C25K: Week 6

When I agreed to run in a 5K in June, I thought I had lots of time to prepare. What I didn't take into account was the horrible allergy issues that I would encounter along the way. The high pollen count has delayed my training but I'm getting there. I am 3 weeks behind on the training and when it comes time for the race I will only be on week 8.



But after tonight's run I feel good. I feel like I could have kept on going. I'm not sure if it was the weather or if it was my beagle girl, Shiloh that I decided to take with me since my Ipod wasn't charged. She did a great job keeping up with me, but I must say by the end she was trotting behind me instead of pulling me. Miss Shiloh was great company and I think she may become my new running partner. Pushing my baby boy in his stroller is great fun but I need to get my training done before I am going to add him back into my runs.

Adventures in Cake Making

My cousin Kim got married this past weekend and I made her cake.....that's right everyone I made her cake. First let me say that her wedding was delightful. It was very simple and sweet since it was both Kim and Joe's second marriage. So when she was planning the big day she mentioned that Joe was going to make the wedding cake. I thought to myself...why would he want to do that when he has plenty of other things to do on his wedding day. So I offered, as my wedding gift, to make the cake. She, of course, said yes!




So after months of non-planning the time came. I took Thursday and Friday off from work in order to work on the cake. I was told very little about the cake: heart shaped, blue, and 100-125 people. So that's what I did...I made a cake for a little over 100 people that was heart-shaped and included blue accents. The final result was great (at least that is what I was told) but it was the process that became annoying.

I bought almost the perfect amount of supplies. I started baking on Thursday morning and I was plowing right through until the incident.



I had just put the crumb layer of icing on the bottom layer of the white cake when my baby boy woke up from his afternoon nap. I pushed the two layers of cake to what I thought was the middle of the table and went to get him. A diaper change later and I came to find my older beagle craning his neck to eat as much of the white cake as he could. As you can see he took such a big chunk out of the cake I had to remake the white cake. I must say Ted Beagle is one lucky beagle, because I really could have tossed him out on his beagle rear-end and not cared one bit.



This in turn caused a delay in everything. By Thursday night I was exhausted and my back and feet hurt. So my wonderful hubby offered to stay up with me to make the white cake and he made the icing for me on Friday morning. Once we got down to my mom's house icing the cake went pretty smoothly. We delivered the cake on Saturday morning and from then it was out of my hands.

The lesson learned from this experience was that detailed cake making is difficult, always put your cake near the back of your kitchen counter, beware of counter surfing beagles, and take some time before you attempt to make another.....at least a few weeks.

Wordless Wednesday - Can We Go Outside?

Snow Day!!!

The weather folks had been calling for this big storm for a few days so I had pretty much decided that I was going to stay home today. Needless to say I probably wouldn't have had a problem getting to work, it was the getting home part I didn't want to worry about. Plus spending the day with my hubby and my baby boy seemed so much better anyway. Unfortunately the wind has picked up this evening and my drive in the morning may not be so great but it was well worth it to stay home.


We decided to watch The Tigger Movie, cook out on the grill, play with lots of toys, play in the cabinets, and watch the beagles play in the snow.

Happy Birthday Teddy and Celebrating with Shiloh

Almost seven years ago my first baby was born. He was born on a farm in Southern Illinois along with two brothers and a sister. He stood out to my mom and me due to his completely brown nose and brown and white markings. On the way home, he was such a cute and cuddly little guy but picking a name was almost impossible. He wasn't a Rufus or Jake. Then it hit us...Ted; Theordore Elvis Beagle to be exact. He is a Teddy bear. Teddy has been through a lot in his life. He has lived in four different places, was diagnosed with Epilepsy and decided as a young'n that he wanted to try some rat poison. Many dollars later, he is still my loud and crazy beagle boy that can make my day with just a lick.

We also celebrate the anniversary of Shiloh, our other beagle, coming to live with us. It has been 3 years to this day and we are so grateful that she came into our lives. She is such a lively little girl and we love her so much.

Wordless Wednesday - What is better then this when it's cold outside?

It's a Beautiful Day

Last week I had the pleasure of spending the day with my baby boy. I lucked out because it was a gorgeous day. After spending most of the late morning at the vet getting blood work done on Ted Beagle I decided that it was time to go outside. I hooked the dogs up to their leashes (a temporary solution until we get a fence next Spring) and Scotty and I joined them. I put his Cubs hat due to the sun. Scott seemed to love sitting in the grass for the first time. He would watch the Beagles, the cars going by and even an airplane that went by overhead. The Beagles seemed to have a great time too. I'm glad that we got to spend some time outside due to the fact that it has rained almost every day since.

The Beagles

I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce Ted and Shiloh. They were my first two babies. Ted is 6 and the bigger of the two and Shiloh is around 2 years old. Ted and I have been through a lot together and he is my buddy. I decided one day that I wanted a beagle so my mom and I set out to look for a beagle puppy and there was Ted. He has his own personality. Shiloh joined us in February 08. She is an absolute doll and loves my husband Bill terribly. They are complete opposites which makes our lives an adventure.

This picture is from this past weekend after my brother and sister-in-law left with their two Puggles, Layla and Wrigley and my mom had left with one of her dogs, Libby.

And yes they do sleep with Bill and I in our bed and yes they do like to sleep under the covers.

Halloween is Coming

I love dressing my dogs up for Halloween.  We have had several costumes through the past couple of years.......Elvis, Fire Hydrant, Army Man, and Underdog.  So while thinking about what Scott could be for Halloween (to be determined later) I came across this same costume on several costume websites.  It's a Watchdog!

How hard could this be to make?  I have crafted an Underdog costume for Ted before (which he won an award for).  I believe I could make this very simply with just felt.  So one of my new sewing goals is to make this costume for both of my beagle babies. The end product will be seen later.