Merry Christmas

I hope you are all full of...

A sweet friend of mine made me this adorable pillow and it couldn't be a better adjective of the season!

While we just celebrated the fullness of Thanksgiving, may we reflect on the joy that Christ's birth brought to us on earth.

Although we haven't been completely traditional in our advent this year, I made an advent centerpiece because it's one of my favorite ways to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christmas.

and a few other decorations...I know we didn't get a tree, but I still had the 

spirit!

 (another printable from Jones Design Company)

since we have no fire place...

I love to use fresh cedar, magnolia leaves, and pine cones and luckily between my parents and Elliott's we have plenty of trees to choose from!

 (most of these pictures are for me to remember how I decorated for next year!)

We had a wonderful Christmas weekend and are looking forward to the NEW YEAR!

our babies are getting so BIG!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

So it seems that the puppies have taken over our lives. And my house. Daily I am reminded of why Liza and Ruger are outside dogs...but those puppies, I just can't bear to put them out! Which means they need their momma nearby, which means Rugerboy is the bodyguard, which means my house is a disaster and would explain my lack of Christmas decorations.  We didn't get a tree this year and I'm not even upset about it! The thought of having one more thing for Ruger to pee on in my house is too much! Although I will say I had my wreaths outside on my doors and windows the weekend after Thanksgiving!

We FINALLY took our Christmas card picture yesterday which would explain the basket full of puppies! We waited this long so they would be a little bigger. I guess it will be more of a "holiday greetings" kind of card...

This is a sneak peak into our photoshoot..

My bother-in-law Todd's sister Michelle was kind enough to come to our house to take pictures for us! She did a great job and edited the pictures at our house in no time at all! Thanks Michelle!

Oh what FUN!

Despite a constant distraction to play with puppies all day, I have managed to do my Christmas shopping and wrapping which I enjoy a little too much! 

 I may have gone a little crazy with raffia this year...

 brown paper packages tied up with string...

and I got these adorable printable gift tags from http://jonesdesigncompany.com/

(one of my favorite blogs)

Elliott has also managed to find some time to get in the deer stand....thanks to Trey for taking him up to his family's place in Norwood.  Now we will have plenty of sausage in the freezer! 

The boys have taken a new liking to the shuffleboard table at The Bulldog and we had a graduation to Celebrate! YAY Meredith. I know she is so glad to be an RN

Lunch after Mere's graduation

We had our work Christmas party and an early birthday celebration at Ruffino's complete with the Opera performance of "Happy Birthday to You" Everyone should experience it. Really.

Elliott surprised me with tickets to the Nutcracker this weekend for my birthday. It was just as good as I remembered and now hopefully he won't have to hear me talking about how I was in it when I was younger.  

My sister and her fam are coming in this week and we have so much going on! I got a start on some holiday baking today and will have to find time this week to finish up! I can't believe it's only....

Puppy lovin'

1st week recap (do I sound like a mom with a newborn??)

 Eating:

MommaLou's getting the hang of it

Snuggling:

Father of the Year:

Ruger has taken a new interest in the pups. He laid with them licking them for 2 hours today

1st trip to the vet to get tails docked and dew claws removed:

Is that not the sweetest thing you've ever seen??

HAPPY SUNDAY AND GEAUX TIGERS