Maverick's in Training

Mav is a stud. He decided he wanted to help Danny train for his triathlons, so he came up with this idea. I think if he can ever get over sitting with that helmet on for more than 10 minutes this will be mutually beneficial!

First they had to get the bike ready, so he helped pump up the tires.


Then they were ready to ride!

A Halfway Unfortunate Update

This is only half bad news, so I'll start with the good: Gibbs is on the mend! He's sounding much better and has his energy back.

The bad news? Now Sparrow has it.

Tell me again how totally and completely different it is to have dogs rather than kids?

Anyway, the vet said that since it spread from Gibbs to Sparrow, he's more sure than ever that it IS NOT Valley Fever. The odds of them getting it at the same time having rarely left their yards are astronomical. This is just your run-of-the-mill bacterial infection. So that makes me feel better! Just a couple weeks of antibiotics for both of them and we should be good!

I don't like having sick pups. They're just so...sad...

We're so done with the Veterinarian...

This is Gibbs.



For those of you that may not know him well, Gibbs is the sort of dog that looks like he's got the wisdom of the ages in his soul - up until anything walks past our window, then he's a fiercely dedicated watchdog, no doubt shouting all manner of obscenities at that potential assassin. With Mav he's an absolute pushover who lets the toddler crawl all over him, step on him, and pull his ears and lips without a single sound or movement of protest. He's incredibly sweet, loving, and generally well-behaved.

He's also been the victim of an onslaught of unfortunate situations since we moved down here to Phoenix.

First, last Friday night Danny noticed Gibbs' lip was a little swollen. When he took a closer look, he saw light through the lip. Our dog had a hole you could pass a pen through in his big, floppy lip! I was appalled. I had been home almost all day with him and hadn't heard a peep or seen a thing. We took him to a new vet recommended by friends and he basically told us there's no way to know what happened and really no way to fix it except with time and patience. If they sewed it up, Sparrow would just rip the stitches out and probably cause more damage. So we cleaned it out a few times (with weak tea, which I'd never heard of using before) and he went on antibiotics for a few weeks while it closed up.

We still suspect this one had something to do with it:



Doesn't she look suspicious?

The second ordeal started on Saturday with a little cough that escalated to a horrible, gut-wrenching hack by Sunday night and by Monday he couldn't eat. The vet told us there was the possibility of Valley Fever. He told us this with the obvious expectation that we would be thoroughly alarmed, but since we aren't from around here and it's a local ailment, we were clueless. I guess it's like a really bad cold that humans and dogs can contract from spores. If left unchecked, the sickness can be pretty dangerous. But he wasn't 100% sure, so Gibbs is just back on some antibiotics and a cough suppressant for now.

Poor Gibbs.

A Slight Obsession

I'm obsessed with baking. It just makes me happy to create something that is delicious and pretty and takes a little time and effort to produce. It lets me release a little steam (if I've got it) and it relaxes me. I'm not saying, by any means, that I'm a good baker, only that I enjoy it.

The other day I decided to try my hand at detailed frosting. I've done a couple easier techniques before, like buttercream and this fun one with just glaze frosting:





But trying to make specific shapes with colored goo is a whole new ball game. Besides my lack of hand-eye-coordination (think about my handwriting, people!), I didn't own any kind of decorating tools. I didn't want to buy any (I'm just that cheap), so I had to figure out a new trick. My solution? A syringe we got from the vet! It sounds a little weird (and possibly quite gross, depending on your tolerance levels - I promise it was thoroughly sterilized) but it was perfect! It was small and had a long, curved tip that allowed me a lot of control. So, with it, I was able to do this:



Not perfect, but not bad for a first timer! The Star Wars cutters are from my mom. She found them at Williams-Sonoma and I LOVE them! Not to mention the recipe that came with them is amazing!

So there's my confession. I'm a baker married to a triathlete. Probably a good thing, or I'd be 300 pounds by now...