Ruff-Ruff

(Re)Introducing:

Lucy Belle!

Origin of name:

She-She wanted our dog to have a princess name and was pretty set on Cinderella. But we stepped in and the compromise came to Lucy Belle. Belle being from Beauty and the Beast. Not a movie She-She knows very well, but still knows the princess.

Breed:Labrador Retriever

Color: Chocolate

Age: 11 weeks

Favorite Hobbies:

Running with tongue out and ears flapping

Chewing on kids toys

Wrestling stuffed animals

Nipping ankes, hands, and pants legs

Other Talents:

Obeying the "sit" command

Bringing the ball back if you throw it

The Story:

Sean owned a dog similar to Lassie when he was a kid. They were best pals. Sean would fall in a well and then Grady would run home and bark and Sean's parents would say, "Grady, did Sean fall in the well again?" There are many tender and amazing stories told about old Grady.

So Sean wanted our kids to have a dog

I on the other hand, did not want to pick up dog poo, smell dog poo, and step in dog poo. I did not want to be tied down if we wanted to leave town. I did not want to train a dog.

Then one Saturday I was feeling depressed and bored. I started looking at puppies online. They were so cute. I told Sean we should get one and he jumped on it before I could back out. So we did it.

Then things got a little crazy:

Stage 1- Lucy cries all night, poops and pees on the floor and can't be outside because we don't have a fence

Stage 2- We panic at our rash decision

Stage 3- She-She confines herself to the couch because Lucy tends to get hyper and nips and jumps.

Stage 3- We build a fence. Lucy learns to go potty outside (most of the time). She sleeps through the night

Stage 4- We remember how cute Lucy is. She-She gets more comfortable with Lucy. Lucy stays outside much of the day, also saving our floors from accidents.

Now things feel more normal. My biggest problem is that Lucy likes to nip to get attention and it drives us all crazy. Hopefully this is a puppy thing and she will grow out of it. But she is so cute and VERY smart. We love having her around. The good news is that she is adjusting to being an outdoor dog and that makes things a lot easier.

Kids' reactions:

She-She adores our dog. She likes to feed her treats and play tug-of-war with her. Although she keeps her distance when Lucy is really hyper for reasons mentioned above.

As you can see from the pictures, Bigdog and Lucy are two of a kind. They both chew on everything in sight, roll on the floor, growl, and romp. Bigdog likes to give Lucy hugs or just maul her. Lucy takes it pretty well and it is so cute to watch.

So thats the story of our dog. We think she is pretty great.

P.S. If anyone has any great dog training tips, let me know.

Another Hairy Topic

She-She has been growing her hair out. Ever since she was a baby I have trimmed it here and there to keep it mostly the same length and looking decent. She has loved having beautiful flowing hair and likes to bend her head back so she can feel it brush on her back.

I had been talking about giving She-She a haircut for a long time. Sean didn't want me to because he was kind of sentimental about her long hair. Of course, She-She wasn't a big fan either. Then I gave Sean a hair cut. And Bigdog. And then I got a semi-drastic hair cut. So She-She told me one day she was ready. She wanted me to cut her hair.

Before:


After:

I have to say she looks SO CUTE. Even Sean had to admit that I was right and she looks adorable. I think I probably whacked five of six inches off. This was her first major haircut EVER and it is a success. She barely even noticed when I showed her in the mirror. Her only comment was, "Its black like yours, Mom." Since my haircut/highlights she associated cutting hair with changing its color I guess. Good stuff.

Apples to Apples

In our house apples are like candy.

First a little before and after picture. This is what Bigdog's apple looks like after working on it for 20 minutes.

I'd like to see YOU do that with only four teeth.

Then he uses it as a prop for cooking. Bigdog loves apples. And he loves to cook. He also loves to watch me cook and hangs on my leg and cries until I hold him so he can watch what I'm doing.

If there is something going on in the kitchen, Bigdog has to be there. Then he imitates it later when he plays at the toy kitchen. But I digress.

Here is another example of what four teeth can do.

I do peel off the skin, though. It makes things a little easier.

Here are two yellow-bellied creatures gnawing on apples. Here is the real question. Why did I let them eat on the couch? Now I'm gonna go get an apple because they make 'em look so good. You should hear the smacking and crunching sounds they make. Wow. Apples are delicious.

3 year pics

This is my sweet angel. She was so excited to get her pictures taken. She is a little princess.

Introducing...

Ummm...actually she doesn't have a name yet. But enjoy her cuteness. More on her story later.

A Hairy Topic

A big event happened in my life this week. I got my hair cut...and highlighted. Can you believe it? Okay, so maybe it isn't a big deal to the rest of the world. In fact, maybe it is a little LAME that I have NEVER in my ENTIRE LIFE colored my hair. Okay, except once in high school I helped a friend bleach her hair and I was so brave and put some streaks in my bangs. No one even noticed.

This time I got coupon in the mail for a salon. A haircut for $14.99 or a cut and color for $50. A steal, I guess. Sean watched the kids and convinced me to take a risk and spend the $50. So I did. Then I texted him that I went pretty blonde and he about panicked.

The truth is that I got some highlights and cut my hair a little shorter than usual. See any difference in the picture above? Not really, right? Well, She-She says there is. Here is her reaction:

At first she was kinda silent. For an hour or so. Then it all came out when Sean asked her opinion of my new style. And you know She-She always has an opinion on style.

"I don't like yer hair! I will tell dose people at the store to not take yer long hair! And you will sit in the chair and I will paint it black. You not have brown hair! I will paint it black. I'm so angry."

She told me several times that I was not supposed to have brown hair. She plans to paint it black again when she gets the chance. So I guess my little adventure at the salon was not to her approval. She likes the old me better. Oh, well.

As you can see by this fabulous picture, I just have "a little sunshine" in my hair (as the stylist said) that should grow out naturally. I think this picture makes it look even more dramatic than it is. Or maybe I just can't see the top of my head in real life, so I don't know.

Fun stuff. Next time, maybe I really will go blonde.

Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

Dear Readers,

I know I use crazy little alias names for my kids, and these video totally negate that purpose, but whatever. Bigdog is learning to say words and it is so cute. Sometimes he can be pretty good at imitating a word I am saying. Some words stick around for a along time (Momma, Dad, hi, no-no, pat-pat) and others he learns and quits using after a while. Here is a sample of our little linguist. In the video I thought he was saying 'knock-knock' but I have decided he was telling me 'no'. A lot of his words sound the same, but trust me, he IS saying them. Can you blame him that enunciation is hard at 14 months?

(P.S. Do you know the difference between enunciation, and annunciation? After writing this post, I do!)

It is now official. Bigdog is 14 months and he walks. He took his first steps at the beginning of February. By Valentines day he was covering short distances across the room. Now he has decided that there is something about walking that is worth it. This week he started walking ALL the time instead of crawling. Even if he falls, he doesn't crawl but stands back up. Here is some footage:

Stuffed Full: Cook-Blog-Share Final Week

*Here are the links to the other blogs with recipes this week. The blog/post title isn't always the name of the recipe so be sure to read the whole post and there should be a recipe somewhere in there. Also be sure to click on 'older posts' at the end of this post for more recipes or check out the February archive. Updated Mar 3 2010.

Chicken Enchiladas from Marie
Pepper Steak from Elise

This is the last week of my Cook-Blog-Share project. I am so excited that it went so well. I got a ton of new food ideas and it was fun to collaborate with fellow blogging friends. During the four weeks there were thirty-three recipes shared! My goal is to try every one of them and so far I have tested out fourteen. There is not a bad one yet! Thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone who participated.

This week I am sharing a stir-fry that is easy to make and I always have the ingredients in my cupboard. So without further ado...



Honey-Glazed Chicken Stir-Fry

You need:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken
1 bag frozen stir-fry veggies, dethawed

Glaze:
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons orange juice
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1.5 teaspoons cornstarch

Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Set aside. Mix glaze in bowl. Set aside. Pour some oil into a pan. Add veggies and cook until they are tender and warmed through. Remove from pan. Add chicken. Cook until it is no longer pink. Add glaze. Cook and stir until it is thick and bubbly. Add veggies back into the pan. Cook everything until veggies are warmed through. Serve over rice.

*I like to double the glaze recipe because I like my stir-fry extra saucy. You can also use lemon juice instead of orange juice if you want a little different flavor. If you use fresh veggies, just fry them in the begginning a little longer until they are tender but still crisp.

Mexican Chicken

(From Erin)

Spray the crock-pot with Pam first.

4 Frozen Chicken Breasts
20 oz. Pace Picante Sauce
1 dash Cumin
1 cup Frozen Corn
15 oz. Black Beans, drained and rinsed.
2 cloves minced garlic
2-3 cup uncooked brown rice.

Combine all and stir. Cook 4 hours on High in crockpot. Stir it occasionally through out the time so it doesn’t burn. Shred chicken with a fork and cook an additional 30 minutes until sauce has worked it’s way into the shredded chicken. Serve over tortillas.

Hawaiian Haystacks

(From Cherie)

Bone in chicken with skin
1 cube margarine
¾ C flour
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 C milk
3-4 C chicken broth

Cook whole chicken or cut up chicken in boiling water. When cooked, let chicken cool then remove meat from bones in small pieces. Set aside chicken and broth to use in the sauce. Make a white sauce by melting butter. Add flour to soak up the butter. Then stir in milk. Add broth a little bit at a time and cream of chicken soup. Be careful not to let sauce get to thin. (I use a wisk for all of this part so the sauce doesn’t get lumps of buttery flour.) Salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked chicken. Serve over cooked rice and top with desired toppings like cheese, tomato, olives, Chinese noodles, etc…

Note: to save time, canned chicken and canned chicken broth can be used instead of boiling your own. It doesn’t taste as good but is a lot faster. Also the amount of sauce can easily be altered to make more by adding another can of chicken soup and more broth. Or to make less, I usually cut the recipe in half by halving the base ingredients of the white sauce (butter, flour, milk). Then I add enough soup and broth to make the right consistency.