too much fun, not enough pictures

WARNING: this post is very, very long.

this last week has been very full, fun, busy, and wonderful.

last thursday we celebrated the birthdays of my aunt, Becky and my kid brother, Christian.

Christian is 13.

a teenager.

my little brother is becoming not so little.

he chose to eat at Logan's for dinner, because what kid teenager doesn't think it's cool to be able to throw food on the floor?

little man was in rare form.

he decided that instead of taking his nap that day, he would sit in his crib and talk to himself for 3 hours. if i talk to myself for 5 minutes i get worn out. how he managed for so long without falling asleep is beyond me.

so, husband and i ate our food quickly, and left as soon as the screaming crying fit began.

there was no time to even think about taking a picture.


friday morning, Caleb and i headed over to grandma's (my mom's) to have a baking day. well, Caleb had a play day while grandma and i baked.

we tried to get Christian to bake with us, but baking isn't so cool when you're a teenager. so, his participation was limited.

i put little man down for his nap upstairs.

he talked to himself again for 3 hours.

apparently, he has a lot to say.

sleep finally won.

we were able to finish up the baking, and actually had a very productive day. we made shortbread, cookies 'n cream shortbread, fudge, and mints.

you would think that at some point during the day it would have occurred to me to take a picture.

it didn't.

we packed up all our goodies, little man, Christian, and grandpapi (my dad), and headed over to my cousin's house for dinner because we had a lot of family in town visiting.

we had a great time seeing everyone and had a yummy dinner.

little man did pretty well, considering he had a short nap - but at least he had one at all!


on saturday, when it became obvious that Caleb was, once again, not going to be taking a nap, we headed back over to my parent's house to visit with family again and have dinner.

and if you're wondering where Bobby is this whole time, he was working. a lot. Christmas time is the busiest, craziest time for them.

anyways, we had so much fun that, guess what? i didn't take any pictures!


but on sunday, we did!

sunday was our Chirstmas dinner with Bobby's side of the family. yes, he finally had an entire day off to spend with us! so, we put little man down for his talking session nap, and we started in on all the cooking.

i had to limit Bobby's participation in the kitchen. he gets a little carried away, and i really wanted to serve dinner at some point that night.

so, he was in charge of the shrimp cocktail.

if you know my husband - you know that he did not simply buy ready-to-eat shrimp and cocktail sauce and call it a day.

no - he cooked and seasoned the shrimp the way he wanted it, he made his own cocktail sauce, and then he spent an hour garnishing away.

he even made lemon baskets.



after dinner, we opened gifts.

the boys got some toys and clothes and matching teddy bears.....


but they weren't really interested.

next year, we are going to save some money and give them a roll of wrapping paper and some bows instead.....




this little guy did a lot of sleeping.....


this little guy posed for me the whole time.....


this little guy just hung around.....


and these little girls were worn out from it all. here is Ebony and Ivory Bella konked out.....


Caleb and i have been in the house ever since taking it easy and preparing for Christmas.

how is it possible that it is only 3 days away?

catching up...again

i have been an awful blogger.

we are trying to slow down a little and really enjoy the season, so blogging has taken a back seat for now!

here is a little of what has happened since last time:

the day after thanksgiving, little man and i helped grandma and grandpapi put up their christmas tree.

their tree is ridiculous.

you have to fluff each branch in a certain way, and then attach each one in a specific row, and it takes forever.

here they are surrounded by branches.....


and here i am stringing the lights.....


somehow, i have become the designated light stringer over the years.

i love them, so i do it.

but it takes a long time, and a lot of patience.

so when we bought our tree, i knew i wanted something easy and pre-lit.

we get our entire house decorated in less time than it takes to put up their tree.

okay, i exaggerate.

slightly.

anyways, i absolutely love christmas decorations, but husband is a typical man, who doesn't really understand it all. but he loves me, and he does a wonderful job at humoring me.

i was very surprised that little man seemed to be leaving the tree alone.

until yesterday.

he started to remove ornaments, and bring them to me one by one.

so the baby gates went up, and he has been banned from the den.

i have also gotten most of our christmas shopping done. i actually did a lot online this year.

talk about easy!

i used to really enjoy going shopping - just walking through the mall with a starbucks in hand, hearing the christmas music, seeing the decorations, and just browsing.

that doesn't happen anymore when you have kids.

so online i went, and online i will be going more often!

christmas also arrived in our kitchen.....




i will not be telling you how many cookies i ate yesterday.

and last, but certainly not least, this little guy was born.....


our sweet nephew. pretty cute, huh?

we got to visit him and his mommy at the hospital with little man in tow, who was fairly oblivious to anything except eating goldfish.

we are very, very thankful for goldfish.

is this post all over the place, or what?

okay, i'll be back soon (hopefully) with more updates and pics of our decorated house!

catching up

i've thought about writing this post all week, but every time i start to sit down, i remember something else that needs to be done.

so, finally, as i ignore whatever else needs to be done, here is a quick recap of our Thanksgiving:

we all gathered at my parent's house (where we always gather), and were there for most of the day.

we had a wonderful time, full of way too much yummy food, time with lots of family, football watching, football playing, cider drinking, game playing, and on, and on.....

oh yeah, there were also some naps going on.....

what is it about Thanksgiving and naps?

little man also took a long nap upstairs (which gave bobby and me some great grown-up time!), and then woke up happy as can be.....


we played "apple to apples" for the first time, and even though the guys pretend to not like playing games, we know that secretly, they had a blast.

uncle JaiSun won, so he was in a great mood, and decided he would tickle little man.....

.....which wore him out and made him ready for bed.

so, we came straight home, and to bed he went!

happy thanksgiving!

well, Caleb is back to his normal, happy, bubbly, all-over-the-place self.

after EIGHT days of a very fussy, unhappy little man, i find that i am even more grateful for my little guy's sweet spirit.

that's something else to add to my list of things to be thankful for!

in other news.....

i've been busy cooking today in preparation of turkey day. i made two sweet potato casseroles, two corn casseroles, and a fudge pie.

in my opinion, any vegetable can be delicious if you add some cheese to it and make it into a casserole.

yes, even squash.

however, i do not share the opinion that vegetables can be made delicious when made into a dessert.

no, i will not be eating pumpkin pie.

or pecan pie.

gross.

that is why i made a fudge pie.

you can't go wrong with chocolate.

(in my opinion.)

you also can't go wrong with cinnamon cookies.....

has anyone tried these? they are cinnabon cookies from pillsbury. the easy break-&-bake ones.

so yummy!

even little man thinks so.....

i am adding cinnabon cookies to my thankful list!

in all seriousness, i do have so much to be thankful for.

the scripture that's been posted at the bottom of this blog is one that i memorized in my bible study a while back, and it's just really stuck with me in this particular season of life i'm in.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

in ALL circumstances. that's something i find i need reminding of almost daily.

i hope that everyone has a wonderful, blessed, joyous day, and that you have much to be thankful for!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

sick boy

we woke up on sunday to a sick little boy.

he's still sick.

it's been a long week.

i've gotten to run a couple of quick errands while Bobby stayed home with him, but Caleb has not left the house in FIVE days. i think he is going a little stir crazy, because nothing is really making him happy. so, on top of not feeling good, he is just plain bored!

please pray for health!

pictures

a few weeks ago, we had some new family photos made, as well as Caleb's 18-month pictures. (did you notice the new header?)

i was going to wait to share these, because at least one of these will be our christmas card this year.

but, i'm not always very good at waiting.

yes, i do ask God to make me a more patient woman, a patient wife, and a patient mommy.

i suppose i'm a work in progress.

so, while God is working on me, here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.....

sweet little man.....

who already puts his foot in his mouth.....

*all photos by Jennifer Dunaway Photography*

groceries again

today i made visits to two grocery stores for triple-coupons.

yesterday, i spent about 2 hours making my list.

that's a long time.

that is why i take pictures and post about it, even though most people who read this blog (does anyone read this blog?) don't care.

next time i don't feel like doing it, i can look at this and remind myself why i do.....

this is a list of what i got for free:

disposable gloves - 2
parchment paper - 2
garlic toast - 2
frozen corn-on-the-cob - 2
frozen cut broccoli - 2
birds eye meals-for-two - 2
cookie dough - 2
chex mix - 1
butter - 2
mandarin oranges - 1
pineapple - 1
rice krispies - 1
rotel - 2
yeast - 1
chicken broth cartons - 2
wacky mac pasta - 2
tuna pouches - 4
pizzas - 2

and this was all really cheap or almost free:

beef broth cans - 3
brown sugar - 2
powdered sugar - 2
beech-nut cookies - 2
red wine vinegar - 1
sugar - 1
breakfast burrito - 1
bacon - 2
AA batteries - 1
cookie dough - 2
trix yogurt - 2
lean pockets - 2
fish sticks - 1
pie crusts - 2
canned veggies - 5
cooking soups - 4
mayo - 2

i spent about $25.00 for it all, and saved about $165.00!

i used this site and this site to make my list.

anyways, that's what i've been up to.

sorry for the unexciting post!

i'll get little man on here next time!

peek-a-booh!

a day at the patch

we spent yesterday morning at a local pumpkin patch.

i had never been before (if i went as a kid, i don't remember), and i was pleasantly surprised at all of the things there were to do. calling it a "pumpkin patch" is a pretty big understatement!

little man gets a little uneasy sometimes in different settings like this, so he was definitely not letting go of us. there was a little bit of this going on.....


but mostly, he was happy.....

and sometimes, he was really happy.....


and sometimes, he was hysterical.....

but then we saw one of these.....

and Caleb wasn't really sure what to think.....

"what in the world IS THAT?"

then he went through the maze with daddy.....

and then we made him pose for more pictures, because we just can't seem to get enough of him.....

our little ham man.....