Stupid Dog.

Our friends have a Yorkie. He's the most hyperactive, HORNY little dog I've ever seen in my life. He's really just a bad-mannered dog. I never allow them to bring him to my house. Well last night they invited us for dinner and dessert and wanted us to bring Reese. I told them OK, but I don't want their dog exposed to her (He'd hump my baby like crazy!!!).

Well sure enough they had their dog out all night. All he did was torment Reese. She wanted no part of it.

Well about an hour before we left, Reese was laying next to me, and their dog had his nose so far up her butt I'm surprised she didn't bite him. Chayce walked over to pet Reese on the head, and within a split second their stupid mutt lunged toward chayce and BIT HIM IN THE FACE!



I was BEYOND furious because all night i'd told them their dog was getting annoying. Chayce was bleeding like crazy, but "luckily" it was just 2 small teeth marks on his lip. Yep. Their dumb little mutt bit my baby boy on his freaking MOUTH!

They gave us his paperwork to show us he's up to date on his shots, we cleaned chayce's mouth out, gave him some benadryl.... It was just a bad situation. I love my friends to pieces, but their dog. Not so much. Lucky for them, I bit my tongue and handled things properly. If I'd done it how I FELT that dog would've been drop-kicked outta the 2nd story window.

We were told he'd be CRATED for the evening. But they let him out to roam! WTF?!

Someone talks sh** about you... Oh well.

Someone rear-ends your car... It can be fixed.

Someone/something hurting my KID... HELL NO!

Cinnamon Toffee Bread Pudding

If you try ONE new recipe this week, MAKE SURE IT'S THIS ONE! The ONLY bread pudding recipe I've ever made was my Mom's (which is phoenomenal). This recipe is basically the same, but you add TOFFEE BITS. And the sauce you make to drizzle on it? AMAZING! I'll never make another bread pudding w/o this sauce again! However, it DID inspire me to make a Cinnamon-Roll Bread pudding. I'll have to trial and error everything myself, but I have a few ideas that may work well with it!

Anyways, definitely give this recipe a shot next time you want a quick meal! Whip it all together and let it bake 45 mins. DONE! I love meals like this. GREAT for brunch as well.

CINNAMON TOFFEE BREAD PUDDING

8 oz. Package Heath "Bits o' Brickle" Toffee Bits (divided)

3 c. Milk4 eggs

3/4 c. sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 loaf of white sandwich bread (cubed)

Toffee Sauce* (recipe below)

Whipped Cream* (opt)

DIRECTIONS

-Preheat oven to 350. Butter baking dish.

-Set aside 3/4 toffee bits for Toffee Sauce-

Mix together milk, sugar, eggs, cinnamon and vanilla in large bowl with whisk. Stir in bread cubes, coating completely. Let stand 10 mins.

-Stir in remaining toffee bits; pour into prepared pan.

-Bake 45 mins. (or until surface is set)

-Cool about 30 minutes (VERY important so it sets up properly!)

-Meanwhile, prepare Cinnamon Toffee sauce. Cut pudding into squares; drizzle with sauce and whipped cream if desired.

CINNAMON TOFFEE SAUCE

3/4 c. toffee bits

1/3 c. whipping cream

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

-Cook on low heat, stirring constantly until toffee melts and mixture is blended and thickened.

-Drizzle over bread pudding.

VOTE FOR REESE!

(click the photo to vote!)

Voting begins TODAY! You can only vote ONCE, but if you have multiple E-mail addresses, then go for it! :) Thanks to all that vote!

"Fireproof" on DVD Today

Available in stores today.

I highly recommend it for all married couples.

Movie Review: MALL COP

This movie was HYSTERICAL! And it was only a PG rating, so it's good, clean humor. No vulgarities. Some violence, but aside from that it was wonderful. I'd really reccomend going to see it while you can!


4 Stars!

Happy Chinese New Year

Today is the Chinese New Year. It is the Year of the Ox.

To celebrate, the kids at my house made these!

Cannoli

My husband's side of the family would be ashamed to hear I've NEVER eaten a cannoli.

(Lots of Italian blood there, LOL)



Yep, NEVER!

But I saw a show on Food Network and the dessert they made was cannoli. He made an Orange/Chocolate cannoli. I DESPISE orange (for the most part, unless it's orange JUICE), so I started searching online for something that appealed to me more. I stumbled across a Chocolate-Cherry Cannoli recipe that sounds just heavenly!

I don't care to go through the trouble of homemaking the cannoli shells, so I'm checking to see if I can buy them in stores/bakeries. But hopefully sometime soon I'll make and eat my very first Cannoli!

Venting

Do you ever just feel underestimated and unappreciated?

Yeah, me too. Every day of my life.

I give too much of myself and have nothing in return. I'm so sick of being everyone's doormat.

Wipe your feet elsewhere for once.

Vote for Reese!

I submitted Reese's photo in the Bissell MVP pet award. If she wins her little face will be on the cover of a Pet product sold by Bissell, we will win a new vaccuum/steam cleaner and $10,000 donation will go to the pet charity of our choice. So it's all for a great cause! We don't make a cent doing it, but get to see her face on the new product! So Jan. 27-Feb. 3rd you can vote for Reese here:

http://www.bissell.com/MVP09/Vote.aspx

I will post again on the 27th. :)

Reese and the Outdoors

Poor baby didn't move a muscle after getting home from the Vet today. She laid on my couch for a solid 4 hours. Finally, this early evening we started up the firepit (despite the 45 degree weather). Here's a quick shot of my girl!

*Those marshmallows sure look tasty!*

Countdown to Superbowl 43

Well, although my beloved Packers didn't even make it to the playoffs (Thanks, Rodgers!)... We have finally come down to the end of this football season.


PITTSBURGH STEELERS
vs.
ARIZONA CARDINALS

My pick to win Superbowl XLIII is Pittsburgh.

We're having an evening of friends, food and fun! I've already planned out our dinner menu for the evening.

Our Superbowl Meal will Consist of:

-Stuffed Shells

-Salad with Olive Garden Dressing (homemade)

-Bruschetta

-Mint Chocolate Brownies (The Starbucks Recipe)

And of course a few cocktails!

The Stuffed Shells are a recipe straight from a Paula Deen magazine, and I can't even find the recipe online! I've searched and searched. It's the BEST meal I've ever made, and it made SO much. Perfect for a gathering. Of course I'm always whipping up Olive Garden's salad dressing at home, so we'll have some of that with salad. A side of bruschetta with provolone cheese, sundried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and basil. The brownies are one of my all-time favorites as well. It's the recipe from Starbucks. They're brownies with a mint icing, then a chocolate icing ontop of the mint icing.... And they're topped off with Andes mint crumbles. TO DIE FOR!

Basically, THESE, all crumbled up (you can find them in the baking section).

Rambling about Reese

This week is seriously just creeeeeepppppinnnng by. Perhaps 5 children in my home everyday, and a baby puppy have something to do with it?

Reese is doing quite well. She doesn't seem to like Crate-Training but it's somethat that simply MUST be done. She seems to sleep from 11p-5:30a then at 5:30 or 6a she wakes up to go potty. She's doing better with potty training the past 2 days. The first few days home it was mostly accidents in the floor, but yesterday I think she only had 2 accidents and today has had NONE, although it is still early in the morning. I think the crate training teaches her bladder control.

Yesterday she even went to the back door and started pawing at it and wimpering to let me know she had to go! I was such a proud Mommy!

Jon took her yesterday to get weighed, and all I have to say is: THAT BREEDER MUST'VE BEEN FEEDING THEM TOO MUCH! Seriously. She's 4 pounds! So, we're cutting back from 3 meals a day to 2 meals a day. She should only max out around 6-7 lbs and the way she's going now she'll hit 10. Small breed dogs need to stay in a healthy weight or it can effect their breathing and overall health. She's 11 weeks. Almost 3 months. She SHOULD only be around 3 lbs right now. So instead of making her LOSE weight, I'm just making sure she maintains her current weight for atleast another month or 2. I want my girl healthy.

Right now she's at the Vet getting her shots. She has to go every 3 weeks until she's 20 wks. old, then every 6 mos. after that. She'll also be getting spayed the beginning of April.

Enough rambling about my girl. :)

~Introducing Reese~

~*Meet Reese!*~

She's a Yorkie-Poo.

11 weeks and 2 days old Today.

Born Saturday, November 1, 2008

Born to an 8lb. Poodle and a 5lb. Yorkie

C'est La Vie!

Today I celebrate 23 years of Life!

Having my Cake.

Eating it too.

The Key to Mommy's Heart

Jon let Chayce try on one of his necklaces a month or so ago, and ever since Chayce has been asking when I will get a necklace for him. So finally the other day we made a trip to the mall. I wanted the necklace to be extra special. They had a necklace pendant that was a key and a heart with a keyhole. I asked the lady at the jewelry store if she'd split the pendant so Chayce could have the key on his chain and I could wear the heart on a chain. She did it, and here they are!




Sorry I couldn't get a better photo, I was in a rush...


We've had so many compliments on them! I love them and so does Chayce!

A "minor" change...

So we are getting the FEMALE instead of the MALE Yorki-Poo. Looks the same. And so far, the name "Reese" is winning. I've put a poll here, on Coffee Shop Moms and polled some of my friends/family. "Reese" seems to be the big winner. And it's neutral for Male or Female.


Friday at 5pm my little GIRL is coming home! I'm always surrounded by males, it's about time I have another GIRL in the house. So this is my little princess to spoil and baby.

Adios, Taquito.

Tiki has officially been re-homed.

It's so tough for me and Jon, because we got attatched so quickly to Tiki.

Chayce didn't honestly seem to care. He just said, "Tiki needs to go because he makes Mommy sick. But we can get a NEW puppy instead." So he seems fine with it.

Friday we'll be bringing home the new little guy. As of now it looks like we'll be naming him "Reese". The vast majority of people I've asked for opinions on the names have all said "Reese". The closest to it was "Snickers". I'm worried about "snickers" because Chayce says it kind of funny. It's a mouthful for a 3 year old. Reese is easy. Anywhoo... I'll post TONS of photos of the new little one as soon as we get him!

BIRTHDAY COUNTDOWN: 3 Days!

The name game begins...

I'll post a Poll here on my blog to help with the names. I have various Polls floating around to help decide on the new puppy's name! Here are the final 3 choices

1. Cappy

2. Snickers

3. Reese

Poll on the right hand column of my blog ---->

VOTE. VOTE. VOTE!

Puppy Drama Update*

We found a potential home for Tiki. They're coming to meet at our home tomorrow night and seem really serious about giving Tiki a great home. We already know the lady, so we know he'd be in a good home.

ALSO, I got an E-mail from the woman who has the Yorkie-Poo and it looks like we've made our decision! He's hypoallergenic, has his shots, is puppy-pad trained, and only 12 weeks old.

So, on Friday [my Birthday!] this will be our newest AND FINAL addition to our family [y'know... for now. LOL]

Brainstorming Names:

Idea #1: Cappy

I'm getting him on my Birthday and I'm a Capricorn. So "Cappy".

Idea #2: Popcorn

Idea #3: Snickers

Talk about being Bummed Out.

All good things must come to an end, but this is just ridiculous.

I jumped through so many hoops to find the "perfect" pet for Chayce. Well, here we are. And I'm very obviously allergic to our dog.

I haven't owned a dog in about 4 years. I was never allergic to animals before, had many pets as a kid. But since giving birth to Chayce I guess I've developed an allergy/sensitivity to pets and their dander. I tried to ignore it until the past few days, I can't even have the dog in my lap without my eyes itching.

This really is heartbreaking. I don't WANT to get rid of the dog, but for the sake of my health I need a hypoallergenic dog. A breed such as: Maltese, Shih Tzu, Yorkie, Poodle, etc.

I found a Yorki-Poo online today and I'm waiting on a response. But I'm really attatched to Tiki and hate to let him go. But why have a pet that you cant even hold?! I really didn't know I even had a pet allergy. I'm totally bummed out right now...

Movie Review Time: "The Unborn"

This movie sucked, sucked, SUCKED!!!!!!!!!!

DON'T waste your freakin' money. Seriously. It's less scary than the House of Wax movie with Paris Hilton in it, LOL. I wanted my money back for this. The actors, producers and creaters should all be ashamed of themselves for this. I'm warning you all before you think sometime soon, "Hey, that movie sounds good!" I thought so too. The previews are deceiving though. Take my word on this one, give it 6 months and you'll see it on TV to watch for free I'm sure.

Infront of the Camera

95 % of the time, I'm the person behind the camera.

Today I decided to be infront of it...

Yet still behind it.

So there ya' go, for those that haven't seen me recently.

Old Time Pottery

If you have an Old Time Pottery near you, you know what I mean when I say this place is AMAZING! They have the most STUNNING home decor, everything imaginable, for super low prices. The majority of my seasonal home decor comes from OTP. Well yesterday I decided to venture over there. We finally tossed out our Christmas tree this week (Rest Peacefully! 1996-2008) Had quite a long life for an artifical tree. But it was looking rough and we knew we needed a new one for next Christmas. Well, I got a 7.5 foot Pencil Pine (the skinny christmas trees) for only $15!

While I was there, I picked up some items to add to the "Office" (spare room) in the house. I got 2 pieces of wall art to hang above the desk. Took 2 different pictures, not sure which one shows the room better. It's the smallest room in the house, so it's rather hard to get a good photo of it in it's entirety. This is just the 1 wall of course.

One says, "To the world you may be one person, but to one person you are the world". I love this quote! And the other says, "A Mother's heart is a special place where her children have a home".

The lamp was originally $50 and I got it for $10, because there's a microscopic crack on it. So what did I do? Turn it around, DUH! You can't even see the crack unless you turn the lamp around and REALLY look. Worth it to me!

Then I got this wall sconce. It's on the wall directly behind the desk.

I'm trying to follow a "Natural" tone to the office. Greens and golds mostly. A different combo but it's relaxing with how the sun hits this room. I'm proud of all I got for sure! It's always nice to spice up a room. The little things do count! Now all I need is a new chair for the office. I spotted one I just fell in love with at Target but it's like $90. Yikes! Guess I'll shop around a bit first. Or just request it as a birthday gift. LOL!

Anywhoo, that said.... Get to Old Time Pottery if you have one! Take advantage of them while you can!

13 Days

So, in 13 days I will be celebrating my 23rd birthday.

This is the first year I've sat back and thought:

1. Wow, where did the time go?

2. I'm freakin' getting OLD!

Once I hit 25.... I'll deny my age from then on out. Mwahaha.

I know, I know... All you 30-somethings are reading this going "Oh SHUT UP!". But just remember:

1. you thought the same thing around my age (Am I REALLY 23?!).

2. And yes, you reall are THAT much older than me.

* LOL! *

Yum-O!

I adore Rachael Ray. I really do. I've talked about her a few times here on my blog, but the woman is a genius and I'm glad she was discovered and rose to fame, because I seriously wonder WHERE her ideas come from. She inspires me SO much!

Yesterday I was watching her show and they made something called "Taco Pockets". Basically, you make a burger (with some spices to make it more like a taco). Then you roll the burger in a tortilla along with your favorite taco toppings! Once you roll it up, you slice it in half to make these great little "pockets" (hence the name of the meal).

Tonight I'm going to use this idea to make them myself! Since we obviously don't eat meat, I'm not using her burger recipe. I'm using a black bean burger recipe, and adding some taco seasonings to it, and re-creating the dish to be vegetarian friendly.

Check out her genius idea!

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/videos/view/48/856/

-Happy New Year .*2009*.-