Oh Holidays, Oh Holidays

This was the first Christmas my husband and I celebrated as a family. We chose to celebrate it on the 12th of December. Between work and traveling and getting together with our families, that was our best shot at having our own holiday. We put on our pjs and started the fire. We exchanged our gifts and the ones from Santa, who generously flew down from the North Pole a few weeks early to accommodate our schedules. Andrew got me my very own wheat mill and I got him a darn good looking new pair of waders, for duck season. We then sat down to read The Cowboy's Night Before Christmas, when his phone rang and he was called out to the rig. Quite the Fairy Tale, right?...

I love being married. I love it! And I love that it is real life and not that cheesy, non-stressful, no conflict, infinite finances, big car, perfect job, non committal, bunch of lies that Hollywood wants you to think it is. And because of it, I got to celebrate Christmas Nov 27, Dec 12, Dec 22, and Dec 25.

We also got together with my mother's side of the family to celebrate New Years. This has been a tradition that I have known my entire life. I grew up thinking it was strange that people did get together with their aunts, uncles, and cousins to celebrate. Those are memories that I treasure.

I don't know if it is the negative temperatures that make you want to be close to those you hold dear to your heart or if its just because you are approaching the end of the year and realize that your love tank isn't quite filled up. Whatever it is, I am so grateful for my family and the times we can get together.

Here's a slideshow of some of the events

From Movies

Rhett's Quiet Book

For Christmas, I made my nephew a quiet book.  It was a labor of love!  I don't know how moms of two-year-olds find the time to do it.  All of the blogs I consulted for ideas seemed to be mom's with a very full plate.  My house looked like a Bible story felt board.  We had scraps everywhere!!!  But it was well worth it.  Here are some pictures from his book.

I sewed button holes and used binder rings, so it can easily be added to.

                            

Rainy Days and Flowers

I embroidered a note to Rhett to put in the Mailbox

Finger Puppet Animals in the Barn

Template from homemadebyjill

This page is so he can learn to set the table :)

I credit it to my Family and Consumer Sciences Degree

Camping is a love in our family.

Rhett's Dad was a pilot and his Pops is an aircraft mechanic.

That's most of it.  I plan to add more pages as the years go on.

My Sources of INSPIRATION...

homemadebyjill

howtomakeaquietbook

naptimejournal

Christmas Ideas

Here are a few of the ideas that I have for gifts this year. Homemade gifts are a great excuse to find the kitchen, if you have been avoiding it and to give yourself a sense of pride in something you created. I am also making Rosemary Bread with Herb Butter for our neighbors and friends. It takes time, but I have had such a good time pulling it all together.

Thanksgiving Lovin'

Oh my, my, my... This year's Thanksgiving feast was, as usual, over the top.  I am fairly sure that I consumer 5000 + calories (or at least it feels like it).  But I can say that I will gladly take 5000 calories from delicious pies and family memories.

I am the most blessed person in the world.  My Lord is good.  He is good through the hard times and through the simple.  He calls us to be joyful and for that I am thankful.  I am thankful for the joy that He has given me.  Take time to be thankful...every day of the year.

Pumpkin Love

    

One of my favorite fall infant portraits is when babies are placed in a pumpkin.  The little boy who I nanny is quite big for his age, but I thought, this still needs to happen.  So, I set out and found a perfect pumpkin for Landon's size.  I hallowed it out and packed it full of soft towels for him to sit on, and brought it work so we could have our photo shoot.  Needless to say it lasted for all of five minutes, he lost it when I put him in the pumpkin.  But the pictures turned out pretty cute I thought. Enjoy      

        

Fall Picture

     So, to celebrate the first day of November, Andrew and I decided we would try to get our fall family picture.  It was one of the only sunny days we have had in the past few weeks and we weren't sure how long this streak would last.  So, we got all cleaned up and corralled the pups into the back of the truck and headed out to my parents' house.  Just last week, I took pictures of my cousins, Aunt and Uncle in front of a beautiful yellow tree, but due to all of the rain that beautiful tree is now naked.  We had to be a little creative in choosing our background.

     We also had an interesting time with our pups.  Gunner (my wedding gift), was being quit bad...and I mean bad!  But I think we managed to get a few good shots before Andrew and I were covered in mud.

     I will be the first to admit that I am not a dog lover.  I love my dogs...I really like my dogs, but I am not one of those people who just loves when they jump on you and want to play.  "NO" is a word that is constantly being shouted from the Ingle home...No Bark...No Jump...NO, Don't grab the sock out of the clean laundry...NO, don't eat that.  It is quite tiring, this is not even a child.  Gunner is our baby, but he is a baby that lives outside.(big difference)  I dare say that if he and his sister, Maddie, talked to the other dogs in our neighborhood, they would soon realize how neglected they are.  However, when Gunner comes and rubs his little face against my legs, I do just love him.  I am getting there...but I haven't arrived yet.

I love this one of Andrew with the dogs.  They are all so focused.  It is not staged.

Our Puppies

We have two wonderful dogs, who suffice for children, for the time being.  Their names are Maddie (the yellow lab) and Gunner (the chocolate lab).  Andrew and Maddie have been a couple for four years now.  She came into my life a little bit later on.  She is an elitist.  She didn't always play with other dogs, because she felt that she was a human.  Gunner was my wedding gift from Andrew.  I have had him envisioned in my heart for ten years.  I knew I wanted a chocolate lab with blue eyes that I would name Gunner.  My puppy is lacking in the blue eye category, but I still think he was the perfect pup to fulfill my dreams. :)  He is six months old, now, and I have had a hard time coping with his rapid growth.  If this is anything close to motherhood, then I am going to have a hard time.  They keep our lives interesting.  They love being with each other, in our back yard.  We are blessed with crazy (good looking) dogs, who sometimes drive me nuts!