Best friends already

I can already see Ratchet and my little man roaming all over the yard, playing together, sleeping all snuggled up, or Ratchet right next to his crib.

 

Mabel won’t be interested in Bear but that’s okay. She’ll still be a good, protective big sister.

Dog Sleep Training: update 1

So far so good…. but thank goodness we have a door on our room.

The past two nights our dogs have fallen asleep on the sofa and so Ben and I have just snuck into our room without them.  The first night wasn’t all that bad. Mabel did jump at the door a bit, and every couple hours I would hear ratchet crying outside the door and stomping his feet.  Ashley said he somehow got in her room, but she brought him back out to the sofa (we all need to be on the same page here!)  They slept in the family room all night and only made it into our bedroom at around 6:00 when Ben woke up and went to the hall bathroom and forgot to close the bedroom door.  I was OK with that and considered it a good night! And plus I love snuggling with the dogsJ

Last night was a little rough.  I don’t even know how often it was but Mabel and Ratchet scratched and jumped at the door all night long.  Mabel is also a good/strong jumper so she was trying with all her might to turn the door knob, so that was rattling. But we were strong and didn’t open the door.  I just let them keep at it.  This morning when I opened the bedroom door they both literally fell into our room, they were sleeping on top of each other up against the door.  And then they immediately jumped in bed.

I think we’re getting there!  I can say though that I slept wonderfully last night. Well with the exception of hearing the door scratching/banging/rattling all night long!

Mini Eggplant Pizza’s

In our quest to expand our low carbohydrate menu and to use up food we have coming out of our garden I did a bit of online searching and came up with my version of eggplant pizzas.

It was so easy, and I used only stuff I had in the house to make this delicious appetizer.  My sister wouldn’t touch them and Ben ate 5 before I could ask if he liked them.

He clearly did.

I don’t really have a recipe for this but I’ll give you a step by step and you can modify to your own liking.  If I was to plan on making this dish I would have had a different kind of cheese on hand, and probably actual tomato sauce…but this worked!

 

Mini Eggplant Pizza’s

Eggplant
Tomato paste
Sharp Cheddar Cheese (maybe use mozz. next time?)
Garlic powder
Cheese
EVOO spray

 

Step one, slice the eggplant thin. You want the pieces to be thick enough that you can hold them once cooked without them being too flimsy.

Place into 350 degree oven for 7 minutes and then flip and cook for another 7 minutes.

I did this in order to try and crisp up the eggplant. It didn’t really work.

Take eggplant out of the oven and cover with tomato paste, garlic powder, and shredded cheese.  As noted above I used shredded sharp cheddar because that’s what we had in the house.  If I had planned on making this I would have most likely gotten mozzarella cheese, or a pizza cheese mix.

 

 

Throw back in the oven for 15ish minutes.  I would just watch them. Honestly I forgot about mine and don’t know how long they were in there, but because the eggplant doesn’t really get too crispy you couldn’t tell at all that they had been forgotten about.  I mean don’t judge, I was cooking this and got sidetracked.

 

And so did Mabel…she was all about what was cooking in the kitchen last night!

 

Anyways, back to the eggplant.  They turned out wonderfully and I’ll certainly make them again….maybe next time with actual pizza sauce, the right cheese, and pepperoni if I have it.  but honestly even with makeshift ingredients they were fantastic!

 

 

Enjoy!

My Weekend Recap

I wish I had something interesting to share, but I don’t really.

Friday night I spent the evening cleaning our bedroom and staring at my new ceiling fan. It’s like life changing. And I love it so much I didn’t even turn the fan off to snap a pic of it….

 

So yeah I promise I’ll take an actual, good photo for you tonight.

Ben’s parents were out of town and so we had one of their dogs Carly over for a sleep over:) you would have thought they would have wanted to play together but I walked in the door and they were all sleeping.

 

Saturday I worked out which felt so good and then I went shopping and drank too much wine with my sister and sister in law.  I needed this one last weekend to relax and have a drink.   Ben and I are back into the healthy eating and I have a crazy amount of yummy carbonized waters for Ben to drink so he’s not tempted to grab a beer not that that is possible since we don’t have any beer in the house.

Sunday I was a tad bit hung over and went to the pool with my sister, Ben went fishing and then we all took naps. So yeah we’re that cool.  I did get some laundry and cleaning done and felt very content and rested as I made my way into work this morning.

I hope everyone has a good week! And enjoy shark week!!

Happy Monday

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend.  Mine had some good and some bad.

First the bad news: one of my chickens died. We think it was the heat, but just aren’t sure.  I’m sad but my father in law says this is just a part of being a farmer:(

On a brighter note regarding the chickens, we were able to get the new chicken coop we built hauled over to our house and all set up.  Our chickens are now living the life! We even planted some lilies around their new house.

 

 

 

What else…oh yes, I started injections which I briefly mentioned yesterday morning.  It’s going fine, day 3 and I already feel like a pro at stabbing myself with the needles.  I’ve only got one bruise, so I’m hoping that means my bruising will be kept to a minimum.  It’s helpful that I’m quite tan right now so bruises wouldn’t be that easy to see.  As for side effects I have had a bit of a headache, but I get them all the time so when I read on the paperwork a headache could be a result of the meds I knew I was destined to  have a continual headache for a bit.  It’s worth it though!

But life doesn’t stop because you want to  have a baby! Thursday and part of Friday I spent some time at the pool. Here is Mabel after she stole my chair! Go get a drink of water and I return to find this little cutie sharing my towel.

 

Yesterday we hit the water and went for a canoe ride. Somehow we were able to finish it in about 3.5 hours so once we were home Ben and I were able to get some flowers planted.  Still lots we want to do, but we'll  get there eventually.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  I leave you with a photo of my husband’s latest obsession: the root beer float!

Through my lens

I’ve been snapping photos on my phone and I never share them.  Here’s what’s been happening this past week in my world!

What I see when I wake up:

Building the new addition for the chickens:

 

Ribs Benny made in the crockpot, soo yummy:

What I see when I’m headed to bed:

A sweet ‘thinking of you’ gift from a friend:

 What I’ve been wearing:

 

 

 

 



Me and my new niece!

Sunday: relaxation at its best

My life

1)       I never posted pictures of Mexico…so here you go! 

 

 

 

 

 

2)      I was exhausted beyond exhausted last week and I didn’t do anything except eat, work, and sleep

3)      Ben has a pain in his testicles.  He saw his doctor last week and they put him on antibiotics because they think its just a bacterial infection.  I finally was able to get him to schedule an appointment with a Urologist after all of this happened.  So this Friday is the day. I have copies of his semen analysis and his bloodwork and maybe the Urologist will have something insightful to say about all the IF bullshit we’ve been dealing with

4)      This weekend I cleaned my house and read.  Really that’s it.  My sister was out of town, Ben went on a fishing trip, so that just left me and the dogs.  I finished a book and started and finished 2 others.  And my house is spotless. Can that be considered a successful weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh and I also listened to one while I cleaned and did laundry…

5)      I have insomnia.  I don’t think I’ve ever experienced it like this before but I’m dying.  Two nights in a row and I got zilch for sleep.  ::Sigh::

6)      I must drag my ass to workout class tonight because see item number 2, I did nothing last week and feel like a lardo.

7)      Last but not least, its Mabel’s birthday today!!! Happy 4^th birthday baby girl:)

 

She really is the Alpha Bitch

Mabel does whatever she wants.  My sister just sent me this picture of her sitting on someone’s desk in my mother in laws vet clinic. 

And when she was caught she didn’t run away, she made herself comfortable!!

My Maybe Baby!!!

Mabel. That’s what we call her. maybe baby, mabelina, lina, the princess.  During the day she hangs out in my mother in laws veterinary clinic.  Here she is from yesterday, clearly bored. 

IUI #2 is happening this morning.  I dropped off Ben’s sample at 8:00 and I’m up at 9:30. Wish me luck!

Ratchet

Our little mister…..

I love Mabel too!

I know I’ve been all about the birthday boy, so here is one of Mabel. 

Wearing her new jacket, that was purchased the same time I went on a shopping spree for Rachet, waiting for her grandma to finish up with an appointment at the vet clinic.

Have I ever mentioned my mother in law is a vet? Well she is and Mabel goes to work with her most days. I think Mabel is her favorite granddog.

Ratchet's Party was a Success!

The best part of family dinners is that we have two 9 year olds that love to play tricks.  Since we were celebrating Ratchet’s birthday last night I picked up some doggy treats that really looked like regular cookies. Those two kids tried to get everyone to eat one, of course omitting the small detail that they were dog treats!

Ratchet’s party was a success. He got a new toy and several sweaters for his birthday.  I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it here before but our little boy has alopecia, which means he’s losing his hair.  Not everywhere, currently it’s just behind his ears, on his stomach, and on the backs of his legs…so clothes are very much so needed in order to keep him warm.

Here is his while we’re all singing him happy birthday~

Happy Birthday, Ratchet!!!

My main little man is 3 years old today! Where does the time go?  Tonight we’re doing dinner at the farm so I’m going to pick up a birthday treat for him.

Here are just a couple photos of him over the years