problem

I am noticing a potential problem in our household.

Dog toys...

look a little bit too much like...

baby toys.

Today I got brought out a little stuffed frog that my mom got for Evelyn. I wanted to hold it because its cute, and Tangle....freaked out. He thought it was for him and would not leave me alone. He whined for a good 20 minutes straight begging for me to give it to him. I was actually so annoyed. We have been wondering how he will do with another little perosn in the house, since he's pretty needy. Things like that make me a little nervous. He is such a good dog, but i definitely won't be allowing a dog in the house that chews up baby blankets and eats stuffed animals, and steals food off the high chair. No thank you.

{dog}

{dog}




{dog}

{baby}

{baby}

{baby}

See what I mean!?

15 things i ♥

about my dog

(because I'm mad at him for waking me up 4 times last night with his giant 60lb body sprawling all over the bed and kicking me in the face and barking at shadows and scaring the crap out of me at 4 AM).

1. the way the top of his head smells (it still smells like puppy)

2. he barks at strangers walking by, which used to annoy me, but now it makes me feel safe :-)

3. he is the cuddliest dog in the world.

4. he growls like he's so tough but his tail is wagging out of control

5. he can chase a bird all the way around the lake without getting tired

6. he eats his own poop. (ok i actually hate that)

7. he is always excited to see me

8. he loves to play in the baby pool

9. he's a champion hunter (in his own head)

10. he gives kids kisses but never bites them

11. he knows the best tricks

12. his little head tilts when he hears the words "bone, walk, run, park, camp, birdie, peanut butter, daddy, ride, and play."

13. he is friends with everyone, even shy, grumpy old dogs

14. he knows when i'm sad

15. he's not afraid of anything {except balloons}

There, I love him more now. Works everytime.

♥ ♥ ♥

.Happy Monday.

This weekend went by too fast! I thoroughly enjoyed the infrequent bursts of sunshine though! We got a chance to do our most favorite of things...BBQ. Ben's birthday was a couple weeks ago, and the family surprised him with a tiny little party and big fat new grill.

a little birthday banner

made out of a $.25 book
and some twine from the $1.00 bin at target

a proud man and his grill
(complete with bottle opener).

and a happy, muddy puppy.

Hopefull the sun sticks or around (or should i say, comes back) so Ben can try all his fancy-schmancy recipes on tips from his "BBQ Bible".

Got any good grilling tips or recipes to share?

"punch it back"

This morning i told Ben that I felt like the day punched me in the face. He said "well, punch it back." i love him.

So, since I feel like Monday Morning smacked me in the face, I shall smack it back by thinking about things that I love...

Take THAT Monday!

♥ ♥ ♥

the cutest puppy in the world.

feeling tiny

a place in my heart on the other side of the world.

a mad tea party.

best friends

being a girl

building a little home and pretending

its the safest place in the world

being a lot in love

rainy day boots

baby bunnies

staying in bed way too long

frozen yogurt with strawberries

( all images except Tangle and me and Ben at the beach taken from weheartit.com )

half infuriating, half precious.

there are no more words to describe.

♥ ♥ ♥

what on earth?

Reasons I love My Life #4

.quiet times.

My life is busy. It has been busy since I was a little kid and we lived next door to the church where my dad was a pastor. Since I can remember, I have been filling my plate with tons of things, and having to play catch-up way too often. Ben and I are really making a concious effort to slow down our life. Some of my most favorite and cherished moments are quiet times. A couple weeks ago I was really sick and home from work for three days. Not so fun to have the funky sickness, but really amazing to have three fulls days off peace and quiet at home with me and my doggy, my bible, a cup of coffee, Amelia and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and crafts.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

My view for three days.

I couldn't be more content.

(unless i didnt feel like i had pinecones in my throat)

I had time to make this little guy.

a sunglasses case for my sissy-in-law.

"a" for allison.

that tree was a labor of love, let me tell ya.

Having quiet times is one of my favorite things to experience in life.

It makes me so relaxed and at peace.

What do you do to relax?

The Most Wonderful Time...

Back To Reality

Hope everyone had the best and happiest Christmas. Sadness is setting in while Im back at work this morning, so I needed to indulge in some memories from the Christmas weekend. Sharing some of my favorite things about my favorite day of the year, hopefully it cheers everyone up who has to go back to reality today!

*Tangle's first stocking*

*morning walk*

*buying baby shoes*

*Christmas Morning Coffee

in my new pretty cup
from Ben (good job,right?)*

*a homemade clock for

our stylish brother*

*crafty gift wrap*

*dad's scary dress-up act*
(cousin Eddie)

*so cute...

homemade jewelry display

from Laura*

*perfect gift from hubby*

I feel better already!

I'm still kinda sad.

Maybe I should eat a Christmas Cookie?

Merry Monday after Christmas!!

i live in the north pole

Hi my name is Amanda and I live in the North Pole. And by that I mean my living room is a winter wonderland full of Christmasy goodness. Ben and I made the journey to cut our tree over the holiday weekend (all 10 miles away). We tried a different place this year that we did not love as much as last year, but it was still fun. The place we went was a little more domesticated and less rugged hiking through the mud. It may have been the mansion sized house behind the tree farm that tainted the experience just a tad...but not enough that it was not still really fun and festive. After we got our tree we set it up and got to decorating, and then attempted the almost impossible task of teaching the puppy not to eat the bird ornaments... really hard for him clearly.

such an adventurer.

boyfriend and girlfriend

I love this dog, but he was SO annoying to have at a tree farm. Not the best place for a hunting dog. I think he ate some mushrooms too.

Its fun starting out and working with what we have to make decorating cute and fun without spending a boatload of money every year. We are firm believers that you can make people feel special and loved without draining your savings account or going into debt. It may be a little more work and time, but home made and creative gift giving, hostessing, and decorating are so much more fun and memorable in my opinion. Anyway, enough of my rant...here's where we are at so far

eureka! the lights are good!

my dinner: frosted flakes and cider



I promise after Christmas I will share my homemade gifts, but I don't want anyone who is getting them to see and ruin the fun!

CHRISTMAS!

more than clucks and fries.

We are having an onslaught of beautiful birds in our backyard this time of year. Our neighbor has this tree with winter berries on it and it hangs over on our side of the fence. The tree is so pretty and the birds are so interesting to watch. There are tons of them. Tangle, our 6 month old Brittany puppy sits at the back door and stares at them forever without even moving. He is a bird dog by nature so he can spot them from the other side of the house. He is reminiscing over the days when his parents let him play outside for hours on end and didn't have to worry about him being muddy and stepping in wet poopie (ok maybe that is me reminiscing).

I love watching this little birds, and i was interested at what they were so of course I googled it. Looks like we have some Red Robins!

(By Jim Cruce/Audubon Society of Portland)
Even though they look more orange than red to me, its fun knowing what we have. I think I might build a little bird feeder of some kind, here are some ideas for homemade ones from Martha.


gourds.



paper cup molds.



suet? what is that?

I'm not crazy about these. Anyone know where I can find any other interesting/easy ones?