And Just Because I Couldn't Get Enough Of Him In That Toboggan...

Hunting For Trees

On the way home from Marshall we stopped at a Christmas tree farm. I've always wanted to find and cut my own tree. It sounds so festive and charming.

Unfortunately, I'm really picky about what kinds of trees I like and apparently those that meet my exacting criteria don't grow in Texas. Sad.

We had a good time at the tree farm just the same. It was fairly chilly out which made me happy as there is just something not right about picking out a Christmas tree while wearing a t-shirt. And B looked pretty darn cute in the toboggan he stole from his daddy.

We found a darling baby tree just for Bennett (mostly just so we could we could feel authentic by actually leaving the farm with a tree we had cut ourselves) and purchased our big tree there from their pre-cut selection that had made the journey from up north somewhere.

Bennett loves to help his daddy. From picking the tree, to cutting it, showing it off and putting it on the car, he wanted to be right in the middle of the action. Here are a few pictures from our tree hunt:

Bennet Is Thankful For "Eyets" and "Ows"

Friday, after shopping, napping and more eating Jeff, Bennett and I headed out to Marshall to spend time on "The Farm" with his parents.

Marshall does it up big with the Christmas lights so we went in town to check them out. Bennett was enthralled. "Eyets!" (lights without the L) is pretty much his new favorite word. He pointed out each and every light he saw.

And he continues to do so. Every lit up house. Every Christmas tree. Every street light. A night time car trip can be a bit tedious. But the child is thrilled each and every time.

I digress, sorry...downtown was wonderfully lit and we had fun walking around, closely inspecting each display and then going to Santa's workshop where kiddos could write a letter to Santa, "build" their own car or train and pay to sit on Santa's lap. Bennett had a glorious time hammering the wheels on a car and he waved to Santa (because his parents are just cheap like that).





I know my pictures aren't great. Low lighting is my nemesis and I really need to spend some more time with my camera manual and messing around with shutter speed, ISO and all that jazz. Someday...

We also got to spend time with the "ows". Bennett LOVED the cows.

He would perk up, look outside and moo every time he heard them (which was often as they wander within yards of the house).

He chased them around trying to get them to take feed from his hand. When that tactic failed he proceeded to throw the feed nuggets at their faces. I'm not sure that endeared him to the heard at all.





I think the most memorable part of the trip for Bennett was seeing a cow poop.

He hasn't stopped talking about it. Every time he sees a cow, a picture of a cow or even an open field that could potentially hold cows he brings it up.

"Ow! It moot. It boot. It boot!"

Translation: Cow! It mooed. It pooped. It pooped!

It was apparently quite a potent lesson for the boy.

Other than the lights and the cows we just hung around most of the weekend. Jeff helped his dad with some work on the farm and Sara kindly brought her sewing machine and helped me make Christmas stockings. We watched some basketball. We napped. I read an entire book.

Yay for holiday weekends!

Next up: Christmas trees!

Thankful That It Isn't Too Late To Post About Thanksgiving

Now that it has been over a week since Thanksgiving I guess it's time for me to finally document our holiday celebration.

As we've done three out of the last four years, Jeff and I hosted our families for Thanksgiving dinner. Each year my sister Lisa has come out on Wednesday and we spend the day doing last minute grocery shopping and some early meal preparation. I wouldn't enjoy making dinner half as much if I didn't have Lisa with me to offer her stories, laughter and her precisely perfect (albeit slow) chopping technique. We have such fun!

Thursday morning started off good and lazy with sausage balls for breakfast and watching the parade. Bennett enjoyed snuggling with his daddy and pointing out all of the "baboons".


Family began arriving around noon. The guys visited outside and tossed the football around while dinner was being finished.

Great form, Papa J! He was high school captain and quarterback, you know.


Bennett takes a much needed water break and gets encouragement from coach CPapa.


My brother Phil, Bennett, Jeff's dad and mine. I really posted this picture because of my pretty little, red sweet-gum tree. I love her fall color!


Lisa and I pose near the buffet table showcasing our work. You know what is really bizarre? My sweet sister puts so much work into the meal and then eats nothing but turkey, cheesy potato casserole and bread. No dressing. No homemade cranberry sauce. No green beans or sweet potatoes.

At least she eats one casserole. Phil subsists on nothing but turkey and bread.

I love 'em...but they are odd birds.


After dinner there was laziness, football, munching on leftovers and perusing the ads for the best Black Friday deals.

My parents and Lisa spent the night so we could maintain our family Black Friday tradition. This year we were sleepy heads and didn't get up until 7:00 instead of hitting Best Buy at 5:00 as in years past. (I have to give credit to Mom and Lisa though - they did rise early to grab a great 5:00 am deal at Sam's Club, then quickly returned and went back to sleep.)

We scored some good deals, I made progress on my gift list and we enjoyed being together so I'll say the day a success! We always lose shoppers as the morning progresses. Jeff and Dad gave in after the traditional Chick-fil-A breakfast and took Bennett home with them. Then Lisa retired shortly after. Mom and I pressed on until about 1:00. We were done in by an hour long line and Kohl's.

Overall, it was a fabulous, relaxing Thanksgiving. I so enjoy spending time with our families. And it is always nice to slow down and spend time deliberately remembering how blessed we are. God is so good to us.

Now if I could just figure out a way to keep my 75% off, pre-lit, artificial tree from blowing over on the front porch...

Wherein I Issue a Formal Retraction

Oops!

Tricia DID email me shower pictures...about two weeks ago! I'm going to blame preggo brain (which is a completely legitimate and medically recognized condition) for my forgetfulness.

Sorry for throwing you under the bus, Tricia. I love you!

This is my "um...am I in the right place?" face.


Opening books!



And the whole crew! What fun friends.

What a Surprise!

Fort Worth Girls - Kristen, Laura, me, Cassie and Tricia

A couple of weekends ago I was looking forward to a long awaited girls night out with my "Fort Worth Girls". We've committed to attempting monthly get-togethers despite our varied and busy schedules. In October we met in Arlington for Thai food. Our November plan was dinner in Dallas at Matt's. Mexican food, my favorite!

Saturday evening Jeff was going to hang out with the Thomas family while on Daddy duty. He left before I did and planned to have a pizza dinner and put B down at their house to watch a movie with Rob and Haley. I was happy that he wasn't going to be hanging out by himself all night.

I decided to take my few minutes of alone time to change out of my oversized t-shirt, put on some make up and even straighten my hair! As if that were not amazing enough, I was ready to go a few minutes before I needed to leave. Unprecedented!

I sat down to do a little embroidery in my spare time and when I looked up I was late. Gah! I am the just the worst when it comes time management...I have no concept of how much time is passing. One more reason I need Jeff around.

My girls weren't terribly surprised when I called to warn them I'd be 20 minutes late. They've known me a long, long time.

You can't imagine my surprise when I walked out to the patio and was greeted by cheers, camera flashes and a table full of people.

My sweet friends organized a surprise baby shower for Baby Dos! Jeff was there, along with the girls' husbands, the Penuels and the Thomases (pizza and a movie, my foot!).

It was a perfect evening - eating lots of queso and enchiladas and visiting with some of my favorite people. And then we got gifts! Everyone brought books for the baby...so many great stories from old favorites like Ferdinand and Dr. Seuss's All About Me to great new books like Rainbow Rob. I just love growing our library!

Expecting a typical dinner with friends I did not bring a camera and I'm still waiting on the camera woman to send me some pictures (hint, hint, Tricia). Kristen pulled out her little camera just as we were leaving to get the above shot.

Thank you dear friends for putting together a fun night to celebrate Baby Dos! I feel very cared for and I love you all so much!

Caught In The Act

When Bennett got into the guest bathroom three times on Thanksgiving I thought the failed door "lock" was due to one poorly constructed piece. The others seemed to be holding up just fine.

Until now.

He bested my knob covers in under a month! Maybe I purchased an inferior brand? Any suggestions??

Randomness

Because he's just so darn cute and I don't have the time to share all the stories...here is a selection of recent photos with my abbreviated commentary.

At Pump It Up Junior a few weeks ago. A good time was had by all.

Backyard fun. The boy does love to kick a ball. What form!

Bubbles are a favorite. Now Bennett's able to blow bubbles all by himself. He usually ends up pretty sticky and messy, but he loves it!

We got this plastic outdoor play center for free! The Thomases neighbors wanted it out of their backyard so all we had to do was go pick it up. Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE free??

Very excited to see a dog while visiting friends.

Yeah, I know, that is one big ol' belly. He's not attempting to suffocate himself...he's just giving a kiss to Baby Dos.

Our neighbors have about a zillion grandkids and rented this inflatable slide/bounce house when everyone came over for Thanksgiving. What fun!

B very much enjoys watching videos of kids that people post on their blogs. I left the room for a minute after setting him up for the umpteenth viewing of Charly singing Little Mermaid and returned to find this:

I do love this boy!

Baby Gift Craftiness

Here are pictures of some of the projects for which I abandoned my blog.

I don't have great close-ups of the stuff I made for Amy's baby but you can at least see how we incorporated the gifts into the decor for her baby shower.

We won't know until delivery day if Russ and Amy have a little boy or a girl so I made a variety of onesies. The first one has an applique tie, the middle one has "baby" embroidered on brown over a polka-dot background and the last is a heart with a hand-stitched border.

Alli made the cute circles that we used around the house for shower decorations. She also had the idea for using baby food jars and votive candle holders and tiny flower vases. Love it!


This burp cloth is just some appliqued shapes and on the other side it is embroidered with the word "Loved" in brown.


Finally, I embellished one other cloth diaper to make a little whale burp cloth that says "cutie" on the reverse side.


And here are few things I made for sweet baby Mia. I get to see her again tonight...so excited!





I also took some clearance rack kitchen towels, added a felt pumpkin and embroidered "Give Thanks" for my mom and Jeff's mom for Thanksgiving. But I forgot to take pictures of those.

Don't anyone be shocked if you get some embellished hand towels for Christmas!

Finally, I'm working on my first real sewing project. Stockings!

No pictures yet, but I'll surely share once they are finished.

Prepare Yourself...

I've uploaded all the pictures from my camera and I'm ready to bust out of the little blogging funk which lead to my recent hiatus.

I know you are thrilled beyond words.

But first I must go right my Awesome Black Friday Deal Pre-lit Christmas Tree which has blown over on our front porch.

See you soon!