KK loves getting her picture taken now

So many times when we are out and about now KK will ask me to take a picture of her. Sometimes it is with an object or scenery, and other times she just wants to make a big smile for the camera. Some of the latest pictures I have taken of her have turned out really well. A few weeks ago we were at Old Navy and she thought the mannequin's were so beautiful! It was so cute. She begged me to take a picture of her standing next to the mannequin.

I wonder if she thought that mannequin should be her mommy?

For some reason while we were at gymnastics she thought it would be fun to get her picture taken. Look how cute her smile is!

Yet another picture she asked me to take. I am just loving that she wants her picture taken now. I guess that means trying to take pictures of the girls at Christmas will be a lot easier this year. It used to stress me out big time and take a few days of trying to get a good picture of both of them!

Aly got a new haircut

Last night Aly was irritated with her very long hair. Yes her very long hair that both Daddy and Mommy love but it isn't about what we want is it? We want to raise Aly and KK letting them have control over their own "look." So this morning when she woke up and was still adamant over getting her hair cut I asked her how she wanted it. She said she wanted it short. So I told her we could look through some Internet pictures of children's haircuts. She picked out a picture she liked with a girl with a layered bob hair cut. It was cute. So I emailed hubby the picture, printed it out for the hair stylist, and left to go let Aly get her haircut.

When KK saw Aly getting a haircut she wanted one too. She has never had her haircut at a salon. So I let her but told the hair stylist to just take off a little and even it out. She didn't care how they cut her hair, she just wanted a hair cut like her big sister!

Aly feels so pretty with her new haircut. We went to Claire's afterwards and bought some headbands. She chose this cute rainbow headband.

What kind of bug is this?

We are having a great time finding bugs in our yard this year. I am very proud of Aly not being scared of them and having a great time catching and observing all type of wildlife in our yard. Many times she lets them go right away or within a few hours. The other day while getting the BBQ ready to grill I found this bug on the grill. I called Aly and hubby over right away. Of course Aly wanted to hold it. It sure looks like a giant cricket but do you know what is weird? It can change its color when it goes to different surroundings. When it was on the BBQ it was much darker in color. When it was on the cement it was pale. So if you happen to know what this is please do tell us, leave a comment!

Baking my own sandwich rolls

Wow, it only took me three tries but I finally got it right! I have never made my own bread before so I needed to experience a learning curve. The first try my yeast was bad. The second try I didn't let it rise enough, but by the third try I had it right!

Here is try number three. I made whole wheat sandwich rolls and brushed them with garlic olive oil and added italian herbs. Check out my sandwich. It was so good!

I made them again today and used some flour I bought from costco. It says it is unbleached flour with whole grains and has all the same nutritional value as whole wheat. They were so yummy! Now I need some company to come over and try out my sandwich rolls! Here is the recipe I am using if you want to give it a try:

2 1/2 teaspoons dry instant yeast

1 1/3 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup honey, molasses, or maple syrup

3 1/2 cups whole wheat bread flour (more if needed)

1/4 cup nonfat dried milk

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Place all ingredients in the container of your bread machine, or into the bowl of a heavy duty mix master. For bread machine follow the instructions for making dough. For mix master, mix with a spoon until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Now using the dough hooks knead dough for 6 to 8 minutes or until it becomes smooth and supple. Place dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover and place in a warm place rises and becomes puffy about 60 minutes. Dough may not double in size this is ok. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled surface and shape into a log about 8 1/2 inches long. Place log into a bread pan, cover loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap and allow bread to rise for 1 hour or until crowned about 1 inch above edge of pan. Bake bread in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or it sounds hollow when thumped on bottom of loaf.

I actually didn't have any dried milk so I made the recipe without it. Since I was doing sandwich rolls instead of bread I divided the mixture into six balls and stretched out the dough to form the rolls. I then brushed them with olive oil and added italian herbs. I baked them at 375 degrees for twenty minutes.

A Day trip to the beach

Hubby and I love the beach, in fact if we could afford it we would live at the beach and raise the girls. Since that is not reality for us we try and go to the beach as often as we can which unfortunately only turns out to be about 3-4 times a year. Hubby has been wanting to take a day trip to the beach but I have always been a bit hesitant. I don't like driving in the car on trips. So for us a day trip to the beach could be around 5-6 hours round trip.

Hubby finally convinced me to give it a try. I was still considering a one night trip but paying for a hotel at summer rates just wasn't in our budget. So we got up early Friday morning and left for the beach. When we got to San Francisco the fog was heavy and it was very cold. So we decided to go ahead and use the free zoo tickets I had and take the girls to the zoo.

The girls had so much fun climbing on all of the statues and they insisted that I take their picture on everything! Finally KK is happy to have her picture taken and she actually poses!

It was quite chilly that day. We all had to wear sweatshirts.

Have you seen the lions at the San Francisco zoo? Man that male lion is so big, sure makes me scared. They let you see him close up too since they used Plexiglas for the viewing.

After the zoo around 5:00 we headed to the beach. The cool thing was the sun finally burned off all the fog so we had a few hours of fun! Unfortunately the beach we chose didn't have any shells. Daddy and KK had fun anyway jumping the waves in the very cold water!

We made it home shortly after 10 and all of us were quite exhausted!

Cable TV

Back in April I believe it was, we decided to get rid of cable television. At the time we thought we would be able to use the digital converter boxes and an amplifier antennae to get free tv. Apparently we live too far away from a transmitter so it didn't work at all. So we were stuck just getting channels 3-13. In the beginning this was fine because most of the shows I watch were on that channel. If I missed it, which I found that I did the majority of the time, I could watch it for the most part on my laptop. Bravo tv wouldn't post current episodes so I missed their shows. CBS was great about having their shows posted by the next day. However The Biggest Looser wouldn't post their episodes for a week so that was annoying.

All in all I found the process to be just a little too complicated. A few weeks ago we decided to call the cable company to see how much it would cost to get cable channels 3-80. The lady on the phone said it would be $56 dollars a month. I gasped. I couldn't justify that much a month so I told her we just couldn't do it. Well, I don't know what changed between then and now but tonight was sure my lucky night. We already have cable Internet with them so hubby told me I should check out a bundle package. So I went online and found one. I called up the cable company to get it. The guy on the phone gave me an even better deal! He is giving me digital cable channels 3-80 plus free HBO for the next 24 months!!! Yes you heard right, 24 months! I couldn't pass that up! I can surely justify $30 a month! Plus he is giving me a DVR for $4.95 a month for the next 6 months and after that it will only be $7 a month!

I realized I also could not live without my DVR. I tried watching my laptop while I ran on the treadmill but there were so many times I would have to click to continue after a quick commercial was played. It was just plain annoying! As a matter of fact it was so annoying that I have been pathetic over the past three months on the treadmill and I think I have only used it 5 or 6 times. Yes that meant I gained 2 pounds but I am already working at getting rid of it.

I am so happy to be getting cable television and DVR back and my health will be happy too! Treadmill days are back again!

Finally got my hair done right

On Wednesday I was able to get my hair done and this time I wanted it done right. I was thrilled when my new hair dresser suggested I do highlight low lights in my hair. I had that done a few years ago and loved the results. Plus the best part is it doesn't leave your hair feeling dead and dried out. I was very happy with the results and the color looks perfectly natural! She is also trying to help me fix and old bad hair cut so she worked on blending the bottom because I am wanting to grow my hair out.

The picture on the left I took while driving home...the picture on the right I took after I played with my hair a bit. You know what, I feel like I look younger in the first picture. With partial bangs across my forehead....what do you think?

Nevada Gets a Haircut

A few weeks ago after all the cold weather passed, we finally shaved our Golden Retriever. We had shaved her a year ago for the first time and found it really easy. So we decided to do it again. Too bad I didn't look at my blog from last year. Last year we used the biggest blade guard. This year we used the second to smallest. Let's just saw, Nevada's hair is shorter than we wanted. I am sure she feels good though!

We took pictures of both dogs so you could see how big our puppy Shasta is getting. She is 7 months old now and already the size of Nevada. Shasta is the light colored dog and Nevada is the reddish colored dog.

They love playing together and play all day. Our old dog Sierra used to be the dominant dog and Nevada was very passive. Now Nevada has taken the dominant dog role over Shasta. I wonder if that will last long.

KK did so well today

Wow, KK had a great day today. It was as if the dog bite never happened. She was running around all morning bending her wrist and putting pressure/weight on it. It also healed quite well over night. The swelling went down, there was only minor bruising, and it is already beginning to scab over. Tonight I will let the wound air out over night and take the bandage off.

Another surprising thing was that she wasn't scared of dogs at all. We went to my Grandma's house and she had three dogs at her house. Of course KK knew the dogs but I wasn't sure if she would be scared or skittish. Nope, it was as if nothing happened. We took the girls for a walk to the park and met a dog on the way. Same thing, it was as if nothing ever happened. She totally want to pet the dog. We told her to ask first so she did. I am so amazed at how quickly she bounced back from such a traumatic experience for her. Wow KK, you truly amaze me. You are so strong and courageous!

Poor KK gets bit by a dog

Poor KK, we are staying at our friends house in San Jose. They have one of those border collie dogs. His name is Lobo. He is very territorial. He is nine years old. We have stayed here at our friends house on multiple occasions. He has always been a dog you wanted to be leery about. Well tonight poor KK was walking into the kitchen and the dog bit her. He bit her right hand/wrist. He made six puncture wounds. The worst were on her wrist. She has never been in so much pain in her life. She was inconsolable for quite a long period of time. We gave her ibuprofen and took her to the emergency room. I was worried she may have torn a muscle or tendon because she kept grabbing her forearm when she would bend her hand and was crying in pain.

We got to the ER shortly after 9. It was a full room so I thought for sure we would be there till 1 a.m. Lucky for us we were done shortly after 10:30 p.m. Looks like she is fine. It was good we went in the ER because they said anytime a dog draws blood you should always get on antibiotics. We also have a wrap on her wounds and will have to clean them twice daily. We have to go in for a recheck with our DR. on Monday.

KK is sleeping now. She is a bit shaken and will probably be scared of dogs for awhile.