Working off the turkey dinner

Here are some pictures of us working off Thanksgiving dinner...



We were also finally able to get a complete family picture. Yeah!

Check back later to see pictures of the guys' fishing adventure!

Thanksgiving

Aunt Mak brought lots of fun crafts to keep the kiddos entertained. Here is Kathryn sporting her Indian headdress. Can you tell she's a bit obsessed with pink and purple???

Here are the turkey cookies we made (Well I made them because these were way to complicated for the kiddos. But don't be disappointed. Walker still got a couple of spoonfuls of cookie dough and a healthy dose of candy corn and mini m&m's in the process, and so did mommy!!).

Matt took Walker and Kathryn on a Thanksgiving morning hike while Pops, Brad, Mak and I played a round of Constructionopoly. We all kept joking that the kids were going to be tired because they were gone for a long time. When they finally arrived back at the house, Kathryn and Walker both stumbled in the front door. Kathryn fell on the floor exclaiming, "I can't do it anymore!" Needless to say, they took a very good mid-morning/early afternoon nap which gave the ladies time to get Thanksgiving dinner cooked! Good job, Daddy!!

Here's our Thanksgiving table.


The extra cute turkey placecards.


And our turkey treat boxes--my favorite. Of course, it didn't hurt that they were filled with chocolates:)

So, where have we been for the last week? Here....

We were blessed to spend Thanksgiving in Highlands, North Carolina, with Pops, Tula, Aunt Mak and Uncle Brad. We had a wonderful time eating, laughing, shopping, playing games and just being together! We're already planning to go back for Thanksgiving 2010!!

We took tons of pictures which I'll be posting in several posts over the next few days. So check back often!!

Tag and Teacher Gifts

Val tagged me with a really fun tag. Here's how it works...

Pick the 4th picture folder on your computer.

Pick the 4th picture in that folder.

Explain what the picture is about.

Tag 4 blogging friends to do the same.

And here's said picture...

An exciting picture, isn't it!?! Needless to say the fourth folder in my picture files is my Ebay folder. These were a pair of Walker's shoes that I listed on Ebay. I don't even remember what they sold for (guy's shoes aren't as exciting as little girl shoes, so probably not for much!), but they did sell and they are now being worn by some other little boy out in Ebay land:)

I tag Ashley A., Tami B., Wren and Alison R.

Oh, and just so you don't think we've stopped our Friday baking, here are the cookies we made this week to take to Kathryn and Walker's teachers. We finished up our MOMS Bible Study this week, so we thought these little goodies would be a fun thank you for their sweet teachers!

And speaking of teachers' gifts, that season is upon us. Here are some cute ideas for all of you mommies out there...

My favorite is this desk calendar or anything from this precious site...check it out!


Valerie found this cute idea on Etsy.

Other cute Etsy finds include this personalized clipboard, this monogrammed Christmas ornament, this coffee mug, or an insulated lunchbox.

These are just a few ideas, but there are dozens out there. Maybe some of you current or former teachers could shed some light on what the teachers actually like to receive!! Or mommies share your favorite picks for this season! Happy Shopping!

I think I can, I think I can...

My good friend Ashley makes the cutest little shirts and outfits for her little girls, and she promised me that I could do the same. I am a novice sewer (by novice, I mean I have sewn one very crooked shower curtain and that's it!), but I decided to give it a try!

With some much needed encouragment from Ashley and multiple trips to Hobby Lobby, Wal Mart and the fabric store, I began cutting out the fabric on Friday while the kiddos were at school.

To lessen the pressure, Kathryn was thrilled with her two pieces of pants material. When I showed her the cut outs after school, she immediately grabbed them, hugged them and told me she LOVED her Christmas outfit! Now, how she knew the polka dot fabric was for Christmas I'll never know, and how she deduced that two pieces of oddly shaped fabric were an "outfit," again, I don't know. I guess it suffices to say that she's a girl and girls just know these things!!

Matt was studying for a test Friday night, so once I put the little ones to bed, I got started. Low and behold, by Saturday after nap time, I came up with this. See what you think!!

Can you tell Kathryn is proud of her outfit that mommy made??? Now, if you see Kathryn wearing this outfit, don't look to closely. It's definitely not perfect, but let's just say, I think I caught the bug. The sewing was actually fun and the fulfillment of seeing the finished project was certainly worth it!

On a completely different note, last weekend Walker and Kathryn went to a princess party to celebrate the birthday of sweet Hannah. Everything about the party was just precious, and Walker and Kathryn really enjoyed all of the princess fun!

Here are some pictures of the adorable castle cake and my little lord and lady sitting oh so politely at the long dining table eating lots of yummies and drinking pink punch (out of a cup I might add!!).

Paging Dr. Busbee and Dr. Busbee

What a fun-filled Halloween we had! Walker and Kathryn were especially surprised that Daddy was able to go with me to pick them up at school. On the way there, we swung by the Dollar Tree to get some last minute costume assessories, and Mommy stopped for her trick or treat, a salted caramel hot chocolate from Starbucks. Nothing scary about this drink (except all of the calories!). It's pure yumminess!

Once home from school, we made some scary ghost treats!

Our ghosts were the perfect addition to our Halloween table. Earlier this week, Kathryn and Walker helped me sort candy, and we made Itsy Bitsy Spider bags to pass out to our trick or treaters. They were very easy to make and even easier to pass out, especially when you get a lot of little ones at your door at the same time!

Around 6:00 p.m., we started getting our little trick or treaters ready for their big night. Here are the goody bags, nice and big for lots of candy!!

And, finally, the costumes...

Dr. Busbee #1

Unfortunately, Walker wasn't too into his costume. Too much like dressing up for this big boy! But after a little convincing, he was all about getting dressed for some candy!

Dr. Busbee #2

Walker and Kathryn had the privilege of visiting our friend, neighbor and most wonderful trick or treat hostess, Wren (aka Raven Aboutya), for their first trick or treat stop. Wren and Jim graciously invited us in for some up close and personal trick or treating. Walker and Kathryn loved it!!!

Then it was off to the SCARY house down the street. This neighbor was so sweet to have such a wonderful set up for all of the trick or treaters!

A few treats for the wagon ride home

Finally, we were back home, where Walker and Kathryn enjoyed passing out treats to the other trick or treaters. We also sampled the chocolate ghosts....YUMMO! Of course, Kathryn had morphed into a much fancier doctor by this point:)

I hope everyone had as much fun as we did! Happy Halloween!

Happy boo to you!

Happy Halloween, everybody! I took this picture of Kathryn one afternoon when she woke up from her nap. For some reason it made me think of Halloween (can't imagine why!?!), so I've been saving it up for this very day!

Here's wishing everyone a happy, candy-filled day!