A "DOODLE-ICIOUS" Birthday!

Hey Y'all,

My name is Maui and .........

Today is my Birthday!!

Woof, Woof, WOOF!

How old am I?

Well, I am 6 years old.

And everyone says I am just as SWEET 

as I ever was.

Here is what a day is like for me.

First, I wake my Mommy up.

I don't bark or anything.

That would be rude.

I just sit and stare at her.
Sometimes I give her a little tap with my paw.
Sometimes I sit and stare.
Cause I love my Mommy.
And she says I'm such a good boy:) 

I want her to play with me but she usually just takes me

for a walk first thing in the morning.

But I take my ball with me, just in case I get lucky:)

When we get back home,
I get my treat and then I usually just hang out with my
best buddy and brudder, Freddy.
Isn't he little?
And he's WAY older than me.
So sometimes he bosses me around.
But that's okay, cause he's my brudder and I love him

My Mommy usually has stuff to do for a little bit,
and then she goes to take a shower.
I DO NOT like to have her out of my sight,
so I beg to go in with her and just lay down......or sometimes I stare at her,
cause she's my mommy and cause I always want her to know
 I would like to go play with my ball
 and maybe swim a little bit.

Sometimes it works right away,
but sometimes I have to hang out with Freddy for awhile longer.
We like to lay on the balcony and look for squirrels.
Or sometimes the cat that lives behind us.

Sometimes we get tired of waiting so we go lay on the couch.

After we play,  it's my nap time.
Sometimes I take a nap by myself and sometimes my Mommy takes one with me.
She says I'm the best nap taker she ever knew.

 My Mommy says I am so stinkin cute,
especially when I take a nap.
That's because I know how to use a pillow
just like humans do.
And she thinks it's very cute:)

 After that, it's game time with my brudder.
I like to spend time with him,
cause he's getting old and has a really bad heart.
And I don't know how long I will have him to hang out with.
If anything happens to him,
that will make me a very sad boy.

Then I crawl in my favorite leather chair and watch some tv.
Or I watch my mommy in the kitchen.
I need her to know how much I LOVE her.

Or I go back outside and look for squirrels.......and cats........and birdies.

 Then we go for another walk and then my daddy gets home.
Before I know it, it's time for bed.
Can you believe my mommy and daddy let me sleep on their bed?
I know I'm kinda big,
and they say I weigh 80 lbs.
But I don't hog the covers or anything so they don't mind.
Today I hope to get a special treat for my birthday.
I heard my mommy say she might take me for a ride in my new jeep.
I hope so.
 Now THAT would be a treat:)
My name is Maui the Goldendoodle, 
and today I am 6 years old.
XOXOXOXO
Maui

Meet Ray. . . . .he will MELT your Heart

maybe you've seen this little guy, named Ray, around the internet.

he is a cutie.

a real, sweet, cutie pie.

and he was recently adopted by a guy named Andrew.

bless you Andrew!

it's easy to hold out for our definition of "perfect" in this world.

whatever that is.

but you didn't. . . .and i bet you will get years of pure joy from your 

sweet little guy.

are you ready to meet Ray?

well, scroll down to see this

C

U

T

I

E

Ray. . . . .

you see, Ray is 9 weeks old and was born completely blind.

from everything i've read, especially because that is all he's known,

he will live a happy, frisky joyful life,

thanks to a kind soul who adopted him.

***note to Andrew, wherever you are.  Thank you.  And be glad you saw him first

because if I had, he would've been mine:)

Happy Friday everyone!

xoxo

Suzanne

P.S.  LOVE the jammies, Ray!

Yummy Apple Dew Dessert, Sharks Teeth, and Smiles. . . .

it seems everyone i know is on a diet.

oh, i know some say "it's a lifestyle, not a diet".

ya, okay.

if you have to cut out every. single. good-sweet-satisfying

 thing you ever loved to eat, that is a diet. . . . . . . . .if you ask me.

and that's okay too.

because i'm supposed to be losing weight myself.

and as we all know, it's one day at a time.

but does that mean every once in awhile, we don't come across a

super easy delicious recipe to try?

nope!

and this one is SO easy and YUMMY,

i have to share it with you!

it's one of those that takes only a few ingredients.

comes together real quick.

is so good, everyone will be lickin their plates and asking for the recipe.

the SECRET recipe.

with the SECRET ingredient!

(not so secret now I guess:)

here's what you do. . . . . .

Apple Dew Dessert

2 packages crescent rolls, separated

4 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and quartered

2 sticks butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

12 0z. mountain dew (SECRET ingredient:)

~ ~ wrap apple quarters in sections of crescent rolls and place side by side in

a 9x13 pan.  Make sure apples pieces are totally covered with dough.

~ ~ bring butter, sugar and cinnamon to a boil and pour over apple roll ups.

pour the mountain dew over the apple roll up mixture.

bake at 350 for 45 min. till golden brown.

~ ~ serve warm with ice cream, whipped cream or both:)

*****even better with cinnamon ice cream. just soften a quart of vanilla ice cream,

stir in cinnamon to taste and refreeze.

DOUBLE YUM!!!

~ ~ apple dessert can be made ahead and reheated before serving.

well, enough about food, right?

SO, you know you live in Florida when you're walking. . . . .

in FLIP-FLOPS. . . . . . 

and you feel/hear something on the tile floor.

you reach down, thinking there is a staple or a nail in the sole of your flip flops,

you pull out the staple/nail thing and you see that it is neither.

as you bring it closer you realize,

there is a

SHARK"S TOOTH

 in the bottom of your shoe.

seriously...is that cool, or what???

i mean, how often does that happen?

a perfect shark's tooth!

my new lucky shark's tooth:)

yep, this is when you know you're not in kansas anymore:)

okay, now i just have a few more smile worthy things to share today.

like this. . . . . .

how can you not wake up with a smile to this big nose in your face?

gotta love my big boy Maui:)

so happy i had my phone by the bed to snap this pic!

and on the same subject, i love these guys!

they will curl up with me wherever and whenever.

my girls woke up to this picture...sweet, huh?

i made a facebook cover on smilebox the other day.

fun and very easy. . . .check it out and make one of your own someday. . . . .

well, that's it for now!

hope you smile today. . . .more than once if possible:)

xoxoxoxox

Suzanne

Maui the Goldendoodle

Please pray for my big boy Maui.

tomorrow he has to have a lump on his neck removed and biopsied.

I love that boy (and I never call him a dog:)

and he brings such joy to everyone he meets...

 ...he looks out for me and i look out for him:)

we can learn from our best friend.....

 life would sometimes be soooo much easier...

but no way!

 wouldn't we all...

Please pray for everything to be okay with my big boy:)

XOXOXO

Suzanne

Sick Puppy...

As if life isn't crazy enough these days,

I think I have a sick puppy in my house.

My big, sweet boy Maui has the sniffles.

Can dogs get a cold?

He is sneezing his poor head off at times.

Not all day...just little fits once in awhile.

(It's cute and pathetic at the same time:-)

And while he is always up for a walk or a game of fetch,

he's much quieter in between times and is doing what I wish to do someday...

take lots of naps!

His nose is kind of dry but the minute he licks it...

big wet nose...

so that one is hard to tell.

I saw online that they can have allergies

but there is nothing new in his life, unless he's allergic to the

huge amounts of perfume my house guest likes to wear:-)

But he's acting really punky and I wouldn't think allergies would do that, right?

I'm thinking it might be time for a trip to the vet for my big guy.

Any experience with puppy colds, please let me know.

Hugs and Puppy Kisses,

Suzanne

The Great Thing About Sleepovers...

Jordan had a friend sleepover and it got me thinking about what I love about THEIR sleepovers:-)

1. They have somebody to keep them busy...and happy.

2. They love to do girl stuff, like soaking in the hot tub and going for pedicures...and since they don't drive, I get to go for pedicures too:-)

Aren't these cute????

3. Junkfood!!! There is always some sort of baking going on...cupcakes, cookies. This time they made a big cookie...


although it doesn't look so big. Does this mean they ate half the cookie dough? I hope so...that's what I would have done:-)

4. Making friendship bracelets and necklaces. Awwww...



5. Watching movies like Confessions of a Shopaholic...LOVE that movie!!!

6. Staying up late...actually they were pretty quiet and slept downstairs, but at every tiny noise, my goldendoodle, Maui, went running to the door to chase off intruders. He couldn't sleep until they did...which means I didn't sleep either. Nap today! hahaha

7. Who's cuter??? They were so funny as they argued this one...Jonas brothers, Zac Efron, Johnny Depp, Tim Tebow...the list was endless.
(For what it's worth, Tim gets my vote...and Jordie's. This one's for you girlfriend. You have good taste...hope you always do:-)




Yep, sleepovers and girlfriends are AWESOME!!!!!

My Easter Basket

hahaha...Okay, it's not usually all about me but I got my Easter basket yesterday from my friend at Tales From the Fridge, Connie. First of all, I was happy just to be a part of the Easter Basket swap that Beth set up but I didn't realize how much fun it would be putting together a basket and especially getting mine. Just look at all of the cute things Connie filled my basket with. I got an adorable mug with some white tea, 2 cute springy dish towels, "chocolate" decorative bunnies (no calories there:-) and cute little chicks. (I used them on our table...aren't they cute?) She also added some easter eggs filled with candy and a few beautiful easter egg ornaments that I have a feeling this talented lady may have made. I took a pic to show you...and my girls and I are definitely going to do this with our ribbon collection next year. Check out Connie's blog for lots of awesome recipes. She was kind enough to include one in my basket that I will be making next week, as well as some special ingredients. Thank you so much Connie and I hope you have a wonderful Easter!!!

P.S. I couldn't resist taking a few pics of my Taylor, taking a break from setting our Easter table.
And just look at the big smile on Maui's face...to go with his big nose:-)

Orange Blossom Moments...

...and random thoughts.

This morning, when I went outside to take my dogs out for a walk, the scent of orange blossoms was in the air. I just stopped on the stairs and breathed in one of my favorite scents. I remember as a kid, when we came to Florida from Michigan at Easter, smelling the orange blossoms. I used to love to get some scented oil in a little orange shaped container and that (as well as Love's Baby Soft) would be my perfume for the year:-) Now that I live in the south, I consider it a good day when I smell the orange blossoms! Hmmm...all this talk about orange blossoms makes me hungry for orange cake, my all-time favorite:-)

To all Lilly Pulitzer fans...today is the day Lilly takes over the Martha Stewart show. Should be lots of fun...and plenty of pink and green to go around! I'll be watching, I think it's impossible to live for any time in the Palm Beach area (we were there 13 years) and not love Lilly.

My husband has to run a disaster drill at the hospital today. He says he is going to channel his "inner Jack Bauer". I just hope he doesn't get carried away and actually torture anyone!!!!! You laugh...but I bet he has a few employees who think it could happen. hahaha

Look at these new Tracey Porter dishes. I LOVE THEM!!!


Maui, my goldendoodle, woke me up at 5:00 today. My husband apparently got up early and closed off the hallway door to my girls rooms, where Maui now likes to sleep. He is 70 lbs and could easily push the doors open but at 9 months, he's still a baby and hasn't figured out just how much he can really do.

My girls are taking their state tests (FCAT's) this week and next. They usually do school from home but go to a public school for the tests. They are both bright and do well, but am I the only one who is not in love with these tests? I actually think they are depriving the kids from so many things they could be learning about, because teachers are under such pressure to "teach the test". And for those kids who don't "test" well, I feel so sorry! The funniest thing is they have to wear khaki pants and a polo shirt...tucked in. They are far more upset about this than the test. Apparently, tucking in your shirt is for NERDS! They won't even let me take their picture for fear it will end up on Facebook or something horrifying like that. LOL

My sister told me about a new book by Debbie Macomber..."20 Wishes". She so loved it and immediately wrote me to tell me to pick it up. When someone finishes a book and can't wait to recommend it, sign me up! She said it is a light, easy "beach" read and there is an idea running through it about making a "wish" journal. I absolutely LOVE that idea!!! As soon as I finish it, I'll let you know what I thought.

Guess that's it for now but I do have a few other things I want to post sometime today. I'll leave you with this great quote...

"The measure of success is not whether you have a tough
problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you
had last year."
-- John Foster Dulles