Dance of the Dwarves

Introducing....Reese and her new buddy Walt from the "Dirty Dozen" litter over at Foggy Bottom (aka Random thoughts on random things)!

We picked Walt up from Cindy and her crew at the Des Moines dog show this weekend for a much-needed respite from his brother Charlie. Hoping he will enjoy his stay for a couple months whilst he learns to be a little more independent while apart from his brother! When we introduced him to Reese, they instantly hit it off and it's been so fun watching them interact. Now, Reese is almost 4...and Walt is only 6 months, yet he is nearly as big as she is! His paws are HUGE! He will be a good-sized dog when he grows into himself. The funniest thing is watching all that size try to coordinate itself with all that puppy-energy to try and keep up with the Reeser! haha....too funny for words. Luckily, Ryan was home "dog-watching" Saturday night while I hung out with friends and fellow dog-bloggers at a chili supper at the Mummes' house and grabbed his camera phone to catch these two really enjoying themselves on their first night together. Note: Just imagine this video on repeat mode about 10 times a day! =)

Unfortunately, I was only able to upload snippets. We're trying to figure out how to use (free) video editing software to make one long video because the clips his phone takes are so short. I have about 8 of these in sequence showing how long they went about it! Anywho - you get the picture!

Now for some stills....cuz they're just so darn photogenic!

Trying to figure out where his dog-nappers have brought him.

Such a beautiful head.

Great profile.

Hai handsome!

Pretty much captures his personality. =)

Stick hunting

Look ma! I caught one for ya!

He honed in on the best spot of the couch real quick-like!

Reese says she'll let him enjoy her spot for a while...but she won't like it!

That can't be comfortable.

New toy = great pillow

New toy we got at Petco yesterday. Supposed to be indestructible. We shall see!

Oy! Long day!

I think we will get along pretty well. Thanks Cindy for letting us keep him for a little while! We're really enjoying him a bunch (as you can tell!).

~A

Welcome to the Thunderdome!

Since it is Valentine's Day, my romantic husband got me tulips and a bag of live crickets as a gift. =) Awww. Ok, the crickets were for the animals (and cuz we find it amusing to watch them engage their predatory instincts). Here are pictures of what ensued...(Yes, they are in the bathtub...best way to keep rogue crickets from becoming annoying nighttime chirpers.)

 

The crickets are surrounded! The cats are deciding whether they can "take" them...

All in!

The first couple of crickets you see here did not entertain the cats very well. Alas, our kitties are not the greatest hunters...or at least they need more practice with it. So, we called in reinforcements to take care of the invading cricket population...

What's this?! [cricket is the small brown thing in front of her nose]

[Chomp!] 

I think that went well. =)

Mmmm...Can I haz anuder?

Reese is our resident bug-killer. She will push the cats out of the way with reckless abandon to attack any intruding insect or arachnid that they see in the house or outside. The cats are great at catching moths, flies, spiders, etc....but crickets must not be their thing. Oh well - we know who to summon to take care of the rest of the Valentine's crickets I guess. =)

Now - just some fun pictures because they're cute.

Another stuffed sink shot.

A rare sight.

 The cats allowed her to join them on the guest bed. Notice that she didn't push her luck to get the prime spot. heh

Naughty baddog up on guest bed.

She got the prime spot this time though!

I'm sensing a theme here...

Smile! It's Valentine's Day! =^ >

~A

Ski trip!

We went with some friends to Afton Alps in Minnesota over the weekend for some skiing. Fun (and some sore joints/muscles) was had by all and it was a great time away from the daily grind. This was my second-ever time skiing. Of course my first time was last year here in Des Moines at Sleepy Hollow Sports Park (which doesn't really qualify as real skiing in my opinion after getting to see what Afton Alps was like). I learned a lot...and can't wait to go again when we get the money/time.

Yay! Skiing! Oh how naive...

Yep...that is me wiped out under the tree. Yay for learning!

Jon says, "This is me skiing yo!"

Ahhh, our first refreshment at the chalet on day 1. (me, Jon, and Kevin)

Kelly and Nick decided to take a break from snowboarding and join us.

Kevin, Nick, and Kelly

Ry and me

Happy to be on vacay.

Fun in the chalet watching the Super Bowl. Nick looks like he's bout to take Kevin out...hehe Creeper.

Dunno why the pic is so blurry...but this is me after getting off a lift getting ready to head down a hill.

Action shot of Nick on his board!

Yep, that's me at the first aid station. The result of day one: concussion. Hey - at least it was at the END of an otherwise fun-filled day. =)

Don't worry. I'm fine! =) They gave me oxygen and all the funny lights I was seeing went away almost immediately. I did twist my right knee pretty bad the next day though. (No, I hadn't had enough torture and wanted to go back out!) On the upside, day 2 was way more fun cuz I stuck to the easier hills (and fell less!) for most of the day and spent a lot of time watching the Super Bowl in the chalet. Downside = Steelers did not win the Super Bowl. =( We went back to the hotel and hung out in the hot tub, then chilled in our hotel rooms til we couldn't keep our eyes open any more. Excited to go back again soon hopefully.

~A

Snowy night

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade, no? So, it only makes sense that if Mother Nature hands you umpteen inches of snow, you make SNOW ICE CREAM!!! =)

 I found a recipe for snow ice cream (which I had never heard of, but apparently it is a favorite past-time for some people) while browsing Facebook before bed. You can see the recipe here. It looked so good...and since I'm always up for something sweet, I decided we had to make it right now! I had to modify the recipe some to jive with my carb-conscious/sugar-free way of eating. Instead of sweetened condensed milk, I used about 1 and half cups of heavy cream and mixed in 1/2 cup of Splenda. I also used more vanilla extract than called for (about 3-4 tablespoons). We have some really good Mexican vanilla extract and it is perfect for this. I used the hand mixer to whip up the cream/Splenda/vanilla mixture a bit so it wasn't quite so runny, but not to the point that it was fluffy like whipped cream. Then Ryan trudged out into the snow and filled my big 8 cup mixing bowl full of freshly fallen, very soft snow. I folded the snow into the cream mixture until it reached the consistency I wanted and it was well combined. Note: Be careful what you use to stir it with! The plastic spatula I was stirring it with snapped right above the silicone spatula part cuz it got so cold!

Close-up so you can see the soft, perfect, texture! YUM!

The color is off a bit because of the flash, but isn't that pretty?! Can't believe it's made from snow!

After we enjoyed our ice cream, it was time to catch a couple pictures of the weather and join in on Blizzard Watch 2011. Dun dun dunnnnn....

A view of the front of the house. Winds are pretty strong right now.

Front row seats to see all the "action."

"Ahhhh - snow!"

"What? I just had a moment. 'Scuse me."

From outside looking in.

Cats are never cooperative photo subjects. *sigh*

"Snow pumas" as the hubby likes to refer to them. Loki loves this stuff. Go figure with that shag rug he carries with him everywhere.

Sending warm thoughts to everyone. While you're cooped up, might as well have fun with it and try the snow ice cream!
~A