Sam Is Broken

Sam decided to take a nap under a running truck Sunday. My brother had gone to unload something at the barn and left the truck running. He hopped back in the truck and when he began to back up he heard Sam scream. He did not back all the way over him but he was hurt. There was no way Clayton could have seen him. Just an unfortunate accident.

His pelvis was broken in three places.

He has not moved much this week. He gets up to go to the restroom but other than that he doesn't want to move. He has not lost his appetite, but is obviously in pain. When he does walk he tries to walk on his two front feet. The good thing about him is that he doesn't weigh much so doesn't have a lot of weight to put on the breaks.

The vet said that two of his breaks will most likely heal on their own, but the acetabulum fracture is not likely to heal without surgical repair. This surgery would be at least $5,000 and we are not even giving ourselves that option. The vet said if we choose not to do the surgery we will need to euthanize him.

We got some pain medicine and Brett talked to one of his orthopedic surgery friends. Of course he is not an animal surgeon, but he suggested we keep him from moving around for a few weeks and give him the pain meds to keep his pain level down. He said his hip will not heal normally but it may repair itself in some way. If we don't see any improvements and he continues to be in pain over the next few weeks we will have to euthanize him. :(

Say a prayer for Sam. We are hopeful but know that the odds of recovery are low.

Bar Stool Re-do

Brett decided we needed a few barstools so he can have somewhere to sit while I cook!! haha

I searched a few garage sales but didn't have any luck. Soooo I searched my parent's house and found several options. Mom was nice enough to let me have these.

I found a link on Pinterest on how to paint furniture and got inspired there.

HERE is the link.

I decided to go green because I just love the color green.

I sanded them down a little, used two coats of spray paint (of course) then I used a black acrylic paint to give them a weathered look.

The website above told me how to do it and I couldn't believe how easy it was. I literally used acrylic paint from a little paint set that I had. The key is wiping the paint on the stools with a very wet paper towel. I didn't get mine wet enough at first and ended up having to start over with the green because it was too black.

So wipe a small amount of paint on the wood with a wet paper towel then wipe it off with a damp one. Just play with it until you get the look you are going for.

I sprayed a sealer on top of them when I was done. This took me less than 30 minutes to do both of these.

Some Good Recipes

Lemon Chicken

A great summer dish.

I coated these fingerling potatoes in the chicken marinade and baked them together on a cookie sheet.

Parchment Baked Salmon

This is from tastykitchen.com. I use this website often for recipes.

I didn't wrap it in parchment. I just put it on cookie sheet with foil and oil and that allowed the Proscuitto to get crispy.

Sweet Mustard BBQ Pork Chops

(also from Tasty Kitchen)

Baked Eggplant Chips

Baked Eggplant Chips

• Eggplant, sliced about 1/8 in thick
• milk
• bread crumbs and corn meal
• salt, pepper, garlic powder
• preheat oven to 425
• Dip eggplant in milk then tip it in a mixture of cornmeal, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, garlic powder. Place on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake for about 25 minutes.
• I have also done this with Zucchini

These last two recipes are from the website skinnytaste.com. I found out about it from a friend's blog. It has great recipes and it also tells you Weight Watcher's points for each meal if you happen to be doing that. (No we are not on WW's!)

Chicken Milanese with Arugula and Tomatoes

Swedish Baked Potatoes

(Fancy and so good! Saw it on Pinterest :) )

Broiled Fish With Summer Grape Tomato Sauce

*I modified the fish recipe. Here is what I did:

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion chopped*
• asparagus*
• 6 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 lb grape tomatoes, cut in half
• salt and fresh pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
• olive oil spray
• 4 pieces (7 oz each) flounder (or tilapia or sole)
• Arugula*
• Goat Cheese*

Directions:

In a large skillet heat oil on high heat. Sauté the onion until it is translucent, Add tomatoes, garlic and asparagus, salt and fresh pepper and reduce to heat to low. Simmer for about 15 minutes, add fresh basil and cook another 5 minutes.

Top fish with Arugula, tomato mixture and finish off with Goat Cheese.

I loved this. It was really easy and delicious.

One day I will not be lazy and use my camera for these photos....until then they will be taken with the trusty iPhone!

B and B day 5

Well today was their last day here in Dallas and we kept pretty busy.

We went to the Arboretum this morning. Mondays are "Family Day" and they have face painting, a petting zoo, snacks and Peter Rabbit was there.

The theme at the Arboretum right now is Fairytale Castles. Different artists designed them. They are made of art or flowers or a combo.

It was was really hot but they enjoyed it.

(How sweet it this?)

They were both hot and tired so we went back to the house for lunch and they rested and watched a movie on Netflix.

We had a few errands to run and then we went to meet Franny and Moss again to swim at her friend's house.

We baked broccoli, pork chops (Shake N' Bake again) and had a salad. Bryanna cooked the broccoli and Braelyn set the table again.

Now Bryanna is reading her new Bible.

Braelyn is helping me fold clothes.

They are about to get in the bath and head to bed because we have a really early day tomorrow!

By the way Sassy has gone to sleep with them every night. We kicked them out of the bed a few months ago so I don't know if she is just happy to be in a bed or if she is watching over them.

Dot has nothing to do with them. She sees them as a threat to her food! haha!

B & B Day 4

We went to church this morning. They were both really excited to go which was so precious. They wanted to go to Sunday School but we just went to big church.

We came home and cooked these little creatures. (Pinterest)

We used Little Smokies instead of wieners.

Braelyn named them "Little Sophias" and Bryanna called them "Wiene-pedes".

We made a cheese sauce for them and dug in. They were a hit.

We hung out here for a little while after lunch. It was 106 here today and I didn't want to go outside.

Bryanna wanted a new Bible so we went to Borders (which is going out of business BTW) to find one. We got: Day By Day Kids Bible. You can read it in a year if you read for 7 minutes a day. Bryanna is already on day 7.

We went swimming again in the community pool and then they played on the playground. I didn't take any pics of that today.

Braelyn rolled the crescent rolls and set the table again for dinner.

Bryanna found our dinner recipe: Bacon Ranch Chicken Pasta

and she made a salad.

Braelyn studying the magnet on how to set the table.

The meal was really good. I didn't use the recipe we found because it didn't sound as good as the title. Here is what I did:

Bacon Ranch Chicken Pasta

Seasoned chicken breasts with dry Ranch Dressing.

Cook about 10 slices of thick bacon and reserve some grease.

Sautéed a yellow onion and garlic then added a little bacon grease and chicken until the chicken was cooked.

For the sauce I reserved 1/2 cup of the pasta water and mixed it with 1 container of fat free ricotta cheese and 1/2 a cup of fat free half and half. Seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Stir in 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Mixed everything together and that was it!

I learned from a friend that you can use fat free ricotta to make cream sauces instead of butter and heavy cream. It worked really well.

Braelyn has worn a graduate hat all night. She painted Brett a picture and insisted he hang it by his desk. Bryanna has been making up dances and singing.

This is what Sassy and Dot have been doing....nothing but sleeping.

Brett has been reading.

That's was our day today!

Now the girls are in bed and I'm going to do the same!

B & B Day 3

Started out the morning with Braelyn's favorite: pancakes and bacon.

She helped with the batter.

They painted a canvas and a photo frame for Megan and Pat.

(A surprise Megan)

Then we had hotdogs and custard at Wild About Harry's for lunch.

We tried to go to the Aquarium but there was an hour wait outside to get in so we decided to go to The Children's Museum of Nature and Science.

Lot's of fun things to see and do there.

We watched a show at the Planetarium but didn't make it through the entire thing. Everyone got sleepy so we left and went to play in the fountain.

Finished the day with sliders, corn and tots. Yum yum.