Dogfood ...

I have been thinking about making my dogs food for quite awhile

and when Chrissy girl stopped eating much and started getting

pretty boney feeling......I decided I needed to do something different.
Chrissy has always been a light eater but now with her almost 12 years
old, it worried us

So I researched some homemade dog foods but some were just gross

Like..I'm not going to handle "organ" meat!

and then I found some that were basically what we eat

so I took my list to the vet to get her approval

and now...I make their food

no more commercial dog food for my babies

I mix together chicken breast, brown rice, carrots and green beans

no seasonings at all

You can see that the puppy still gets puppy food with hers. She cannot go on this diet until she is one year old.
They get about 3/4 cup of whole grain cheerios for breakfast

a full cup of the chicken mix for dinner

they snack on carrots and milk bones

and they get one multi vitamin a day

we also give them eggs, cheese and granola but not every day

those are just treats

Eggs for dinner once a week

and now Chrissy girl is eating good and acts like she is feeling better

I know it's a little extra work but not that much

I make a big batch and it last for 5 days

And I just feel better about what they are eating

later.....

Facebook ...

I jumped on the Facebook bandwagon more than a year ago

and I love it

I realize there is good and bad but I guess it's all in how you use it

I like to stay connected with friends and family

for example....I have nieces that are in college and high school

normally, I only talk with them at family gatherings

but with Facebook, I am connected to them every single day!! I get to

enjoy their college experience as they post lots of goings on and

pictures from school.

I love staying in touch with friends!

Friends that have moved away (Glenda) and re-connecting

with old friends (Winnie), seeing old high school friends (Bonnie)

it's just fun

I am not a telephone talker so FB lets me check in with folks, share photos and post silly stuff! Also, now more of my friends and family

read my blog...which is my family journal.

I know, probably boring at times but it's ok, it's my life and I love it.

what I don't like about FB......when people read your status update and

take it the wrong way. That's happened quite a few times with me

but it's ok..nothing is perfect right?

I don't play the games.....just don't have time for that.

and the "warnings" everyone sends around are a bit annoying

but overall, I think FB is fantastic!!

later.... 

Time to decorate ...

oh yes...time to pull out the seasonal decorations!!

I love it



and this is sitting on the kitchen counter ... I need to fill up that glass pumpkin with candy corn

and in the foyer.....

I need to find my front door wreath

and buy a couple of pumpkins for the front porch but

that's about it. I don't usually do too much for Halloween

But Christmas, that's another story....that gets a little out of hand!

later......

A Dinosauer cast ...

On Tuesday evening, Maddox was playing and fell and broke his foot

except that Nicole didn't know he broke it ... there were no signs

no swelling or anything

But the next morning Maddox couldn't walk on it

so off they went to the ER

and after some xrays found a break

small and clean but still a break

Nicole then took him to the orthopedic dr and they put a cast on it

and he did not like it

they stopped by the house afterward and he was signing to

Nicole to take it off

sad.....



A lot of the times when the boys come by, they don't want to leave

when it's time to go .... of course, who would blame them,

it's GRANDMA AND GRANDPA'S!! haha

so to distract them, I tell them we have to fix up a bag of goodies

for them to take home and they love that!

here's Gabe holding tight to his bag of goodies

Maddox only had a hard time that first day with the cast

now, he handles it like a pro

and is walking around with no problem

he only has to wear it 3 weeks so just 2 1/2 wks to go!

later....

Life with 3 dogs ...

is HECTIC!

Chrissy girl is 11 years old, Bella Boo is 1 year old and

Pippa Lou is 4 1/2 months old

Chrissy is pretty happy about the new puppy because now

Bella Boo leaves her alone....which is what she likes

And Bella Boo loves the new puppy and won't leave her alone!

the only time we can play with the pup is when Bella is outside!

her name should be Bella Jealous Boo.

But she loves Pippa Lou and they have fast become best buddies

the only problem we have is when they are playing, Bella Boo starts

getting a little rough and Pippa runs and hides under chairs or tables

to get away from her

She has also learned to get in the toy basket and Bella

can't mess with her too much

they are a lot of work and they get me up way too early each morning

but they are so much fun .... I just love them!

later......

One last summer trip ...

After getting back from the beach we went to the

Chesapeake Bay with Tommy, Joanne, Lois and Gene.

Weather wise, it was a miserable weekend......rain, rain and more rain

cold and very windy

But people wise, it was FUN!!

we just really have such a great time with all of them

we pretty much played cards and ate! haha

we arrived Friday evening and Tommy had cooked a wonderful

spaghetti dinner for all of us

Then they taught us how to play this card game called 99

it was soooo much fun

The next morning despite the chilly weather, I did get up and walk

I think it was just shy of 2 miles

We had a big breakfast along with some great Bloody Mary's

and then broke out the cards!

we ended up playing from 11:00 that morning until 11:00 that night

with only breaking to eat!

Tommy cooked some chicken wings for munching on during the day

and for dinner grilled BBQ ribs....yum!

below is some random pics from the weekend....mostly just

playing cards!!

Here's Joanne's dog Sadie taking it easy!

this last picture I took as we were crossing the bridge heading home

it was a fun weekend with great people

and our last trip for the summer!

later......

12 Days at the beach ... Day 12

Day 12 at the beach was our last.

and since we were going to be returning to work the next day, we decided to head home as early as we could.

so up early, no walking and no going out to breakfast.

 

we put clean sheets on the beds, vaccumed, dusted, cleaned the kitchen, put away the front and back deck furniture. Cleaned the bathrooms, cleaned out the refrigerator, shook the rugs, windexed all of the glass, cleaned the beach chairs, put away the fishing rods, turned the hot water heater off and turned the heat on to 55 degrees.......now the condo is all ready for the winter!
We do the best job we can cleaning the condo as we are just so appreciative of our brother-in-law for being so generous to us with the condo.

 

we're not sure if we'll return this winter or not......might be spring before we go back down. We are talking about maybe doing an October or November trip but we'll see how that goes.

 

I know to some people, our time down there may sound boring but to us, it is the best time of our summer! We relax...we don't do touristy stuff, we don't like crowded beaches, we just love the whole attitude down in the Outer Banks. It's just so laid back and the locals are just so nice!

My last view as I leave the beach.......and yes, there are those 2 specks of dust that are sitting in my camera! haha...

 

later......

so long summer......hello fall

later......

12 Days at the beach ... Day 11

Day 11 ... our last full day at the beach!!

I got up early and walked 2 miles

and since this was going to be our last full day at the beach, we

decided we would grill again so we could stay on the beach longer.

But it was also football Sunday so we were constantly coming

back up to the condo to check the scores!

Johnny and Timmy fished again, and we made fun of them again

played some corn hole and just really enjoyed the day

We grilled steaks and settled in to watch the Cowboys game

and then after the game, I cried!! haha.....seriously, what are we

going to do about these Cowboys!! dang it.....

later....

12 Days at the beach ... day 10

Day 10 and Lynne left this morning

I didn't walk.....Lynne leaving was my excuse!

Timmy, Susan, Johnny and I went out to breakfast at Millers.

Then we went down to Jeanettes Pier ... we wanted to check one more time

if Jamie's corian fish was installed on the pier

but it wasn't



the building on the new pier has a 2nd story venue for events

we couldn't go inside as it was being decorated for a wedding

reception but I did snap these pictures.

this would be a beautiful place for a reception

it is surrounded by an outside balcony porch that overlooks the pier

and the ocean!

look closely at the picture below ... double click it and you'll be able to see it better.

they had made a heart of wine bottles and they strung ribbon along

all of them. I'm guessing the ceremony was going to be inside

the ring of bottles. kind of weird but to each his own!

after we left the pier, we stopped by Tortugas for a couple

of cold beers.

then headed over to T&W tackle for a new fishing rod for Johnny

and dang.....I meant to get a t-shirt from there and forgot

Then we headed out to the beach

fishing, hanging out and playing corn hole

Some more friends stopped by, Steve and Chrissy

And they wanted us to go out to dinner with them so later in the evening after getting showers, we all headed over to the Sugar Shack!

Little did we know that in front of all of us, Steve was going to propose

to Christy.

So yes, we all witnessed the proposal...how sweet!

and the pictures are very bad.....but in my defense, I had been drinking

beer all day long! Wasn't good at setting my camera or focusing! ha!

later......

12 Days at the beach ... Day 9

Day 9 ... sunny and beautiful

I didn't make note of the temps

Lynne and I walked 2 1/2 miles

While Johnny, Timmy and Susan went to get bait for fishing, Lynne

and I went shopping at the Cotton Gin. I wanted to get some local

wine for my neighbor who was taking care of our dogs. A local had told

us this was a good place to go...and yep, it was!

I've always wanted to buy a tshirt from every place we go to

while down there but just never have. So this trip I decided I would

unless I already had a shirt from there.

so here are my shirts.......6 of them from Millers, Tortugas, Jeanettes Pier, Red Drum, Hurricane Moe's and Black Pelican!



We all hung out on the beach all day

Johnny and Timmy fishing

and us making fun of them for catching no fish

We were all sitting there on the beach and none of us even noticed the ocean

taking Johnny's fishing rod away. Earlier the ocean had taken Timmy's

sun glasses! after awhile, we saw something black as the waves crashed

on the shore and Johnny thought that it might be Timmy's glasses......this

is when we discovered Johnny's rod was gone...haha!! I think we had started

drinking beer pretty early that day!

We all played some corn hole

We decided not to cook and not to go out!! Ordered

take out from Mama Kwan's! Again, drinking beer too early will def keep you

from going out!

Our bedroom window in the condo faces the beach so when the sun comes up, it gets very bright. But one morning, I woke really early and noticed the window light looked very orange. So even though it was not an hour I would normally get up, I did.....peeked out the window and was amazed at the colors of the sky as the sun was trying to come up. So I had to grab my camera and this is what I captured.....

and then I went back to bed. But just minutes later, the color lighting up the window was even brighter so back up and grabbed my camera. And wow, sure was worth it!

the colors were some of the most amazing I have ever seen down there.

later.......

12 Days at the beach ... Day 8

Day 8 and this was the only day we woke to overcast skies

and maybe a little drizzle......well, certainly enough to keep us

from walking!

But the clouds moved out and bam.....another beautiful day in paradise.

One of our favorite places in the Outer Banks is just a little island

on the sound side called Collington. It's just a small fishing village.

they have a grocery store, gas station, 2 seafood places, a pizza joint and a really nice restaurant........and that's about it.

But we just love it.

We had heard that it got hit pretty hard during Hurricane Irene

so we decided to ride over and check it out.

There was just so much flooding and the smells of mildew and mold,

the smells of flooding.....it was awful.

I just didn't even have it in me to take pictures, the damage was just

so awful.

We headed back to the condo and hung out at the beach.

and look......Johnny took some pics of me...very rare indeed!!

Later in the day our friends Tim and Susan arrived

We all went out to dinner at the Red Drum...yum!

I had crab legs, shrimp and clams...def needed to walk the next day!

later.....

12 Days at the beach ... Day 7

Day 7 ... sunny but I can't remember what the temp was

Lynne and I walked 2 miles

and for folks who know me........you know my biggest fear...SNAKES!!

I have been going to the OBX for 33 years now and I have

never, ever seen a snake there. I like to believe they don't exist in

the happiest place on earth!

But while Lynne and I were walking we saw one....just laying there on the side of the road! ewwwww

I screamed and ran!

after that awful experience (haha) Lynne and I decided to go shopping.

I bought a new bathing suit!

and Johnny went to run errands, grocery store, beer, ice, you know, the necessities!

All day long we just hung out on the beach and then later

in the day at the pool

Grilled some hamburgers for dinner and watched a little TV

look at my man grilling those burgers......

And there's Lynne making sure he's doing it right.......

While watching TV, the DQ bug was too strong for Johnny so we had to

head out to the Dairy Queen for a Blizzard!!

oh yeah folks......we're crazy like that! haha...

more tomorrow!

later......