The last piece to our farmhouse table is complete! After handing my wonderful husband a cut list, he built our bench all by himself.  While he was doing this I was in the backyard pulling weeds. I really think he got the better end of this deal. 

The only problem with the construction of the bench was the legs were not completely squared off. This made the bench a little wobbly until we put the non-scratch pads on the bottom and fixed the problem.

This bench has the exact same design as our farmhouse table with just two long boards in the middle instead of the three that are in the table. I also changed the overlay of the skirt by accident, but it just makes a difference for the cut list if you want to copy and keep the overlay of the joints the same (insert measurement difference). 

I am not going to go through the step by step on this post, I recommend going to our farmhouse table post for the step by step but using this material and cut list. 

I was so excited to send Alex off with the cut list that I forgot to check if on leftover wood from the table. This project would have been a lot cheaper if I had checked. Oh well.  Now I have tons of spare wood laying around for future projects. 

As for the finish, this is also the same as the table. We actually didn’t pay any more money for the finishing supplies because we had enough left over from the table. 

Past table posts: farmhouse table part 1, farmhouse table part 2, & blue mismatched chairs 

About two weeks ago, Alex competed in his first half Ironman. For those if you who don’t know what this entails let me give you the numbers. The race is 70.3 miles long, first off is a 1.2-mile swim, followed by a 56-mile bike ride. Then to top it all off you finish with a half marathon (13.1-miles). To make it even more insane he completed the Wildflower half Ironman, said to be the hardest one, which evolved crazy hills and camping before and after. Here is what he wrote on his experience: 

Now for the cookies...

Here is the recipe for the second batch of cookies I made to send down to the race for the team (the first being the margarita cookies). I found this Resse’s Nutella cookie recipe on My Kitchen Addiction. They turned out to be a crunchy cookie (I made them a little smaller and added Reese’s Pieces which could have been the cause), I am not a huge fan of crunchy cookies but these were not bad. If you like peanut butter cups and crunchy chocolate cookies I would recommend these.

Adapted from: My Kitchen Addiction

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  
• 1 cup granulated sugar
  
• 1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
  
• 2/3 cup Nutella
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  
• 2 cups mini peanut butter cups (or peanut butter cup baking pieces)
  
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  
• 1 cup (about) Reese’s Pieces  (4oz box)

Introducing our new little ball of fluff: Zoey! She is ¾ Australian Shepard and ¼ lab. As of Saturday she was 8 weeks old (birthday is March 10, 2012). Here is a picture of her mom (30 pound, Australian Shepard) and dad (40 pound, ½ Australian Shepard & ½ Lab). 

Because Alex was gone for his half Ironman this past weekend, our friend Heather had the task of holding our little girl on the way home from Tacoma. Zoey was really good all the way, she was crying a little bit but was a lot better than I expected.

After we got her home, we had a great weekend of playing outside in the wonderful weather we had this weekend. 

Even at 8 weeks old the herding instinct is coming out. She loves to herd the cat around the house. She just has the problem of getting mouthfuls of cat hair. Keagen (the cat), I think is having fun with the puppy. He always has the option of jumping up to higher ground but seem to always want to lie on the ground or try pouncing out at Zoey. 

I love the puppy energy crash. Going at 100 miles per hour to 0 instantly, needless to say we had some great family puppy naps. 

Night time is still a little rough. We are crate training her and she doesn’t like being away from me. We bought her a cuddle pal and heartbeat pillow but she was not interested in either of these things. All she really wanted was my hand in the cage.  I broke down and slept all night next to her cage….

Really, how can you say no to this face?

After I am with her she falls asleep within minutes… I attempted to move back to my bed but she woke up. After we both fell asleep she woke up again at between 4-5am both nights needing to pee. She cried a little bit when I put her back in the cage but after I laid back down she went right back to sleep. On the third night she fell asleep within minutes and stayed asleep all night! 

The best thing we did for the sleeping situation was having something with the smell of her littermates on it. I had brought with a stuffed toy to rub all over the other puppies but was generously given one of the blankets they had been using. She loves it! 

After reading tons of information on the internet we decided to start clicker training Zoey. She is picking up on commands really quick! As of today she can sit on command and is about at 50% on shake and touch. Not bad for two days of training and only being 8 weeks old. I think we have a smart one! 

For anyone getting a puppy soon and are looking for a starting list of what to buy here is what we got (from online research and past experience) and how Zoey likes it so far. I highly recommend buying the bulk of the items from Amazon or discount stores. Prices are so much higher at pet stores. 

1.     Dog Crate : We got the life stages one , it had a partition that you can move as the puppy grows. 
2.     Collar and leash: Currently Zoey hates both of these, it will take time to get used to.
3.     Chew toys: We got a lot of chew toys because there are so many different types.

• Nylabone Rino Puppy Teethe n’ Tug Chew Toy: Deuce our roommate’s dog got to this toy first and the rope is torn in two. Zoey likes the teethe part in the middle and wants to play with the rope but I won’t let her.
  
• Nylabone Puppy Teething Rings Chew Toy: She really likes this one. She likes to walk around carrying this in her mouth. 
  
• Nylabone Puppy Chew Toy Starter Kit: By far her favorite so far. These chew bones are flavored and she loves chewing on them!
  
• Nylabone Puppy Double Action Chew Toy, Regular: This toy is a little big for her right now. I will take it out for her in a couple of weeks.  
  
• Baby Kong: Got to love a Kong. This one is made out of a softer material so it doesn’t hurt the puppies teeth. Put a little peanut butter in this and she is entertained for awhile. 

 4.     Comfort toys: These really depends on the puppy. I was prepared for all the senses.

• Touch (heat): Pet Stages Puppy Cuddle Pal 
  
• Sound: Pet Stages Calming Heartbeat Pillow for Pets
  
• Smell: Stuffed toy rubbed on littermates or old used blanket with littermate smell 

5.     Squeak toys: Zoey is not a huge fan of the squeak toys yet. I got her a JW Pet Company Bowling Pin      
        Squeak toy. 
6.     Dog Waste Bag Dispenser: I got the really cute one from Petego with Polka Dots. The is the best idea ever if 
        you take your dog on lots of walks and field trips. We have used these while doggy sitting for people. Don’t 
        forget the refill bags (when you buy in bulk they are $0.02 per bag).
7.      Food and water dish: We have heard stainless steel is the way to go to prevent germs. 
8.      Housebreaking pads: Have not used them yet but plan to when we leave her along while at work. After 
         reading reviews Wee-Wee brand seems to be the best for the cost. Some of the cheaper ones have horrible
         reviews.
9.      Doggy Gate: We will be blocking Zoey into the kitchen when we are gone. We have the gate installed and 
         seems to work great so far. I know she is going to out grew the gate at some point because her breed can 
         jump really high. It will work for now.
10.    Clicker: For clicker training. She loves the clicker… she knows after the click comes a treat. The clicker 
         works great so far.
11.    Stuffed toys: The pick pony toy is one of her favorites. She loves pouncing at it.
12.    Ball: This JW Pet Hol-ee Roller ball is great for puppies. Having a tiny mouth Zoey is still able to carry this 
         ball around. For added fun I put treats inside the ball for her to get out.
13.    Food: Try to stick with the food it was no before coming home. It will make there little tummy happier. We 
         bought the wrong food but her tummy seems to be doing okay so far.
14.    Treats: Make sure they are in the same family as the food. We are using IAM’s all-natural food so we are   
         sticking with an all-natural treat. We all have little raw hides for her to chew on (sent home with us).
15.    Blankets: Cheap blanks of the cage and holding the puppy. Get lots so you can wash them if they get peed 
         on.
16.    Doggy Bed: I just made a fleece tie blanket for the bed. We will get her a real bed after she is through the 
         chewing stage.
17.    Potty training door bell: Starting to train with this bell so she has a way to let us know she needs out.

This past weekend, Alex went to California to compete in his first Half Ironman! I made some margarita cookies to send down to with him for his team to help them celebrate Cinco de Mayo which happened to fall on race day. 

Sad to say but I didn’t get a single margarita or Mexican food on Cinco de Mayo this year because I was picking up this little girl: 

I will have more on this little fuzz ball and Alex’s race in the next couple of posts! 

Back to the cookies: I was planning on making these margarita cookies from Smitten Kitchen but I have this horrible problem about not reading the recipe before starting. I had all the all the fruit zest prepared when I read the rest of the recipe, it required the dough to be chilled for 2.5 hours! It was already 9 pm and I was leaving at 5 am the next morning to get Alex to the airport before heading to work, there was no way I was staying up that late to make these cookies. After a two second freak-out and almost deciding not to make anything I went to the internet in search of cookies with similar ingredients without a long prep time. I found these at Just a Pinch. I just had to run to the store for a lime to add to the zest but I had everything else. I ended up using an extra lemon in this recipe that I already had prepared. 

I don’t know what I did wrong on making these cookies but they didn’t flatten out.  My only thought is that I used parchment paper.  I am not complaining because of this they made a nice bite sized treats.

I skipped the glaze they had in this recipe; instead I dipped the cookies into a sugar and salt mixture before baking them (similar to the Smitten Kitchen recipe). The salt really put the finishing touch on the overall taste of the cookies to give it a nice sweet and salty contrast. 

I think next year I want to figure out Strawberry Margarita Cookies or maybe a cupcake? Oh the possibilities! 

Margarita Cookies
Adapted from: Just a Pinch