PUPPIES!!!!!!!!

Maggie is our first child, we love her through and through. We love her when she gets in the trash, when she digs holes in my flower bed, even when she unexpectedly has puppies.

What? Is this an episode of "I didn't know I was pregnant?" Pretty much.

We have tried for 5 years to breed Mags to no avail. Then she is with her buddy Bo and wouldn't-ya-know she has puppies.

We noticed she was getting fat, but she tends to do that in the summer when Carly feeds her the other half of her PB&J or 15 dog treats because mom is in the other room feeding Aiden and can't see what she is doing.

Then she was under the porch two days in a row and Cody noticed she was lactating. Oh snap.

Two days later Cody noticed green ooze, called the vet, rushed her up there and one emergency c-section on our beautiful Mag-Pie later, 4 little black and white puppies joined our family.

Because I am supposed to

Guess who is a rule follower?
Yeah, me...unless it is grammar and punctuation. Then I make my own rules !!!!!

Sometimes rules are hard to follow, like when my daughter doesn't want to pick up her toys or sit still in church. Those are really hard because they are things that we are just supposed to do - if we leave the toys out someone might step on them in the middle of the night while going in to feed Brother.
We must sit still in church because if you stand in the pew you can fall down, also your noises make it hard for the elderly woman behind us to hear, even though she tells me EVERY WEEK that she loves it when you sing at the top of your lungs to words you don't know.

Now it is my turn. Lesson plans. Bluck!

After teaching for 6 years I have to write out formal lesson plans and it makes me absolutely batty!

Not because I think I am better than lesson planning but because in the hour it takes me to just write them out I am thinking about how I could be rocking my babies, or doing dishes or folding laundry or snuggling my husband. My time is already thin, using it to write out lessons is frustrating.

I feel like my time is better spent doing other things because I already have course outlines that are aligned to the standards. Why do I have these? Because that is what I was taught to do in college and those were the rules and that is what I am supposed to do.

So I sit and type and want to cry the entire time, but I do them, because I am supposed to do them.

The next time I tell Sister that she is supposed to sit down and be quiet I am going to hug her extra tight and hopefully she knows just how deep my understanding of her frustration goes.

Smiley Man

This little guy is all smiles these days. He weighs 15 pounds 7 ounces and is 26 1/2 inches long. He is wearing 6-9 month onesies and 3-6 month pants. He laughs at sister and loves to sit in the high chair. He watches you eat and loves rice cereal. He is beginning to nap longer at a time in the afternoon. He is "talking" and "squawking". Aiden has also found his feet recently. While they can't quite get to his mouth he does hold on to them and roll from side to side. He is not rolling from back to front yet but it will be soon, front to back is mastered and he doesn't stay on his tummy for long when he has decided enough is enough.

Bacon and Blue Onions

A new love has found it's way in to my life. These bacon and blue cheese onions. They are so stinking easy to make and so incredibly fattening tasty. I am not a photog, so don't judge the image below but it is my own.

This recipe is from http://www.jamesandeverett.com and was found on Pinterest.

The original post can be found at http://www.jamesandeverett.com/whatscooking/2012/09/23/grilled-blue-cheese-bacon-stuffed-onions/

Bacon and Blue Cheese Onions

4 onions, sweet. I used Vidalia 
1 stick of butter softened
4 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled
2/3 cup blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the tops and bottoms off of the onions and peel the outer dried layers off.

Scoop out a portion of the insides using a melon baller or a small spoon. I used my strawberry huller from the Pampered Chef and it worked great, this product is no longer available, but the Core and More is. Be careful not to dig down too deeply

Mix all filling ingredients together and stuff in the cavity of the onion. Press it in really well so that the cavities are completely full.

Wrap in aluminum foil and grill on a medium heat for 30-40 minutes. We did just 30 because we thought the heat was too high, but 10 more wouldn't have hurt. Let the onions steam for just a little while and be careful when opening the foil.

Oh man were these good. My husband sure can man a grill!