Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Charlie Brown Has Found His Christmas Tree!

On our way home from Tyler, we stopped at the Canton Christmas Tree Farm. This was SO much fun and I think that we're going to do this every single year from now on! They have blow up slides, a petting zoo and some sort of 'tilt-a-whirl' ride for kids, along with the best Santa ever. We originally went because we wanted to cut down a Christmas tree, but we ended up leaving with so much more!







Brady met Santa for the first time and he did great! When we pulled up, we were originally just trying to get there in time to get the tree because they closed at dark. A lady at the front ran right up to us and told us that Santa was about to go home and if we hurried we could get some pictures with him. We were, of course, the only ones trying to get our pictures taken so they took a lot until we got the perfect ones. Santa was so sweet with Brady. While we were taking the pictures, I got to talking to the ladies that were running the show there and it turns out they graduated from TCA too! What a small world!

We have to recommend this place to everyone because it is a family owned place, of course, but they were also so generous and didn't try to rush us out or anything. They kept offering us free popcorn and drinks because they were trying to get rid of their stuff for the day. (They even told us that we could mail them a check for our tree because we only had our debit card!) They had beautiful fresh wreaths and garlands that I so badly wanted to get, but I decided I better not because I wasn't sure how long they'd last, although the lady there swore to me they last her all season. You just can't make wreaths as beautiful as the fresh ones!





We came home tonight just in time to feed Brady some dinner and put him down to go to bed. After he was asleep, Jeff took on the daunting task of putting our lights on the tree. It's 11:00 and they're all done. I'm just now debating whether or not to start the decorating tonight, or put it off until the morning!! I'm so glad it's finally here!

The Day After

This morning we got up and got ready to go to Tyler to visit my grandparents. Some of my aunts and uncles were still there so we decided to head on over while they were around and introduce them to Brady. It turned out to be kind of rainy and colder than we expected but it didn't rain hard until we got off the highway right when we hit Tyler.

My grandparents' lot is beautiful this time of year. In fact, ALL of East Texas is beautiful this time of year so we had to stop and get some pictures along the way, although most of these were taken in my grandparents' back yard!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was such a wonderful Thanksgiving for us! We decided a while ago that we really wanted to go to the Thanksgiving Day game at Texas Stadium, but we were never really sure we could do it. Then we decided one day that we were just going to go ahead and buy the tickets and I would cook our very own Thanksgiving dinner here... and we were going to take Brady with us!

So I got up at 5:30 to put my turkey in the oven. I didn't sleep well the night before because I kept thinking I wouldn't wake up for some reason. It took me a while to figure it all out and I had to run it under cold water for a bit to get the giblets and stuff out, but then I tried to go back to sleep... which is totally weird when the oven is on!





When we got up for 'real', I made sausage and cream cheese croissant rolls (Joanna's sister's recipe!) and they were delicious! That was a mistake though, because then we didn't eat near as much as we thought we would for lunch!! I spent all morning getting ready for lunch (that was supposed to be at 11!) and it is a lot more stressful than I ever thought it would be! I am so thankful that it was just us the first time I tried it! I admire all of our grandmothers for making Thanksgiving dinners for so long (and for so many people!)





Our menu was turkey, apple & date stuffing (which was my very favorite dish), green bean casserole, golden potato mash (which wasn't very good) and cranberry sauce. Yum. Yum. Oh, and of course, my Chocolate Cream Pie that was SCRUMPTIOUS! We're still enjoying that one!











After lunch, Jeff cleaned up while I laid on the couch and played with the B. Man. We put him down for a SHORT nap so we could get ready for the big game. I have to share that when Jeff went into Brady's room during his morning nap, he was NEVER asleep. He was just laying there in his bed wide awake. Then he never went to sleep for his afternoon nap, even in the car on the way to the game! So we were starting to get worried about how he would do. We kept a deal between us that we would have no expectations on how long we get to stay for the game, but I promised myself I was going to try not to get worked up about leaving, etc.



It worked out so well because we were in the end zone in the upper section and our seats were on the end right by an exit. So we had a definite exit strategy if it were time to rush out and leave. But don't you worry that Texas Stadium is the greatest place to take a baby because no one every notices if there is a little whining here and there! The only thing is keeping his pacifier off the ground! Gross!!











We left right after the Jonas Brothers performed and I'm so glad we did because it started to rain right when we got in our car! It was such a wonderful memory that we made and Brady could not have been more perfect! He did great... only a tad bit of fussing here and there but that's it. He was the hit of our section! Everyone would holler and call him "Little Romo"... Of course that made his momma so proud!!

The Eve of Thanksgiving

Today Jeff came home early from work so we could start our Holiday a little earlier than planned! Yay! Brady went down for his 'cat nap' right after Jeff got home so we went outside to get everything ready for our fire for Thanksgiving night. (Little does Jeff know, I'm going to make S'mores!!) He started by making his "kindling". He was so funny gathering his twigs and pieces of wood he found in the alley behind our house.









I also began the preparations for my first Thanksgiving Dinner. I started to get a bit nervous about it today, but I guess it's good that it's just Jeff and Brady and I for my first time to prepare everything for Thanksgiving. I got all of my recipes out of the Rachel Ray magazine, so I am hoping that they turn out a bit better than my Trifle. :) I was searching through the garage for my turkey plates and goblets. (More pictures of that tomorrow... I found them!) The garage was super organized up until last week when Jeff mistakenly gave me the code so I could go in there and rumage around and see what new goodies I could find. I got out all of my Christmas stuff last week from the garage and I decorated my mantel on Sunday... which I very much regret. I am so much of a stickler when it comes to Christmas. "Christmas doesn't come out until the day after Thanksgiving!" I have always harped on Jeff. He always wants to play Christmas music and drink the Christmas coffee and do the Christmas stuff too early and I always tell him we have to wait because it will make it even that much better... but this year I didn't. He told me I would regret it, but I argued back and of course now I must admit, he's right. I still have the Christmas tree and the front porch to do but I always look forward to it ALL coming out on Friday! I'm even tempted to take it down and put it back up on Friday. :)






Anyway, I digress. Tonight I made my pie for desert tomorrow. Chocolate Cream Pie. YUMMMMY. I'll tell you how it tastes tomorrow when we taste it, but these are a few of the pictures of getting it ready and getting it in the oven. All the parts taste good, and I was SUPER proud of the meringue I made. I've never done that before. Hopefully it will all taste good together!!

Happy Early Thanksgiving! We are so looking forward to the day of celebration tomorrow! We ALL have so much to be thankful for this year. More to come.

TREAT #5 - Peanut Butter Balls!

YUMMY! This may be the best treat I've ever made! They taste like homemade Peanut Butter Cups.

**For some reason, blogger isn't letting me upload photos at the moment, so when it does, I'll add pics of this one.**

The recipe is from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, and it's SO easy.

1/2 c. Peanut Butter
3 T. butter, softened
1/4 cup rice cereal (rice crispies); Optional
1 c. Powdered sugar
6 oz. chocolate flavored candy coating, cut up

1. In a bowl, stir together peanut butter and butter. Gradually add cereal, if desired, and powdered sugar, stirring until combined. If necessary, knead with hands until smooth. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls; place on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Set aside.

2. In a small heavy saucepan, melt candy coating over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat; cool for 5 minutes. Using a fork, dip bals, one at a time, into coating, allowing excess to drip off. Return to wax paper; let stand until coating is set (about 10 minutes). Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 month or freeze for up to 3 months. If frozen, thaw at room temperature before serving.

A Very Poopy Nap

***Warning - Poopy Pictures Ahead***

I went into the Bug's room on Monday to get him up from his nap and this is what I found. What a mess!! Let's just say that it had been a rough day of unplanned diversions for me anyways... and this was the icing on the cake. Fortunately I think God sometimes puts children in our lives to make us laugh and help us to keep it all in perspective. I couldn't help but crack up... even though it was so disgusting and I didn't even know how to begin cleaning up this mess. I had to get pictures so I can show him someday how much of a mess he was.

I think this was also the final straw with our diaper size. We've been having a few leaky ones here and there.... and bit more of a diaper rash, but I've been putting off going to Cruisers because we aren't "cruising". :) I guess it's too bad. We bought some last night.

(I turned the pics into B&W because it makes it not look AS nasty!)