Christmas: Home Decorating

This year it was super fun to decorate for Christmas in our new house! I was so excited I did it the second week of November - which is way early for me! Because of the new house I had to get several new things (Mark just didn't understand)! We really enjoyed our decorations this year and I have several new ideas for next year too!


The place settings in our dining room! I finally got to use my Christmas dishes.





Can't forget the cinnamon scented pine cones - mmmm.




Santa is always watching.

A Visit From a Bug

Drew Bug that is! As always I'm way behind but better late than never I guess. In November we got a little visit from Drew, we had such a fun weekend! Friday night was short, by the time I picked him up and we got to our house we had a short play time, bath time and then bed time. I was a bit nervous about bed time because he was fresh off his pacie. But he did great, all his "babies" kept his safe. I ended up sleeping with him just in case he woke up wondering where he was.

Saturday we had a big day. We took him to the Adventure Science Center where they had a train exhibit. He is very into trains right now so it was perfect. They had ALL kinds of model trains and Drew was amazed. There are so many things for kids to do there he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to be doing. He would just run from one thing to another. He loves to climb and slide so it was perfect! Later that afternoon after nap we hit the park - which he LOVES being outside.

We took him back to mom and dad on Sunday afternoon. And boy the week after that we sure miss having him around. Can't wait for the next time! I've heard we're getting him every couple of months - I think Casey enjoyed the visit just as much as Drew did. :)

Eye See You

I was in Chicago for business a few weeks ago and one of the things on my to-do list was to see the eye ball "art" on display in the city. So here it is!

Unfortunately the eye ball is now gone but you can read more about it here.

And well I thought I would mention the other things on my list too.

1. Portillo's for a Chicago style hot dog................and my new love their famous chocolate cake!

2. Hit H&M

3. Enjoy a bag Garrett's Popcorn

I'm happy to say I checked all items off my list!

Lucky Ladd Farms

Bradley, Casey and the boys came for a visit and boy were we so glad they did. Casey and I had the same thought about going to a pumpkin patch when they were here. So Saturday night we headed to Lucky Ladd Farms. Drew had the best time, they had SO much to do! First, we enjoyed feeding the animals then we saw tractors, played in the sand, rode the train, slid on the slide and looked at the pumpkins! It was a little chilly that night so it was perfect for fall festivities. We enjoyed the visit and can't wait for Drew to come back for the weekend.

Stooksbury's in the Smokies - Part II

After our day at Dollywood we checked in to our home away from home for the weekend at Wilderness at the Smokies. Some of Saturday and Sunday was spent at their indoor water park. It was a blast...for all ages. Drew LOVED it! He loves the water anyway but they had so many things for kids to play with, play on and play in. They even had the wave pool and slides for the "big kids", including dad! The convenience of the water park to our room was so nice. I highly recommend it!

Stooksbury's in the Smokies

The first of October we hit the road for to the Smokies for a Stooksbury vacation. Mark and I stayed at Brad and Casey's on Thursday night then hit the road early, with a slight detour by Chick-fil-a, on Friday morning heading to Dollywood. We had the BEST time! Drew loved the train but we didn't love the soot that came with it - yuck!

He wasn't so sure about the rides the first go around..................

but boy he learned to love those piggies!

The adults had a great time too!

And we didn't forget about Alex.

He was just as happy as can be!

Dolly had all her fall decorations out too!

Everything was so pretty!

To be continued..........

Go Titans!

I just wanted to post a few pictures from our Titans party with our date night crew back in September. It was so fun to have them over to see the house and watch the game!

The whole gang and Molly! But she's camera shy!

Maureen made this awesome cheese ball.

I love how she made it a football - so festive!

Because it was soo good, I wanted to share the recipe too.

(2) 8 oz cream cheese, softened

(1) red and green bell pepper, chopped

(1) can crushed pineapple, drained

Lawry's Seasoning Salt, as much as you want to taste

Combine all ingredients and form into the shape you want. Roll in pecans and chill.