Tuesday, January 31, 2017

The Road To Success Is Always Under Construction


The first month of the new year is 'bout near over. I always refer to January as the test run. It's the month to adhere to any changes, test the boundaries of your willpower, and focus on the areas that could use some improvement. For me, it's been a productive month. I've made a few changes. Focused more. Dedicated certain days for baking, DIY projects, sewing, meal prep, etc. And, throughout all of this, managed to allow wiggle room because, let's face it, life happens.

Monday, January 30, 2017

No, We're Not Going To Spend $200 On A Doggy Cake...


A day or so after posting the DIY Dog Mom Project we made for Lobo's 2 Year Gotcha Day, an acquaintance of mine reached out to compliment our hard work. Towards the end of our brief email chat, she sent a few links to various sites that offered custom made doggy lounge areas and canopy beds. Some were posh. Some were simple. Most were between the two. Considering the work that went into these pieces, the prices were reasonable ranging anywhere from $65 to over $300 plus the cost of shipping.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Random Rant: Are You Pet Friendly Or Not, Home Depot. There Is No Middle Ground.


For the past couple of years, Lobo has accompanied Lisa, or the both of us, on our trips to the local Home Depot. He sits in the front portion of the shopping cart with his blanket and he's fine. Often times, the employees and other customers will comment about how adorable he is and ask questions about his breed, being 3-legged, or his rescue story. This generates a lengthy conversation that we're always happy to engage in with total strangers. Today, Lisa went to Home Depot and all of that changed.

Saturday, January 28, 2017

We Always Come Back To The Here And Now


Seriously. January is almost over with?  This was the topic of discussion over the weekend while Lisa and I worked on a few DIY Dog Mom Projects for the Bodacious 7 Days Of Love. That's how we spent most of our weekend. Cutting. Sanding. Painting. Adding details. Cutting fabric. Planning out what we'd offer for those 7 days of love. At one point, I asked the big question. The question that led to a whole other discussion.

Friday, January 27, 2017

These Banana Peanut Butter Monkey Dog Biscuits Are Drool-Licious!


I usually make our new, homemade dog treat recipe for the week on Wednesday. However, it's been a crazy week so it didn't happen until today. My inspiration was a fresh banana. Before I continue, I need to mention that fresh bananas are a far-and-few-between item in this household. Lisa hates bananas. She hates the smell. She won't eat anything made with bananas. This is why, in the past, I've relied on dried bananas when making homemade dog treats.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

It's Time To Purchase A Second Crock-Pot. One For Us. One For The Kids.


I love my crock-pot and use it quite a bit during the cold weather months to make soups, stews, meatballs, and other scrumptious slow cook dinners. Our kids love meals that have been simmered in the crock-pot. These meals consist of lean meats and lots of vegetables. As of late, I've run into a dilemma of sorts. After my latest batch of beef stew, I've come to the conclusion that I need to get a second crock-pot.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

5 Reasons Why Project Gotcha Day Was An Eye Opener


Last week was crazy. Our sweet Lobo was less than a week away from celebrating his 2 Year Gotcha Day and his gift request wasn't only a little complicated, it was a large DIY Dog Mom Project that would require about 3 days of work. At the beginning of the week, I crammed in baking biscuit love and created a new homemade dog treat recipe for the week. I also got a little ahead on work stuff. My goal was to start the sewing portion of Project Gotcha Day on Wednesday and finish by Friday. That didn't exactly happen because of a huge dork moment on my part.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Here's The Recipe For My Apple Cupcakes With Vanilla Buttercream Frosting


For Lobo's Gotcha Day, I made homemade apple cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting. That's what he wanted. In this household, I don't make separate "pupcakes." Instead, I make cupcakes that are both human and pup friendly. In other words, they're scrumptious to the human and pup palate. That includes the homemade doggy biscuit on top of the cupcake.

Monday, January 23, 2017

Happy 2 Year Gotcha Day, Lobo!


Happy 2 Year Gotcha Day to our squishy cream puff, Lobo! Two years ago, this lil' nugget of love arrived at our home...as a foster! The universe did a little shimmy shake. Fate stepped in. He chose us. Like with all of our rescue fur-kids, our life changed the moment he joined our family. It was meant to be.

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Project Gotcha Day Is Done And We're Lovin' The Finished Product



Project Gotcha Day is done! We made the last minute decision to let the paint dry on the overnight. We put everything together this morning. This is our biggest DIY Dog Mom Project so far. We are super proud. It came out awesome. The shade of green paint we chose looks incredible. It fits with our color theme and, because we went with a shade lighter than our original choice, it brightens up the room a bit. After Lisa put the living room back together and vacuumed, we sat on the sofa and admired the finished product.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Lobo Chose Us.


Project Gotcha Day is almost done! We started around 11 a.m. and wrapped things up around 6 p.m. The entertainment center was primed and painted. I finished making the bed to go inside. I finally broke out the new sewing machine and sewed the patchwork doggy bed and matching pillows. I also made a cute little sign to put inside for decoration. The only thing we're waiting for is the paint to dry so we can put everything together. We took lots of photos, but I'm not publishing those until tomorrow.

Friday, January 20, 2017

Wire Cutters, Smashed Knuckles, And My Squishy Cream Puff Supervisor



Project Gotcha Day has begun! Despite my big dork moment earlier this week, we're on schedule. After getting caught up on work stuff and completing all of the housework by mid-afternoon, I decided to get a little ahead of the game. I cleared the shelves of the entertainment center, put everything in a tote, and raided one of Lisa's tool areas. I wanted to surprise Lisa and remove the door, horizontal shelves, and the single vertical board.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

My Dork Moment Was A Blessing In Disguise


Lobo's 2 Year Gotcha Day is quickly approaching. For his gift, we're repurposing our entertainment center into a doggy nook-like-lounge area.  That involves gutting out the bottom of the entertainment center, priming, painting, making a doggy bed to fit, and sewing a patchwork doggy quilt and matching pillows. My original plan was to get all of the sewing done by tomorrow so I could focus on painting over the weekend. However, I had a dork moment.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Do You Make Homemade Meals And Treats For Your Kids?


I love it when people reach out with questions, comments, feedback, etc. I especially love it when dog parents try our homemade dog treat recipes and send us photos. That extends to dog parents who make homemade meals for their babies and reach out with comments and photos. I always get that little ping of excitement.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

The Kids Gave Us A Paws Up For Our Barkin' Blueberry Crumble Dog Treats


This is one of those weeks where my time management skills will be put to the test. Lobo's 2 Year Gotcha Day is Monday. The gift he requested is a bit complicated, but we're going to make it work. It's going to take several days from start to finish. It's going to involve a mix of repurposing, sewing, and painting. Because of the time involved in making this happen, I have to make sure most everything gets done by Thursday. Baking biscuit love. Housework. Creating a new dog treat recipe for the week.

Monday, January 16, 2017

My Schlumpy Dog Mom Makeover Is Gonna Happen. Better Late Than Never.


In November, I wrote a post fully admitting that I Could Easily Be Nominated For The Schlumpy Dog Mom Award.  At the time, I had a hair appointment the week after Thanksgiving and it was on my schedule to do a little clothes shopping. Nothing extreme. I needed to buy some jeans and cardigan style, duster sweaters.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

We Dedicated This Weekend As A Catch Up Weekend


One of the big issues I had to confront towards the end of last year, especially when things started getting crazy busy in October, was my lack of a schedule. Although it's almost impossible for me to make a schedule for the week and have everything go as planned, there are some things I desperately needed to tighten the reigns on. At the top of the list is making sure I assigned specific days to work on certain projects. Even though we have a spacious kitchen and large kitchen table, I can't bake biscuit love while sanding wood or working with fabric. Each project needed to have its own day.

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Lobo's Gift Request For His 2 Year Gotcha Day Is A Bit Complicated


Lobo's 2 Year Gotcha Day is coming up on January 23rd. Yep. It's been almost 2 years since this lil' nugget of love joined our family. With all of our kids, when their Gotcha Day approaches, I always ask them what they'd like for a special dinner, dessert, and gift. This year, for Lobo's Gotcha Day, he requested steak, shrimp, and sweet potatoes for dinner and homemade apple cupcakes for dessert. That's exactly what he and his siblings will feast on for dinner. The gift he requested? Well, it's a bit complicated.

Friday, January 13, 2017

I'm Not Going To Apologize. The Road Travels Both Ways.


I'm a little distraught today. Saddened. Disappointed. I'm not exactly sure how to address it. In the past, when I've written about how certain people and organizations have impacted our lives, both good and bad, I've been tactful enough to leave certain details out. Those details include names of both persons or organizations involved. I write. I vent. I publish accordingly. I walk away thinking, "If the shoe fits, wear it." The same holds true for today, but it hits me a little closer to home.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

These Bodacious Apple Pie Dog Treats Are Easy To Make


Since creating the new recipe for Bodacious Carrot Cake Cookies last week, I've been inspired to work with more fresh fruit and vegetables instead of always gravitating towards dehydrated. For me, using dehydrated fruits and vegetables was safe. I didn't have to contend with too many trial and error batches. I'm over that. If I'm going to be creating a new dog treat recipe every week, I need to broaden my horizons. Step out of the box or, better yet, kick the box to the curb.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

A Single Apple Inspired Me


If you had asked me in the beginning where Bodacious Biscuit Love was going to be in 3 years, I wouldn't have been able to answer you. The same holds true when people ask where this blog going or what's the point or what are my plans for this blog over the next few years? Sure, I have some ideas and goals, but I don't have a definite answer to those questions.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Yes, We Give Our Kids A Daily Multi-Vitamin


The meals and treats our kids eat are all homemade. We don't rely on store bought. All of their meals are made with a variety of lean meats, cooked and raw vegetables, raw fruit, whole grains, and sweet potatoes. We prep, cook, slice, dice, and mash every other day making enough for 2 days at a time. Their treats are baked fresh twice a week.

Monday, January 9, 2017

The Land Of Piggy Momhood Has Been An Interesting Journey


During the first week or so of November, our family got a little bit bigger. Sweet Olivia joined our family. In addition to being Dog Moms, we became Piggy Moms too. This was a first for us. It's been almost 2 months now and we have embraced every single moment.  As of late, I have received a few messages asking how our sweet Olivia is doing. Hands down, she is happy, healthy, loved, spoiled, and she has fit into our family just fine.

Sunday, January 8, 2017

There's A First Time For Everything


When Lisa gets sick, I take care of her in every way possible. Lisa does the same when I'm sick. We don't get sick often. It's been a good year and a half since I was knocked on my ass by some nasty form of a virus. For Lisa, it's been about a year. Last week, and over the weekend, something happened that's never happened before. Ever.

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Random Rant: Don't Be So Demanding


I entered the world of management over 2 decades ago. Since then, I've always embraced the simple tidbit of knowledge that "it's all in how you present something." If I had to correct a poor work habit with one of my employees or, years later, had to give constructive criticism to a young, budding writer, that's the first thing that would surface in my brain. How was I going to present it in a way that would result in improved productivity or writing skills?

Friday, January 6, 2017

Yep. I Took A Sick Day.


This was the scene today. High fever. Aches. Chills. Head cold. Chest cold. Yep, what Lisa is recovering from hit me like a ton of bricks today. After sitting at my desk for 5 minutes this morning, I said, "Nope. This isn't happening today." I grabbed something to drink, the tissues, and reclined on the sofa.

Thursday, January 5, 2017

I Had To Resort To Plan B...


Aside from creating a new, homemade dog treat recipe this week, I wanted to make a cool DIY Dog Mom Project. I had something in mind. I've got a piece of wood leftover from the DIY Platform Doggy Bed we made over the summer. It's been sitting in the biscuit room just waiting. I finally figured out what I could use this piece of wood for. However, I needed the end sawed off. That's not my area of expertise.

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

This Recipe Inspired Me To Experiment With More Ingredients


It almost didn't happen. After opening the baking cupboards I realized my supply of dried fruits and dehydrated vegetables was gone. These are the ingredients I use to create my homemade dog treat recipes. I had plenty of peanut butter and flour, but all of the other ingredients I experiment with were scant. I was seconds away from taking the frilly apron off and calling it a day. However, the proverbial light bulb went off.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

It's Almost Been Two Years And I Still Get Weepy


This morning, after my usual routine of replenishing Olivia's produce bowl, making sure the kids were covered with their favorite blankets, peeing, brushing my teeth, fixing the mop o' sloppy bun on the top of my head, making a cup of coffee, checking emails, and sending Lisa a morning text, I sat back in my office chair and glanced at the January 2017 calendar to see what was coming up. Aside from marveling at the fact that I had my 2017 calendar already filled and hung, I noticed there was only one date marked for this month.

Monday, January 2, 2017

It's Time To Bid Farewell To The One-Size-Fits-Most Aprons


Almost a year ago today, I wrote and published a post about my Bodacious Frilly Apron. Prior to publishing, I often made reference to this apron when I baked biscuit love, prepped dinner for Lisa, myself, and the kids, or made a batch of cookies or bread. On occasion, someone would reach out and ask if this apron really existed. Finally, I took a photo and published the post.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

8 Reasons Why I Try To Avoid The General Public This Time Of Year


Happy New Year! Happy 2017! Last night, we took a little time off to celebrate. Today, my voice is raspy and my tummy is sore. I can attribute that to the several hours of laughing last night compliments of some of our favorite humans, a board game, Bill Burr, and a few adult beverages.