How To Include Your Dog In Your Wedding Plans

January 18, 2022

A happy couple is about to be joined in marriage, but that's not all! Their dog can join them on their special day!

If your dog is a big part of your family, it's natural to wonder how they might be included in your most special of days, your wedding day!

It's never too late to bring your dog to the wedding party or to make your wedding day truly memorable if you take this list of pet-friendly wedding traditions!

Be sure to thoroughly check with a veterinarian in knoxville tn, or your local veterinarian before bringing your pet to any part of the ceremony.

Why Should You Include Your Dog In Your Wedding Plans?

If you love your dog and have a special relationship with them, it's natural that you might want to include your dog on the most important day of your life!

There are many ways to do so. The most obvious is to have them actually be part of the ceremony. Many cultures do this. In many cultures, having a dog present is seen as good luck. Check with local customs to see if this will cause any problems for you. If not, there are still some things you'll need to consider before doing so.

Ways to Include Your Dog in the Big Day

Here are some great ideas on how to incorporate your pet into your wedding day; even if it's not possible to have them at the ceremony, there are ways that your dog can be with you in spirit.

Have Them Walk You Down The Aisle

A special dog, like a Seeing Eye or Military dog, can be an excellent choice to aid you in walking down the aisle, but having someone you love and trust to help your dog walk you down the aisle is a lovely idea.

Best Man Or Woman Dog

If you're having a big wedding and would like to include your dog, ask them to be your "best man" or "woman."

Having your dog walk with you and stand with you while you say your vows is a wonderful way to make it special for you.

Dog Wedding Party Cake Topper

Another way to include your dog in wedding party photos without them having to be there is by having an adorable photo cake topper made for the big day!

If you want to add flowers, you can embed a flower underneath their costume, so the pet looks like it's in the middle of flowering.

For this DIY dog cake topper, it might be best if your pet is groomed beforehand. Get some lovely pictures of your dog, and be sure to let your cake designer know your plans.

Have Them As One Of Your Flower Girls or Ring Bearers

Your dog can also be included by being one of your flower girls or ring bearers.

You might want to have them wear a special outfit for the ceremony that allows them to have the rings or the flowers attached to them.

Family

The once in which sugar cane mimics a pandemic and Elliot lets the dog out.

January 12, 2022

If you've ever wanted a good concoction of paranoia try living in an area where there are smoke plums all around burning sugar cane fields and big puffs of smoke from the processing plant.

In a non-global pandemic year you would feel a variety of what people now call Covid symptoms off and on from about September to February while processing and harvest is taking place... during a pandemic... you just can't seem to decide if you should get tested or if it's just sugar cane season symptoms.

While the rest of the country was trying to attach a negative connotation to January 6th, Louisiana was celebrating Epiphany and the beginning of King Cake Season. More commonly known as Mardi Gras.

I got a wild hair about myself this year and decided to make a more complicated recipe to eat on Epiphany, a school night none the less. That won't happen again. I think in future years I'll stick to French King Cake during the week and Murmurs of Ricotta on a weekend. I find I bake sloppy when pressed for time.

How do y'all like that 10 year challenge that has been going around? I tried to get a photo with Jeremy as well... but it appears he didn't take any photos in 2012.

In what is now the most depressing news of my motherhood... Elliot has gotten to a point where naps work against us. With a fabulous weekend nap I find he is ready for the club scene and is hosting his own personal rave with a variety of flashlights until 10pm.

Harry, my sleeps late kid, doesn't appreciate this development.

So we've resorted to "rest time" where in Mama picks a movie no one wants to watch and they have to lay there for the hour and a half and briefly pass into a cat nap while the dog chews his bone on top of them.

It worked.

But nap time was my time to catch up on television and that has now been eradicated from my spare time... probably for the better.

What he has recently done is decided to wake up incredibly early, let the dog out of his kennel, and then haul off stirring up whatever trouble he can find. This past Sunday that involved locking a "hasn't been let out yet" puppy in his bedroom and coming into the bathroom to tell me he pooped (he didn't, the dog did). Later on, without a diaper, he decided to take his potty training booty and poop in the playroom

Jeremy feels the dog is becoming a bad influence on the children. Pooping in the playroom and all.

Early, 5am early, this morning I heard footsteps. Jeremy wasn't quite as alert to this, blame mother brain. Suddenly I saw the glow of an owl flashlight and heard the terrifying sound of a three year old attempting to let the dog out of his kennel. AT 5AM.

I was quite the feat to get him back into bed and convinced that if he escaped again that it wouldn't bode well for children today.

In other news, Elliot needs a haircut. Jeremy wanted to let it grow, and eventually his bangs would just magically stop falling in his eyes and go to the side.

I'm here to personally tell y'all that no amount of aerosol hairspray can keep this child's hair from his eyeballs.

So I put it in a pony tail, created a massive temper tantrum. His brother came home, gave him one glance and Elliot attempted to waylay him half to death. To which Harrison remarked "Maybe he has an attitude problem because he looks like a girl."

Au Contraire.

Maybe he has an attitude because he's Elliot an he came out this way.

January 11, 2022

Getting the chance to create a family home is a wonderful thing. You might be stuck for ideas, though. How do you turn a standard house into a place you can make endless memories? It’s not about having tons of space or expensive material objects. In an ideal family home, you want comfort, warmth, and charm. You want somewhere that’s equally easy to clean and easy to relax and have fun in. Here’s how to create that.

Focus on Comfort

Comfort should be one of your main priorities when doing up a family home. When your family gets home from work, school, college – wherever – they want to be greeted by a home that is warm and inviting. To make your home more comfortable, get a fireplace. Don’t worry about connecting it to a chimney if you don’t have access to one, as stonewoods.co.uk have a selection of flueless fires. On top of a fireplace, invest in high-quality, comfortable furniture that feels great to sink into.

Display Memories

One of the best ways to decorate a family home is to display memories. That includes children’s drawings, photographs, certifications, and more. Basically, whatever represents a good memory and is easily displayed!

Get Easy to Clean Furniture

Family homes do not tend to stay sparkling clean for long. That is especially true of homes with young children or large numbers. For this reason, it’s a good idea to purchase easy to clean furniture. Otherwise, those inevitable stains will stick around for far longer than you’d like! It will relieve some stress and save you hours of scrubbing.

Create a Quiet Space

When you think of a family home, then chances are you don’t imagine a place of peace and quiet. There are likely kids running around, the front door opening and closing, and the kitchen warm with the heat from cooking. That doesn’t mean you can’t have a single space designated for a bit of quiet, though. It doesn’t just have to be for the parents, either. Everyone, whether they are five years old or fifty years old, benefits from a place of peace from time to time.

You could set up an armchair, bookshelf, fairy lights, blankets, and cushions for a no-noise zone. Then, when a family member wants a bit of space, they can choose this place to relax in for a while without disruption.

Declutter Regularly

It’s easy for a family home to become cluttered. To keep the house pleasant, get into doing regular declutters. That should include old clothes that no longer fit, toys that are no longer used, and piles of paper that have been lying there for months.

Don’t worry; you don’t have to throw away memories. Keeping old items like childhood toys and school books in the attic is a good idea, as it means you get to keep the memorabilia without it getting in your way.

The most important part of a family home is its inhabitants. By creating a better space, your family will be much happier.

Family

The End of Christmas Break

January 6, 2022

If I simply told y'all we enjoyed the nothingness of Christmas break you could call me a liar.

We haven't had Jeremy home so many days in three years and it was great. Elliot didn't even go to the sitter. As a family we sat around doing house things and very little outside of that. We visited our parents and just chilled.

Dill has made it quite clear who his person is.

Funny enough, Elliot scrapped his hand last night and it was bleeding. After the initial trauma was over the second wave of his little nanny Dill wanting to lick his wound was a source of screaming. Elliot would start watching his "TB" (tv) with his little hand draped over the recliner... and Dill would show up and try to lick it and take care of his person.

His person was not amused at this display of love.

These photos though, were just the two of them cuddling in the floor the night we cleaned the furniture (finally).

I've finally found the homemade kombucha flavor to make my heart content. Blueberry and ginger.

Elliot said he needed "eatballs and juice" (meatballs). I then tried moving his hair out of his face and he told me "your not my doctor" whatever on earth that means.

In case you haven't gotten the gist of life with Elliot. This was roughly 30 minutes after he woke up on January 1st. He was growling at me because he was told no and landed his little bottom in timeout.

This child, always covered in bumps and bruises and in trouble for some scheme he's cooked up.

Simply Earth

Simply Earth Essential Oil Recipe Box || January

January 1, 2022

This month's Simply Earth theme: Personal Care.

And you're really going to love it.

This month included three single oils and one blend.

Clary Sage: Calms, Supports Hormones (Kid Safe 2+, Pregnancy, Dog, & Cat Safe)

Pine: Soothes and Supports Circulation (Kid Safe 2+ & Pregnancy Safe)

Citrus Burst: Uplifts, Cleans (Kid Safe 10+, Pregnancy & Dog Safe)

Patchouli: Calms, Skincare, Repels Insects (Kid Safe 2+, Pregnancy, Dog, & Cat Safe)

If you walk into my house anytime soon and wonder "What's that smell?" It's 95% likely to be Citrus Burst... and if you're wondering what I smell like... it's that plus some Clary Sage and Patchouli mixed in. Man do I love citrus.

Peep those pretty labels.

Y'all know I've been using Simply Earth's sister company WildRoot for my deodorant for the past two years. I was on the launch team, and this is one of those products that I fell in love with and have used nothing else since the day I opened the box. Just as aside, but I always order the three pack and it lasts me nearly a year every single time.

So you can imagine my excitement when I saw the recipe for making deodorant this month! I haven't cross compared ingredients, but the Zinc that is included this month (and used in the deodorant) is what makes WildRoot's line so kick butt.

This month you'll get recipes to make deodorant (with the cutest bottle), a winter themed roll-on, baby powder (I used it three times yesterday), a solid perfume, diffuser blend, and an armpit detox mask.

The extras included are:

Zinc Oxide

Deodorant tube (reusable and biodegradable)

Powder Puff

Kaolin Clay

I jumped right out of the gate making the powder and deodorant.

The powder came together incredibly easy, I really expected the almond oil to just clump into the powder but it all mixed together really well.

Those three oils combine my favorite scents, so before we headed out for New Year's Eve I powdered up for a second time yesterday.

Can I tell y'all I've been contemplating buying a big ole powder puff for weeks (that South Louisiana extended Summer during December is rough). It's hard to smell fresh when it's 80 degrees most of the year.

I also made the deodorant, both the bees wax and coconut oil are in the Big Bonus Box when you order.

The directions warned that the melted liquid would solidify when you started mixing in the powders, don't panic... it doesn't happen immediately. I had a good minute before it started to solidify. There was plenty of time to get it all mixed together well.

Make sure you're using a cup that has a pour spout and the deodorant container is a breeze to fill. I even filled mine, realized I had a bit that wasn't mixed perfect, poured it out, and then poured it back in with no issue at all.

It's Emily proof, so I know anyone else can do it.

Nothing goes unused in these recipes, the diffuser blend (which y'all know I always love - I think my diffuser is always going) combines all four oils from this month's box.

What better way to start off the new year than with a fresh winter scent.

I also purchased a new diffuser after my old one croaked... I saw an Instagram ad for Candyl diffusers. It has LED lights to make it look like a candle flame and you can actually blow it out to turn it off. I need to go ahead and apologize to everyone that we visit from here on out, Elliot has made it his life mission to blow out all diffusers. (What's worse is that since he can't blow it out he puts his hand over it to turn it off. - I thought I was going to have to tackle him to the ground to make him quit harassing a friend's diffuser.)

A few things before I wrap this up -

Next month's box will contain the Clean Skin blend, Lavender, Palmarosa, and Peru Balsam. Can y'all guess the theme?

This month's 13% to end human trafficking is going to the organization Wipe Every Tear, they help combat human trafficking by offering opportunities and means to leave or escape trafficking, providing safe homes for survivors where they can receive care, and quality education so that survivors can make a living and follow their dreams.

Also - - here are a few tips for what you can do with your box every month!

1. Add items to your box to get free shipping.

2. Exchange oils.

3. Gift a month to a friend.

4. Get 50% off your next box by sharing your unique voucher code with friends, they'll also get $10 off their first 5 months - you'll get 50% off for every friend that subscribes!

As always head over to Simply Earth to order your JANUARY box and use the code LABRIDEFREE to get a $40 giftcard/credit towards your next order when you get your Bonus Box!

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Lifestyle

How To Include Your Dog In Your Wedding Plans

January 18, 2022

Why Should You Include Your Dog In Your Wedding Plans?