parade.

When Taylor isn't flying around in space crafts, the little green fella is enjoying a favorite scary movie; Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Collier's Magazine called it "The Nightmare That Threatens The World!" So it must be scary.

Surfin' U.S.A.

Andi as a Beach Bum

Andi is just turning the corner and come into the spot light with a nice tan. Why? Because Andi is going as a Beach Bum this year for Halloween. Andi loves playing in the sun, and tries to make each sunny day count. We're with you, Andi, we should all try to be beach bums more often. Thanks for reminding us of sunny days!

Andi's favorite Halloween movie is Scooby Doo: Camp Scare. Andi's never seen it, but Andi LOVES Scooby Doo! :)

Bananas For You

D.J. as a Sock Monkey.

D.J. thought that Baxter was so cool that the little lamb wanted to follow the pirate. So after rooting through Erin's laundry basket, D.J. came out with the perfect costume, a Sock Monkey. We only wish D.J. rooted through Erin's sock draw instead of the laundry basket. We would like to apologize now to the next few entries that have to follow D.J. We are hoping they will be going as men in haze-mate suits or army dudes with gas masks. Thanks, D.J. for joining the parade and stinking up the place.

D.J. favorite movie is Black Sheep...or it would be if Erin would agree to rent the movie for the herd. For some reason she keeps saying no.

Monkey See Monkey Do

Baxter as a Pirate

Our next entry, Baxter the sock monkey, is going as a Pirate this year as Halloween. Traditional and great! D.J. specifically stated that this was a great outfit and I think we all know why (because D.J.'s first Halloween costume this year was a pirate...gezz people, keep up). Anyway, Baxter will be sure to get lots of booty this year. Thanks, Baxter, for joining the parade.

Baxter's favorite "fantasy terror"movie is Nightmare on Elm Street (trailer for new remake)....oooo, scary.

Kerstman ("Christmas Man")

Broar as Santa Claus (Kerstman)

Our next entry was born in the Netherlands but has recently made the trip over the pond to the U. S. of A. Entering the parade as Santa Claus (or Kerstman in the Netherlands), Broar is making a wonderfully festive entrance. Traditionally, Thanksgiving Day parades end with Santa Claus bringing up the rear; but since we are a Halloween parade, we though we would bring Santa a little earlier in the parade route. It is good to mix is up. Thanks Broar for being especially festive and bringing two great holidays together!

O, what is Broar's favorite movie? Well, The Nightmare Before Christmas, of course!

You Make Bathtime Lots of Fun!

Sammy as Bathtime Ducky

Here comes Sammy, all nice and clean and ready for a parade! Boy Sammy that costume looks really comfy. Perfect for kicking up your feet and watching a marathon of scary, Halloween movies. Speaking of movies, Sammy's favorite Halloween movies are The Nightmare Before Christmas and Scream. Some great choices.

Quack Quack!

Great costume, Sammy! I think Ernie said it best when he said:

"Every day when I
Make my way to the tubby
I find a little fella who's
Cute and yellow and chubby"

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

G. Raffe is a Winter Princess

Coming next the parade route is G. Raffe. G. Raffe is originally from the Netherlands but decided to grace us all with her presence in the USA. G. Raffe is dressed up as a winter princess. This winter princess would like to point out that she doesn't need a tiara to be stunning; and we would have to agree. (Shhh....G. Raffe already has height issues, and didn't want to be made taller by wearing a tiara.)

G. Raffe's favorite Halloween movie is Dora's Halloween. In this episode, Dora went as a cat and Boots goes as a fire chicken. Creative costumes all around!

Watch Out for That Tree!

Aerin as Tarzan

Swinging into the parade is our next entire, Aerin. Aerin is dressed up as Tarzan this year for Halloween. Amongst the ivy, you can find Aerin wearing a leopard skin costume in style. Thanks, Aerin, for stopping by to show us the ropes.

Aerin's favorite horror movie is The Emerald Jungle (aka Eaten Alive, Doomed to Die) (Warning: the trailer of this movie is horrific both in the fact that it shows people being eaten alive and in the fact that it was filmed in the 1980's. Watch at your own risk.)

P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face

Franklin as Lady Gaga

Next in the parade is Lady Gaga! O wait, no that's Franklin dressed as Lady Gaga. Great costume Franklin, so believable. I can hear the kids screaming from down the street. Speaking of screaming, Franklin's favorite scary movie is Scream. Perfect example of a scary Halloween movie. Thanks, Franklin, for joining our parade and bring us a little pop culture.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Riley as an important doctor

Riley, one of your youngest sheep on the blog, has issues with being the baby of the family, so Riley decided to be something respectable for Halloween... Something that takes brains and an education - a doctor! And Riley is in the house and in the parade with this amazing costume. So believable. Thanks Riley for being on call in the parade!

Riley's favorite movie is Clifford's Halloween - Boo! Riley wants to be big and strong, so what could be better to idolize than a big red dog?

Traffic School

Quinn as a Traffic Engineer Intern.

Next in our costume parade is Quinn as a "Traffic Engineer Intern." Quinn thought this internship would be really great, but the office was chilly and the hours awful. But we all know that the world wouldn't go round without those dedicated civil servants. Thanks Quinn for keeping our streets safe for our parade!

Quinn's favorite scary movie is The Crazies (warning: trailer is rated R), because it takes place right in Iowa! Quinn likes this movie because it is a reminder of a few people/sheep Quinn knows...

Slumbering Shepherdess

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Costume Parade! This year we are starting off a little earlier due to the great number of entries. To kick off this year's festivities we are announcing our first ever Costume Parade Grand Marshal. This is a very important role as this position is responsible for leading the way and setting the stage for the rest of the parade entries. A parade that we hope you enjoy and brings in the Halloween season as a safe and fun holiday for all!

With out further ado we are proud to announce that this year's Grand Marshal is Shaun the Sheep as Little Bo Peep! As we all know, Shaun the Sheep is a huge sheep celebrity and we are always honored to have such a iconic sheep in our parade.

Shaun the Sheep as Little Bo Peep

Shaun chose to dress up as Little Bo Peep for Halloween this year in Iowa. Shaun is wearing the latest fashion in sheperdess and is accessorizing with a lovely white gold crook. Shaun is all ready to lead the sheep in the parade...just as soon as they can be located. No worries, Shaun. We are sure the sheep will follow shortly, wagging their tails behind them.

Shaun's favorite Halloween movie is Things That Go Bump... yes, it's a Shaun the Sheep episode! As Shaun likes to point out, all good videos include talented sheep. Thanks Shaun for being this year's parade Grand Marshal!

(If you would like to participate in the parade, please send entries to Sheep.4225SC (at) gmail.com. Please, only one sheep (or whatever plush animal that provides you with therapy) per picture. And remember to provide explanation of costume if needed, general location, and favorite Halloween /Scary movie title.)

Reminder for Call of Halloween Costumes

Next week we will start our 2nd Annual Costume Parade! We have gotten a lot of great entries, but we know there are more out there. The entries are starting to line up for the parade. So if you want to be in the parade (and believe us, we want you to) please send us a picture of your plush therapy buddy in costume at Sheep. 4225SC @ gmail .com (no spaces) right away. If you need a little more time but want to send something in, let us know. We can hold a spot for you towards the end of the parade. But please, don't wait too long. Also, send us the name of their favorite scary/Halloween movie. For more information, please refer to this post. We want this year to be better than last and we need your help to do that! So put your thinking caps on and get creative.

Thanks!
Management....whoever that is...

Oh là là, Boobies!

Boobie-thon is back in full swing and I just couldn't help but join in again this year. I thought I would mix it up a little with this naughty french maid outfit. I mean with Halloween just around the corner it only seems appropriate to put on a costume that shows off my lovely rack. Right?

(Click to enlarge...not that you need to.)

Ok, let's get a little serious. Every 69 seconds somewhere in the world a person loses their life to breast cancer. Find a way to fight back. www.boobiethon.com

South Dakota - Part 2

While our first few days in South Dakota were a lot of fun, Monday was pretty boring. It was raining, so Sonja wouldn't let us ride on the parade float with her and Silvia. We were kind of sad, so she let us watch from the car. After the parade, it was still dreary, so we just hung out with Sonja and Silvia.

On the last morning, we got to stop at Silvia's office and see a Rapid City landmark. He's a giant cowboy that is outlined in neon at night!

Too bad it's light outside.

We found out that Rapid City is known as the City of Presidents and wondered why until we found our first President. We found James Garfield, the 20th President!


Then we found another one! This one is James Polk, the 11th President.



We wanted to keep looking for Presidents, but Sonja said it was time to leave because we had a long drive back home.

Sonja promised that I could come back with her the next time she comes here to visit her sister and look for more Presidents. Since Val got to come this time and Riley had to water the plants at Sonja's house, I think next time I might ask Jenni if Riley can come along.

Conquering the Airbus

Recently, Andi and I went to The Airliner in downtown Iowa City with Jenni and a few of her friends. Jenni usually eats the pizza when she goes there because it's soooooooo yummy, but we decided to be adventurous.

We looked through the kids menu because we're kids. No, we're not baby goats, we're baby sheep! Shesh!

That's the kids menu? LAME!

Have you noticed how BORING the kids menu is? Andi and I decided that we may be kids, but we needed something exciting! Something BIG! Something YUMMY! Something CHALLENGING! We decided to conquer the Airbus!

Ohhhhhhh, yummmmmmy!

2 pounds of ground beef, lots of bacon, four slices of cheese, onion rings, lettuce, and tomato in a ginormus bun, served with a large order of french fries. Yeah, we can do it!

We convinced Jenni to order the airbus for us. We're growing sheep, we need it! Jenni said that we could share it. No way! We each needed our own. We ordered two while she was drooling over the pizza menu.

Wow, that's a lot of burger!

Wow! The airbus is big! It was bigger than us! We worked hard, we tried to finish it. Alas, we petered out.

See how much we ate? Quite a lot!

We're going to practice at home so that we will conquer the airbus next time we're at The Airliner!

Apple Orchard

Jenni took us to Wilson's Orchard not too long ago. We had a blast! We got to ride a tractor out to the orchard and pick apples! It was pretty hard for us little sheep to pick the apples from the tree, but Jenni helped us. She's not too bad, for a human. We even got to eat a few apples while we were apple hunting. I wasn't sure if we should do that, but Andi and Hawkeye seemed to think that it was okay. Sheep-pressure (much like peer-pressure, but for sheep) hit me hard, and I decided to enjoy the apple eating too.

Mmmm! Honeycrisps!

Andi, you're the apple of my eye...

Hawkeye's apple

Wow, I am cute!

Halo Reach

Erin came home from work today and said she had a surprise for us. Said something about how Summer was almost over and that she knew we would be crawling the walls soon. But she said we would have to wait for after dinner to get it. Of course, D.J. couldn't wait. And of course, D.J. drug Sheepy into it. They went snooping in Erin's purse; and what did they find?

HALO REACH!!!

Erin brought home Halo Reach! And on release day, no less. And out it came from her purse. Have we sheep told you lately that we love Erin?

OOO...bonus spartan recon helmet...what ever sheep needs.

D.J. started to put the disk in the Xbox when Erin walked in front and threw up her hands. She said, "Well if you're going to play video games without even eating dinner than you might as well set up the new Xbox 360 I bought."

OOOO...shiny.

New Halo AND new Xbox!? Have we sheep told you lately that we love Erin!?

We'll we pulled the Xbox 360 out and took a look. It is SOOO COOL! As we were looking at the new improved Xbox I swear I heard the song from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Very monolithic...if it starts singing Daisy, I'm out of here.

D.J. of course still couldn't wait to play.

READY!!!

But Chris pulled out the instructions and explained that we needed to set the box up before any of us could play.

We need to plug it in first.

Plugging the box in meant that some sheep had to brave the dangerous mess of cables behind Erin's computer. So Sheepy and I nominated D.J. since D.J. was too busy gnawing on the headset cord to be listening to us.

I'm scared!

After D.J. plugged in the cord we were off and running. Time to set it up. Our first language wasn't on the Xbox but Erin told us to pick English. She said that Xbox doesn't support Baaa-ing.

OOO...pick that one it's got pretty letters.

And then we got to a page that asked us if we wanted to have any game restrictions.

Quick, select skip before Erin comes back!

Unfortunately, Erin had never left the room. She always seems to be around when we don't want her to be and never around when we really need her. How does that work?

We were all ready to game when...NO INTERNET CONNECTION! What was that about!? I had to crawl under the desk and check it out this time.

Fix it, Jesse! Fix it NOW!

And of course, I found that D.J. had unplugged the router while he was back there plugging in the new Xbox. You know what they say; Never send a lamb to do a sheep's job. But I fixed it.

Ya, green dots!

And then D.J. said, "Out of my way, I want to play!" But Erin stopped us again and said, "No you have to transfer all the content from my old Xbox to my new one." And she said something like, if we had just waited and ate dinner she would have had it all finished in no time at all. But with all us sheep it was going to take longer. She obviously doesn't understand that we are helpful. Silly human. So I took the controls and Chris and D.J. took over the hardware.

Ready!

And finally, D.J. tossed the disk in the tray when Erin wasn't looking. We were off. Erin said something about cleaning up the mess we just made.

"Clean all this up before we play?" Ya right.

But I didn't hear her because I had my headset on. The opening scene looks good.

Oooo....shiny.

Well if your wondering where us sheep will be for the next few weeks, you can be sure to know we are on Erin's Xbox. Someone else will have to hold down the blog while we are gone.

And to all those Halo fans out there; we hope you enjoy Halo Reach. Not that you have time to read our blog. We all know your standing in line at your closes game store waiting to buy it at midnight when it goes on sale. We'll see you in the game lobby!