Captain Shifty Brows...

We have the best dog ever! You may think you disagree, but it's not up for discussion. Scout has his own quirky little personality, which includes not liking the vacuum or broom or anything else that moves to quickly or catches him off guard. He's always a little bit nervous and terrified of thunder storms, which cause excessive amounts of slobbering, yelping, escaping from places that you are sure he never could and running all over the house looking for someone to tell him it is going to be ok. On a typical day, his main goal is to find a comfy spot in a room with his "pack," which is how we determined that his theme song is "I want to be where the people are!"

Over the past year, he has become part of our family. We made the decision to bring him inside full time last spring and have not looked back. Bringing Scout into our home also brought him into our hearts! So, yesterday, when he decided to go running with one of my parents' neighbors, and no one knew where he was, it gave us quite the scare! Mason and I hopped in the car and went driving around the neighborhood to find him. He was on his way back home, but had gotten distracted by the pond where he took a swim and overwhelmed with the plethora of animals he could chase!

Sometimes the hair accumulation on the floor makes me crazy, because he's a massive shedder and let's face it, I like a clean house. That said, I'd miss the hair if he went missing for real. So, instead of letting him run off again to seek out his own form of exercise today, I woke up and set out to help him use up some of his energy and maybe burn a few calories along the way!
 
 
 
 

Mini Meat Muffins

Technically they are mini meat loafs, but they came out looking like muffins, hence the name we gave them. These were delicious, cooked quickly and made for easy leftovers. Plus, there are three variations of this meat muffin. We chose Italian for last night, but can't wait to try out the others! 

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Oh my! Baked these little guys up this afternoon because I was craving something chocolate. To be honest, I have never had luck with baking cookies from scratch before...they always turned out as flat as a pancake. But these little cuties hardly flattened at all and were a yummy, warm, chocolaty heaven to the taste buds! I had to call John and request that he and Mason promptly return from the driving range to keep me from making myself sick from a chocolate incident!
 

Birthday Dinner!

Last night we went out to dinner at Macaroni Grill with Gracie, Doc and Uncle Matthew to celebrate Mason's birthday! He specifically requested that John not mention that it was his birthday when we were there, and John agreed, but he never said anything to me about it. So, during dinner I whispered to our waitress that it was Mason's birthday, because I think Mason is worth celebrating and I just couldn't help myself. :o) The guy who sang did so quietly, despite my best efforts to get him to turn up the volume. He had a great voice, and Mason even seemed to enjoy it rather than be embarassed by it! John managed to pull off the pictures you see below while all of this was going on. The dinner was a fun way to wrap up the birthday week and, as always, it was fun to see Gracie and Doc! 
 

A Boy and His Bow

 

 

An Artist at Work

 
 

Happy Birthday Mason!

Today is a very special day! It is Mason's thirteenth birthday. I cannot believe he is thirteen!!! He is one incredible, fun, caring, adventurous, athletic, bright, and active young man! His smile can light up any room and his fun personality is contageous!

Mason, we are SO thankful for you! We love you and hope you have an amazing birthday!
 
 
 

Kids and Snow!

 

Cinnamon Rolls!

We thought it would be fun to make cinnamon rolls ourselves. Saturday I started by making the dough, which was an easy process. Then, we let the dough hang out in the frig overnight. Sunday morning when we got up, Kenzie and I set about making that dough into something scrumptious! After sprinkling flour on the counter (which Kenz could not believe I was doing), we then added the butter, sugar and cinnamon. My helper did an excellent job! With a little more butter, we prepared the pans, placing about 7 cinnamon rolls in each pan and them let them rise. After hanging out in the oven for a while, they began to smell amazing! Here you can see the prep, how they looked pre-icing and post-icing and how well they were liked! 
 

 
 
 

Snow Day!

We woke up this morning to snow!!! I tried to let the kids sleep in, but once Kenzie saw the snow, she was so excited that she went immediately to wake her brother. We all put on our snow gear and went outside to make a snowman. Then the real fun began with a family snow war that attracted neighborhood attention and soon included the kids from across the street. It was out of control fun and a great work out! Anyone and everyone became the target. John stopped long enough to take a pic of me after receiving a face full of snow! 
 
 
 

Sausage = Yummo!

 
 Here's a pic of the sausage we made yesterday! It is delicious!

Sausage Prep

We spent a good part of Saturday trying out the new grinder and had to call for reinforcements (Uncle Matthew). Actually he was helping John with his computer and got pulled in to spending the entire day with us and sampling all the new recipes we were trying!
 
 
 

Pure Cuteness!

 This is a pic taken in the fall during one of our camping trips. Aren't they cute?! These two are quite the dynamic duo...they keep me on my toes, keep me needing coffee, keep me feeling young and add lots of love and entertainment to my every day! It makes me happy that they have so much fun together, even though that means I have to remind them to get back to their school work on a regular basis. :o) The fact that they have grown so close and enjoy each other's company is a true blessing!

It's Here!

After much anticipation and one incomplete delivery, we have received the meat grinder. Isn't that what every girl dreams of!?! The first one arrived on Monday missing a few essential parts...the grinder plates, pusher and sausage tubes. Can't do much with a grinder that doesn't have grinder plates!

While John was on the phone with the beloved Amazon to sort this whole ordeal out, I happened to look back at the item we ordered only to notice that the price had been reduced by $47. "Whoa," I said. "Can we get it at that price?" Now that amount was speaking the number one love language of this frugalista (my mom calls it being a tight wad, but whatever, I've embraced my thriftyness, so I take that as a compliment). The helpful lady at Amazon recommended we return the item and order another one at the discounted rate.

Knowing that the new one was going to be delivered today, we were all listening out for the UPS truck and noticed the minute it arrived on our street! I was so excited that I went out to the UPS truck to pick up the package in the rain! Due to the previous disappointment of missing parts, Kenzie and I opened it up to make sure everything was in the box before the boys made their way down to check it out. So, without further ado, the long awaited meat grinder! Isn't it lovely!
 

Kids Cook!

Tonight was kids cook night, and their mission was taco salad. Kid number 1 lept clear off the ground when the mission was announced, because excitement like that cannot be contained! Kid number 2 came whining, over exaggerated I might add, all the way down the stairs, clear into the kitchen and a few minutes into the food prep. I'll leave you to match the correct kid with his/her repsonse!

Once food prep was under way and things were really flyin in the kitchen, there were smiles enough to go around...I even saw kid number 2 laugh and appear to enjoy himself...oops, did that give it away?!?

Of course, all food tastes better when prepared to music, so we cranked up the tunes and rocked out while preparing ourselves for a culinary masterpiece. Mason did an excellent job of chopping the lettuce, while I sat across the counter from him terribly afraid he was going to lose a finger! From where I was sitting, chopping lettuce has never looked so fun! Kenzie offered to prepare the tomatoes and, in doing so, learned how to use the can opener and strainer. Mason then began the browning of the meat which cooked "quickly." It was about this time that he also had a revelation as to where all those peppers (and other healthy things we try to "sneak" into his meals come from)...dun...dun...dun...the salsa jar! At least that's what he thinks. Kenz did a fabulous job of mashing those unruly tortillas into submission before baking them to a crispy goodness. Once Mason's meat came to perfection and the tortillas were fully submitted, we were served up a meal that would delight any taste bud!