Truffles

This weekend we were very busy around our house doing absolutely nothing. Trudy scheduled a Christmas Cookie exchange for Sunday December 12. I had originally planned on making molasses cookies or Christmas cutouts but Friday I decided I was going to make truffles. I picked up all the ingredients over my lunch hour on Friday and had a plan. I decided I was going to make three different kinds: mint, chocolate, and rasberry. Friday night I made my first batch. The mint ended up too spearmint tasting but the other two were delicious. I rolled the regular ones in Ghirardelli cocoa which gave them a fun bitter snap and dropped the other two in milk chocolate. I decided the rasberry ones were my favorite so Saturday morning I started another batch. This time I flavored them in peppermint, coffee, almond, and again the rasberry. I dipped each of them in milk chocolate and sprinkled the top with appropriate toppings to tell them apart. They turned out wonderfully! It was fun to make them but I had to roll each individually as well as dip them so they took most of the day and evening to finish. I have now set my sights on a dipper as they just were a little too drippy looking for my tastes. Must be the perfectionist in me... I couldn't help but snap a few pics.

Russia had another rough weekend. Last Monday she had surgery to remove "reactive tissue" from where she had her original mass removed. It had grown to an egg sized lump since her surgery in early November. Mike picked her up on Monday night and on their way home it started to bleed again. By the time they got home, his seat was covered in blood and she was leaking blood all over the place. We called the emergency vet in Madison and in the mean time we were able to stop it by applying pressure. We wrapped her all up in vet wrap and I dropped her back off in Oregon on Tuesday morning. She did great all day there all day. She had no bleeding and she left her incision alone. Wednesday I left her out in the kitchen and my dad came and checked on her throughout the day. Things were fine. I put her in her crate like normal on Thursday morning. When I got home Thursday evening she had a gaping hole where her suture used to be. I couldn't believe she ripped them out. The vet figured we could put butterfly tape on it and it would be fine until morning. So Friday morning I dropped her off again, this time to get put back under and have her sutures redone. I picked her up Friday afternoon with strict orders to leave the cone on her head whenever she was unattended. Russia is so afraid of the cone that when I put her in the car with it on, she urinated all over herself. So luckily Mike and I were home constantly with her this weekend. We figured all was well until she started soaking through the wraps and gauze we put on her. I examined her incision site and it appeared to be full of pus. So again Saturday, I loaded her up and headed back to Oregon. Turns out she had multiple kinds of bacteria on it so they upped her antibiotics. She is now on Cephalexin, Cipro, and an anti-inflammatory. That and we have to keep a dressing on it at all times. Easier said than done! The techs are all starting to recognize Russia from her whine as she stresses out the second we walk through the door. We are hoping that this week will be a little quieter. I plan on leaving Russia out in the kitchen tomorrow but with her cone on. The poor thing will probably not move for the entire day but at least we know she won't have to be put under again anytime soon. Or we hope that is!

The kids were great again this weekend. Rebecca is walking even more. She can take about six steps now. She also has started to clap which is super cute.





These pictures were taken today. She was sitting on Bryant's Mickey train. It is her new favorite toy. She either pushes it around wherever she wants to go or sits on it and makes it play all the train noises. Bryant was given the train for his first birthday and since then it has been an absolute favorite by almost every child that walks through our door. The two kids sit on it together or Bryant lets Rebecca push him. It is absolutely adorable.

Bryant has started counting. He can count to six right now. He is also learning the Jingle Bell song and the ABC song. He doesn't quite know the words but he has the melody down. We had alot of laughs at dinner time tonight listening to him recite them.

Mike started working on our new mantel this weekend. My dad and our neighbor have been walking him through it. I can't wait for him to finish.