25 Days of Christmas: Day 24

Merry Christmas Eve!

I cannot believe that it is Christmas Eve and the next to last post of my 25 days of Christmas! I feel like December has flown by!

Today was a long day...just wrapping up a lot of unfinished things--pun intended--, and normal Christmas Eve day activities!

Even though we've done our usual Christmas traditions, and Santa Paws has already stopped by our house, it still doesn't feel like Christmas to me for some reason!! Time to light more of those Christmas candles to get in the spirit, right Matt?? ;)

There's only but so much rambling I can do right now, so let's just move on to the pictures that tell the day ;)

When I brought my Christmas blanket out this morning, I threw it up on the couch and Maple started sniffing it for a minute.  Then, she laid her head up on the sofa, knowing it was a new soft blanket, so she was just testing it out.  I finally said to her, "It's okay, Maple, you can get on that blanket," and she snuggled on it all day long! She knows it's Christmas and she knows Santa Paws is coming tonight!!! :)

We tried taking a little nap..

 Every year, we always go to church for the Christmas Eve Candlelight service.

Abby, Brandy and I take a picture in front of the tree just about every year :)

Also, I had both grandmas with me tonight, as I pulled out some of their old Christmas jewelry I had chosen.

The reindeer was Ganny's and the present was Memaw's.

After Christmas Eve service, we went over to Papa's / Aunt Vickie's and Scott's house for something to eat!  We had a great spread of snacks--thanks, Vickie!!! :) :)  We also had a good ol' time sitting around talking.  I wish I took some pictures, though!

When we left there, we headed home to pick up Maple and some Christmas gifts!  We went to Matt's parent's house to exchange gifts with them, and Matt's brother and his girlfriend.  And, of course, exchanged gifts with Maple, Autumn and Summer :)

 Someone found a chew bone!

Maple loves playing with Summer!  They move so quickly it was hard to get a good picture that wasn't blurry!

Free belly rubs!!

Autumn opening her gift from Maple.

I think she likes it!!! :)

25 Days of Christmas: Day 4

I know it's only the 4th day, but this is the most fun post so far! haha. I have been looking forward to this activity since I first saw it on Pinterest! Now, I'm glad to finally share it!

It's no secret that we love our Maple! She's very loved, and quite the snuggle bug. I can't wait for Santa Paws to come visit her this year ;)  So, when I saw this paw print ornament idea on Pinterest, I knew instantly that we needed to do it!  Just the process itself of getting her to cooperate made it more enjoyable! Plus, homemade, DIY ornaments are fun keepsakes to have!

These ornaments are super easy to make--just 3 ingredients. GETTING the paw print is the hard part!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of salt
• 1/2 cup of water

Directions

1.  Preheat over to 200°.  Combine flour, salt and water in a large bowl.

2. Flip out onto a well floured surface and knead with your hands for a few minutes until the dough is smooth.

 

3. Roll dough out until it is 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Hey, when you don't have a rolling pin...you use whatcha got!

 

4. So, the exact directions said to roll it out, cut out a circle, make the paw print and then put the dough on the cookie sheet lined with wax paper or aluminum foil.  Well, we did it the easier way. We put WHAT LITTLE BIT of aluminum foil (or wax paper) we even had left on the cookie sheet, and rolled the dough out on it. Rolling it out and then transferring it was too difficult to make sure it didn't start to come apart.

5. Then, get your paw prints :)

Poor baby had no idea what we were doing....but she enjoyed all the animal crackers she got for being such a good girl :)

 

And here's what we got! BUT, when we took a glass to cut circles around each paw print, it distorted the paw prints :(  And those were the two best ones we ended up getting :(

So, Plan B. Roll out the dough and cut our the circles first! Then repeat the whole process of getting your paw prints and giving the doggy animal crackers.

 

6. Once you have your paw prints, use a straw to cut a hole at the top of each ornament. 

7. Bake for 2 hours.

And here are our finished ornaments!

They turned out pretty well, but I think we are going to re-do them and try to press her paw into the dough more so you can see the impression better. More animal crackers coming for Maple!

Original Source

Maple in the Morning

I wake up for work about an hour and a half before I actually need to leave.  Not because it really takes me that long to get ready, but because I don't like to be rushed. PLUS, I love playing and snuggling with Maple in the morning, so I have to plan accordingly, haha. Also, when I take her outside before I leave, it's just not a quick in-and-out trip. Nope, we have to chase every squirrel, deer, bird or rabbit we see and sniff everywhere those animals have been. It's always an adventure! Other times, I love sitting with her on the sofa, which has now become her playground, and just lay beside her looking out the window as she watches the cars go by. But, I love that I wake up early enough to spend some extra time with Maple, as well as take cute pictures like these that I'll have and love forever! You can never have enough pictures of your fur-baby, right??

I did not pose her in any of these. These are all typical Maple poses :)

Saturday Morning with Maple

This morning, Matt and I went running at Dorey Park, but we didn't stay long before going back home and picking up our sweet Maple!  We've been wanting to take her to the dog park and today seemed like it'd be a good day. Unfortunately, there were several dogs there when we got back, and Maple is always iffy around new dogs at first, so we ended up not going in the dog park area and walked around in the field instead. She still had a great time!

Maple isn't too fond of car rides when she isn't in her kennel.

 

Hey you guys, what is this air blowing on me?! I've never liked this before!

 

I love how cute this picture is...she was just resting her head on his seat.

 

We sat in the parking lot in front of the dog park for a little bit, waiting and hoping that some people would leave with their dogs, but no such luck. Maple kept watching and whining the whole time because she wanted to play so badly, but she forgets how she acts around new dogs, haha. She was all over the front seats like, "let me out! I want to plaaaay!!"

 

"Come on, deddy, can't we go yet????"

 

Finally time to walk around..

 

And here's proof of our dog part dingo/kangaroo/jumping bean.

This is an everyday occurrence. haha.