Dutch Oven Pizza

Step 1: Before starting the fire to make the coals to go around the Dutch Oven, remove your cat from the top of your fire pit.

Step 2: After starting the fire, bring your dog out to enjoy the evening with you. Don't forget a pillow for her to lay on because the chair is cold.

Step 3: Spray the inside of the oven with cooking spray or rub with butter.  Spread out the pizza dough and smear with pizza sauce.

Step 4: Layer on the toppings.

Step 5: Bake.  Have plenty of coals or this takes a long time to get done. 

We were baking rolls in our other oven and could have used way more coals.  It took a good 50 minutes for this to get done and it was torture waiting that long.

Step 6: Slice and enjoy!

Complete Randomness

Nikki incognito

Dad making crochet humor.  I thought my little elephant needed a mom so I am in the process making her one.

Frog in glass by Spark

Mac and cheese doesn't have food coloring anymore!!!  It is has been about 10 years since has been welcome in our house, but it's in now! Seems like a novelty to us.

When Fluffles isn't sleeping he's trying to figure out how to get some Temptations cat treats.

Out to lunch

Dancer, the queen of selfies.

Yeah, that's a goat/llama water bucket.  They think the buckets are either a bathroom or a footbath.

The thank you gift we made for Spark's speech co-op leaders.

Double decker sleeping spot.

Car washing.

The want ads at the feed mill.

Bert after a bath.

Happy New Year from Pinterest

Our New Years Eve was going to be low key, we watched New Year's Eve programing and did a jigsaw puzzle.  Even so, we needed to have a few fun things so I turned to Pinterest.

2015 in pizza.  This was Dad's homemade pizza therefore it was scrumptious.

Chocolate dipped ice cream bowls.  We had never had these before and they are quite good.  Real simple to jazz them up, dip them in melted chocolate (we used almond bark) and sprinkles.

Dancer went to a party, but was home by midnight (maybe we aren't as boring as we think).  The pin showed to have balloons with time on them counting down the entire evening, but since Dancer was only here at midnight we opted to only have one.

And Nikki.  She spent the night begging for pizza and lounging on us while we watched t.v.  A dog's life is the life to have.

The start of the new year

Started off with a few traditions.  The first is watching Robin Hood.  What we use to watch a couple times a week when the kids were small has now been reduced to once a year.

Ice cream sundaes.  Reese's shell, chocolate topping and peanuts.  If you are going to eat ice cream you might as well make it good!

Nikki didn't make it to the new year.  Her big day of napping wore her out.

 Flipped back and forth between the new years ball drop and the movie Click.  Didn't want to miss any One Direction performances.

2015!!!  We can go to bed now right?  Nope, we partied on until 3:00.  Well, partied if you call watching t.v. and eating graham crackers and diet Coke a party.

Two dip recipes for new year's day snacking.

Jimmy Dean Dip

One pound of regular Jimmy Dean sausage browned.  Put in a pot and add one can Rotel and a package of cream cheese.  Heat until cream cheese is melted.

Ham Spread

Run ham through the food processor until minced, add onion and mayonaise.  Simple and also makes good sandwich spread.  Even Dancer, who doesn't eat ham, loves this.

National Dog Day

Nikki soaking up some rays.

Happy Dog

Two Birthday Celebrations

We celebrated Grandma Pat's birthday at a Mexican restaurant. 

Nikki, who shares the same birthday with Grandma, celebrated her 7th birthday with a can of wet dog food. 

New Snoopy

 

Every year at Dad's employee health fair he gets Nikki a new MetLife Snoopy.  This year it was so very cold, snowing and semi-blizzard conditions the day of the fair, but that wasn't going to stop us from getting her a Snoopy.

 

Dad and I bundled up, put the truck in 4-wheel drive and came back with the goods.  Since I went with Dad we got her two Snoopys, a banner year for her!

Nikki Scores It Big

 

At the Goodwill today, we looking through the stuffed toys and found this cute slice of pizza plushie.  It was only 99 cents so we got to give to Nikki for a new toy.  When we got up the check out I saw the back of the original tag and the price was $24.95.  I said to the check out lady, "Look at that, the original price was $24.95."  Her and I both agreed, if that was the original price, that that was crazy, especially after I told her we were going to give it our dog.  When we got home I looked up the company and sure enough, it really was $24.95.  Nothing is too good for our Nikki!

I'm A Penguin

and Nikki is my egg.

Birthdays All Around

 

For Grandma Pat's birthday we took her and Grandpa to a Mexican place for dinner.  When it is your birthday they come over with a sombrero and sing a peppy happy birthday song to you and present you with deep fried ice cream.  I think every table in the place was celebrating a birthday. 

 

The mural outside the building, a generational picture.

 

 

Nikki also celebrates her birthday the same day as Grandma Pat.  She was super excited and danced around while we sang her happy birthday.  She didn't care about being sung to, that was more for us humans enjoyment.

 

 

Instead of deep fried ice cream she got a container of wet dog food.  Now that is what happy birthdays are made of!

Bad Dog, No Biscuit

In her defense, it was -25 with the wind chill this morning, I wouldn't have wanted to go out either.

Comfy?

 

Notice Nikki on the couch while the cats have taken over her spot on the back cushions - those cats are thugs!

Were You Trying To Read?

Can We Talk?

 

 

  

All this sweet talking with Dad is so that he will do this, give her a full back massage.  Of course he makes her beg a little bit first.  If she thinks he just isn't "getting it," she sticks her nose under his arms or lifts up his hands to give him the idea.  She knows how to get what she wants!