Sometimes I Think I Live In A Circus

Wedding season is drawing to a close, and I have to say I am breathing a sigh of relief.  It has been a crazy year, but a fun one.  We have been able to be a part of a lot of special days, and each one reminds me how happy I am to be married to my best friend and also to not have the wedding insanity any more.

Now we head in for some holiday craziness.  I do have to admit I'm looking forward to decorating and baking.  I finally tracked down a pastry frame, which changed my life forever!  If you don't know what I'm talking about, here you go:

This thing is AMAZING!  My mom has one, and I always remember her using it for sugar cookies growing up.  When I started baking on my own, I wanted one.  I haven't had one for a couple of years, and has not been good.  I bought another pastry cloth, but they are not all equal in my book.  You really need the frame to hold it tight and keep it from bunching up on you.  I made sugar cookies for Halloween, which was my first time using it, and it was awesome.  It changed my life forever!  Anyway, now you should all go out and buy one. 

Last weekend I made a bus trip to Rockford, IL for a floral conference.  I enjoyed seeing reps from all the growers and flower farms.  We learned some amazing things about flowers.  One of the farms we talked to said they cut over a million roses in one week.  Holy cow, that is a lot of flowers.  I want to go to these farms, most of which are located in Ecuador.  I just want to see all those roses, miles and miles of roses.

Also exciting is that my Packers seem to be on a roll kids!  They are rockin it out even with all the injuries.  Small shout out there.  After all, I am a shareholder so I have to show a little love for the team. 

Lately, I feel like Andrew and I should start a show called "Things Our Dogs Have Destroyed".  Man, have we gone through a lot of toys.  Even before Maya came around, Buddy was the king of destruction with toys.  Actually, Maya just destroyed her first toy last night.  Now, for a memorial of toys they have killed.  

The first toy Buddy killed was a lamb kind of like this one.  We had stuffing all over the place.

I honestly can't remember the order from here on out,

Sorry Target, but Buddy destroyed his frog in about 2 minutes

Buddy didn't seem to like this plush bone from Petco either, it at least lasted about a day

Monkey actually lasted pretty long, we bought him several months ago and had to throw him away this week

First, the string came off this and then Maya chewed it apart. 

Not pictured are the numerous tennis balls and plush balls Buddy destroyed as well as the purple bear he destroyed last week.  Along with toys, we have also lost a harness for Maya that Buddy chewed one of the snaps off of and a foam bed/pad we had in Buddy's kennel for a while.  Buddy tries to "fluff" his bed and in the process ripped through the bed we had for him, at which point he got blankets in his kennel.  

At the moment the only toys that have survived are the Petstages butterfly, a purple monkey with a rattle in it, and a Kong. 

My beef with all this is that my dogs are Beagles.  Yes, they like to chew, but their jaws aren't as big as say a German Shepherd.  I really don't think they should be able to destroy toys within minutes of getting them.  So, pet toy makers, STOP making crap toys.  And what lesson have I learned from all this, cheap toys are not to be trusted and anything with a squeezer in it better be sewn twenty times or Buddy will rip it in half.