Blueberry Muffins!

Since we moved into our house I have been a baking fool. Oh wait, I have always been a baking fool...that's right. Anyways, I whipped up some blueberry muffins last week and they were a hit! After testing and approving the recipe, it is time to share it!

 Here ya go:

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

• 3 cups  flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 canola oil
• 2 eggs, beaten

Directions:
 In a large bowl, combine the flour and sugar. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil and eggs. Stir dry ingredients into moist until just moistened. Slowly stir in the blueberries. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 400degrees for 14-18 minutes or until golden brown. A toothpick should could out clean when inserted near the center of a muffin when they are finished. Sprinkle tops with white sugar or powdered sugar when cooling off if you'd like!

Note: I filled my muffins almost completely full before baking because I wanted big, fluffy muffins. This worked well and produced just over a dozen muffins. I believe these would freeze well if needed, or you could always cut the recipe in half! :)

Enjoy!

Our weekend in pictures (and a few words)!

Let's just say that everything we initially had planned for this weekend went up in smoke for one reason or another. First, our picnic dinner on Friday was cancelled because we both felt like we needed to be home with Louie, especially after leaving him in the bathroom all day while we worked. Then, our Saturday IKEA trip was cancelled because what I wanted the most is out of stock in all the stores near us. Of course the kind lady that I spoke with on the phone pointed out that I could order the daybed online as long as I was okay with paying $345 dollar for shipping. Umm, I don't have that kind of money to throw away, so no thank you IKEA. You can keep you $99 daybed...even though I love it so much!

So what did we end up doing? Well, Friday evening we babysat our youngest niece while her parents had a little date night and we also met Stephen's parents for dinner and a trip to Lowe's. Stephen's parents wanted to get him a grill for his birthday, so that was the purpose of this trip. I also wanted to get a new towel bar and some lattice for a DIY puppy play pen I had in mind. It worked out perfectly because having Stephen's Dad's truck to bring the lattice home in was much easier than tying it to the top of our cars! It took quite awhile for the guys to make a decision in the grilling area, but in the end we got everything we came for plus some shrubs to plant at the house. Oh, and some daffodil bulbs to plant this fall! Stephen's Dad, Dave had even thought ahead when I mentioned the need for lattice and brought a power saw to cut it in the parking lot. This made bringing it home even easier! Hadley was so cute plugging her ears while they cut the lattice!

After Lowe's we headed to Hadley's parents house to drop her off. Her parents beat us home from their date and that meant that we did not get to bake or play Polly Pockets like Hadley had planned, so we scheduled that to happen on Saturday. Stephen and I made it home and crashed pretty easily after we walked Louie and gave him a little love. He really is the sweetest dog!

Saturday I woke up to Louie barking. At 9am. Stephen had already cleaned up his messes from the night before and walked him but he put him back in his room while he went to the bank and post office. I talked myself into getting out of bed and taking him outside. He is making such progress on his leash, it is really exciting! Saturday was the first time that I walked him around our house on the sidewalk and he did great! Once Stephen got home from running his errands he sat with Louie while I vacuumed upstairs and steamed the floors. Louie does NOT like the vacuum at all yet! After lunch we all headed outside to put together his new play pen and Stephen's new grill. Both the boys got new stuff this weekend :)

Louie seems to really enjoy being outside. He will actually walk out to the mudroom on his own now and let us hook his leash on him. Once we are outside he will walk towards the tree in our backyard and lay down in the shade like it is the only thing he wants to do. While I am glad he is comfortable and enjoys being outside, I really, really wish he would sniff around and show some interest in going potty outside! I thought that maybe he was not interested because he was on a leash and there is some tension on it, so my hope was that in his playpen he would bounce and sniff around to potty. No such luck there! He just lays down and relaxes there as well!

Saturday afternoon, Stephen's parents come over and so did Hadley and Ainsley. Apparently putting a grill together is more than a one person job, and Stephen knew that I would be no help so he called his Dad. I set up a blanket in the back yard and the girls and I played Polly Pockets for a bit outside before heading in to bake a cake that they could decorate. Louie was really good with the girls and they were great with him too!

Hadley asked if we could bake something on Friday and since we did not have time we made it happen on Saturday. I had no idea what to make with them, but I knew that making something from scratch would lose their interest by the time it was time for mixing and baking. So we picked the alternative: a boxed cake mix. The only one I had was a patriotic fun-fetti cake which was perfect for the girls!

Sunday we were late for church because of some low blood sugars on my end, but we made it before the preaching started! To some people that could still be considered being on time, ha! Our Sunday afternoon was lazy; filled with reading, naps outside and inside and yummy food! Stephen got to cook on his grill for the first time while Louie and I watched from our spot in the backyard. It was a great afternoon for all of us!

Louie also got his first bath at home on Sunday evening. He was not very happy about it, but I think he liked being clean afterwards! :)

If you made it to the end of this long post, bravo for you! We hope that you all had a wonderful weekend, too!

Let me know if you have any tips or advice on house training a 5 year old pup. It is not proving to be an easy task!

Louie Pictures!

Just wanted to share some pictures of Louie from yesterday evening. He had a great day and night! We are excited to already see him making progress!

Enjoy these:

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

allow me to introduce you to...

LOUIE!!!

Louie is the newest and third member of our family as of last night. I had found his profile on a adoption website for pets in Indiana and contacted his kennel about meeting him. The meeting was scheduled for last night and what a night it was!

As we were driving to the kennel Stephen and I discussed what kind of dag we wanted. I wanted a havanese, like Louie. Stephen wanted a larger, outside dog. We were obviously not on the same page. But...que melting hearts as soon as we met and held beautiful Louie. It was love at first sight for me. I saw this beautiful dog who is so shy and timid, but that I know has a great personality just waiting to emerge with the right amount of attention and love. Stephen saw a miniature lyon I think, because Louie kind of looks like that right now.

Louie was rescued from a puppy mill where he was used for breeding for the first 5 years of his life. He was rescued in May and brought to a private kennel in Indiana where he started being introduced to human contact and life outside of a cage. At that time he also was neutered and began heart worm and flea treatments. Since he arrive at the private kennel, he has been quiet. The woman who had been taking care of him has never heard him bark or anything. Given that he was in an abusive situation, it is going to take a lot of time and love for Louie to feel safe and comfortable in our home. Because he has spent all of his life living in a small kennel with no attention, vet treatment, grooming or care it is going to talk a long time to teach hm basic things like walking on a leash, or going outside to use the bathroom in the grass. We realize we have a long road ahead of us with Louie, but we are so thankful for him already!

I am sure he will be making his appearance on our blog frequently, so you can watch him grow and improve with us! I also hope that as his personality emerges that I can capture it on film to share with you. We just think he is the cutest dog-he is sweet too!

Here are some pictures of our first night at home:

  

He is mostly brown and black, but he does have some cream spots too. Right now his fur is shaved to basically a buzz cut because he was so matted and knotted in May. We plan on letting his fur come in so he has a little bit of curl.

Look at that face! So cute!

His eyes are brown, and so beautiful! I also love his brows and how they stand out because they are a different color!

First family photo! The Donaldson's August 24, 2011!

You can't see his eyes in this one, but he is still cute!

So how did our first night go?

Well, I put Louie down in our grass when we got home and he was not sure what to do. He walked around and sniffed a little bit but I think with me following him everywhere he was scared. Inside, he explored a sniffed a little. We put down some piddle pads and showed him where they were and put him on them several times to get him used to their scent and feeling. He curled up on the rug outside of the shower as we took our showers and got ready for bed. He laid on my lap under a soft towel while we watched a movie-he actually watched too! His eyes were focused on the TV! :) When it was time for bed, I put him on the piddle pad again and then in front of his water dish. He sniffed his kennel but would not go inside of it. I place a towel and a treat inside his small kennel and put him inside. I was worried about how he would react, but I think he did fine. He circled and laid down on the towel. We left the kennel door open because we don't want him to feel threatened by his home. Outside of his kennel is a piddle pad and his food/water bowls. We left him in the bathroom downstairs with the door shut. I'll admit that I was worried about him! I set my alarm for 1am to check on him and he was fine. He had not appeared to have moved at all, but he did look sleepy...I think he was sleeping but woke up when I opened the door. Stephen checked on him before he left for work and had the same report as I had from 1am. When I woke up I got ready upstairs as usual and when I went downstairs I got him from the bathroom. He looked excited and even wagged his tail once or twice! He was still in his kennel and there were no doggy pee or poo for me to clean up. I hooked him on a leash and carried him outside to the grass and set him down. Because he has never been on a leash before I stood still and let him just walk around me. I was hoping that he would go potty, but that did not happen. After 10 minutes or so I carried him back inside and he stayed right near me in the kitchen as I packed my lunch. When it was almost time for me to leave he went back into the bathroom on his own and sat in front of his kennel. That is where I left him. He has food and water in the bathroom and his kennel with a towel and a treat for cuddling and napping. I wonder if he will get brave enough to go into his kennel on his own today? Or if he will eat or drink anything? Or if he will use the bathroom?

I am anxious to go home from work and see him tonight! I hope he is having a good day at home!

Let me know if any of you guys have any training advice or tips on breaking in a puppy mill dog! Remember that training right now has to be gentle and not stern...he is not ready for that yet!

Now you know Louie...and probably more details than you ever wanted!

baby shower for Kathy...

Last week I had the honor of throwing a little baby shower for a co-worker and sweet friend of mine, Kathy. Kathy is pregnant with her second child, but her first bundle of BOY! Did you like that play on words right there? Yes? Good! Okay...back to the party...

We had a simple dinner at The Boathouse in Winona Lake and really enjoyed the evening together. It was just a blessing to watch Kathy as she opened all the precious baby gifts. She even brought her daughter with her; Kaylee. Kaylee is 3 and a bundle of energy. She is SO excited about having a "baby budder" as she says...it is just too cute!

Here is the evening in pictures:

I will admit that I was pretty proud of these darling cupcakes. I decided to make chocolate cake because that is one thing that Kathy has been craving with this pregnancy. Pair moist chocolate cake with vanilla bean butter cream frosting and you have a hot. Add super cute blue baby rattles made by my friend Brooke, and we have a home run folks. They turned out super cute and tasty, too!

I just love the details on wrapping for little babies. Everything is so cute!

Meet Kaylee, friend. She is a spitting image of her momma and so excited to be a big sister. She was thrilled to open presents for her baby brother and show them all to us. The fact that she had been eying the cupcakes and her Mom told her she could have one after she opened all the gifts may have had something to do with it.

Mel from work was so sweet and brought a little gift for Kaylee so she did not feel left out with all the attention and gifts that her brother was getting. She opened her gift and turned into the Big Sister Princess!

Mom crowning the Princess! :)

She finally got to eat a cupcake! She was so patient and ready to dig in...that she did!

Looks like she enjoyed it, don't you agree?

Kaylee and Kathy preggo belly picture!

This picture is so sweet, it just makes my heart happy! How can you not smile looking at this big sister giving her baby brother kisses?!

The happy and glowing Momma-to-be!

The evening ended with a lovely sunset over Winona Lake.

Thank you to everyone who came out and helped make this night special for Kathy, Kaylee and the baby boy (whose name I know but it is a secret from her family, so I will not disclose that info...it is super cute though!) Kathy, we all hope that you continue to enjoy the end of your pregnancy and that you call us if you need anything at all. We are all here for you and your family!