MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Where do I even start? I'm going to attempt to get caught up on the last 2 months of craziness, but it is really hard to even know where to start. So, I'll just start and see where it  goes. First, I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas (and Thanksgiving...still have that to post!) I have so much to be thankful for on any day, but especially on the holidays.

Here is our adorable 2012 card created by non other than MG Paperworks....So simple and perfect and I LOVE it!

I say simple, because that is how it looks. However, nothing with me is ever truly simple. Ever.

I had ordered a bow tie and new collar for Abby and neither came in before the photo session. So, I made B a bow tie out of fabric scraps and he loved it. (And, I personally think it was as cute as the one I had ordered). I can't just walk out in the back yard and take a picture...no, we had to make an evening out of it.  We had fun though and Bishop loves any excuse to go to Granna and Granddaddy's.  He loved picking out a tree and decorating it. And, he had fun with the pictures for the most part. Plus, he got M&M's (a little bribery never hurts, right?!)As you probably can tell, he is quite the ham most of the time. Trying to get both of my "children" to cooperate was quite the task! Abby was so excited to be able to run around and play and she was not very interested in pictures. But we got plenty to choose from!

We started by finding us a cute little tree to decorate and buried it in the pasture behind my parents' house. This attracted some very curious friends...

And, these are a few that I had to share....

And, some funny ones...

Yes, these are seriously just a few. Ridiculous? Maybe. But I love my little boy. 

Wherever you find yourself this year at Christmas, I hope that you find JOY. It seems like such a simple word but it has such meaning. 

It  really is not about the gifts, the traditions, the crazy shopping, Santa and his reindeer, or the perfect Christmas card. It is about the celebration of the birth of our Savior...the one who can bring true joy to our hearts. 

But the angel said to them "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." Luke 2:10

Wendy's Shower

My beautiful sister is about to have baby Kathryn in a few weeks, so this past Sunday we "showered" her with LOTS of pink and presents. We already have 5 boys between us, and this is our first girl so we extra excited about the pink...can you tell?

I really wish party planning could pay my bills...it is seriously so fun to me! (ONE DAY!)

I'm starting to LOVE making cookies. Oh, and eating them. 

My first try at cake pops. They aren't my specialty for sure, but they tasted ok. 

The pink cake

I stole the onesie idea from Whitney. She did them for JJ's and Rachel's shower and I just loved them. They were so fun to make...I had to make myself stop!

The inside of the cake didn't turn out exactly like I planned...it was supposed to be fluffier/taller but it worked. I just love pinterest. I have no ideas on my own!

Of course I had to make tissue poofs. 

Mandy made these super cute pink pumpkin topiaries.

Pink punch and pink mints. Those mints are my FAVE. 

Oh, and Mr. Pink Owl, my first stuffed animal. Bishop loved him so I hope baby K does too :)

Wendy & her mom

Wendy & mom

The shower hostesses & Wendy

Wendy got lots of good stuff for Kathryn..baby bed, bedding, clothes, bibs, diapers, basinet, blankets, stroller, carseat, etc. Now we just wait on her to get here!

And, seriously, I can't wait to see her in this! How stinking CUTE is it?!

Halloween

Bishop has been SO into Halloween this year. Spiders, check. Ghosts, check. Monsters, double check. And don't forget the bats and pumpkins. And, most importantly the COSTUME. He loves to dress up and look at himself anyway so this was right up his alley. We got a costume magazine in a while back and he has looked at it cover to cover 50 times at least. He wanted to be a shark. He wanted to be a spider. He wanted to be a T rex (of course). He wanted to be Spiderman. He wanted to be a ghost. He wanted to be Woody. Basically, he wanted to be it ALL! I examined all of those options and in fact, purchased a Rex at the consignment shop and thought I was done. He was happy with his Rex. He put it on almost daily for a month. He wore it to the Booneville Boo fest and was  just adorable.

And, after finding vintage clothes in Papoo's closet this summer,  Leon and I thought he would make a perfect John Mcenroe. He liked being a tennis player. However, it would have been a little chilly walking around in these shorty shorts....

I even found some costumes at Dirt Cheap (all but the ghost) for $1 that have been worth every penny...

Especially, Super Bishop. He LOVES that $1 costume. 

Even though everyone was perfectly fine with the Rex costume and we had several other options, the weekend before Halloween, I got crafter's remorse (I think I just made that term up). I couldn't stand NOT making him something. As I've said before his favorite things to do are read books and watch movies and he happens to love the Lorax right now. I found a quick tutorial online and headed to JoAnn's. It literally took maybe an hour start to finish on his costume and it was super cheap to make..I got lucky and found the fabric in the remnant bin. And, I felt much better with something I made. 

As I was searching for fur for his 'stache, I happened upon some feather boas on sale so I got a few, anticipating making him a few truffula trees to carry (or at least hold for a picture) but the more I thought about it, I thought WE (leon and I) could be the trees. So BACK to JoAnn's I went. I also found the tights on sale for $2, so we just cut them up and put them on our arms. Bishop was so excited when he saw our costumes. He was very into his character....as soon as he put it on he looked in the mirror and said...

"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees"

I know I am partial, but I think he is just an adorable Lorax. 

We had our annual chilli/taco soup/trick or treating party at my sisters and this year did not disappoint! I didn't go all out like last year because I had to work but I did make a few things...And I forgot to take a picture with my "real" camera...

 We had so much fun...and I am already looking forward to next year.... when we will have a little girl to pull around the block with us!

Lorax, Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker, and a Clone Trooper

Lorax and Truffula trees

Such a good daddy to not complain about wearing a boa on his head and tights on his arms. Please notice he even cut himself a thumb hole on his arm tights. "Because that is what superheros do." I love him. And, I love my little Lorax :)

MSU Homecoming

I'm feeling low on words today, but here are a few pics from our weekend in Starkville a few weeks ago. We had fun, as usual. Bishop sure has been loving the Bulldogs lately. Makes his momma and daddy proud!

Pumpkin Carving

You know I've said before that my child is as goofy over holidays as I am...and little things like making a Halloween house from Dirt Cheap or carving a pumpkin is as exciting as going to Disney World for this little boy. Since I helped him with the house, daddy helped him with the pumpkin...plus, I really hate carving pumpkins...so that worked out well :)

He asked at least 20 times if he could "do the pumpkin yet" All. Day. Long. So that made it even more exciting for him. The second Leon walked in, he was ready to carve it.  Of course, he lost interest during the tedious carving but he LOVES the witch he picked out. He keeps asking to go outside and see her.

I may or may not have bribed him with taking a picture in the yard with Abby before the pumpkin carving....

And, it may or may not have worked out .