Dog Walking Competition

Last weekend when Debbie and I got back from the quilt show we found this note on the house door:

Artem is about a year older than Kennedy and I think mowing the grass is probably a stretch for him but dog walking is definitely do-able for him.  Well, he stopped by later that afternoon and wanted to know when he could walk them.  I told him maybe tomorrow, I will call you.  He informed me he was available that Sunday from 1-3. Great.  Well, I forgot to call him and so he just came over.  I let him take the dogs but then soon realized I only had a $10 and a $20 bill in my wallet.  Ouch.  That's an expensive dog walk.  Well, he stopped by again on Monday and I told him that the money from Sunday would have to cover both days - seems reasonable.  He said no problem.  Then Tuesday we stopped by and just wanted to walk them for fun, no charge.  What a good businessman - he was realing me in!

The dogs love going on walks and it's good for them.  Wednesday Artem started getting smart and has been wearing his roller blades so it's easier for him...I think they end up pulling him around.

Artem's business must have caught on because then this message appeared on the door from another neighborgirl:

Now I have one or two people every single day knocking on the door to walk the dogs.  He must've felt like we were straying from his business because he asked Shane if he could be "our permanent dog walker."   We have become involved in a 10-year-old dog-walking business competition.

I'm torn...it's a great job for a kid and he's doing the right thing to earn money.  There aren't many opportunities when you're a city kid and can't drive.  Nothing like picking rocks, spraying thistles or roguing weeds in this neighborhood.  :)  So I want to help him with his employment needs but the doorbell seems like it rings off the hook.  I'm going to have to get tough and set up a schedule with him.  To be continued...

Love Potion 31

After one incredibly long February afternoon scanning carotids back to back to back to back to back...I had to stop at Baskin Robbins for a pick-me-up (which just happens to be directly and conveniently across the street).  I found their February Flavor-of-the-Month:  Love Potion 31

Cupid’s White Chocolate and Raspberry ice creams swirled with a raspberry ribbon and loaded with raspberry-filled chocolate hearts and chocolate chips.

I stopped in again this Thursday after another afternoon of thick-necks and arm strain and was DISAPPOINTED to find that Love Potion is gone 'till next year.  They did have one quart left in the freezer section calling my name.  It is mmmmmmmmMarvelous!

All I can say is that I'm glad I discovered Flavor of the Month at the end of February or I would be 20 pounds heavier right now.

Alligator Steaks and Rail Fences

Remember rubber potatoes?  Somehow Kelsey and I forgot to include those in the Wagner Family Cookbook!  At cooking class this week, I learned to make gluten steaks - made just like rubber potatoes - but sliced thin and soaked in broth.  They are called Alligator Steaks - and of course are NOT really made of alligator.  The lady was a funny instructor - very energetic and had a cute apron with grapes.  I am on the lookout for a cute apron too - it completes the outfit!

I got to talk to her before class and she told me that she is an artist - no really - she is.  And "just like I paint with colors, I love painting with flavors." It's hard to beat that.  Being inspired, I made alligator steak on Saturday; they have to sit overnight, and I'll serve them to Shane tonight for dinner.  We'll see if he likes 'em!  He is such a good sport and has been humoring all my new recipes lately - what a great guy!

I had my first quilting class on Tuesday night.  The teacher, Debbie, is really nice, and very encouraging.  I learned so much just about cutting and ironing - I have so many bad habits!  It was worth the night just for those helpful tips.  We made 3 blocks in class - the rail fence, 9 square and the square dance.   She sent us home with homework to finish before our next class.  I got most of mine done on Sunday afternoon while there was a marathon run of Real Housewives of Orange County - boo yah!

Quilting homework was finishing 10 squares for class on Tuesday.

Here are the flowers Shane and Kennedy picked out last week.  The purple ones have wilted away so I took 'em out and was left with just a white bouquet which was so pretty.  Just the simple white flowers look so cheery on the table.

Shane worked all weekend with Ryan.  They have a new project at the yacht club finishing the inside of a boathouse.  They are putting up wallboard - not sheetrock - it's a honeycombed, really light type of sheetrock that doesn't weigh very much in the boathouse.  They are also putting in a spiral staircase.

This is the upstairs. It will have a fireplace right below their lofted bedroom.

This is part of the kitchen.

This is the view from the upstairs boathouse balcony.  Oh la la! 

Isabella has been striking alot of poses lately.  All her poses have one hand above her head...she cracks us up!

We are very proud of Kennedy.  Here is her certificate for finishing Fast Math.  It's a before-school program that kids can do to help them work on their math skills.  She was the first one in her school this year to finish the program! Yay, Kennedy!

Hope ya'll had a great weekend and I'll keep ya posted on the alligator steak outcome!

KitchenTable: I miss you!

The holiday season is over and back to reality we officially are.  We both had a break from our CBC jobs - me more so than Shane.  His 3 week break from school was full of extern visits, curriculum meetings, assessment meetings, student orientations, etc. But school started last week and off and running we are for another full year.

Which means the kitchen table went from this:

to this:

The puppies are back in their positions too: laying at our feet under the table.

Dan sits very proper with his paws crossed.

Lady cares less about appearances

You may have noticed the fine upholstery (patio cushions) on our kitchen table chairs.  Shane and I wore out the padding on the chairs last year (a sign you have used them WAY too much) so we put temporary bleacher cushions in place.

One thing is for sure: one week into the school year and I miss the kitchen table already!

PajamaJeans

Feeling somewhat sad the holidays are over (but also slightly relieved to get the house back to real-life order), I was thinking I needed to shed a few Christmas pounds.  I'll admit, maybe they are not just from Christmas.  After picking up the CBC job and the late nights prepping classes, I have done virtually no exercise except to the fridge to get a late night snack or to make a cup of coffee.  The jeans are feelin' a wee bit snug which is usually good motivation to get me up and moving.

Shane and I were watching TV this morning (instead of working out), and saw this add on tv for PajamaJeans!  Has anyone else seen these?

I love stylish sexy jeans!  I love soft, comfy pajama bottoms!  I can have the best of both worlds with PajamaJeans!

They can be found here: www.pajamajeans.com

This solves my snug jean problem!

Creature Update

I know your curiosity is just peaked right now wondering about the creatures!  Here they are:

Dino creature:

And big frog in a small pool:

He has been relocated to the upstairs bathtub. He has outgrown every tupperware dish we have!

Time Capsule

So it's been awhile since the 4 of us girls were home and wearing hair bows or bun bonnets.  (sigh of relief that bun bonnets are no longer in style).

The girls found the hairclip drawer that is seriously like a time capsule - left exactly the way we left it. I'm thinking it's time to clean that drawer out, except that they had a ton of fun trying everything on!  

This was Isabella's favorite.

Side profile

I didn't quite catch Kennedy with the bun bonnet on - dang!

Christmas Cactus

I love this season for many reasons, one of which is the annual blooming of my Christmas cacti/cactuses.  I have two of them, a pink one I've somehow managed to keep alive through three moves and two states.  The white one I bought just last fall and is in its second season blooming.  I love that their buds mean Christmas is around the corner!

May the Force Be With You

What do you get a couple for their wedding that already have everything?  Star Wars pancake molds of course! Kelsey and Kevin bought us these and we used them this morning for pancakes.  Our Stormtrooper started out like this:

"I have a bad feeling about this."

We heeded the words of Yoda: "Do. Or do not. There is no try." Our Darth Vader and Yoda pancakes turned out better.

Do Star Wars pancakes taste better?  We think so!

Pumpkin Pie Anyone?

Look at these filthy creatures on my pumpkins! Yup folks, those are slugs.  So disgusting.

Last year I stretched my culinary expertise and made homemade pumpkin pies and pumpkin butter out of A-L-L the pumpkins we carved.  If you remember the size of Kennedy's pumpkin last year you can imagine how much pumpkin I had at my fingertips.

It was much more work than popping open the Libbey's can of pumpkin I usually do when making "fresh" pumpkin pie. I used two different pie recipes and Shane definitely had a favorite, one that was surprisingly better for you I found in a Cooking Light magazine. We were both amazed at how many pies one pumpkin could make....we had pies falling out of the freezer there were so many and there are still two containers of pumpkin butter left.

I was looking forward to trying new recipes again this year and using some of it for pumpkin puree.  I'm going to pick up fresh pumpkins today and save them for cleaning and baking next weekend.  This year Brittany mentioned trying to make her own from scratch pumpkin pies.  I'm sending her good thoughts today for slug-free pumpkins.

Limo Truck

Shane has spent the last few weeks working on the truck Don brought home for him.  One weekend they replaced the intake manifold and heater core.  Belle liked helping her Daddy. I personally have never been able to work on an engine while wearing a dress so this is impressive to me. 

After successfully getting the truck running again, Shane started working on the inside.  He took out ALL of the seats and shampooed the cushions.  He ripped out the carpeting and stinky pad that was underneath and replaced it with rubber flooring.  He also cleaned up the whole dashboard and all the doors...it smells so much better in there now!  And no mousetraps! Yay!  We drove the truck most of the weekend and it ran great.  It was so funny to me how excited the girls would get when they knew we were taking the "family truck." 

Shane ordered new seat covers for the front seat which have not come yet so he hasn't put the passenger seat back in.  Until the seat covers come, I get to ride in the back with the girls.  I have tons of leg room and get to look straight out the front window...very nice. It does feel a little strange though when we drive it without the girls...I'm in the back and Shane is in the front.  It's our version of a limo truck and I feel like I'm being chauffeured.  Unfortunately, it's usually to places like Walmart and Costco for groceries but still fun!