More of Rusty

You know I only post about my dog Rusty for my brother Eldon.  He is dead set on never owning a dog and I am okay with that.  Now I just love to fuel him with reasons why never to get one.

Today I was restocking my food storage buckets with white flour and powdered sugar.  I do this outside so as not to get white dust all over the house.   I accidentally spilled some on the ground and Rusty was there to lap it all up.

He created quite a sticky paste in his mouth and couldn't stop licking his lips to try and get it off.  I laughed and laughed at him and decided it served him right.  I didn't even offer him water. Hee hee!   (There you go Eldon... yet another reason).

But isn't he cute!

Glenn Beck on Good Examples

I couldn't have said it any better.

Smoke and Mirrors

"You are so amazing!   What can't you do?   How do you keep it so together?"   

The other day someone said this to me.  While although it fed my vanity just a little, I chuckled to myself.  

I can't and don't!  

I am far from perfect and struggle with my own shortcomings everyday.  Last night I stayed up until 2am decorating silly cookies.  Here's what my house looks like this morning.

I love those compliments, but I have to tell you... don't be fooled.  I only blog the good stuff. Why would I blog about the negative in my life?  That's no fun to read.   I want to look back at all my blog posts someday and think... hey, I had it pretty good.

I am a real person with real struggles just like everyone else.   Just wanted to make you feel better about yourself today!  (And don't you?)

Part of Your World

I don't know who these guys are, but this was the CHEESIEST video ever....and yet, I couldn't look away. By the end they actually had me laughing. People like this crack me up.  I don't know if you can make it through the whole thing, but it tickled my funny bone to think they actually spent the time to make this.

A Winner!

Last night dinner was a huge hit with my family.  This was so easy and delicious and well worth passing on.  So here ya go!  (You better try this).   

Grilled Mojo Chicken

• 1 large orange
• 3 limes
• 2 Tb fresh parsley, flat leaf, minced (I used 1 Tb dried)
• 1 Tb fresh oregano, minced
• 1 Tb fresh thyme, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 lb skinless chicken breast
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Grate 2 tsp zest from the orange and squeeze 1/3 cup juice.  Grate 1 tsp zest from the limes and  squeeze 1/4 cup juice.  In a shallow glass or ceramic dish, stir together the zests and juice, and all but the last 2 ingredients. Mix well.  Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Add chicken to marinade and turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours.

Cook on grill on medium heat.  Or cook under broiler in your oven on high for 5 minutes on each side.

I served this with diced and grilled sweet potatoes, yams, and red potatoes.  I also made tortellini caesar salad. (Leave me your email if you want this recipe). This was a great combination and perfect if you are having guests.

Birthday Fun!

It was Allison's 9th birthday this weekend so we had a party.  Here's a picture of the cake I made for her.  I learned how to make daisy's in my cake class the night before.  

I used this great frosting recipe I found with lemon zest in it.  (It doesn't make for a very smooth cake).  Oh well, live and learn.

Aren't they the cutest ragamuffins ever?   I can't believe I have a 9 year old.  I am not old enough.

WAL*MART {It's a Love/Hate Thing}

Things I love about Walmart

• Lower prices on about everything.
• Right down the road from my house

Things I hate about Walmart

• Their produce {bleh!}
• Their check- out lines. {I unload my cart very specifically so that all the heavy stuff is together at the beginning and the fragile stuff is at the end, otherwise they throw them into the same bag and crush everything.}
• Their customer service.
• The smell.

And yet, the things I love about Walmart are enough to keep me coming back.  I wish I wasn't such a cheap skate!

Shwew!

Sorry I am so slow to blog, but I have been frantic trying to finish these cookies for an anniversary cookie bouquet. Here's the finished cookies minus the basket.

I will be back on Friday as I have a birthday cake to make and I have to play catch up on all the laundry I've ignored the last 2 days.

Cookie Chaos

Last week I made cookies for 2 baby showers.  I love the brown and blue theme on this one.  These cookies turned out really cute.  Chocolate is so hard to work with though so the lines could be better.  I have a cookie bouquet this week, so I will let you know how it goes!

A Death in The Family

Today is a sad day at our house. This morning when I came downstairs, I discovered that our pet parrot, Cowboy, died last night.

We got Cowboy 3 years ago when our friends uncle passed away. No one in their family wanted him, so Jeff took him in. Cowboy was 25 years old then. (They can live 75 +).

Cowboy had a potty mouth when he first came to live with us. Apparently his previous owner had quite the vocabulary and Cowboy picked up on it. I will never forget when he told the loud neighbor kids to f--- off. Thankfully he stopped cussing and we decided we could keep him.
He loved Jeff and nobody else. His favorite game was to chase me around the house and torment me. Then he would laugh at me loudly. Naughty bird! He kept me on my toes, that's for sure.
We will miss his "hello" when we walk in the door and his "cracker" every time we eat peanut butter.

We loved you Cowboy. (And don't worry, I won't let them bury you in the sandbox).

Spotlight

This is my sister-in-law Wendi.  Not only is she beautiful, a mother of 2 boys, and wife to Kevin,  she is an amazing photographer.   She has a studio set up in her home.
 
She took a pause after the birth of her 2nd son, but she is back up and running again.  Check out her blog here for some great deals on photo sessions.   Check out her website here to view her gallery of pictures.

I love this Valentines Day card she made of my kids last year.  Too funny.

If I am really on the ball, (which is not often) I like to have my kids make homemade valentines for their class.  Last year we made these cute airplanes out of gum, smarties, and life savers.  I am looking for some good ideas for this year.  Here's a few I found at Family Fun.

This one uses a skewer, pack of gum, and gummy heart.
Card stock and button candies cell phone.  A little silly, but my girls liked it.
Nathan wants to make this one.

Spotlight

Drum roll please......

I would like to introduce you to my cake decorating instructor, Cassie.   She's a wife, mother, hair dresser and talented cake decorator.  

She recently started a blog, These Sweet Days, where she features some of the cakes she has made.  Check it out (and leave lots of comments as she is new to the blogging world and needs to keep at it).

She makes cakes for all occasions. Check out some of these cakes.

Darn Dogs!

Rusty my dog mysteriously broke his tail. We have no idea how he did it. I never heard him yelp in pain or anything. But his tail is broken... right in the middle. How do you think Rusty broke his tail? (See poll to the right).

POOR RUSTY!

Delicious Snack

Yesterday's post was so disgusting that I felt I needed to blog something to erase it from your memory (if that's possible).
This is my mom's recipe for homemade granola. This is soooo easy and my kids and hubby love it. The best part is you can add anything you like to the mix...yes even chocolate!

Mom's Granola

• 8 cups oats (not quick oats)
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup honey roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 3/4 cup honey
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 cups raisins

Preheat oven to 325*F. Mix oats, brown sugar, nuts, and seeds. Break apart brown sugar and mix it with your hands then set aside. In a sauce pan mix oil, honey, & vanilla. Heat till bubbling. Pour over dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Spread on a cookie sheet. Don't pack it. Drizzle some more honey on granola to taste. Bake 15 to 20 minutes stirring once while granola browns. When completely cool, add raisins, and any other fruit or chocolate chips.

If you don't like peanuts of sunflower seeds, feel free to add almonds or anything else that you like. Some things I have added in the past are dried pineapple, coconut, craisins, chocolate chips, dried papaya, etc. Go crazy!

Rusty the Cannibal

This is Rusty my dog.  And this is a picture of what he does all day long.

The other morning my friend Becky and I took our dogs for a walk in the patch of desert behind our home.   Rusty ran off and came back with something dangling from his mouth.  It looked like a furry rodent.  I of course didn't take it out of his mouth because I didn't want to touch it.  He eventually swallowed it.

So the next day, I went back out and he went to the same spot.  I followed him to see what he was eating.  And this is what I saw...

Yes, that is a dog leg sticking out of the ground, and yes... my dog was digging it up!

Here's Rusty with a tasty morsel in his mouth.

My parents were walking with me this morning, and I made my dad pull this furry bone out of his mouth.  Does anyone know how to sanitize a dogs mouth?

One word:  GROSS!!!!!!!!!

Excuses

I promise that I will still post my disgusting story, but I can't post it without a certain picture.  I wasn't able to go out and take the picture I need because I was at the doctor having my ribs examined.

Well it turns that I did indeed break a rib while sledding (see earlier post).
 I am not familiar with photo editing on my new mac so I can't mark the spot, but if you look at the picture below, count 6 ribs up from the bottom.   Right in the middle where the bone connects with the cartilage, is where my fracture is.
 I hurt.

I am off to get my hair done this morning, but don't worry... I have a great, (okay, disgusting) story for you when I get back!  

I swear I am never gonna lose those 10 pounds!  The kids went back to school yesterday and I was all geared up to rid my house of the holiday sweets.  

And then it decides to RAIN!!!  
If you know me, then you know that it's tradition to make cinnamon rolls on rainy days. (In Mesa that is only twice a year).  So here's to tomorrow...

(They were really good though).

Sticking with the baby theme... I just saw these cute shoe cookies!  Will somebody please have a baby so I can bring you some of these.    Seriously cute.

Cute Cookies!

I finished decorating my cookies last night.  Here's the finished product.  If I make them again, there are a few things I would fix, but not bad my first time out.  

I think I am ready if anyone wants to hire me to do a baby shower.

New Cookie Cutters

I am trying out these new cookie cutters today.  I bought them a while ago and haven't used them yet.  I will post the finished product!

Treasure Hunting

New years day was spent treasure hunting (geocaching) with my favorite people.

If you don't know what geocaching is, check it out here.  

Becky found this one hiding in the rocks.

The kids love hunting!

I had to post this picture of cute Becky!

We found 4 treasures New Years Day and then we all went to see National Treasure.  

How appropriate!