Roses are red, bonnets are...

Spring is here, and the bluebonnets are beautiful!  The allergies that come with them are definitely here as well, but worth it... Look how pretty!  Last Sunday afternoon JW got dressed so I could take his picture for his graduation announcements (stay tuned for those), and we loaded up the pups to get some shots of them in the bluebonnets as well.  

Harley & Dakota

Dakota Bear

Harley Girl

Taking pictures of our dogs was not the easiest thing we've ever done.  It took JW with their leashes and a bag a treats, and me with the camera and a squeaker toy jumping around and making noises to keep their attention.  I can only imagine what the people in cars driving by were thinking.  I was certainly sweating by the end of it, but I'm so glad we took them!  I think we got some good ones. :)  Happy Spring to you!

Bucket List Weekend

Last weekend was our last one until Joey graduates at the end of April with nothing going on, and we took advantage of the time to mark several things off of our Waco Bucket List.  Take a look at some of the things we did.

Me and JW at the Heart O' Texas Speedway.
We drove about 7 miles north of Waco to see the dirt track car races in Waco.  It was a totally new experience for both of us.  Pretty cool!

We sat up high in the bleachers, but were so close to the track we could feel the rush of wind when the cars zoomed by.  Oh the smell of gasoline, burnt rubber, and cigarette smoke!  Nothing like hanging out with the car racing crowd. :)  We sat there picking cars for each race and found the few wrecks that happened exciting.

Saturday morning we went to the Waco Farmers Market downtown.  It was really neat!  There were a bunch of local vendors that brought out fresh produce, plants, meat, and other homemade products.

We were a little overwhelmed for this being our first time, but wanted to leave with something.  So, we got some homemade corn and black bean salsa.  There were a lot of great things, and we definitely plan on going back.

The line for fresh crepes was unbelievably long, so I'm guessing they are good.  There was also a food truck named Sergio's making fresh breakfast burritos.  I ordered one and it was delicious!  I have been craving another one all week... so good!  I've got to find out where Sergio and his truck go the rest of the week.

Yum!

After the Farmers Market we headed to one of our favorite Waco spots, the Cameron Park Zoo.  The weather was gorgeous, so it was a great day for the animals.  Lots of them were out and active.

These Gibons are my favorite animals in the whole zoo.  They swing around and make this hilarious "whoo" noise like they are warming up their voices to be in a broadway musical.

Joey likes a lot of the animals, but I made him take a picture with this Comodo Dragon statue.  He likes the reptiles and I don't.

After the zoo we came home for lunch and then loaded up the dogs to go to the dog park.  Our dog park does not normally have a water feature.  However, we got a ton of rain here last week, and the park acquired a pond.  Our dogs loved it!  There were literally spots where the water was up to Harley's head and she was swimming... crazy!

Harley and Dakota definitely played hard and fell asleep in the backseat on the way home.  They were pooped!  It was bath time when we got home, and then they slept most of the rest of the day.  Joey and I cooked dinner together and watched a movie to top off our eventful Saturday.

Our weekend was full of fun Waco things and lots of great memories!

Movies, anyone?

Over the weekend, we traveled to Sugar Land to stay with Momma Hance and to spend some time exploring different areas of Houston that we may want to make our home in the next few months.  This week is JW's spring break, so I took Monday and Tuesday off of work, and we had a long weekend to spend doing "research."  It was a little overwhelming.  Did you know Houston is huge?  We spent a total of about 7-8 hours in the car checking out different areas, but we got a lot covered and certainly are closer to knowing where we might want to end up, so we are glad we did it.

In between that "research" we did a lot of fun things too.  On Saturday we got to see Emily and Brittan and some college friends of theirs that were in town for the weekend.  We also got to attend a Crawfish Boil for Bobby's 27th birthday.  I discovered I am not a huge lover of crawfish, especially when the wind catches the antennas of one and it feels like the crawfish is moving in your hand.  I am never dramatic, so I'm sure I didn't overreact when I let out a scream.  Apparently, that is a good way to get laughed at by the whole table because everyone knows that the little buggers are clearly dead.  I did however, have a great time watching my hubby and his friends catch up and indulge in the trough-style meal.

Em and me

Momma Hance has always had this impressive movie collection.  She has more movies than anyone I know, and she told us this weekend that she wanted to get rid of all of them except for a few.  She told Joey and Jenn to take the ones they wanted.  So, on Saturday night after JW and I got home the birthday party, it was time to divvy them up...  If you know Joey and Jenn, you will believe that this was a pretty intense and entertaining process. 

We all sat around the dining room table and went through them one by one.  I picked up a movie, and if only one of them wanted it, they got to add it to their stash.  But, if they both wanted it, it went into the "conflict pile."  After our first time through them, and we were done dividing the easy ones, we tackled the "conflict pile."  This was the hilarious part.  It was trading and bartering at its best.  JW let me have input in his choices, which probably weakened his bargaining power sometimes, but he was a great hubby and it was a lot of fun.  We came home with roughly 120 new movies, making our total collection over 270 now... crazy!  Who cares that Blockbuster is out of business?  Just come on over to our house.  Seriously, we can hook you up.  Thanks, Momma Hance! 

Let the games begin.

Jenn proud of her biggest wins- The Goonies and all the Batman movies.

We got a lot of great ones too, but JW was most excited about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mighty Ducks, all of the Lethal Weapons, and all of the Bad Boys.  My favorites were Pride & Prejudice, My Fair Lady, Pearl Harbor, and Overboard.

Our day on Monday morning started with quite the scare.  Harley was out in the backyard and got out.  We realized she was missing about 10-15 minutes after she went out there, but were out searching for her over two hours before she was found.  Momma Hance's house backs up to a creek, and it had been raining and muddy all weekend, so we think Harley probably saw a critter in the backyard and chased it under the fence.  It was a terrible and emotionally draining two hours.  Momma Hance, JW, me, and my parents were all out scouring Sugar Land for her, and eventually received a call from a vet about 5 minutes away saying that a woman had found Harley and brought her in.  Wow, were we relieved!  Harley certainly covered some ground, and I'm sure had herself a grand adventure, but it was not fun for the rest of us.  I am so thankful for the woman that found her and brought her in, and for Harley's safety.  I never want to experience that again.

 

Dakota and Calamity Jane

JW and Harley

Later on Monday, we spent the afternoon at my parents house, and they got to meet Dakota for the first time.  Mom cooked us a yummy dinner and we really enjoyed spending time with them.

Hunter with Dakota and Harley

It was a great long weekend exploring H-town and seeing friends and family.  And, don't forget, next time you want to rent a movie, don't.  Just call the Hances.  We now have quite the collection and plenty to go around!  :)

Harley is Two!

Today is our Harley girl's second birthday!  Unfortunately, the weather is disgusting, and we are getting packed up to travel to Houston this weekend, so our celebrating is a little limited today.  Earlier this week though, we made some homemade dog treats for her (recipe and pictures are below).  She has enjoyed getting some of those today.  Here are a few pictures of us making her feel special this afternoon.

 Singing Happy Birthday

 One of her homemade treats in the shape of a 2 for her 2nd birthday!

 Our attempt at a family picture...

Harley was none too excited about this, but I felt like she needed a little pink pzazz for her birthday! :)

Joey and I made cheddar cheese dog treats on Wednesday night since Harley loves cheese, and we knew we'd be on the go this weekend and could bring them along.  The recipe makes a ton, so we'll share them with Momma Hance's dogs too. :)

 Joey searched all through our cookie cutter set for the #2. :)

 

Cheesy Dog Biscuit Treats

recipe found here

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats (such as Quaker) 
• 1/3 cup margarine 1 cup Boiling water 
• 3/4 cup cornmeal 
• 1 tablespoons sugar 
• 2 teaspoons chicken or beef flavored instant bouillon 
• 1/2 cup milk 
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 
• 1 egg, beaten 
• 2 - 3 cups whole wheat flour

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.  Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. In large bowl, combine rolled oats, margarine and boiling water; let stand 10 minutes. Stir in cornmeal, sugar, bouillon, milk, cheese and egg; mix well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Add flour 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition to form a stiff dough.

On floured surface, knead in remaining flour until dough is smooth and no longer sticky, 3 to 4 minutes. Roll or pat out dough to 1/2 inch thickness, cut with bone shaped cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes on until golden brown. Cool completely. Store loosely covered. Makes 3 1/2 dozen large dog biscuits or 8 dozen small dog biscuits. 


Happy Birthday, Harley!!!  We love you and owe you a trip to the dog park next week to celebrate once it stops raining.

Blast Off

This weekend Rich and Megan came to Waco to visit on Friday and Saturday.  It was a lot of fun to see them and relive life like we used to when they lived here.  It was a low-key weekend that consisted of movie watching, Mario Kart racing, antique shopping, and rocket shooting.  So fun!  Take a look.

JW and Rich playing Tanks while I cooked dinner

They stand up close to the tv and scheme together.  It's pretty funny.  After watching a movie Friday night, the boys stayed up to put one more coat of paint on Joey's rocket and Meg and I went to bed.  The boys didn't end up coming to bed until almost 2 a.m. because they decided to play the Wii some more... addicting I suppose. :)

Kisses for Meg

Dakota went crazy to meet her Aunt Meg and Uncle Rich!  She was bouncing off of everything. literally.

Har giving Meg love

After we told Harley that Rich and Megan were coming, she spent the afternoon waiting by the front door for them.  It was pretty cute.  She kept looking at the door even after they got here looking for Tegan I think, but they had other things to fit in their car and haul back to Coppell with them, so didn't bring her this time. 

Dakota and Megan

We took the dogs to the park with us when we went to shoot off Joey's rocket on Saturday.  Dakota just got her last booster shot on Friday, so this was the first time for us to take both of the dogs somewhere.  I'm glad we had the extra hands.  The dogs were so excited, and Dakota is not very good on her leash yet.  I'm quite certain I would have ended up on the ground in a tangled mess if I was on my own.

The boys surveyed the park and made their calculations accounting for the wind to find the perfect spot to launch from.  This rocket was a pretty big project for Joey, and he was very excited to shoot it off with Rich.  It ended up being a cold and pretty windy day, so we only shot off one of the two he made.  It was pretty awesome, just like JW said it would be. :)

Rich videoed the take-off with his phone.  The rocket headed straight over a neighborhood to the left at first, but once the wind caught it and it floated back down by parachute, the boys calculations were perfect.  Pretty cool.  Check it out!

How a Puppy is Like a Baby

So, when I tell my mom puppy stories she always laughs and says what good practice this is for when we have babies.  I can certainly see the parallels. 

• A puppy's day consists of eating, pooping, sleeping, with maybe a little play in between.  A baby's daily activities are much the same.
• Puppies and babies both require constant supervision and attention.  Failure to do so may result in a potty accident or maybe an adult toy (i.e. JW's rocket) being destroyed. 
• Though potty training a puppy is a much shorter process than potty training a baby, parents of both experience the not so glamorous task of cleaning up after the little one.  This usually requires a great deal of patience and a large amount of laundry to be done. 
• Puppies and babies put everything in their mouths.  It's how they learn.  When it's poop in the backyard though, it's totally gross and hubby is likely to get called to stop whatever he is doing and pooper scoop.
• God made puppies and babies so cute that all the work they require is worth it.  It's hard to stay mad at something that is as adorable as a puppy or a baby. 
• Puppies, like babies, are fun to cuddle and make adults talk in high pitched funny voices.
• Puppies and babies should both be monitored after their first booster shots for allergic reactions.  (See this post is for evidence.)
• When said allergic reaction takes place Momma (and Papa Bear) tendencies come out.  I was ready to do whatever it took to make my fur baby healthy again.  It's a good thing we didn't run into any cops on our way to the clinic.  And, neither one of us complained about the large bill we had to pay after the after-hours clinic made Dakota's little face go back to its normal size. 
• A motherly instinct exists whether it's a puppy or a baby.  I love my dogs and would do anything in my power to keep them safe and happy.
• Packing up and leaving town spontaneously is difficult when a baby or puppy is part of the family.  Certain care has to be arranged.  And, if that puppy or baby is coming along for a trip, things must be packed and toted around for them.
• Puppies wake up during the night for a period of time when they are young.  Even though this stage is not as long for pups as it is for babies, it's likely to leave the human parents in a similar state.  I almost fell asleep at my desk at work on Tuesday because Dakota had a rough night the night before.  I felt like I was in a daze all day long.
• Storms and new noises are likely to scare a puppy or a baby.  See point above.  Twice since we've had Dakota, there have been stormy nights and she cried for hours on end both times.  I ended up sleeping on the couch with her on the floor beside me.  Yes, she got to sleep outside of her kennel.  I know, I'm a sucker.  It was the only way she would stop crying, and I was desperate for sleep. 
• A parent of a puppy or a baby tries to maintain a certain schedule for their young one.  I've seen parents act pretty silly to keep a baby awake during certain hours of the day to ensure a sleepy baby would sleep soundly at night.  JW and I are now guilty of acting ridiculous often times after dinner in efforts to implement this same strategy.  4 a.m. is NOT playtime. 
• Parents of both have been known to snap a ridiculous amount of pictures to document their baby or puppy's childhood and to share with others.

I am no stranger to babies, being the oldest of four and having 15 years between me and my youngest sibling.  I was old enough to change diapers, feed bottles and baby food, be spit up on, rock to sleep, and babysit when my two youngest siblings were young.  That too was good practice.  Joey is also the oldest of four.  So, I guess if you look at it, we should make pretty good parents if God allows us the opportunity to have our own human kids one day.  Or, He just thought that we needed extra practice.  :)  Either way, we are blessed to have grown up in wonderful families and are quite content with our four-legged little ones for now.

A Three Day Weekend

It was a three-day weekend at the Hance house because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, and it was well enjoyed.  I don't know about you, but I have had a rough time getting back into the swing of things after the holidays!  We had a lot of household stuff to catch up on- laundry, dishes, cleaning...

But we also played 

and slept

and rested together on the couch... Yes, all four of us on the couch. :)

Joey snuggling his girls on the couch

Then, Saturday we took a quick road trip to College Station to watch Joey's sister, Jennifer, coach her 8th grade girls basketball team in a tournament.  We only went to one game since we couldn't leave the pups all day, but it was fun to see Momma Hance and Nana and Papa who also made the trip from Houston.

Jenn doing her coaching thing

Me, Coach Hance, and Joey

Me, Papa, Jenn, Momma Hance, Nana, and JW

Harley and Dakota got baths since the weather wasn't too cold, and they were pretty dirty from playing in the mud all week.  It was our first time to bathe both of them, and neither one of them like baths.

Wet pups pooped after bath time.

Joey got a rocket from his dad for Christmas and spent most of Monday assembling it.  He was so excited.  He kept telling me how impressed I was going to be when he was done and we could go shoot it off (not sure if that is correct terminology).  At the end of the weekend it was still lacking some finishing touches including paint.  Yes, this rocket is getting a red and black paint job.  So, he set it aside to finish later this week.

On Tuesday I was bragging about how great Dakota has been with her potty training lately and that she hadn't ever chewed anything up.  Well, wouldn't you know?  Wednesday after class Joey came home in the afternoon and was watching the dogs while I was still at work.  And, you guessed it... Dakota found Joey's rocket in the study while he wasn't looking and chewed a wing off.  He was so sad! 

Don't worry though, Joey shared plans with me this morning to buy extra wood material and craft a replacement wing.  I didn't marry a man who gives up easily. :)  Stay tuned for a report of his rocket launch.  It promises to be nothing less than spectacular.  I am headed to Dallas this weekend to help with a youth discipleship weekend at the Roush's church, so it won't be this weekend, but I'm sure it won't be long.