Random bits of info...

A couple weeks ago we each got new mountain bikes!  So far it's been a lot of fun...except for hills...I loathe hills.  Sadly, there are far too many hills in this part of Texas.  We've been checking out a lot of parks we didn't know about yet.  We've seen a ton of deer up close, and even got a yearly pass to the state park, so we can ride as much as possible!  

Both bikes are now very muddy thanks to some recent rain and trails that consisted of little humpback hills.  Not sure what they are called, but I didn't fall!  

Cody got me a sewing machine for Christmas.  I've made a couple things, and my latest project is a rag quilt.  I may be in over my head with this, but I'm not aiming for perfection so it should be okay!

It's made entirely out of flannel fabric, so should be super soft and warm. So far I've only cut out half the material and starting to piece it together.  

Jo-Ann Fabric's was having a grand opening special, so I got all my material 50% off and this re-usable tote bag for free!

Bailey's stay with us was short.  Her owner came looking for her the very next day.  Apparently she slipped out under the garage door just a few houses down from us.  Maxx was sad to see her go, but he was back to being my buddy in no time!

This little guy....

Turned into this...

 
Very big 1 year old!

He got to go to his favorite place in the world and pick out a toy!

He recently lost his soccer ball, so we let him get this ball and the squeaky toy (which is huge!).
Also, thanks to after Valentine's sales, he got this cute raw hide treat super cheap.
I never actually saw him eat it, he took it to his pillow and then I never saw it again.
He probably swallowed it whole...

I can't figure out how to rotate this, so please kindly tilt your head to the left.
Thank you.

I discovered that it's easier to decorate sugar cookies with just white frosting, and holiday sprinkles.
I love my little "micro heart sprinkles" I found!

Meet Bailey!

I came home from work today and found this cutie in my house! One of our neighbors found her wandering the streets today, and since they have a really old dog they couldn't take her in. She tried a couple other neighbors but no one was willing or able to take her. So she came to us! We are definitely not keeping her forever, but we are for a little bit. She seems to be healthy, and recently spayed. We gave her a flea bath and Introduced her to the family. Maxx is loving her, it took him a bit but he is learning how to be gentle with her. Zoey seems curious about her.

We don't know what breed she is, or how old exactly, but our guess is some Australian Shepard mix and maybe 6-8 weeks. She's doing great with potty training too! We will try to find her owners, and see if she has a microchip, before we try to find her a good home. Although I did catch Cody saying " we can get her a pink collar later. Oops, I didn't mean to say that!" She's sweet but we don't need three pets!

Puppy Latte

Remember, how I mentioned we think Maxx is getting a bit rolley-polley?  

Yeah...about that.  

When I was back visiting home, Cody ran through Starbucks drive through with Maxx.  Turns out they give "Puppy Lattes" to dogs in the drive through!  So, on a recent trip to Starbucks we had Maxx with us and let him have another.  This is only his second one, and he won't be getting them often.  I have no clue how healthy they are, and he doesn't need to be too spoiled!

Turns out it is just milk foam, and looks like whipped cream.  

He loves it!  We let him enjoy while we waited for our drinks, and then I took it away while we were driving home. He stared at the cup the whole way home like this:

It was intense. 

Once we got home we let him finish it.

Milk mustache! 

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

After successfully using the homemade laundry detergent for several months, I started wondering if I could make dishwasher soap too.  A quick pinterest search later and I had a recipe! 

1 Cup Borax

1 Cup Washing Soda

1/2 Cup Salt 

1/2 Cup Lemi-Shine

Combine all in airtight container.  Use 1 Tbs per load.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy! 

*I also always use vinegar as a rinse aid in every load, no matter what detergent I use*

I still had the soda and borax left over from the laundry detergent.  I think I've made 4 batches of detergent and one batch of dishwasher soap and still have half a box leftover each.  We always have salt too, so the only thing I purchased for this was the Lemi-Shine.  It's key to the recipe because it prevents the dishes from being cloudy, especially if you have hard water like we do.  At first I didn't think I could find it, but trip #2 to Walmart and there it was!  Apparently they were just out of it the first time. It's located in the dish soap aisle near the rinse aides and was about $2.50 ish.  Unfortunately, I think this small container will only make two batches of soap.  Still saving money though since I won't have to buy everything else!

For now I'm storing it in this plastic food container.  I wanted to make sure it worked before buying anything more fancy/permanent. 

Definitely saving some space compared to the Finish packaging!  I wasn't unhappy with the Finish brand, and was really only using that one versus Cascade because it was cheapest at Costco.  My only complaint was that if I didn't use vinegar as a rinse aid, the dishes would have little specs of detergent on them.  

The results? AWESOME.  I really didn't expect it to be different at all, because I thought I was happy with the Finish.  However, I compared glasses (did not photograph well at all) and realized that the Finish glass had more water spots, and left a film on the inside of the glass!  The homemade batch left all the dishes looking shiny and crystal clear, with few water spots.  They also felt much smoother compared to the almost waxy film left by the Finish.  I had always blamed the poor quality on the old dishwasher, but it looks like it was my soap all along! 

After I rearranged underneath the sink and finished taking pictures, I looked up to find Zoey sitting like this staring at me!

The Happiest Place on Earth...

Petsmart!  Well, Maxx thinks so at least!  

We always take Maxx with us when we go, and I can honestly say I've only gone without him twice.

It wasn't nearly as much fun as when he goes!  We take him in the car with us a lot, but he always seems to know when we are destined for Petsmart and gets so excited!

See that blur of a tail?  Yeah, that tail doesn't stop moving the whole time we are in the store!

Maxx will be one year old February 14th!  He has grown so much since we got him.  We use the store's scale every now and then to weigh him.  We've been thinking he looks a little...roley poley, and at 42 pounds he's probably getting close to pushing his limits.  We are working on getting him more exercise! 

This trip to the store was slightly special.  Maxx got to pick out a new tag for his collar!  Okay...we picked it out (he has horrible taste in such things).  The one he had was from the shelter and fit him just fine when he was this big:

Aww, look how tiny!

Now that he is twice as big as Zoey he definitely needed an upgrade!

Check out my awesome, very grown up Air Force collar!

Here is the old one.  Tiny and always bugged me that you could see more of his yellow tag (microchip info tag) more than his name tag.  

Laser engraving his name.

We picked out a bigger one, and then got to use the stores laser tag engraving machine.  This thing was so cool.  Easy to use and so neat to watch the little laser beams etch into the metal!

New tag!

Look how grown up!  The new tag has his name and phone number on the back, and this fetching bone design on the front.  I actually liked the paw print design better, but he does LOVE his bones so this one is more appropriate!

He's so spoiled.  We also picked Zoey up a laser light to play with so she didn't feel left out!

Just in case you have the Lady and the Tramp new collar scene stuck in your head now...oh just me?  Ok, then for some Disney cuteness...

It's Official

In the last four months we have eaten more mexican food than I have ever eaten in my entire life.  True story. 

That my friends is a puffy taco.  Oh, and an enchilada too.

I've come to learn that there are two ways to ask questions about the menu:

#1

Me:  What exactly is a puffy taco?

Mexican waitress: ....a puffy taco.

Me: Ok, but what is it?

Mexican waitress:  It's....a puffy taco.
*Insert "you're crazy lady" expression here.

or #2

Me: What exactly is a puffy taco? I'm from Illinois.

Mexican Waitress:  Oh! It's a flour tortilla that is deep fried and when they fry it, it puffs up! A puffy taco!

Works every time.
Either that, or secretly google unknown food with my phone.  That works too.

S'mores Cookie Bars

I ran across this recipe today on pinterest and had to make it! Looked delicious and, since we won't be roasting marshmallows anytime this season, was a good substitute.

Bonus, I had all the ingredients except the marshmallow fluff and chocolate! It was easy to make and didn't take long either. I ended up using a round cake pan because we don't have a square one yet. It worked just fine, just looks like cookie pie instead of bars.

The verdict: YUM. Cody had 1 1/2 pieces and asked if I could make it everyday. It is super rich though, but still so good!