It was a dawg day.

This has been a busy but great day with the family. We headed to my folks for a huge family breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, biscuits, gravy and pancakes. Yep, I know...we in the south know how to eat. How do you think Paula Dean got a show?

Cameron stayed and helped my dad work to rebuild the tumbling wall, it was his first paid job. Kevin, Breanna and myself planned to make a quick trip to the store and head home to start our first family vegetable garden. Those who know me are probably thinking that I'll just supervise the layout. I'm just not that outdoorsy and I know this. I do plan to get dirty or at least buy gardening gloves. Well once we got home from the store the typical unpredictable thing happened and we decided a little more planning and rethought the layout. Kevin called his mom to get the tiller attachment to the weed eater, let's make life a bit easier if we can. So back to the store now that our plan had gotten much bigger for more plants and seeds, don't forget some solar lights (expect the unexpected).

We picked up Cameron, the moneymaker for today and grabbed a bite to eat, ran by the produce stand and I bought some fresh tomatoes and green beans to cook as a surprise for Kevin and rushed home to take showers...we had a busy evening planned. Kevin put the solar lights out and I got the kids ready and started breaking beans (this was a first since childhood...I think I did them back then or did I just watch). After Kevin finished showering he finished breaking beans with the kids while I got ready. We gathered the dogs and headed to our local rabies clinic to get the annual shots. Usually we go to the vet, but like many families we are cutting corners anywhere possible.

Just a quick tip - going to the vet usually cost us close to $150.00 per pet and with two you can see it can add up. Today we got both dogs registered and rabies for $30.00, you just can't beat that. So be sure to check your local county rabies clinics out, this was our first time.

As you can see from the photos above we have two beautiful black and tan miniature dachshunds. And yes they are our babies. Black Velvet Mojo, we call him Mo is on the top. He hates car rides and was already traumatized by the car ride so the shot didn't even phase him. Opie Cunningham on the bottom, well he is the original "Fly Boy". Oblivious to his destination but happy to be in the wind. His ride home wasn't so joyous, a little low key. But you gotta love them both.

Quickly we headed to the charity auction and bake sale which was well on the way and seemed to be doing quite well when we arrive. Kevin's Mother Reta and Aunt Myrna came to help support our cause. They had over 100 items to auction, lots of homemade goodies at the bake sale and the kids really enjoyed the cake walk. Cameron and Breanna had a ball eating hot dogs, cupcakes and coke (a real treat since everyone knows we rarely by cokes). We all decided to have quick dinner at a local restaurant to top our visit off. A quick stop at Wal-mart (can't seem to drive by one) for a few last minute items for dinner and we headed home for bed.

The kids are asleep in bed and I thought I'd take care of any new followers we might have picked up while Kevin works out on Wii Fit. Hey don't knock it...he's lost 11 pounds. That was our Easter present to the kids and we all benefit from it. Another great tip - get back to the basics, we decided to minimize T.V., do more outdoor activities, give up video games and workout on the Wii Fit from now until the end of Summer and see how it goes. I'll keep you posted. The kids don't seem to miss the T.V. and games, frankly there really isn't much on T.V. anyway except reality and well we are living it so why watch someone else.


Fresh Green Beans
Here is the way I did my green beans in case anyone didn't know, I couldn't remember I had to call my mom.

After taking the stems and strings out just break your beans in the desired length. Rinse and place them in a crock pot, add a whole onion and 2-3 slices of bacon. I also added a little salt and poured about 2 cups of water over them. Let them cook overnight on low. They will be delicious tomorrow. If I'm wrong I'll let you know.