World War III and Fridge art.

I've been waging war.

In my own home.

Fleas.

They are the ultimate enemy.

What started this was that Emma laid at the foot of my side of the bed on Sunday.

Sunday night, I went to sleep about 1AM, and kept dreaming that my feet were being eaten.

Finally, at 5AM, I got up, and went and looked at them in the bathroom under the light, and my feet and ankles looked like this:

 I had 12 of these bites. Ridiculous. And this was taken about 36 hours later, after most of the swelling had gone down.

I spent the rest of the night on the couch, and since then I've washed everything fabric in my whole house, and they've both had flea meds.

I will win.

Take that, fleas.

In more happy news, I got a new kitchen compost container!

 It holds 2.4 gallons, fits perfectly under my sink freeing up counter space,

 and has a great carbon filter to keep odor down, and came with 3 replacement filters!

I'm really excited about it, and the fact that I got it for about 60% off! It's also not clear, so you can't see all the yuckiness, which is kind of nice.

We had a cookout at our house this past weekend, for all of the people who play or sing in our church worship band with us, and their families.  We had a really good time, and I was left with some lovely refrigerator art.

The left side was done by Wyatt, and the right side was Jacqueline.
I love them, they make me smile.

I will leave you with a video of my crazy, funny dog.
She has been extraordinarily needy lately! She just wants attention all the time.
Turn your volume all the way up, and listen to how stinking needy she's been!

She did this for 30 minutes.
She's actually doing it right now.
 As I type this.
Crazy, crazy dog.
♥

New friend...

I made a new friend today.

His name turned out to be Hank.

He surprised us by showing up in our backyard.

He had no ID tag, but had a vet tag, so we called them, and they called his owners, who live on a street near us.

They came and got him within the hour.

He was such a sweet boy.

When you walk, he runs in front of you and flops over on his back, so you will rub his belly.

I got this picture off the internet, but it seriously looks exactly like Hank, red collar and all.

Glad he could visit us for an hour.

His owners are really nice too.

I love dogs.

♥

Stupid rabbits.

Had a great weekend in Chicago, as can be seen here. 

One of my favorite purchases is this little book from KnockKnock.

I love their stationary products, and would love to get more. 

It has four sections, one for Body, (weight, measurements, pain, etc) Exercise, Food, and resources (calorie lists).

I love it, and have already started using it. 

We also came home to a very happy dog. 

We boarded her for the first time.

It was not easy for any of us.

But, they said she did pretty well, which was a huge relief to me.

I came back to a garden that was growing really well!

Especially the left side of my garden!

And on the right side, still no strawberries, but my asparagus has finally all come up!

Unfortunately, I quickly realized that something (I'm assuming one of the rabbits that frequently visit our yard) has been eating my corn.

This one is the worst, but all of the stalks have lower leaves that have been chewed off.

I think they are getting in through this one little hole in the fence,

because we've blocked off everything else. 

We are going to put chicken wire over this spot tomorrow.

That should fix it.

♥

See how the garden grows...

Really great day today.

Jamie and I had a huge fight on Tuesday night.

Although, it's deceiving to call it a fight.

Our fights are like... heated conversations.

There's very little yelling, or anger, we just vent and then try to come up with a solution.

This "conversation" lasted until 3 AM.

But on the other side, we both had a much better understanding of what the other one needs right now to be happy.  

And things have been much better.

We had a lot of fun today. 

I worked a lot on the garden all morning.

The biggest problem in the garden right now is the grass.

 It's taking over.

So, I spent the day laying weed barrier between the rows.

It was a lot of work, but I'm really hoping it will kill the grass, and then next year we won't have any problems with it.

I also planted some more.

Tomatoes, 

Peppers, 

And onions, 

so Jamie can make salsa.

And,

Lettuce,

and asparagus

 are growing!

Then Jamie and I went to the store to pick up some more fence, because the bunnies are eating my green beans. Jerks.

All they had was white.

And all my other fence is green.

It looks pretty redneck, but oh well.

We had a good time in Kmart, which was deserted, like always, and we had a pool noodle sword fight. 

Seriously. 

It was so fun.

It felt good to act like a kid again. I don't do that often.

While there, we found a patio umbrella on sale.

We've been talking about getting one for a while, so..

Tada!

Can I just say, this second picture cracks me up because Emma is trying to knock Minnie's head off. hahaha

Now we just need to get a table and chairs that aren't junk.

Someday. 

♥

Minnie Mouse Update...

My crazy little girl...

Is back to normal.

We're just in the gross scabbing stage, as you can see by her little chin.

And as a funny side note, 

this is the first picture we took...

when she climbed on my shoulder and started licking my mouth like a lunatic.

hahaha, love her. 

♥

Freaked out.

My 5 pound dog jumped out of the window of our moving vehicle today.

I will never forget seeing her hit the ground in the rearview mirror.

I screamed, and jumped out, and Jamie followed.

I got to her and scooped her up, and she was shaken, but we immediately checked her, and by the grace of God she could walk, and had no broken bones.

We got her in the car, and continued to look her over, and soon she and I were both covered with blood.

She has a few little scrapes on her front legs, and one great big giant scrape across her chin, that bled a lot.

We got her home, and as soon as we got in, she ran across the room and jumped up on the couch, reassuring us that there was no broken bones or internal damage.  

We called the vet, and she just said keep the scrape clean and put neosporin on it, and keep an eye on her. 

I was so scared.

My heart was pounding and I was near tears the whole way home.

It is a miracle that we were on a small side street, and not already on 267. 

There were no other cars, and we weren't going really fast.

It is a miracle that her tiny little legs didn't break on the landing.

We are SO thankful.

So for now we are just giving her lots of TLC.

She's moving a little slower, but other than that she seems to be back to her normal self.

Her chin is pretty swollen, and I know it is hurting her, because she lays her head down so it doesn't touch anything.

Now i just have to keep her from licking the Neosporin off. 

Definitely don't ever want to feel that helpless again.

Thank God she is okay.

It's a miracle.

♥

Baked Chicken Eggrolls

First new recipe post of the summer!

I am in love with this little asia restaurant here in town, and especially their eggrolls.

So, I decided to make my own.

Jamie was really worried they would turn out like the homemade ravioli. 

Lame.

I found a great baked recipe on allrecipes.com, which makes them much healthier.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can bean sprouts, drained
• 1/2 cup chopped water chestnuts
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 cups finely diced cooked chicken
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 16 egg roll wrappers*

Directions

1. Coat a large skillet with nonstick cooking spray; add the first six ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until vegetable are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Add chicken; heat through.
2. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch, water, soy sauce, oil, brown sugar and cayenne until smooth; stir into chicken mixture. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes; remove from the heat. Spoon 1/4 cup of chicken mixture on the bottom third of one egg roll wrapper; fold sides toward center and roll tightly. Place seam side down on a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. Spray tops of egg rolls with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 425 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Here are my ingredients.

There were a lot.

The first thing I had to do was make the chicken.

 I went back and forth on how to cook it, but in the end I just decided to throw it in a skillet.

While that cooked, I put the rest of the filling together. 

I decided to half the recipe, which I never do when I make a recipe for the first time.

But, I didn't know what the heck we were going to do with 16 eggrolls.

And i was still freaked out, because the above picture is 1/2 of the recipe.

Yeah. It was a lot.

After I added the chicken, I started the sauce. 

The first ingredient was cornstarch.

Can I just take a moment to say that I hate cornstarch?

Every time I cook with it, it messes up.

Every time.

So, I was nervous about using it again.

But, somehow, miraculously, it worked out, and blended fine.

Once I added this to my filling,

 It was time to start the rolling.

I had to use the back of the eggroll package to figure out how to do it right, but once i got it, it was really easy.

And here they are on the pan!

I'm SO happy I only made half.

I ended up having 12 eggrolls. 

I would have had way too many if I had made the whole batch.

They looked great after I baked them!

I took them to Jamie at work, and we had a dinner date.

hahaha, he loved them. He ate 3!

It was really nice to get to have dinner with him.

But, I had an ugly little surprise waiting for me when I got home.

My dog decided to get into the trash, and spread it all over the floor.

I was not happy. At all.

But, how can you stay mad at this face?

hahaha, love her.

So, while they were a lot of work, the eggrolls were a huge success, which is nice to have in my life right now. 

♥

Keepin' on keepin' on.

Another crazy week has past.

My team teacher, who I rely on for half of the planning and teaching, was out for the entire week.

It turned into a less-than-pretty situation.

The long and short of it is I did all the teaching last week, and all of the planning for this week.

It was exhausting.  

But, I can honestly say that I received some really positive feedback about stepping up in a tough situation, and that my teaching abilities drastically improved during that week.

So, there was some positivity that came out of it all.

I also started counting calories again.

I have gained 18 pounds since school started. (gasp!)

I realized that it is because I don't work very hard to monitor what I'm eating.

When you work 18 hours a day, you get into a habit of just grabbing something.

So, starting last wednesday, I downloaded an app from a website that counts your calories, subtracts calories burned through exercise, and tracks your progress, and even your nutrition. It's free, and based off of myfitnesspal.com

So far it's been pretty difficult, the first week always is.  But, this is how I lost weight my freshman year at Ball So I know if I just stick through it, it will get easier, and it WILL work.

I get to do a little proud mama bragging for a few minutes.

I created a 6 week long poetry unit for my fifth graders, with the thought that if I could just help one of them develop a love for creative writing, then it would be a success.

While I do hear "I hate poetry." daily, there are definitely a few of my students who have taken a love to it. I'm so proud of them, and hopefully I will be able to share some of their writings eventually.

They make me really proud that I can give these kids a way to express their feelings.

On a random note, My in-laws and niece Sarah stopped by (unannounced) and brought their new chocolate chihuahua puppy.

This is the pandaemonium that ensued in my backyard.

hahaha, it was pretty amusing.

My spring break starts in 4 days!!! 

I am so so so excited!

And Sunday is my first day off from school AND work since January!!

We are going to see Amos Lee in concert at the Murat that night, and I am so pumped.

It will be a much needed break.

I plan on blogging every day that week, because I miss it so.

Looking forward to my week off, and hope everyone is doing well!

♥

A Cuddly Saturday

Today has unfortunately been less than productive. 

I had all of these things I wanted to get done today, and i got very few of them done, and none of the ones that had to do with school. Dang it.

But, Oh well, it was a nice day none the less.

Jamie and I spent the morning catching up on this past week, and being all cuddly. Then we made pancakes for breakfast (when we got up at 10) and then took an hour long nap. =)

He's at work now, and I have to go in about an hour.

Even the pets have been feeling extra cuddly.

Minnie, who is acting more like herself, although not quite 100% yet, decided this was where she wanted to take her morning nap.

And then as soon as she left, here comes Emma!

Despite my lack of productivity, it's been a nice morning.

But, I'm going to regret it for the next few days, when I am staying up until all hours of the night doing homework.

Oh well.

♥

Poor Minnie Mouse...

My poor pets. 

They have now both had illnesses in the last month.

And my poor wallet. 

It's suffering because of it. 

It's been better now that Emma is finally over her tapeworm. But...

Last week, I noticed that Minnie had strange, wet spots at the very tips of her little ears.

They turned out to be round, open sores, about the size of a pencil eraser on one, and the size of a dime on the other. 

They had pus on them, and were crusty. 

I gave them a little time to heal on their own, and when they didn't, I called the vet today at lunch.

They were able to get her in today, at 5:20.

So, I drove like 80 from the East side to make it, but I did.

The vet took one look, and said "No way!"

Needless to say, I was concerned.

She then said "A week ago, this would have totally stumped me. But, this is the second chihuahua this week with the same thing."

She then went on to tell me that it is a reaction to the rabies vaccine she got about a month ago.

It's a rare occurrence called "Rabies vaccine-induced Ischemic Dermatopathy," and causes hair loss, skin darkening, and ulcers on the skin. 

This explains why she has been so lethargic these last couple weeks.

As seen here.

This vaccine has caused her to feel really crummy, and get open, gross, nasty sores on her ears.

My poor girl.

The vet said it would be no problem for her to continue to get her vaccines, because it could be a one time thing, but all the research says I should get her vaccinated as little as legally possible. 

The main reason it affects chihuahuas and other little dogs the most is because the rabies vaccine is given in the same dose to ALL dogs, whether they are a Great Dane or a Chihuahua. Really? I feel like it should be common sense that different sizes call for different doses.

Anyway, we have to give her antibiotics twice a day for 14 days, and put hydrocortisone cream on her sores.

I'm ready for my poor girl to feel better.

♥

The sick monster speaks..

Blogging while watching Ellen. 

It's a good morning. 

But, it's been kind of a crazy week.

This past friday, we took our kids to the vet.

What. A. Nightmare.

Seriously, how could these cute, sweet, adorable little faces...

Become such monsters!

It was so awful, the vet actually suggested that we "pre-medicate" next time.

As in drug them.

Yeah, that bad.

Minnie (yes, my 5 lb. baby) had to be muzzled, and they had to hold Emma down with a towel over her head. Awful.

But, at least they have their shots, and we don't have to do it again, for a year.

Thank goodness.

On a different note, my husband is an awesome handyman.

We have been wanting to put another counter in our kitchen, so I had more counter space. 

Because I have little to none. When I baked, I would use the stools of our breakfast table to mix on.

So, a few nights ago, Jamie put in our new counter! 

It's awesome, because we can use it like a bar as well, so we still have kitchen seating.

Yes, it's missing a stool in these pictures, I was using it as a table in the living room.

Also, he picked out our new washer and dryer, (because i work ALL the time) and he did a fabulous job. And, they came yesterday!

They are amazing and wonderful! 

They are high-efficiency, so good for the environment, and are practically twice as big as our old ones.

They have digital selection screens,

My dryer has a light in it, 

And it has lots of fun features, like spinning the washer once every hour to keep your clothes from mildewing if you can't get them out right away. 

Wonderful. Absolutely awesome.

On an crummy note, I have been sick.

Really really sick, again. I got a cold on Saturday night, and then yesterday, it was hideously awful.

My nose was running, I couldn't breathe, and it had moved into my eyes, so they were constantly running, and my nose was rudolph red, and painful.

And I still had to go in for a 9 hour shift. 

But, I was working so slow, and my boss, lord love him, came to help, and while he had good intentions, he added about 1 & 1/2 hours worth of things to do. 

It became an 11 hour shift. 

I was absolutely miserable. And then I got in trouble this morning by my other boss(ish), we're technically equals, but she has 4 years seniority, for having help come in.

Well great. Thanks for that.

Anyway, I didn't take a picture of myself, because it was hideous, but this is the sign I made for Jamie as I was falling asleep, hopped up on Nyquil.

We often make signs for each other, as we miss each other due to work, school, or sleep.

And yes, ladies and gentlemen. 

This is how I looked yesterday. At work, and at home.

It was so horrible.

But, today is a new day, and I slept for 12 hours, so I am feeling quite a bit better.

Thank goodness.

One last thing, I got my bridesmaid dress for Amanda's wedding!

It was a lot of fun.

She did what I did, picked color, length, and fabric, and then we picked the style. Here is the dress I picked!

I was the only one who picked a non-strapless dress. This is the sample, so it was a size to big, and was clipped in the back. 

Here is the dress in the right color, on the size 2 (barf) DB model.

I'm excited.

School starts next week.

Trying to enjoy my time as much as possible before that. 

Here we go.

♥