Packing, Baking, and Craft Making...

Tonight I am getting geared up for my Thanksgiving holiday by finishing laundry, so that it can be packed...baking goodies for tomorrow, so that we can eat...and crafting just because I had the itch. My Thanksgiving plans look like this:
-Get the newspaper and scope out the Black Friday sales.
-Call Sandy to compare Black Friday shopping notes.
-Finish packing for the boys, and Lon and I.
-Make macaroni and cheese, load all of the desserts into the car.
-Eat with the SC family at 12:00.
-Meet my parents in Spartanburg (halfway) so they can get the boys.
-Turn right around and go back to the hotel in Charleston where Lon, Mama, and I will have our headquarters for Black Friday Shopping.(Don't ask. We do this EVERY year and it is an artform people.)
-Strategize and nail down our plan of attack for Black Friday.
-Start shopping by 4:00 a.m. Continue with this shopping madness until Friday night and then head home Saturday morning.
-Sat. we will be doing all of our Christmas decorating.
-Sunday I will finish the tree and head to TN to get the boys.
-Monday is a birthday party for Connor in TN.
-Tuesday we head back to SC.
If I have any sanity left I will post during the next couple of days. If I do not, know that I will have lots to show you when I get back from my shopping adventure and trip to TN.
For now here are some pics from some crafting I have been doing lately. I know you are probably getting tired of seeing sock monkeys, but I am making some for Christmas presents and I just love them.

I also appliqued a t-shirt for Jack, and I love how it turned out.

Walker and I made some candies today, and he helped me with the baking of a new mystery pecan pie I made. I got the recipe from my Mom, who got it from someone else, etc. After nearly ruining the pie, it was built in layers and had WAY TOO MUCH filling for my single pie crust, man the mess, I was reminded you should never try to make a new recipe the day before Thanksgiving.
Walker taking the wrappers off his rollos, and putting them on his pretzels.
Last step, he pushed the pecans down into the melted rollos. He loved that part!
He also really liked poking holes in my pie crust. Quite the little helper.

Walker was exhausted from his busy day. He had just got a bath and was waiting for me to get his jammies. He was out before I made it back.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and make lots of special memories with all those that love and surround you.

Dirt...

What is it about dirt that little boys like so much? My two monsters love dirt. They like to dig in it, and throw it, and put it in their hair, and even taste it occasionally. I on the other hand, do not like dirt so much. I especially do not like dirt when the boys put so much in their hair that it takes 4 screaming-tantrum-throwing shampoo jobs to get it all out. That is what I got to do today after this...

Is this gross or what? I let them play in the dirt while I cut back all of my flowers.
Connor getting ready to nail Walker with a handful of our sandy dirt...
Walker did not think it was nearly as funny as I did.

Back to digging some more...

Time to kiss and makeup. They are filthy, but is this sweet or what? YEAH RIGHT! It started out sweet then turned into a choke hold.

Just another day in my life, and I LOVE IT! I am so thankful for these two little men...and their dirt...and choke holds!

Pigeon Forge...

We are back from our trip to the mountains, and while we had a wonderful time, it is always good to get home. It is just easier to be home... where things are childproofed... where everyone has their own bed...and we don't have a hot tub, so you don't have a little redhead just dying to "swim in the hot pool" all hours of the day and night!

Carson loved his motorcycles.

Carson and Addi both wanted to play in the faucet.

Walker on the infamous scooter.

Jen and Shannon came to visit with us, and Jack loved Walker's horses.

While the trip was short (next year we are gonna try to add another night) it was a fun-filled Saturday. We mostly let the kids play and hot tub, but of course we squeezed in some shopping, Bubba Gump's Shrimp, and a trolley ride to see the lights.

Walker did not like the hot tub with all the jets, so he stood inside and played through the window with the others. The other 3 are all water-rats!

All the gifts were a hit, especially the tutus. Carson got Connor a scooter that all the kids loved. The best part of all was the time we got to spend with all of our friends. We all live so far apart, that times likes these are a real treat.

Walker and Addi watching movies together. These 2 crack me up! They bicker like brother and sister, but are both so darn cute!

We went through a TON of capri-suns this weekend.

The 2 red-heads...Connor and Addi played a lot of air hockey, or they played on the air hockey table would be a more accurate description. They get along really well, she is so sweet to him.

Check out those moves. I think this is Sunshine, maybe pizza pie? I don't know. I just can't remember. Guess I better stick to dinosaurs.

This is what you get when you tell Addi to smile...

On Sunday, we checked out of our cabin and all headed our separate ways. The Nettles went to the Flying Horse for lunch. The boys loved riding their carousel while we waited for the food to come, genius concept in my opinion. We also checked out the Dinosaur Walk Museum. Walker was SCARED to death! That's what he kept telling us after the fact, "Mom, you scared me to def." It was really neat and he was super excited to go, he's just afraid of the dark. He says the next time we go he is not gonna be scared. We'll see.

Con and Lon on the carousel.
Walker loved this thing.
Okay, so maybe it was a little scary...

Poor thing...

All is well that ends well, and this truck made little Con man ooh and aaah for 10 mins.

We took the scenic route home through Cherokee and Maggie Valley. This was all new to me, but a really good time because I laughed most of that extra hour hearing Lon's stories about his family vacations as a kid. I could hear those stories 20 times and their funny factor never fades.

As you can tell we had a great weekend and I hope you did too. It is back to the daily grind for me. Lots to do around here to get ready for Thanksgiving, not to mention the laundry pile that is as tall as I am.

Cindy...

Walker has claimed my newest creation as his own. He named her Cindy (?) and loves her. I don't like her quite as much because she is not as snuggly, and I have a feeling Lon thinks she is a little creepy with her extra long legs and big ears. I wanted her to look "vintage" so I did a lot of hand stitching, and am not crazy about that either. I guess all that matters is that Walker likes her.

I also finished another I Spy Bag, and have decided poly pellets are of the devil! I don't know if I will ever get them all out of my house... or off my clothes...or out of my rug... or my sewing machine... ARRRRGGG! I was very careful with them because I knew they were gonna be messy, but WHOA. They are tiny and stick to everything. I love the way they work in the spy bag, but I think I needed the regular poly beads not the smallest ones they make, but these were all Hobby Lobby had. Back to the point, I still need to tweak this Spy Bag before they are gifts to anyone.

Better get packing. We are heading out tomorrow afternoon. I'm so EXCITED!! Pigeon Forge or bust!

Happy Birthday!!!

**Lon's birthdtay was yesterday, but somehow this did not post on time, so I am posting it now.**

Today is my wonderful hubby's birthday. I could write for days and not truly capture all his wonderful and endearing qualities. So, in the interest of both time and not wanting to make all you ladies jealous (HAHA) I am gonna just name a few of my favorite things about him.

He is an incredible father to our boys...

He has a way of making me laugh more than anyone else on the planet...

He is very intelligent... (he married me didn't he?)

His eyes sparkle when he laughs...

He works hard to provide for us...

He is a "Man's Man", but he is still thoughtful, kind, and easy going.

But most of all, he loves me unconditionally, good or bad, no matter my mood, size, or hairdo. He knows me, and he loves me anyway. THAT is worth celebrating.

So on the slim chance that Lon will read this... happy birthday and I look forward to all the laughs we will have in years to come! Love you always!

Mr. Ribbons...

Meet Mr. Ribbons. Mr. Ribbons is a fun little guy that I made today. He is near and dear to my heart and I am so excited to give him to his new owner. I hope they can provide him with a great home and play with him. He loves to go on lots of adventures. I nearly didn't get him away from Connor.

I decided to give him button eyes, and he has some pink stitched in his ears, but my favorite thing about him is his fabulous ribbon collar. Walker helped me make it and picked all my ribbons, so he was made with an extra special amount of love.

The Sick House...

Both the boys are sick, AGAIN! How is it that they pick up everything? Is it the shopping carts? The random objects they HAVE TO touch? Public restrooms? Who knows. All I know is co-pays at the doctor are eating my bank account for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Connor has had what seemed like a cold for a week now, and Walker started feeling bad last night. By this afternoon he was refusing all food and had a fever of 102 degrees, not to mention that terrible cough. We went to the doctor and both boys have something in the upper respiratory family and have now got lots of meds, courtesy of Walgreens.

It was the funniest thing, Walker has felt awful all day, he would barely move. All he did was lay on the couch napping and drinking sprite. We got in the doctor's office and the doctor walked in, he looks at the doctor and says, "I feel all better. Mom us boys are better. You can take us home now." The doctor laughed and said he had that effect on a lot of his patients. I told the doctor we were going out of town for the weekend and that launched a whole new reason to feel better. Walker went on to say that he was going to see his best friend Carson this weekend. He told me on the way home he was "ready to go see Carson, and Nonnie, and Pop. He is all better." Too bad the 102 fever says differently. I hope to have a healthy child, or two, by the week's end.

I just got Walker to bed, and he is still coughing in his sleep. I just heard Connor too. Looks like my crafts will have to wait until another day. I have lots of fun ideas brewing, so I hope to have a more positive post tomorrow. For now I am gonna leave you with a picture of the boys, in thier "Barbie Jeep", watching tv, in their jammies.

For those of you wondering, it is really a little red jeep that Papa got them. It doesn't have a Barbie anywhere on it, but Walker tagged it the Barbie jeep and it has been known as such ever since then. The poor thing doesn't even work, but they love to sit in it, so it is in my family room for now. I know, I'm a pushover.

Sock Monkey...

I am still crafting for my upcoming weekend. I have wanted to try making a sock monkey for quite a while now, and since I know a little monkey that just turned one, I figure a sock monkey will be a fabulous birthday gift. I started out making two, but decided to finish one and come back to the other later when I am feeling inspired. My coffee buzz has run out, hence the creative juices are not flowing as well either. Both boys are sick today with colds, so I am gonna snuggle them for a while. Here is the little beauty I have finished, and I will show you the other one when he is done later.
I started with these fluffy socks. I would not recommend this type of sock for your first sock monkey. It was a little hard to work with, but I was thinking soft for a baby.

I made the eyes with embroidery thread instead of buttons. Safer for babies, and since I know she is gonna LOVE it, I am thinking safety first.

I will have a hard time parting with this little cutie. I just love her profile.

I also finished my first I Spy Bag. I will definitely have to make another couple to make it "just right". The first one has a little too much rice so it is kind of hard to squish everything around and get to the animals. I will make the next one with poly beads to see if I like it better. I will say Walker loved it and thinks it is really cool to show us all the animals in it.

I will also have to tweak the list that I put on the back. It is hard to read on the stripes, so I will probably put it on white fabric and then sew it to the bag.

Well, there you have it. I will post more when I finish some more gifts.