30 Days of Pinteres- Day 11: Doggy Treats to Share!

Doggie Parents, this one is for you!
Over a year ago we decided that we needed another fur baby in our family. We have our two cats, one who is our precious old man and the light of our lives, and one who hates us and lives in the basement. However, we thought we'd try our hand at raising another dog. Because, well, the first two attempts didn't work out so well. We have a little boy who's addicted to doggies, and we wanted to get a family dog that really *is* a family dog. Unlike the last two.

Christmas 2010, Husband and I took a trip to the local county dog control shelter because we saw on Petfinder.com this older dog that Husband really liked. When we got there the poor dog looked old and mean. He had a nasty snarl and wasn't something we wanted to bring home to an eager Hunter who would likely climb all over him and use him for a horsey. We've already had experience with a dog who was a biter that we had to get rid of. Not making that mistake again. That whole, "he only bites when provoked" thing... um, ya, dogs are *easily* provoked.

As we walked down the line of snarling, barking dogs, we got to the end of the row where a sweet little girl was curled up in the corner of her cage. She didn't look up at us, and definitely wasn't barking. She had sort of submitted herself to the fact that, after 4 months, no one was going to want an unspayed female dog in perpetual heat because of all the male dogs around her. That was it, I had to have her. There was no question or hesitation. I knew she was a true family friend. And she has been! We've never been this happy with a dog, and we have never regretted our decision to bring her home (even after all the chewed shoes, destroyed $200 textbook, shredded brand new $60 shirt, and swallowed cupcakes).

There's that initial worry about whether or not your new pet will get along with your old pets. Our old-man cat Socks has been with us since 2000. He's been through it all, such as saying good-bye to our sweet angel and the love of his life, Nikki, two rambunctious dogs that he hated, three babies (who grew to be pesky toddlers), and 6 moves, 3 of which were cross country. He's more like a dog in nature, but he's hands down the most awesome cat in the world. He tolerates all that the kids have thrown at him in 11 1/2 years, and he's still ticking like he's a 3-year-old.

When we first introduced Socks the Tuxedo Cat to Holly the Christmas Puppy (who was about 2-years-old when we got her) he immediately batted her on the nose a few times with his claw-less paw. She lowered her head in submission and they've been best pals since. Socks absolutely loves to cuddle with Holly. He will lay next to her any chance he can get. These two make my heart smile.

As soon as we got Holly, I Googled dog treat recipes and found one that we ended up calling Holly Crack. It has that gross pureed meat baby food stuff in it, and she can't get enough of it. She will do *anything* for her Holly Crack.

I wanted to make some new recipes for Holly, even though I know she'll never get tired of the old one :) I found this one on Pinterest, and the originating blog post on Pink Pistachio is so cute! I made a double batch because we are going to share some with our newest fur baby family member, my new nephew Shadow. My sister is a huge dog lover, but lived in an apartment where she couldn't have dogs for a long time. She finally is in a place where she can have small dogs, and just like Holly called to us, Shadow called her name at her local animal shelter. We haven't met Shadow, us being in New York and him living in Wisconsin, but we will send him some love. This was Hunter's idea because he asked if he could send Shadow a picture, and then as we were baking treats he thought it would be great to send Shadow some treats, too.

Tomorrow I'm going to whip up a batch of these yummy looking treats. Pumpkin is great for a dog's digestion. If your dog has an upset tummy, perhaps a little too much of chewing-everything-in-sight-even-if-it's-not-edible, like doggies do, give them a little scoop of pumpkin. It's like Alka-Seltzer for dogs. Just like the previous recipe's originating blog post, this one also has a very cute story over at Simmer Till Done.

We do not, as of yet, own a dog bone cookie cutter. I would have bought one long ago, but I can tell Holly just simply doesn't care what shape her treats come in. I break them in half anyway, no matter what shape they are. We typically use our small star cutter.

The combined work of Mommy and Hunter, yet again. He's quite a handy little helper, if I do say so.

Don't forget to stop by and see what Louisa's up to at Weezie Peezie Lemon Squeezie!


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Bye-Bye, Flashie

We loved him and played with him, but just couldn't train him like he deserved. So, because we loved him so much, we let him go. Hunter was the most sad of all of us. He cried and asked why Flashie didn't want to be with him anymore. I said Flashie loves him, but there's another family who loves Flashie just as much, and he'll have a doggie brother to play with now. Hunter seemed to accept that as okay. We went and met this new doggie brother and Hunter saw how well the two played together.

I'm sitting here staring at the empty spot where Flash's crate sat, knowing he's going to be just fine.

Bye-Bye, Flashie!

A New Bike, An Old Puppy, and a $130 Pie

If we were playing that game where you take three things and figure out what they have in common, it would be impossible to deduce how these three things are alike. And really, they don't go together. Unless a crazy week of extreme highs and extreme lows counts.


From May 1 to May 18, Louisa's school had a reading contest. Like a lot of schools, they can only read Accelerated Reader (AR) books. After they finish the book they take a test to earn points. Each book is worth a certain amount of points. Eragon, for example, was worth 25 points, whereas Captain Underpants is worth only 4. The point leader for third grade has 360 points, but that is her total for 2nd and 3rd grade combined. Louisa has 284 total points, and that's just since December. For the contest there were two winners in the school. One boy and one girl. The prize is a bicycle. I don't need to tell you who the winner was for the girl's bike.

During the two weeks that the contest was running, Louisa got 85 points and her test average was a 94%. I went and picked up her bike yesterday and took the opportunity to boast about my little girl to the principal as he wheeled it out to my car.

On Monday we got a call from our onbase housing manager. He had our puppy! In the morning he had seen several ladies out for a walk. Low and behold they were walking a puppy that looked exactly like the one on all the posters we put up. The manager took the puppy to the animal shelter to have his microchip scanned and sure enough, it was Flash!

It took Flash a day to adjust to us again. He kind of moped around on Monday and didn't eat anything. Yesterday I went to buy him some canned puppy food, thinking he would be happy to eat that. When I came back from the store his food bowl was empty. That figures! Anyone need some canned puppy food?! He's doing good now. He's 100% back to normal, just like he never left. Still got fleas, though. The people who had him could have at least gotten rid of the fleas, if they weren't going to check and see if he belonged to anyone. I understand that if you see a collar-less puppy running around your yard, your first instinct is to take him in. But at the very least you should take him to the animal shelter to make sure he doesn't belong to anyone. Somewhere out there, there's a family that probably misses him. I'm just glad to have him home with us.

My husband's first sergeant came up with a great idea for a fund raiser. Have the wives (or whoever wants to because I guess I can't assume that it's only the wife that bakes in the house) bake a pie or a cake. Put the pies and cakes up for auction and the soldiers can bid on them. But here's the catch: attach to each pie and cake a special prize. An incentive, so to speak. The incentives were things like, first sergeant for a day, sgt major for a day, an extra 3-day weekend pass, an extra 4-day weekend pass (and those are what the soldiers wanted the *most*). There were so many of each incentive and those guys really wanted those weekend passes. I baked an apple pie (the one on the left side of the picture) but it turned out really bad and there was no way I could present that to guys that my husband works with. So I ran out to the store, bought more apples, and made another one (the pie on the right).

I knew things would get pricey, but I told husband not to spend more than $45 or $50 on anything. He didn't even have the chance. The cheapest a pastry sold for was $80. At the end there was one pie left sitting on the table, and everyone figured out that pie had the last 3-day weekend pass hidden under it. Yep, that pie was mine. It sold for $130 and was the most expensive pastry at the auction. All in all was raised a staggering $1000.02! The first sgt and his wife are very pleased and the money will be put to good use.

We've had a very up and down sort of week. I'm looking forward to the kids getting out of school on Friday and falling into a summertime routine. A long, hot, Louisiana summer...

Lost Puppy

Lost Puppy

Breed: Beagle

Name: Flash

Flash was last seen on Monday, May 14. Flash is a boy and weighs about 15 pounds. He is 8 months old. He was not wearing his collar when he ran away, but he is microchipped

If you have seen Flash, please call cell phone number (XXX) XXX-XXXX, or take him to the onbase animal shelter.

Thank You!

I am currently printing up about 20 of these to post on the mailboxes in our neighborhood. On Monday the puppy ran away. We have people who mow our lawn for us, and they always leave the backyard gate open. Once in awhile I forget and let the puppy out. He has always just run around to the front door, though. This time he didn't. By the time we realized the gate was open, it was too late and he was long gone.
He is microchipped, so if he's turned in to the shelter they will scan him and give him back to us. Since he hasn't been turned in yet, my guess is that someone saw a sweet little beagle puppy with no collar and took him home. Because of the fleas, the collar was bothering him so I didn't make him wear it. We didn't have a tag on the collar anyway. Just his rabies tag is on there, so it wouldn't have done much good.
Today after school the kids will go around the neighborhood and post these Lost notices. I'm hoping if someone did take him in, they'll see that he has a family who loves and misses him.
Every night I sit and look at his empty crate. I think about how I yelled at him right before he ran away because he was chewing up my sandal (that he totally ruined). I hope he knows we love him.

Ahh... the odoriferous smell of cat pee

Yes, you heard me right. Cat. Pee. I've had the pleasure of smelling cat pee all night long. And all day for that matter. Scooter accidentally peed on the couch today after I brought him home from the vet. He was a tad disoriented after his big day yesterday of getting declawed and neutered. I don't totally blame him. He shot out of his cat carrier like a crazed animal, tore through the house, ran this way and that, and was finally cornered on the couch by Hunter. There he let it go.
Now, don't think that I did absolutely nothing to clean up the pee. I am lazy, but not that lazy! I did try some Resolve, and a powder carpet cleaner/freshener. That helped a little. Then Drew sat on the couch and swirled up the pee smell again.
I'm putting more carpet cleaner on it right now. Now that the kids are in bed I can let it sit longer and hopefully soak in more. However, to really clean cat pee you have to get a certain kind of cleaner with an enzyme that neutralizes the pee. WalMart didn't have that and since there is literally no where else to shop here, I'll have to wait until tomorrow when I go up to the big city! The big city being Alexandria, Louisiana.
That brings me to my next point of business. Tomorrow, we're all playing hookey.
Ok, not really. The kids have dental appointments. After a frustrating trip to the local dentist last week with Louisa where they found three cavities and then after her exam told me they don't work on pediatrics, we made an appointment for the nearest pediatric dentist. 45 minutes away. I figured while we were up there we could get Drew's teeth cleaned, too. Then go out for a fabulous lunch at some yummy restaurant or another.
Again, the cat pee smell is finally going away. As long as no one sits on the couch, we should be fine.

When you have nothing to write about, post pictures!

As I sit here eating my Tostino's Pizza Rolls and drinking my Nestle Pure Life water with Crystal Light On the Go packet of Raspberry Ice added to it, I remember that it's been a long time since I've unloaded my camera. Oh, and I'm watching Romancing the Stone. Does anyone even remember when Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner were that young?! I remember thinking how beautiful she was and that I wanted a scratchy cat's meow voice like hers so bad. I'd try to talk with bubbles in my throat so that I could sound like her.
Anyway, back to pictures.
I have a large group of online friends. We started our kinship on Club Mom where I began chatting on the message boards over a year and a half ago. Club Mom shut down their message boards, but started a new networking forum called CafeMom. I happily lead both a Christian Moms group and a bible study group. The ladies that I have met come from all walks of life. We laugh with each other and cry with each other and all in all support each other. Many of us decided to start a secret sister type of thing. We were assigned a "secret sister" to whom we can email or mail things to. We're all having fun trying to deceive each other by sending things to other ladies who pass it on for us so that our secret sister gets mail from all over the country. So far I've emailed my SS many ecards and sent her cards and gifts in the mail. On Friday, this is what I got from my SS:A big thank you to whoever my SS is! It really made my day! I love yellow roses. They were my Granny's favorite flower and I love to be reminded of my Granny.
Back in August the kids and I went to Niagara Falls with my whole entire family. We ended up bringing a kitten home with us. Now the kitten, Scooter, is 7 months old and the time has come for the big ole snip snip! I take him in tomorrow to be neutered and declawed. It will be so nice to not have him scratching on my furniture anymore. He's grown so big! Here he is sitting next to our 6 1/2 year old cat Socks:

They have become good friends. Socks needed a companion after we said good-bye to our best friend Nikki last October. I know Scooter helped Socks feel better after losing his girl, and they both helped me feel better.

The puppy is adjusting well. He is more playful now. He has a few chew toys he enjoys playing with and the kids are teaching him the concept of "fetch". His housebreaking is going well thanks in part to my good friend Judi who is in charge of the Dogs group at CafeMom. She has been holding my hand through housebreaking Flash and also just learning about his behavior in general. I'm glad I know someone who is so knowledgeable about dogs.

Needless to say, Flash is loving the kids and they are loving him. Flash's best buddy in the house is Hunter, though. These two have just taken off and they play and laugh and run around all day. What better to keep a toddler occupied than a puppy, and what better to keep a puppy occupied than a toddler?! (By the way, yes, I do realize that's actually a picture of Louisa and not Hunter!)

Speaking of Hunter, we bought him a new cage to sleep in because he kept getting out of his crib all the time.

All right, all right, before you go calling CPS on me, the cage is really for Flash, but I can't keep Hunter out of it! He sticks his toys in it and he opens the door and just sits in it. Apparently cages are just as much fun for toddlers as they are for puppies.Well, Flash doesn't actually like his cage, but since he willingly laid down in there by himself tonight, I can tell he's understanding what it's for. The cage, by the way, is another awesome piece of advice from my friend Judi. Not that I wouldn't have thought of it on my own, but everything she said would happen did. She told me to get a cage for him to sleep in because the first few nights he was wandering around the house peeing everywhere. She told me that he wouldn't pee in the cage because dogs hate to go potty where they sleep. And so far, he holds it until morning. Also, she told me it would be a good place for him to go lay down when the kids got too hyper for him, this way he'll learn to go lay down and not nip at them. And sure enough, the kids got too hyper today and Flash went and laid down. Husband and I always said we would never have a cage dog, but so far this cage thing is awesome!

Ok, well, I guess I had lots to write about. Huh! Funny when I think nothing is going on, then I start writing. I can just babble and babble and blabble.....

Meet Flash

On Sunday we brought home our new furbaby. Flash. He is a beagle and he's 5 months old. Right now he's a little shy of us, but slowly warming up. He had never been in a house before, so he's adjusting to that as well. Housetraining him has been fairly easy. He's learned that if he rubs up against the blinds on the patio door that we'll let him out. He likes to run around the back yard. So far the cats don't bother him and he doesn't bother the cats. They sniff eachother from time to time, but that's about all.

As if we didn't have enough chaos in our house.... we've added a little more!

Good-bye Old Friend

I said good-bye to my best friend today. December 5 would have been our 15 year anniversary, and she had just turned 15 years old.

Because we got her on St. Nick's day, my mom suggested naming her Nicole, Nikki for short. We brought her home from the Humane Society in the middle of a blizzard. My mom said I could have a cat, finally after about a year of begging, and I was bound and determined to get her on the day they said I could have her. So in about 3 feet of snow, my mom drove me to the other side of town to pick up my baby girl. She was only 8 weeks old and fit in the palm of my hand.

Nikki was my sweet girl who grew old and got sick like all cats do. About a year ago I came to terms with the fact that she was indeed very old and wouldn't be with me forever. That didn't make today any easier.

Nikki was a tortoise shell tabby cat, gray and white, and absolutely beautiful. She had a aire about her, a bit aloof and maybe even snotty. This was, after all, HER house, and we were HER people. There was no master/pet in this relationship. There was Nikki and her people.

We'll always be pet people. And eventhough today was very painful as I held her at the vet and she went to sleep, I wouldn't give it up for anything. And I have two other cats with whom I can only hope to share so many happy years with. Nikki, though, will always hold that special place in my heart above and beyond the others.

When it rains.... the poo hits the fan...

Wait, that doesn't sound right. When it rains.... shit hits the ceiling.... No, that's not right either. Ok, when there's shit, and a fan, and lots of rain.... nothing good can come from it!
That sounds good!
Let me list off all the crap, then I'll explain it. Sound good?
1. lost my wedding ring
2. engagement ring is broken (the band snapped off by the mounting)
3. my 15 year old cat, and best friend, has stopped eating and is all skin and bones and I can't afford to keep pumping money into her
4. my deadbeat brother-in-law, dead sis-in-law's widower (although he doesn't deserve to be called that) was in jail. My inlaws were taking care of my niece, their daughter's daughter. My niece was adjusting well and settling into kindergarten. Said deadbeat bro-in-law is out of jail and has taken back his daughter. I don't forsee anything good coming from this.

Ok, I think that about sums it up for now, but if there's anything else, I'll let you know.
Now for my rings. I know the wedding ring is somewhere in this pigsty that is my room. All I have to do is peel layer by layer and hopefully I'll find it. It is quite the daunting task, though. My engagement ring broke once before, years ago. It cost $200 to fix it back then, and I don't have $200 now. So I guess it will be quite awhile before I get to wear that again.

My cat, my sweet, sweet Nikki! I got her on December 5, 1991, and she was 8 weeks old. She was my dream come true and we've been best friends ever since. And now she's stopped eating and she's skin and bones and she's just old. I know that vets want you to spend every cent you have to fix whatever is wrong with them. But what if she's 15 years old and just, well....old. Animals can die of old age, too. I don't know if it's right to keep spending money I don't have to fix her when she's this old. And my husband, although he knows how much I love her and he's spent tons of money on her before, would tell me enough is enough. So this is a decision that I'm going to have to make very soon. For now she's responding well to the canned food that the vet suggested and we'll see what else he has to say on Tuesday.


Now, for what's happening with Eve, my niece. Her dad has had what he calls a bad string of luck since her mom died. I say bullshit! There's no bad luck about his behavior since his wife passed away almost two years ago.
To make a really long story short, he was in jail for drunk driving and my inlaws were taking care of Eve. She was adjusting nicely and had started kindergarten. She wore them out, but they loved having her. They would do anything for their daughter, Tabitha (who we all knew was the favorite!), and in turn they would do anything for Eve.
Now, this bro-in-law of mine has a new girlfriend who he's decided to shack up with, not for love, not for companionship, but for the sole purpose that he's lazy and doesn't want to work and she likes working full time and taking care of loafers. So she's graciously accepted Eve and her daddy into her home. Isn't she a saint? And maybe this girl is very nice, but don't you ever, ever come in and try to replace Eve's mommy. We won't have any of that! And yes, Tabitha has been gone for two years, and yes, her husband has a right to move on. But it's not that simple. I only wish it were a need for companionship on his part. He does have a need, though, he has a need to sponge off of as many people as possible. And this poor girlfriend fell for his bull crap hook, line, and sad little sob story. As Kate tells me, "Women grieve, men replace".
So on Tuesday, a day after what would have been Tabitha's 29th birthday, Eve's dad and new girlfriend go to my inlaws to take Eve "home" to a place that isn't her home. To this girlfriend's apartment.
Since there's nothing else I can do right now, I pray. I pray for Eve. I pray that she adjusts well to being back with her dad. I pray that this new girlfriend takes good care of our little girl. I pray that momma Tabitha watches over her sweetpea. I pray that Eve's dad gets his head out of his ass and realizes that he has a real live human being that is dependent on him and that YES he CAN stand up a be a man for the first time in his life and get a job and work and support his daughter. The daughter that he made with a woman he claims he was madly in love with. I can tell you one thing, no one who loves their partner that much ever treats their kids that way.

Most of this is fixable. It is just overwhelming because so much stuff happened at the same time. Some other things, but I'm not brave enough to tell them. Financial things and let's just say, it will take me awhile to dig out of this one!

It's ok everyone... he knows!

Yes, I told my husband about the new kitty tonight. We were instant messaging (a new thing that is quite enjoyable!) and I asked him what he thought about having another baby. He said no. I said please. He said maybe. I said pretty-please. He said let's talk when Hunter is 2. YES!!! So, score one for me! He is considering another baby! Not that anything is set in stone, and I can always change my mind, but for now, I'm thinking babies! (Yes, I'm totally crazy!)
Then, after that victory, I thought I'd bring up the kitten. So I asked, Can we have a kitten? He said NO! I said Please. He said NO! I said pretty-please, it's free! He said NO! Hmmm.... I wasn't going to win with this one. So I began to bargain. If you let me have a kitten I'll (insert something two married people do here) when you get back! That got him thinking. He told me when he gets back he'll let us have another kitten. Ok... we're making headway. So, I propositioned him again because, after all, what are our womanly ways for if not for bribing our husbands! Little by little he gave and then he got suspicious. He asked just where this "free" kitten was coming from. Uh-oh... should I lie? The kitten came from Ohio a month ago!
Time to fess up. I sent him an email of just a picture of the kitten and told him to check his email. He was gone for a bit and then came back and said "You already got the damn cat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Yup! I did! hehehe
But how could he resist that adorable little face and that sweet little nose and those tiny little ears? He couldn't! He said it was fine, but I owed him big time!
Hehehe.... I always get my way!