A Much Needed Cheerful Holiday Bucket List

It’s here, it’s here, it’s really here! Hot cocoa, Hallmark movies, Buddy the Elf, Christmas lights, and pajamas! Oh wait…we’ve been living in pajamas haven’t we?! But not matching CHRISTMAS jammies!! So since our city is still largely in the middle with shut downs and re-opening and should we be out or not out; we are just thankful we don’t really have to leave the home to do some of the sweetest things on our Holiday Bucket List!

What are some things YOU want to do this Holiday season to make it special and memorable for your family? Christmas cookies always seem to make SUCH a mess, as do gingerbread houses, but it’s the best for capturing photos and documenting life where we are. And Target has the cutest supplies for at home hot cocoa bars with toppings and flavors galore, so I’m super pumped to check that one off our list!

This past weekend we took our Christmas card photo and it’s the first year ever we took it ourselves. We set up the trusty tripod (which wasn’t trusty at all because my camera actually fell off at the beginning, oh my word….) and did a mini shoot for ourselves. Y’all, I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out and I have to say that our Golden Retrievers are the best model dogs on the planet. Here! See some for yourselves!

Unfortunately Target was out of stock of the size Emma needed and get this—I had been wanting to take a matching Christmas pj photo for years. Well this year I ordered them and got the photos, but most of them don’t fit! Asa’s shirt sleeves were wayyyyy too short, Pierson’s pajama pants were four feet too long, and Reese’s nightgown was more like a mini skirt. But hey! We got the photos!! (HA!)

So let’s talk movies! We’ve watched Jingle all the Way, Jingle Jangle, Elf, National Lampoon’s Family Christmas, Christmas Chronicles, and Christmas Chronicles 2. THERE ARE SO MANY MORE TO WATCH!!

And friends, for a brief moment of seriousness, we know that during a global pandemic, all is not necessarily CALM, right? My recommendation for ALL of us, is to do things that bring JOY to our families and to the people around us. If you can hang outdoor Christmas lights, do it! Lightness will always overcome the dark, and I want to encourage you to brighten someone else’s mood during these particularly dark times.

Here is a free bucket list graphic if y’all want to use it to get your Holiday ideas flowing. Tag me if you use it anywhere on social media, I would love to see your lists! You can find me HERE on Instagram and HERE on Facebook. Happy Holidays at Home, sweet friends!

Seasons and Some Updates

“The seasons teach us how to do life well, revealing a life-giving rhythm: we flourish through intentional periods of stillness, growth, hard work, and rest.” -Lara Casey

It’s not quite spring but with it being March 1st, we are basically there. We can all feel it, right? The temperatures warming up, the difference in how the sunshine feels on our backs, how even the wind has shifted from less wintry to more springlike. I LOVE Spring. Since having horses, I’m not one who enjoys the cold anymore…as a kid I would love to watch the snow fall and even to play in it, but I’d rather ride my horses in a short sleeve shirt and not have to worry about bundling in layers while working with them…Needless to say, I am welcoming this season.

Stillness, growth, hard work, and rest. Where are you currently at with your season?

Tomorrow Elsa has an ultrasound recheck which of course I am pretty nervous about. A couple of months ago we found out that she has a mass in her liver and our veterinarian recommended a recheck to see if it grows or spreads or what is going on with it…since getting on liver medication, she actually seems to be feeling better. Now I am more concerned with her declining strength in her hind legs and how it seems to be more of a challenge to get up for her these days. I remember our Lab’s decline in overall health once he had his cancer diagnosis, and it’s hard for my mind NOT to go there with worry. Overall I’ve done pretty well though, at least for now. And we don’t even know for certain if the mass is cancerous…I know aging is part of reality when it comes to us AND our pets, and while I don’t necessarily like it, I am trusting the Lord for strength and the ability to handle whatever I find out.

Speaking of medical tests, I am actually getting a CAT SCAN on Tuesday of this week! This seems to be the week of new news, ah the joys of being an adult. I went to the doctor last week hoping she would confirm my umbilical hernia….AND she did. I feel pretty silly that I felt as if my protruding bellybutton was just part of the process after having kids. I don’t even remember what a normal bellybutton looks like?! But when the lump started growing (cute huh?) and causing some pain and discomfort I was like, ‘Huh..this may not be NORMAL.’ Ha! So after the Cat Scan, I suppose we will see about surgery and when it will happen—I am hoping it can wait until Spring Break when I have time off.

Those are the two ‘biggest’ things so far this month. I mean, it is March 1st so truthfully I’m sure there will be lots more to update y’all on soon enough. I am getting a little busier with photo sessions and hope that continues. I’d love if I could book a few more weddings for 2020 but again, trusting the Lord. What are some things going on for you this month!? Anything to celebrate or that you could use prayer for? Send me an email and let’s chat. I love connecting with you guys and am so thankful for you here!

Life with Six Indoor Pets, Yes...SIX!

If you are new here, hi! We are the Glass Family. We have been married for ten years, have two small children ages five and six, and we also have three cats, two dogs, and two horses! [Clearly the horses aren’t included in the ‘indoor pets’ status, but if I had it my way, they definitely would be] ;)

So, what’s our home like? When you hear ‘Golden Retriever’ and ‘Lab,’ you automatically think floating hair balls, right? Well, yeah. That does happen. We have been asked, “Do they shed a lot?” Well, yeah, they do, ha ha! We make sure to vacuum, a LOT [thank you trusty, cordless vac!] and we generally love a CLEAN house. “But, Ashley, is that even possible with as many animals as you have?” Yup! It sure is! Daily we make it our priority to put clutter and toys away, run the vacuum, and dust surfaces. I recently partnered with Swiffer and Febreze to help get the job done, and Y’all, without their products, my home wouldn’t be nearly as clean as it is. We have hardwood floors throughout the first floor and in the upstairs hallway. I am SO dang thankful for the Swiffer Sweeper Dry and Wet Mop! [Do you have one of these?!]

One of the things I love most about this mop is how quickly and efficiently it DOES pick up those floating hairs and loose pieces of dirt. It’s incredibly easy to use and it leaves our floors super shiny.

Our dogs daily sleep in our bedroom. When they were younger and before our older guy Humphrey was prone to having accidents (sigh), they had free roam of the house. When we did it that way, it was nice because there wasn’t one designated dog space, which never left that distinct ‘odor.’ Not that our room reeks or is disgusting, but if you own dogs you know that if they’re shut in a room (especially if you have more than one), when you open the door you can SMELL their dog scent. Thankfully, Febreze Fabric for the win, which also if you’re a pet owner you probably (hopefully?!) already know of this product! We use this incredibly often—it’s 100% safe to use on our rugs, bedding, and even the dog bed that resides in our bedroom too!

While I could go on about these products for a very long time, the last thing I want to mention for this post is my favorite dusting tool. Swiffer Dusters Heavy Duty Pet is 10000% ideal for ALL dusting purposes. It traps and locks up to 3x more dust and allergens, and I love that 360 movement really traps all our pesky dust in, even in small nooks and crannies. (Side note: sometimes our cats think that this is a toy for THEM?! So you should probably be prepared to shoo your cute feline friend away while trying to dust your own surfaces. It always makes for a good laugh while cleaning though!)

So, yes, we have SIX indoor pets. But our goal is that that wouldn’t be super noticeable when you walk in our front door. We aim to keep our floors and furniture hair and dust free, and that there wouldn’t be any pesky pet odors. Swiffer offers easy-to-use sweeping, mopping, and dusting cleaning tools for virtually every household surface. They’re quick and help you not sweat your pet so your family can spend less time worrying about the mess and more time playing with your pet. And Febreze makes it so that our home is always fresh smelling, no matter where our pets sleep :) Where can you get these products? We always get them at our nearby Kroger, where we get the vast majority of our cleaning/household/grocery related needs!

I am curious what you use in your house when it comes to cleaning products? Leave a message in the comment below and fill us in, maybe there’s something I should add to our must haves!

Dog Moms + Dog Dads: Reasons We Love Nature's Recipe Dog Food

This post is sponsored by © Nature’s Recipe, LLC., all opinions are my own.

Y’all know that we LOVE our dogs, and how could we not? They were, and are, our first babies! Humphrey, our Chocolate Lab, turned twelve this summer, and our Golden Girl, Elsa (she was Elsa way before that name was cool!) will be eleven soon!! 

One of my favorite memories of Humphrey (and by favorite, I mean, years later, now that we can laugh about it), is when he ate our ENTIRE Christmas ham. Remember in The Christmas Story where the Bumpus Hounds devour their Christmas turkey?! That legit happened to us. I was in the living room nursing our three-month-old, and my husband was upstairs with our oldest. I thought the house was just super quiet and peaceful when all of a sudden, I heard a crash. Humphrey had been able to steal bits of the ham quite tactfully off of the counter without tampering with the evidence; until suddenly the dish crashed the floor. I jumped up, and barely had to walk a few steps before he just came cowering to me. He KNEW what he did, oh yes, he knew. That and when I was in a pie baking phase for one of my New Year’s resolutions. I had worked so hard on a from-scratch made crust and delicious blueberry pie, and like a dummy, left it on the counter when we left for church. (Why?!!?) We came home and my pretty pie plate was on the kitchen floor and the PIE of course, no longer existed. I told my husband, “I need a minute,” and walked upstairs. 

Oh sweet, Labrador retriever, you have solidified every single stereotype people assume about you, ha ha!! Truthfully though, Humphrey has been through thick and thin with us and our family. He never batted an eye when we brought both kids home from the hospital. He has helped us feel safe no matter where we’ve been. And he has also clearly eaten an abundance of food NOT intended for him ;) 

Our Elsa Girl has been a gentle spirit. She is quiet and patient, and wherever we are, she is also. Since I was a little girl I dreamt of having my very own ‘Full House dog,’ and she’s even better than that. The kids have climbed on her, sat on her, ‘brushed’ her fur, and she never bats an eye.

We have been really fortunate that so far, both of them are extremely healthy. They have always been really active, and while Humphrey can’t really run per se anymore…he loves his walks around the neighborhood. And Elsa is still running on trails and swimming in ANY body of water she can find. Together, these two make the perfect pair, and we love them, a LOT. 

For a long time, we have been using Nature’s Recipe® premium dog food. It used to be sold primarily at pet specialty stores, but I am thrilled that Walmart carries it—AND for a low price. It’s a double perk that we recently moved and there is a Walmart just a few miles away. There are several reasons my husband and I choose Nature’s Recipe for our pups:  

-They LOVE the ingredients, and who wouldn’t? Lamb, sweet potato, and pumpkin?! YES!
-It is completely grain free and easy to digest; which is especially great for them being older dogs
-The entire recipe is crafted with nutrient-dense carb sources, and there is no corn, wheat, soy, OR poultry-by-product meal!!
-Natural dog food with added vitamins, minerals, and nutrients

We are conscious about what we feed our kids, so why not be when it comes to taking care of our pets? If you are looking for a new food to feed your dogs, I highly recommend Nature’s Recipe dog food. There are so many options, and even wet food. Our dogs come to their food bowls wagging their tails, and how could they not?  

What do y’all use for your dogs? And what is one of your favorite memories with your furry friend?