Skaggs Family Reunion, SC Chapter

Every year over Labor Day weekend, the Skaggs family reunion is held in Gallipolis, Ohio.  It's hard for those of us down south to make it regularly, so this year we held our own reunion of the local chapter of Skaggs'.  It was great to be able to get together with mom & dad, both my sisters and their families, and my aunt and uncle for a mini family reunion on Labor Day this year.   With all our different work schedules and kids activities, etc. it's becoming a rarity when we can all gather together at the same time! I cherish my family time!

Happy Birthday, Ginger Lou!

Today is Ginger's 2nd birthday!  What a great 2 years it has been!  I remember when she was a puppy and wondered if she would grow up to be as big as her sister, Sabrina. 

Well, now fully grown, Ginger stands about 4 inches taller than Sabrina and weighs about 20 pounds more.  She is a beast!  and I love every pound of her! 

I love the way she spreads her legs out behind her when she lays down...

I love how she gives her daddy a hug every morning by sitting on the bed and putting her front paws on his shoulders.... I love how she and Brina play together... I love how she has favorite words like Woodrow, Squirrel and Light-Maker.  (A light-maker is basically anything that causes a reflection or light spot that she can chase/follow....cell phones are great lightmakers, as well as mirrors, shiny tins, car lights across the walls at night, laser pointers, or even just the sun shining through the window onto the floor in different patterns).

These things are what make Ginger who she is and I wouldn't change a thing!  In fact I could fill a book of all the things I love about Ginger Lou!  She is such a special dog! 

Last year as we approached her 1st birthday, I saw a blog about another dog's birthday party and I thought it would be a fun idea.  So I made Ginger a dog friendly birthday cake and a homemade dog toy, invited my family over and we had a birthday party!

Well the birthday party was such a hit last year, I decided to continue with the tradition this year!  This year dogs got their own individual cakes.

I made birthday bandanas for the canine guestss to wear...Neighbor (and Ginger's husband) Woodrow, the birthday girl, sister Sabrina and cousin Mr. Mack.

Ginger got lots of presents!

Woodrow especially loved playing with her toys!

All in all, it was another great success!  Thankfully it didn't rain so the dogs were able to play outside. 

I look forward to celebrating many more birthday with my girls!

Sewing with the kids

I'm so glad that my nieces and nephew take an interest in the creative arts! I had the opportunity this week to teach them all a little bit about sewing.  I was about their age when my mom and grandmother taught me to sew.  What a precious gift! Michael wanted to make a dog bed for his "Pups."  Nicole wanted a quilt for her American Girl dolls and Jacquelyn wanted a purse.  I think they all turned out great!

Of course Ginger had to have her picture taken! She and Nicole are best buds!

Fall....Family....Fun!

I love fall!  The leaves changing color...the crisp, cool autumn air....pumpkins and caramel and apples!  It just makes me want to breathe in a deep refreshing breath!  While pulling out my fall decorations this past week I was inspired to host a fall family breakfast...and surprisingly all but 1 person were able to make it!  (which is really something considering everyone's different work schedules and other family/school obligations!)  On the menu were lots of yummies like bacon-wrapped sausage, maple bacon, homemade apple fritters from the Apple Barn, Pumpkin Waffles (in the traditional shape and in Michey waffle style!) and pumpkin pie french toast.  Not to mention the Apple Barn apple butter, apple cider, pumpkin spice coffee, etc.  The food was so yummy and the family time together was priceless!  I love days like this!

 

My brother-in-law, Matt Wood, suggested that perhaps we didn't have quite enough food lol!

I found the cutest Thanksgiving-themed activity placemats with crayons in the $1 bin at Target for the kids table.  They said "Cool!  It's just like at a restaurant!" 

 

I call my mantle the Pumpkin Patch!

 

 

re: defense of marriage

I just wanted to share something that has been on my heart lately.  It involves a very controversial subject and I'm hoping I can avoid the kind of negative comments and feedback that I have been seeing all over facebook and other places lately.  I have seen a lot of people choosing to "blacklist" certain businesses because of that businesses stand or support of highly controversial issues, i.e. gay marriage.  I for one don't see how that is going to make any difference in the grand scheme of things.  I mean I like Chikfila...they have great food.  I understand they have stood out against gay marriage, which I personally agree with.  But I'm not patronizing Chikfila because they believe what I believe...I'm patronizing them because they have good food!  And likewise with Target...sometimes there are things that I want to buy at Target and I'm not going to feel guilty about it or ban them because they choose to support gay marriage.  If I limited my shopping and other business relationships to only patronized those business that supported the same values and ideals that I do, I'm afraid that may be a very small list!  I may just go hungry or worse!  It's ludicrous of me to think that my standards are so high that only business who believe as I do have earned my patronage.  Yes I personally am against gay marriage.  Yes I personally believe homosexuality is a sin according to the Word of God.  But I do not hate gay people anymore than my friends and family don't hate me because I am prone to worry or because I tend to judge people (2 things the Bible also specifically says not to do).  "ALL have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God." (Rom. 3:23) All....myself included.  So do I hate the sin of homosexuality...yes.  Do I hate gay people...not at all!  I have known several loveable gay people!  But I do wholeheartedly support the concept of a traditional marriage between a man and a woman.

If' you are more interested in hearing about the defense of marriage, I invite you to listen to this past week's message by Pastor Larry Burgbacher  http://vimeo.com/45900045

The road to good intentions...

Yes I had intentions of blogging at least once a week...oh well, life happens.  If only I could keep myself on some kind of schedule.  I am finding that I seem to have to time to do all the things I want to get done in a given day, week, month....  I'm going to try to implement a strict hourly schedule instead of just making a to-do list for the day.  That way I'll be less likely to just pushing something off to the next day or week.  because on top of all the things I want/need to get done, there's still the 40 hours of work I have to get done every week.  If only I could cut down on that!

Anywho, I thought I'd share one of my favorite pics from the holidays.  I know we got Ginger in November, but she was an early Christmas present for me and I love her SOOOO much!!!


So since we now have 2 dogs, we are beyond outgrowing our 1-bedroom apartment.  We have tossed around upgrading to a 2-bedroom, buying a house or even moving to Greenville...because why not?

We have decided to buy a house and we currently have a contract on one.  I'm so excited that we will no longer be throwing our money away on rent!  (I know a few months ago I made a post about us buying a house but that one fell through for those of you who may be wondering...but it's all good because this house has a much better yard for the puppies!)

I'll have to update my house hunters page to reflect phase 2 of our hunt so I can share with you all.

But that's all for now!

Nostalgic for the holidays of my youth....

I remember when I was little and all my aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents lived in the stated, separated only by a few hours, most only by a few minutes, and we would always gather at my grndparent's house for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.  Spent hours playing with our cousins outside or in my grnadparent's basement while our parents would be upstairs playing cards and preparing a fantastic feast.  Now we are all grown and have families of our own and we have to juggle our own work responsibilities (and not enough PTO) with in-law visits and school schedules and gas prices! Our visits are few and far between and I just wish that we could have another big family holiday dinner again, or at least all my immediately family could be together on this day of Thanks.  But Rachel, Danny, Dad and I are all working on Thankskiving day! I am grateful that Danny and I will be able to gather with my parents and Rachel's family on Saturday for our Thanksgiving meal.  Kristi and her family are spending the holidays in Disney World and I know they will have a perfectly magical time that is not likely to be matched! But with danny's parents 1000 miles away, and my cousins spread all over the country (and Europe), 3 of my grandparents deceased and my remaining grandmother not able to travel much....I'll just have to cherish our times together even more when I do see my family.  So Today I am thankful for my cherished memories of the holiday gatherings of my childhood!

Me and my cousins in my Grandparent's basement, Christmas 1984. (I'm the one in the back far right with the big goofy grin and glasses).