'Twas the weekend before Christmas....

We opted to throw a spin on our Christmas traditions this year and spend Christmas at home in Greenville rather than spend it shuffling between my parents' homes.

So the weekend prior to Christmas, we designated as "Christmas with Poppy & Nanny" and gave them an entire, uninterrupted weekend of quality time!  As we arrived late Friday night, Jackson woke up from him car nap for a late-night hoorah, eager to play with Poppy & the tool bench.  Around 11pm, we decided it was time for our little trooper to hit the hay.

Saturday morning, Linda treated me to a manicure & pedicure and we fit in a little shopping before the annual Isaac Family Christmas Party.  Yes, this your typical Griswold-esque-extended family-at the church fellowship hall-type Christmas party and I regret not taking a group picture. We all had fun catching up with family & stuffing our faces, and Jackson got his paws on an icing coated cooking that was an absolute disaster.

Post-party, we headed up to Blowing Rock to spend the rest of the weekend at the mountain house.  We celebrated Poppy's 59th birthday and did our Christmas gift-giving.  Jackson enjoyed hanging out with his cousin Parker & the "big boys".

Jackson racked up big-time with lots of toys & a basketball goal!  Even so, the jumbo box the goal came in was as big a hit as the goal itself (go figure).

We got several inches of snow while we were up there and Poppy & Jackson took a chilly hike around the property.

On our way back to Greenville, we stopped by Dad's office for the much anticipated picking up of Ben's 4-wheeler.  It's been living in the basement of the office for a few years now due to lack of garage space/places to ride, but Ben's been eager to get it back.  So we loaded that bad boy up in the truck, along with a slew of other miscellaneous tools & construction materials that Dad hooked Ben up -- solid wood door (workbench), scroll saw (for Ben's woodworking?), office chair (chair for workbench), 2 5-gallon buckets full of assorted nails, screws, wrenches, tools, etc. 

While Ben was loading his "treasures", Jackson ran around the parking lot & played in the trailer to burn off some of his energy.  After the truck was loaded down, we truly looked like we had raided a junk-yard. 

Nash-Vegas

Last weekend, we headed to Nashville with our good friends The Browns to attend Kyle Dunbar's wedding.  Sally & I went to high school with Kyle and have kept in touch with him and several other classmates over the years.  It was so much fun to have a weekend away from parental responsibilities!

Our first night out & about, we hit up as many local joints as we could manage.  Along the way, we accrued quite a few random photos...

Friday night on Broadway

Ben & Justin, observing the action from the sidelines

Hanging out with Kyle (our groom!), Dusty & Emily

Randomness #1:  These two women who were out & about in bikini t-shirts (for no occasion at all).  We loved it & they let us try them on for a photo op.  Can you say "Girls Weekend 2030"?

Randomness #2:  Sketchy kidnapper-look-alike with gold chains posted up at the bar.  Under the false pretense of taking a pic of Sally, I snapped one of him...and apparently, he was in on this & smiled for my picture.  I guess you had to be there.

Randomness #3:  Off-duty Christmas Elf.  He was a "real" elf...meaning when his shift was over, he left the mall (?) and dropped by Tootsie's for a cold one.

Saturday, we slept until noon (yes, noon!) and then went shopping for Sally some cowboy boots.  The wedding was Saturday night and we all had a great time celebrating with Kyle & his new wife Meredith!

This boy's got moves!

Dancing to the music of "Christmas Puppy"

Playdate Fun!

I owe all the girls from playgroup lots of pictures since I'm usually the one who busts out the camera at the first sign of a potential photo-op.  We get together every Friday for a morning full of toddler playtime and mommy socialization. Here a some overdue pics from the past few weeks...

All the kiddos, scrapping for some Bugles, like puppies at the food bowl!

Playgroup Thanksgiving crafts...

Burning some post-playdate/pre-nap energy at Chic-fil-A

I love how Jackson & Slade are such sweet little buddies.

Peeking through the window at the cute 3-year old eating lunch =)

All the little ones, ready to cruise the Holiday Fair

Playing in the poinsettias at the Holiday Fair

Aren't these the sweetest little grins?!?

Pre-School Loot

Being a first-time mom, I guess I don't necessarily know the proper pre-school holiday etiquette.  For example, Halloween rolled around and the Thursday before the big weekend, I picked Jackson up from school to find his cubby full of goodie bags from his classmates (actually, their moms).  We got a few little trinkets and lots of candy.  Now, all the kiddos in his class are 1-year-olds and realistically, how many of them can actually eat candy?  I figured that due to the nature of the holiday & the fact that candy isn't practical for those who only have 8 teeth, I assumed that classroom trick-or-treats were not necessary.  However, after collecting Jackson's loot, I definitely felt like the slacker mom who forgot the occasion. 

So, ignited with a little prideful motivation, I have gotten a jump-start on Christmas gifts for Jackson's classmates.  I wanted the gifts to be creative & useful, and the best thing I came up with was applique beanbag sets for his classmates.  Each unique set includes three bags, appliqued with numbers 1 through 3.  Hopefully this will make up for my lack of Halloween generosity and get me back on the Good Mommy list for the new year!

Thanksgiving

To celebrate Turkey Day, we headed down to Georgia to spend a 5-day weekend with Oma & Opa.  We were excited that Jon, William, Tinka & Cora (Jackson's 7 year old cousin) were also there.  Bella joined us on the trip and was able to "surprise" Oma & Opa with her very presence. 

We enjoyed the unbelievable 80-degree weather (yes, we wore shorts in November) and did some bike riding, Black Friday shopping and lots of eating! Lill hosted an amazing Thanksgiving feast for 23 extended family members and we enjoyed catching up with relatives we rarely see (some whom I've never even met)! This was followed by a Low-Country Boil on Friday night, with lots of leftovers in between.

Walking along the pier on St. Simons with Oma

Hanging out with cousin Cora.  She's such a sweetheart!

This was Cora's favorite tree.

Brothers & cousins





Part of the crowd at Thanksgiving dinner

Jackson loved being pulled around by Opa!

Playing with his 3rd (?) cousins?

Best quote of the week...
"So, can get one of these [babies] without being married?" - Jon
Ben's response: "You don't want one of these without being married."

Playing with Oma

Fire ants are everywhere down there and of course Jackson loved playin in the grass constantly.  Here he is practically digging in the anthill.  (Its hard to tell, but Daddy put his sandals on the wrong feet)

Posting up in his chair to watch a little football. 
(I must brag that I paid $3 for this chair at a yardsale 2 weeks ago)

The Talbert boys

Love this picture of my baby cheesing it up!

He doesn't get to walk around on the counter-tops often.

Saying good-bye to Oma & Opa after a fun weekend!

Dumpster Daddy

If I'm "Arts & Crafts Mommy", then Ben is "Dumpster Daddy".  Let me start by saying that if I would allow it, and the City of Greer did not have an ordinance against it, Ben would probably have a junk yard out back.  He's been know to rifle through an especially tempting pile of treasures beside a dumpster, which is how we acquired the mauve sectional that was formerly in the man cave.  His resourcefulness has only been intensified by the miscellaneous parts he acquires at work -- a broken dolly, steel posts, metal desks, you name it.

Ben's man-cave furnishings

Inspired by this book I checked out from the library, Ben's been itching to make something for Jackson and/or himself from his treasures.  This book is every man-boy's dream -- how to make floating tree houses, fire-extinguisher powered cannons and other dangerous-sounding boy-scoutish projects that make me cringe.

Last weekend, Ben made a modified version of what we used to call a "shack-a-lack" growing up...basically a little downhill racer made from miscellaneous parts.  Jackson was thrilled to be the benefactor =)  Notice how I piled on fluffy blankets in case of a crash landing.

Well Friday, Ben spied the knobby tires of a green riding toy peeking out of a neighbor's trash can.  Not being one to pass up a little dumpster dive on his way to work, Ben hit the jackpot when he found the toddler-sized John Deere 4-wheeler with only a broken steering shaft.  After fishing his prize out of the trash and chasing down the wheels that incidentally started rolling down the road, Ben loaded his latest & greatest in the back of the truck and continued his commute to work.  That night, Ben set off to not only repair, but upgrade the toy.  Several hours later, Ben proudly showed off Version 4.0, complete with a PVC steering column with hefty spring-loaded shocks, an additional 4-inches of ground clearance and a fresh set of AA batteries.  Just like new, only better.  Now we have to figure out a way to keep the neighbor's kid from seeing his old toy & wanting it back...