A Break In!!!!

We had a break in on Sunday... no, not at our house... but our Chicken Coop!! Cory had left earlier in the morning to travel to Buffalo, NY for a Bills Game (they lost!)... and I was vegging, waiting until I had the motivation to get ready for church. I heard the neighbor's dog barking non-stop... but didn't think anything of it really. She does that sometimes. But a little later there was a pounding on our door... and when I finally made it to the kitchen, I saw that my neighbor was up at the chicken coop. I went out and he said that all of our chickens were in his yard and he had to lure them back over with bread! Something had busted right through the wire of the coop. It's odd though because whatever it was didn't hurt any of the chickens. It did, however, steal an apple that Cory had put in there the night before... because about 8 feet away from the coop laid an apple that was all marked up by teeth (I would assume). We can't figure out what animal would be strong enough to cut through the wire, but only care to take an apple and not touch the chickens? Maybe the neighbor's dog spooked whatever it was enough that they dropped the apple and took off? I am thinking a skunk. But would a skunk be able to get through the wire? Surely it wasn't a raccoon or coyote... they'd go after the chickens, wouldn't you think? So baffling! Here is a picture of the coop (from the inside). Our neighbor propped the bricks up in the hole with tarp straps so that the chickens couldn't get back out. But you can see where the wire was ripped open. I rounded up the girls into the coop--which was a TREAT... let me tell you. I think whatever it was literally scared the CRAP out of the chickens... lets just say my shoes didn't enjoy the experience. Cory's parents came over to help patch it up. I probably could have done it myself, but I would have been unsure if I was doing it right... and I just felt better to know that his dad was able to look at it and see what he thought. The girls stayed inside all of that day... and boy were they happy to get out the next! Silly hens!

Anyway! I have been working on my Christmas cards. I thought I'd show you a sneak peek. I looked at Michael's for some certain cards and items that I was hoping to use... with no luck. Not to mention, I didn't have a ton of money. So I am making due with using some Christmas wrapping paper and some odds and ends that I had in my craft stuff! They aren't what I was hoping for... but they are still OK. I will try to do better for next year! I also know that it's weird... I used pewter ink on silver paper... but I actually think it looks kind of cool in real life... and it was the only color I had! I would like to have done a two-color block print... but I'm just starting and I will save that for another day when I have more time to plan my approach!

This past weekend, my niece came to my house for a sleepover. We played games and watched Little Women and read books. She helped me out with some projects I've been working on. It was nice to have "girl time"... and we even blow-dried her curly hair and took a straight-iron to it... I couldn't believe how long it was!

And lastly, I would like to share this LINK to a cookie recipe on the Weight Watchers site. Last year, I did WW's and lost 17 lbs in 3 months. (That was with barely exercising--I loathe exercising!!!). I've done pretty well at keeping it off... until recently. I've just kind of had some ups and downs emotionally and my comfort is in food. It's so easy to let it get out of control and I have gained about 5 - 7 lbs back. I am not so thrilled about that... so I am starting WW's again. Except not "officially". I don't have the money to pay WW's... so I am just using info that I remember from before to try to get back on track. Also, Cory is a math whiz... so he helps me translate the nutrition labels into the correct amount of Points and we've determined how many I should have per day, etc. This coming weekend is a birthday dinner for my mom's 50th... so I'm saving up my extra points for that... since I know we'll be having lasagna and salad, bread, etc. But I am determined to be smart about it... and so far, so good. I was making cookies for Cory yesterday (for his lunches)... even though he insists that I don't have to (he knows it's a struggle for me to not want to eat the dough or sample the finished product and he wants to be supportive). But I like to make him things... it makes me happy. So I honest to goodness... made his cookies without even licking the spoon!!! But it definitely got me thinking that I could go for sweets. (I am a sugar addict!!!). So I looked up recipes on the WW's site and found the recipe for mini chocolate chip cookies. I made them... and granted, they aren't like grandma used to make! But they sure take the edge off when you need something sweet! 2 cookies = 1 point... and I thought GOOD GRIEF! When you measure the cookies onto the cookie sheet, you use a rounded HALF teaspoon! Talk about TINY! But in reality, they aren't THAT small... and 2 small cookies is just about the same size as 1 cookie would normally be... so you get the illusion of eating more for less points. You can see how small they are sitting on my cooling rack.. 14 cookies would normally take up the whole rack! I actually had 19 cookies on the cookie sheet in the oven (while I was taking this pic)... so they didn't even take that long to bake! If you are trying to watch what you eat, but still need a little something sweet... I recommend these cookies. :)

I am off to work on some more Christmas Cards and get ready to eat some lunch! My cousin is coming to visit me this evening! I am excited to have some company!!