The Candlands: 2010

12/22/10

12/3/10

11/17/10

11/1/10

10/20/10

After people telling me they think I exaggerate about the poopy situation at my house, I decided to show ya'll some proof! This post comes with a disclaimer though. I am a cleaning/sanitizing nazi! That being said, I would be mortified if anyone came to visit me with the state our home is in at the moment. So don't judge me!

Let me first paint you a picture of my typical day. I have to do roughly 5 feedings in a 24 hour period with the puppies. Each time they get out of their kennel they all poop and pee. Then they eat and play. Then poop again. That's 120 poops I have to pick up (or as Phil pointed out 120 Clorox wipes). Because of said poop, our house stinks...I'm not gonna lie. This gives me anxiety because the thing I hate worse than a messy house is a smelly one!

So on to the proof! Today I had a lot of things to do for Relief Society. So I fed the puppies, cleaned them up, and since some were falling asleep nursing, I figured I wouldn't wake them up to put them in their kennel. The Relief Society President called me and we chatted for about 15 minutes (give or take) and as I hung up I heard a little yelp. So I run in to find Shelby all cozy in our bed and a puppy on the wrong side of the boxes (we thought we were clever using food storage and boxes to contain the puppies and we laid plastic down on all the carpet they walk on - this helps immensely with the poop clean up). Not only was one of those adorable puppies on the wrong side of the boxes where there is no plastic, but he had gone diarrhea and walked in a perfectly straight line while going (talented huh?)! Oh but wait...lets scan the rest of the room! Miss Shelby looks at me like...it's your fault and then my jaw hits the floor as I literally behold a poop fest in my bedroom. Here's the proof!

I go into panic mode and gather all the puppies and throw them into their kennel. Three puppies seemed to have lathered themselves up in the poop so I put them in the bathroom for maybe a minute as I run get a towel and soap to bathe them. Did I seriously not learn my lesson only moments ago?! This is what they left me! What the heck?!

At this point I call my hubby on the verge of tears and manage to say #113 (it's a running joke that stands for reasons I don't want to have puppies again) and he says "I'm on my way home." He came to my rescue, but had the gall to laugh at the situation...which does seem funny now that I am writing this post.

So now you know and won't blame me when I tell you even though we had good intentions to keep the puppies for the maximum amount of time that was recommended, we have decided that they can go to their new homes next weekend!

10/14/10

Happy Wife, Happy Life

I had a meltdown tonight! Anyone that knows me, knows that I have cleaning/organizing OCD and I am weird about my smells! Let's just say that my carpets leave no doubt we have 12 puppies running around. After an hour of tears, my dear sweet husband told me to run to Walmart (at 11:00) and get a cheap carpet cleaner. Luckily a few people have put down deposits on the puppies, and since cleaning the carpets is part of their care, I felt it was money well spent. So for $80, I got this lifesaver. I am all smiles again and feel like I can make it another 5 weeks with our herd! I still love them to pieces!

10/4/10

4 weeks

At 4 weeks the puppies can now hear and their eyes are open! My favorite is when you whistle or make kissing noises and they sit down on their bum and listen. They started walking on all fours and are loving it! They are fast little suckers!

We started solid foods to help out momma. The puppies went nuts and couldn't get enough! Now we all need baths!

9/20/10

To Name...or Not to Name

We really hate to give the puppies names as we know they won't be ours forever and it will be harder as they go to their new families. Plus we know those families will have their own names to give to the puppies. Still, with all the cute markings, some are bound to get called something or other.

Here are our girls (in no particular order):

She has what looks like a white eagle on her back.

She is pure white.

She has what looks like a diamond on her back.

Here are our boys (in no particular order):

He has what looks like a Zorro mask so that's what I call him but Phillip calls him Goggles.

He has just one little spot on the side of his face.

He has one big patch on the top of his head and a hint of one by his eye. I also affectionately call him Chunk because he is our 24 hour nurser!

This little guy was our surprise #12 and he is slightly smaller than all the others, but he knows me and my smell and will cuddle up to me.

And here is the whole bunch during nap time just after a bed change.

Having puppies has been such a fun experience. It's kinda draining like having kids. I am constantly doing laundry and get 3ish hours of sleep each night. Their noises are cute and whimpers make us laugh. I would pay a gazillion dollars (and Shelby might do the greatest trick ever) if someone invented a puppy pacifier though! We love them all and can't wait to see their personalities. For now I'm okay with them being small and confined to just the kiddie pool.

Less Than 100 Days...

In honor of Christmas being less than 100 days away, and the fact that a crazy tradition my family has is to play Christmas music September 1st and it got me in the mood, I decided to FINALLY make myself a Christmas planner that I can re-use every year! I kept it simple and made it in under 2 hours (I promise because I did it while watching Christmas Vacation)! I am in love with organization - that's no secret - but it feels like I am starting off the holiday season on the right foot! I always get over zealous and don't have time to finish even half of the things I wish I had. So, here's to an organized Christmas!

The Front

This one is my favorite so it is a stand alone photo. If you know me, then you know that I LOVE doing our yearly Christmas card! I have an excel spreadsheet of who is receiving one and their address, which I put into the pocket. I also have a sample of the coming years card that I design around the first of September (psh don't think I am giving you a sneak peak for this years) that I slip into the pocket too. And of course I put on my calendar to mail them out December 1!

9/16/10

Dog Pile

9/15/10

We Have Puppies!!!

9/13/10

Any Day Now...

The puppies should be here any day now! We are so excited! We LOVE feeling the puppies kick and it makes us laugh when we see her tummy moving.

9/3/10

Simple Smoothies

In my efforts to provide my husband with some quick breakfasts (because I'm lazy like that), I thought I'd share his favorite. I take a bag like this from Sam's Club ($7.50)...

...and snack baggies like this ($1.50 Walmart)...

...and end up with roughly 18 baggies full of frozen fruit, that I promptly divide into two large gallon freezer bags.

So what right? Well here is where my hubby's independence comes in (he totally thinks I save him so much time, haha if he only knew). He uses one little baggie of fruit, a 6 oz container of yogurt (his favorites are blackberry pomegranate, blueberry acai, strawberry mango, or cherry pomegranate), and a 1/4 a cup of milk (but this varies depending on how thick you want it). Then blend! Easy, right?! And a happy husband to boot!

P.S. Who knew that ZIPLOC had some great recipes? I'm sorta glad I hopped onto their website to steal a picture from them!

Breakfast Made Easy

While I was browning my meat for dinner last night I made 9 breakfast sandwiches. Yes friends, it's true. It took me 15 minutes to make and freeze these beauties!

Here's what I used (personal preference).

That cool egg contraption can be found at Walmart for about $3.50.

I toasted my English Muffins while my eggs cooked (1 egg + 1/2 tbls water + 1 minute in microwave). Then I layered sausage patty, egg, and cheese. When it cooled after a minute or so I put it in an individual ziplock baggie. At the end I put all the sandwiches into a big bag and wrote the instructions on the top.

P.S. Your cooking time may vary. Most microwaves it takes 90 seconds, our new one takes 60.

8/27/10

What Can You Do In 1.5 Seconds?!

I can bust out one of these thanks to this chicka!

Except for I got my headband at the dollar store and didn't have to cover it. I didn't do any of the velcro stuff either. I just kinda globbed on the hot glue and stuck it on! Easy peasy!

8/26/10

What To Do...

So I honestly thought school started for me on the 23rd. To my surprise it doesn't start until the 30th. What is a girl to do with herself when her chores are done and she has free time on her hands?! If you said catch up on books that have been sitting on the shelf untouched and half read for years...then you are right! A book a day (and a little crafting) is on the agenda. In case you are curious about what's been on my nightstand (nosey people)...in no particular order...

And I highly recommend them all!

8/19/10

I Can Check That Off My To-Do List

The project I mentioned last Friday was.....

drum roll please.....

a simple summer burlap door wreath!

Don't mind my ghetto door. I tried scrubbing it, I promise.

8/16/10

i LOVE sundays

8/13/10

In the Works

I've got a little project in the works...can you guess what it is going to be?!

8/12/10

We think...

...this little girl is going to have puppies the end of September!

8/11/10

Ode To Chicken Express

{this is for my dad and grandpa}

8/8/10

Let's Go Fly A Kite...For Date Night!

Being new to Abilene and working on a limited budget with graduate school starting in a few weeks, we decided to keep it simple for date night. We found a kite amongst the boxes and went to the elementary school right by our house! There was just enough wind to play for about 30 minutes. Shelby wore herself out chasing and jumping for the kite!

8/5/10

Texas or Bust

Here's Phil loading up the trailer with the rest of our stuff (my dad and I took a load in July when we went house hunting).

This is what Shelby thought of the final stage of moving to Texas!

8/3/10

We Made It

7/7/10

Poor Trey

Poor Trey. He's Stacey's 3 month old boxer puppy (technically Shelby's half brother). He fell and broke his leg...like bad. He had to have surgery and have pins and screws put into his femur. He's going to be okay, but it's so sad to see him just laying around.