An electrocution and 2 beards

I'm not sure if dogs have nine lives like cats do, but I do think Milo used one of his "lives" this morning. None of us noticed that he was chewing on an extension cord that we keep under the couch for my laptop until he started yelping in pain, and when I saw his body jumping in weird contortions I screamed and asked Nadia who was right beside him to pull the cord out of his mouth as I knew he was being electrocuted. He continued to have the cord in his mouth even while it was zapping him! She pulled it out of his mouth, unplugged it, and threw it away. Milo continued to jump in these odd ways around the room and continued to yelp in extreme pain. It was awful to see and hear. Ian started crying. I wasn't sure if he was going to die. He continued to shake for quite a long time, but I wasn't sure if that was because he was scared or if it was from the electric shock still having an effect on him internally. Eventually the shaking stopped. I wasn't sure if he needed to go to the vet, but since I can't drive, that wasn't really an option. Thankfully over time he seemed to be acting normally, and it doesn't appear that he burned his tongue. He had previously chewed through an Echo dot cord.

Buttercup, one of our guinea pigs, chewed through another Echo dot cord. Those times our pets escaped unscathed, but not this morning. I hope and pray he has learned his lesson and won't chew any more cords, as it was very traumatic for the kids and I to see and hear what he went through this morning. A few weeks ago Nadia asked if she could invite one of her friends from camp over to our house for a play date or sleepover. I don't feel comfortable supervising any other children aside from my own three during this time because I can't drive if there is an emergency, and today's experience was case in point for me. Thankfully this was our only emergency so far, and Milo doesn't seem to have needed to see the vet. Hopefully we won't have any more incidents, especially during this time when I'm unable to drive. 

The boys have been interested in The Hobbit lately so they said they wanted to be dwarves for Halloween. Paul planned to make them weapons out of cardboard. He bought yarn and asked me to make them beards. I made two beards over the past 3 days. It took hours to

make each one. The kids were planning to wear their costumes tonight at our church's Trunk or Treat. My original plan was to ask one neighbor if they could take the kids to the trunk or treat tonight (the ones who attend our church) and another neighbor if she could take the kids to the trunk or treat tomorrow at the Methodist church a mile from our home, but Paul told me not to arrange a ride for them for tonight as he was planning to take them. I'm not sure of the reason why, but he came home far too late to take the kids, and he didn't call me to tell me he wasn't going to be home in time, which meant they didn't go with the neighbors when they left. Today's trunk or treat at our church (Legoland theme) was moved inside because of the rain so they could have used the cardboard stuff tonight, but I don't think they'll be able to use them tomorrow unless the weather forecast is incorrect. Maybe next year? I am NOT a crafty person. I usually purchase costumes either at yard sales, thrift shops, or after Halloween sales. Nadia made her drink box costume last year, and she made one for Milo this year. Ian and Nadia took it in stride that they weren't able to attend the event this evening, but Oliver was in tears. The good news is they did attend one trunk or treat last Saturday evening so they at least go to attend one such event this year if that ends up being the only one. The boys weren't dwarves last week.