What we feed our dogs

Yesterday morning one of my puppy owners asked me what kind of food that i feed my dogs which made me think about my post about it this summer.  I get into more detail on that post. 

Click here to see it!

We make all of our own pet foods but for the puppies I am easing them onto Blue Buffalo Puppy food. I debated what to do about this because most pet owners do not make their own food. In fact, I don’t know any who do. I knew that my buyers would be feeding premade dog food. I knew that the puppies would need to be used to that for a smoother and easier transition into their new families. I didn’t want to stress out their bodies/digestive systems by feeding homemade holistic food then the new owners tossing them onto kibble. But i also didn’t want to compromise quality in what i was feeding. After a lot of research and a vet recommendation i decided to go with BB. Since my last post I have changed my recipe a bit. Lamb is hard to find locally so i use deer meat now if I’m unable to buy lamb. 

Making your own dog food is a wonderful way to control exactly what you’re putting into your fur babies bodies. If you have a lot of medium sized pets like us it is expensive but it is so worth it. 

Happy Thanksgiving — It’s Black Friday

I hope that the holiday found you each in a place of blessings and thankfulness. As expected, it was a hard one for us. I couldn’t help but to think back to last year and how i wish that i had known that it’d be our last with papa. It’s an ever important reminder that we never know when something will be our last. We have to absorb and cherish ever single moment. The way that they laugh. Their quirks. Their smell. Their voice. The memories. All of it. 

After a successful hunting adventure for Brian We spent the rest of day with my dad’s family, my husband’s family, and my mom’s family. I had planned on Black Friday shopping in town (I wanted the pioneer women set for myself 🤷🏻‍♀️) but ultimately went home, cuddled our 17 dogs, and watched Christopher Robin with my loves. I did however, shop online this morning and I’m shocked to say that I’m officially more than half way done Christmas shopping. I’m specifically excited about my mom’s gift and my husband’s gifts. My hubby reads my blog (hey, hey good lookin) so i won’t give any spoilers but i will say that they are sentimental and extravagant. Every year we all buy too many gifts and every year we say ‘never again’. This year, we mean it. My parents are sticking to the want — Need — wear — Read theme. We are honestly gifting to others more than we are gifting to our own family. I’m a sucker for Christmas time. The decor. The movies. The vibes. The smells. The spirit. The meaning. All of it. But gifts have always taken over and I feel personally convicted every year when i look at the endless new toys. We always purge the old toys and give them to foster families or local families in need but it still is outrageous. It deeply bothers me. I’m so glad that this year my parents and grandma agreed to slow their rolls. 

Whatever you did yesterday and today, i hope that you enjoyed it and didn’t stress out. Most of all i hope that you didn’t end up in a fist fight over those PW pots and pans because it could have easily been me right there with ya ha. 

Harry Potter Concert | Fantastic Beasts 2 Review

My weekend was full of family time and harry Potter related things. It was one of the best weekends that I’ve had in a long time to say the very least. On Saturday My mother in law took my Bigs to see the new grinch movie (they loved it and recommend it btw) while my parents had alone time with my baby girl so that i could take my niece to see fantastic beasts. After that we went to a get together with friends. 

There will be mild spoilers so stop reading if you haven’t seen it yet! 

I was disappointed. The storyline was deep and we didn’t get to see all of the amazing character quirks like we did in the first one. My favorite character, queeny, had a very small roll in the movie and turned to the bad side which was a huge let down for me. I was looking super forward to seeing her and her man‘s relationship bloom. I love them together and their personalities. I did love all of the Harry Potter references though. This movie for sure had more of them than the first one had. They left it at a cliffhanger in regards to credence and dumbledore so of course, I’m dying to see the next one. All in all, it wasn’t my favorite but it had its perks and i did enjoy parts of it. 

This morning we played with the dogs, as always and then Brian took 3 of the kids to his parents to visit and I went with my mom, niece, and middle daughter to Tulsa to a Harry Potter concert. The girls are both huge fans just like i am. My daughter has been counting down the sleeps for this for literally 5 months. She was the exact definition of living on cloud 9 all day. It made my soul happier than you can even know. The concert was incredible. It was so magical and the atmosphere was unmatched. Countless cheering and clapping. Loads of laughter. The orchestra gave me chills on multiple occasions. It was a must have experience for all HP fans. I highly recommend seeing it if you can. 

However you spent your weekend, i hope that it was a happy one full of love and joy like ours was. It’s so nice to get away and do/see new things sometimes. 

My 5 year old’s first heartbreak

Being a mom is extremely hard and there are a lot of ‘firsts’ that you dread. For me, seeing my baby’s feelings hurt is the worst and this week my son got his heart broken for the first time. His best friend is moving and he cried for literally 45 minutes. Nothing made it better. Nothing stopped it. I tried bribing him with treats and snuggles. I tried watching his favorite show. I tried making him laugh. It was awful. He was genuinely broken over this news. No amount of children that you have or years under your belt as a mom can prepare you for times like these. We weathered the storm and told him that we will write lots of letters to his buddy but i can tell that my baby boy is a little bit older now. He’s a little more grown. He’s a little changed. He knows a sad lesson. 

Being helpless is so fucking hard. I loath it. Those sweet little hearts and souls are my reason for life. I hold their feelings at high value and this took something out of me. But we are handling it and embracing the emotions. Embracing the lesson. Embracing the final days with Bear and Hudson is thankful to of known him. Despite what wounds you are mending as a mama know that it’s going to be okay. It sucks but we can do this. Love them a little harder and help them heal. 

Photographer Shoutout — Louise + Co.

If you know me personally or follow me on Instagram, you know that we have had our family pictures done seasonally for 7 years now. Photography is a huge passion of mine and something that i have an specific eye for (I’m very picky) but not something that i have the time to pursue for myself. I am hoping to make it a hobby in the future though. we just have too much on our plates currently to start anything else. Anyways, we recently tried a new photographer and y’all — I am in love. Not only does her talent speak for itself but she’s absolutely darling to boot. She’s patient and perfect with kids. She’s funny and laid back which is a must when it comes to my crazy family. We are smart asses and she fit right in. She sends a preview within 24 hours and both times that we’ve used her she had my pictures back to me within 2 weeks. She’s wonderfully priced and willing to travel. She is hands down the most location diverse photographer in our area. As i mentioned, I’m a photography fanatic. I’m always scouting and researching photographers within 2 hours of us. I’ve never seen one that has such setting/location diversity as Annie. If you’re in the NE Oklahoma/NW Arkansas/SE Kansas/SW Missouri area — I HIGHLY RECOMMEND looking into using our girl. You can find her on Facebook by clicking here or find her page tagged in my Instagram posts (my insta is linked below). Here are a few of my favorites from our session 2 weeks ago:

Meet Reese | Pupdate: Week 2

First and foremost, meet Reese our newest addition to the ever growing family.

We got her on Halloween (hints her name being after our favorite candy and because she is the color of peanut butter). She’s super sweet and calm. She reminds me a lot of Hermione and we all know that Hermi is my golden child, not that i play favorites or anything 😳😅 From minute one Reese has been my girl. She’s very fond of me and follows me everywhere. For whatever reason she bonded to me hard core right away. I love it. She and Hermi are adjusting to sharing me but all in all they adore each other. She is a perfect fit for us and we are already obsessed with her. 

Now for our pupdate: They are 2 1/2 weeks old and 

all.

Over.

The. 

Place. 

Seriously, our house is Doodle heaven and it’s just going to get better. This past weekend i was able to meet all of our puppy buyers in person as well as visit 5 of the 6 homes where they will be living. I had several requirements for our future pet owners so to check those final things off of the list is a relief. Everyone is so elated about their puppies and that makes me very happy. It’s going to be super hard to let any of them go but between the application requirements, home visits, vet references, return contracts, ect i have a great peace of mind about the future of each and every baby. 

Reese & Scottlyn (Our baby girls!)

I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend. Happy Tuesday! 

Good-Bye Halloween, Hello Christmas

I hope that you guys had a safe and happy Halloween. We spent ours with family, as always but this year was undeniably sad. For as long as i can remember we’d go to my grandparents house in town and pass out candy. We’d trick or treat that neighborhood since we knew everyone from it but mostly we’d just hangout at my grandparents home. My papa would sit on the couch and ask us who every single person was that trick or treated. He wanted to know who they were and what they dressed up as. He loved Halloween. So much so that the only time that i can recall seeing his mom was on Halloween. She lived in Washington state and didn’t like to travel so it was special that she came to Oklahoma for Halloween that time. It was hard to do that night without him. Life is not the same. I didn’t put a lot into my kids costumes. This was the first time ever that they didn’t match. They picked what they wanted without any guidance from me. I didn’t do separate birthday parties for the girls. I did one big one. I dread thanksgiving and Christmas. I don’t put up with bullshit and i don’t stress about the petty stuff. I drop people from my life who do not make me a better person and i never look back. I say what i want and do just the same. Life is too short to worry about dumb things and the stuff that mattered (the big fancy parties and hundreds of dollars in costumes or party decor) doesn’t mean anything anymore. I will never be who i was before losing papa. I pretend like he’s still here simply to survive. I am a touch bitter and a lot harder than i used to be. It’s changed everything. It taints just about every action that i make because I’m constantly reminded of him and the loss of him. 

Wow! 

That went deep in no time flat so I’m going to reel myself back in and say that Halloween this year was emotionally uncomfortable for more reasons than one (not my news to share or business to go into the details). BUT the kids had a blast and we made sure that they couldn’t feel the oddities of life. 

Eilee and i spent the day at the pumpkin Patch with hudson’s class the went to see my dad, my grandma rose, then headed to grandma Linda and Papa’s house in town. Brian took us out to eat but again, for the most part we just hung out at my grandparents and passed out candy. 

Once Halloween is over we all know what that means... Signs of Christmas are coming in Hot so on November 1st i put my livingroom Christmas tree up, of course. I always put my Christmas stuff up right away after October. We do trees in every room pretty much so it’s no quick task. It’s a lot of work and we like to enjoy it for more than 1 month. Plus Christmas is just all around the most cozy and amazing holiday. I eat up all things Christmas. Period. I want it all and i want it for months. Yes, I’m one of ‘those’ girls. No shame in my elf game ha. If you’re like me and feeling the heat from the people acting like we don’t appreciate thanksgiving if we decorate early (what kind of doesn’t make any sense shit is that?) then I’m here to tell you — do what makes you happy! You are not hurting a damn soul by getting your holly jolly on before Thanksgiving.