Run Don't Walk

to get a Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate at Starbucks!

I promise you'll be glad you did!

Matt and I loaded the kids up last night to drive around and look at Christmas lights. But not before a stop off at the 'Bucks. Quite honestly, I have been on a self-imposed Starbucks Ban. You might think it's because they are SO expensive, and you would be right, they are! But I honestly don't mind treating myself to that luxury every once in a while if they would just get the order right!!!

The Starbucks nearest our house was the one to cause my "ban." And in typical fashion they proved their incompetance last night. They took our order (I asked for skim milk in my hot chocolate), and when we got to the window, the young barista said,"Um, there is not milk in your drink. It's just apple cider and caramel and..." Obviously, this poor little guy was clueless. To which Matt and I somewhat simultaneously replied, "There's no milk in the hot chocolate?" And then we realized the barista was whipping up some kind the Caramel Apple Spice concoction!

The good news is that in the end, I got my salted caramel hot chocolate, and even though the hunt for Christmas lights left us a little disappointed, the hot chocolate did not!

Finally...

We got a Christmas picture! Don't think it came easy. In fact, it probably took a couple of years off this momma's life or at least gave me a grey hair or two! Just for fun, here are a few more outtakes. Oh, and if you are tired of Christmas card outtakes, just think how I feel!

Yes, you're counting right in that last picture. I am missing a child. She didn't want her picture taken because she didn't like what she was wearing. I'm not real big on what they have on. I really am more interested in all three looking at the camera and not making a crazy face. Is that too much to ask???

So, how did I come up with a decent picture. I know you really want to know my secret. Well, it's DADDY! Matt helped and believe it or not the kids actually listen and obey him! What am I chopped liver. Oh well, on with the story. Matt is much more professional about photo taking than me. I just place the kids all together and start taking pictures. He actually pulls out the tripod, sets up the camera, clears out a space for them to "set up," takes a few trial shots. Patience is a virtue. I just don't have much of it these days. Thankfully, in this department, Matt does:)

You'll just have to wait for cards to go out to see the results...I will let you know that we increased the number of people in the picture from 3 to 5. That's right, Matt and I got in on the action. Don't normally like including pictures of myself. After all, my kiddos are a whole lot cuter than me, but we just couldn't resist!

Quick and Easy Advent

Looking for a quick and easy (and CHEAP) Advent calendar to help the kiddos count down to Christmas? Well, have I got the project for you!

You'll need the following:

twine
small brown craft paper envelopes (found in/near the scrapbooking section of Hobby Lobby)
small clothes pins (also purchased at Hobby Lobby)
computer/printer

Measure craft bags and adjust paper size on computer. You may want to make a trial run to make sure the paper sizing is right. Choose a font, type the number 1, center and print. Now repeat with different fonts through number 25. How easy is that?!? Of course, I always go here for cute fonts.

I fancied number 25 up a bit with a picture of Jolly Old Saint Nick!

Simply hang the twine, and clip the bags on the twine using the small clothes pins. Finished!

Now, the down side to these bags is you can't really put a large gift in them, so you have to be creative and think of small, light weight items that will fit! A piece of candy (if you are still munching on leftover Halloween candy like we are, it works perfectly!), erasers, stickers, coins, etc. You can also slip pieces of paper in there with fun things like "a trip to the park" or "a cookie at the local bakery."

Tomorrow, we kick the season off with a couple of peppermints!

I have used the Advent bags with the kids the last two years, and they love the count down! I found someone else who loves it too...

That's Georgia the Cat. She doesn't normally get much attention on the ole' blog, so I thought I would show her off! Happy December!!

Turkey Day P.M.

Hope everyone out there had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were glad to simply survive with these six littles ones running around...

And I thought trying to get a picture of my three was hard! There was no way I was going to get all of these little guys and gals to comply! Don't forget Addi and Frances were around too! We had a house full--16 adults and 8 little ones!

Here's a picture of the "big" cousins (minus William who got away before we could grab a pic!).

Aunt Mak and Uncle Brad got in on the camera action...

And the Tew family did as well (don't think we've had a picture like this in a long time!)...

Getting some love from Pops!

It was definitely a fun family and food filled day. So much so that this momma is t-ired! I'm trying to get myself in gear for a little ole' game that 's being played this afternoon. I may have to grab a nap before then! WAR EAGLE!!!

Turkey Day A.M.

Happy Turkey Day, Everyone! We got started early around the Busbee house! So early, that we were able to work the gingerbread recipe in amongst all of our other Thanksgiving day cooking/baking! I have to admit, it was a success. It's actually very similar to pumpkin bread, so the kids were very pleased.

In other news, if the Christmas card you receive from us this year is plain and simply signed "Love, The Busbees" you'll know why....

These were just two of this weeks' failed attempts to get pictures of these three little ones of mine! Kathryn and Walker were actually cooperating. Of course, I did bribe them with leftover Halloween candy and a trip to the local bakery for a turkey cookie:) I'm beginning to think I may never get a good one of all three!

A Sign of the Season

I brought the first of this season's eggnog home last night! To ring in fall, I normally bake a loaf of pumpkin bread and make a stop of at the 'Bucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte. But for the Christmas season, it's eggnog all the way!

Unfortunately, I'm the only one in the house who drinks it, so I at least try to buy lowfat so as not to make a complete pig of myself! Surely the organic version makes it healthy for you too:)

Just to mix things up a bit, in addition to eggnog, I think I'm going to add gingerbread (the actual bread version not the cookies) into my holiday routine this year. The kids are begging for more pumpkin bread, but I think I've had my fill (you know you've baked it too many times when you know the recipe by heart!). Time for something new. I think this recipe will do the trick! I hope to try it soon, so you know I'll report back with the results (That is if there are any "results" to show you. I may just gobble it up right out of the oven).

On the Road Again

This past weekend, we made a trip to Camden to visit with Nana and Papa and Cousins Daniel and Beau. We were so glad we were able to squeeze in one more trip before all of the craziness of the holidays settle in.

As you can see from above, Nana and I dressed up Little Miss Frances for her second official photo shoot. Thankfully, she was very cooperative!

The big cousins did a lot of this...




Unfortunately, the time change blues continued at the river. The big kids were up each morning between 5:00-5:30 a.m. On Saturday, they were begging to go outside by 7:00 a.m.! We may have been a bit sleep deprived, but we had a fabulous weekend topped off by a HUGE win from our Auburn Tigers. War Eagle!