My, How They've Grown!

I can't believe the difference in the baby hamsters in just one week! This time last week, they were just a ball of squiggly little piggies, and now they look like tiny little hamsters with ears and everything! To compare, here is what they looked like on day one:

And here they are on Day 7. Aren't they just the cutest?

Already, you can see their markings, obviously. Can you see the little one with three dots going down his back? His markings really amuse my son. :)  You can also see their ears and their little hands. It's been amazing watching them develop!

Here is a closeup photo of one of the babies so you can see the ears, hands and fur a bit better.

As you can see, they are still incredibly tiny. Boy are they active though! The little guy in my hand was very tough to get a photo of. He squirmed the entire time, all over my hand. I wasn't sure I was actually going to get a usable photo. :)

Today's Update

Today is the last of my quilting classes for this month. We'll be finishing up our mini log cabin quilt today, which is something I'm very excited about. I'll learn today how to actually finish and bind (I think that's the proper term) a quilt. After today, I'll be able to complete the 9 patch quilt I'm working on.

I have about 1/2 of the squares sewn for my quilt now. I'm working on getting hubby to make me a few templates for cutting. I've noticed that my strips are uneven from moving the ruler continually. I'm thinking that if I had something that was long enough, with the right measurements, I could definitely avoid that. Unless of course I can win that new toy from the previous post. I want that cutter so bad! LOL!

Supper tonight will be


Easy Lasagna

1 pound lean ground beef
1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
32 ounces cottage cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons dried parsley
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
9 lasagna noodles
1/2 cup water

 

In a large skillet over medium heat brown the ground beef. Drain the grease. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together the cottage cheese, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, eggs, half of the grated Parmesan cheese, dried parsley, salt and ground black pepper.

To assemble, in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish evenly spread 3/4 cup of the sauce mixture. Cover with 3 uncooked lasagna noodles, 1 3/4 cup of the cheese mixture, and 1/4 cup sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with 3 noodles, remaining sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Add 1/2 cup water to the edges of the pan. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree F(175 degrees C) oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. 

Recipe taken from Allrecipes.com 

I'll serve it with garlic bread. 

Have a fantastic day everyone!

 

We Have Baby Hamsters!

And oh my goodness are they ever cute!

As I'm writing this post, I'm not sure exactly how many there are, but we think 10. It's so hard to tell, though, they're so small!

This is all my son's idea and he has done all the work, the research, the planning, everything. On the last day of July, he put his male and his female together to mate (after checking to make sure that the local pet store would take the babies when they're ready, of course). He has been reading and researching and learning everything he needs to know to be a responsible hamster breeder.

And now, he's so excited. They're finally here!

His sister is going to have her choice of the litter to keep as her own pet. I will put an ad on Kijiji soon to see if we can sell them from home, and however many are left, will go to the local pet store.

Sally, Mama hamster, is doing such a great job too. She's a natural mother!

I'm going to start my son a scrapbook for this project of his. I'll take photo's every day of their growth, and save them on the computer (and post them here once a week so you all can see them grow too!) We'll keep records and notes, so that when it's all over, he can put together a nice little record of his babies. :)

Update: We did lose one little baby last evening. Poor little guy. It was just so sad. :( We're counting 11 noses now, we think.

But, cuteness abounded this morning when I got up. Apparently, the lure of the babies was too much for my son.

Today's Update:

Today I'm going to another quilting class! I can't wait. I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy the classes, but I have to tell you, they are fun! This class we're making a miniature log cabin quilt. This will apparently span two classes, today and next Tuesday.

Since Tuesday is my "free day" I don't have much on my To Do list, just the usual routines and decluttering. I'm determined to get this house in good working order and have a successful Christmas season! I've never had a good, organized and stress free Christmas. That's my goal for this season.

Tonight's Supper:

I won't be here all afternoon, so I'm making a nice easy supper today.

Pork Chops in Soup

4 pork chops
3 cans tomato soup
1 green pepper, chopped 
1 red pepper, chopped 
1 green onion, chopped
dash of worchestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Place pork chops in skillet. Cover with remaining ingredients and cook for approximately 1 hour or until chops are cooked and vegetables are tender.

Easy peasy! I'm going to make this all up this morning and have it sit in the electric frying pan until I get home. Then all I have to do is turn it on and voila! Supper is done. :)