On the 7th Day of Giving...

Sorry for the late post. I had to interrupt yesterday's regularly scheduled program for an emotional breakdown. But I'm better now.

Yesterday, the kids woke up at 5:30 in the morning and we spent the next three hours making homemade dog treats for the neighborhood dogs.

We used this recipe HERE. I don't use bouillon cubes, so we kept that out and substituted chicken broth for the boiling water. We also used applesauce instead of margarine. And we used Christmas Tree and Gingerbread Man cookie cutters to cut them out.

Oh my! They were adorable.

Oh, and we brushed some chicken broth on top of the cutouts before we put them in the oven and then turned them over after 15 minutes and brushed chicken broth on the other side for 15 minutes.

Can I tell you a secret? My kids loved them.

That's right. My kids devoured them. One of them actually threw a little temper tantrum because he wanted more.

Our family is so jacked up.

Now, the truth is, there's nothing in there that people can't eat. Some flour, some rolled oats, some milk, some cheese, a little bit of broth, 1/3 cup of applesauce, and one egg.

But just the thought that my kids were eating the treats we were making for the neighborhood dogs, well, it did make me roll my eyes and shudder a bit.

We ended up making four bags. One for our dog, Ginger, who, along with my children, served as the official doggy treat tester. Then we made a bag for my mom's dog, Shiloh. Shiloh's BFF and sister just had to be put down a few weeks ago. This is the first time that Shiloh's been alone in 9 years, so she's still grieving quite a bit.

We also made a bag for the adorable golden lab who lives across the street. Her owner passed away from cancer last month and she's so sad. She's the sweetest thing ever and my heart breaks for her. She gets so excited everytime a white pick-up drives by...

And then we made a bag for our resident guard dog, Buster. I'm not sure what kind of dog he is, but he's big and huge and scary looking. He roams the neighborhood and frightens all the burglars and UPS men away. The truth is, though, that's he's a real pussycat and a big teddybear.

Susie and Buster's owners weren't home, so we had to leave the treat bags in their mailbox. But we were able to go to my mom's yesterday and Shiloh wolfed her treats down in about 5 seconds flat.

Score!

And, then, for breakfast this morning, Eli polished off the leftovers with a nice glass of milk.

Come to think of it, we often did have to get him out of the dog food bowl when he was a toddler.....

Happy 7th Day of Giving! I'll be back tonight with the 8th Day of Giving.