Eli with an allen wrench.

This is what happened the other day when Eli found an allen wrench in the laundry room. He tried to act all inconspicuous with it but I knew he had it and was in the middle of doing some laundry. I had planned on taking it away from him, but got busy doing something else and before I knew it he had completely disassembled one of his chairs! I find it funny that he knew exactly what he was going to do with that allen wrench. I don't think I even knew the function of an allen wrench until I was in college! But that's a boy for you!

Decking Our Halls

Scrawny little tree, I know. But it is so nice to be able to put it up out of reach once it's decorated.

Eli and Toby both LOVE egg nog!

Rudolph was on T.V.

Eli really liked Rudolph. It was his first time seeing it.

Shutterfly and their Rockin' Christmas Cards

I absolutely love Shutterfly for their photo greeting cards, photo books, calendars, online photo storage and more. I’ve used them to make my boys’ birth announcements, Toby’s First Year photo book, and our 2010 Calendar with all our favorite family photos.

This year their site is exploding with gorgeous Christmas cards to choose from!

They have cards for that perfect photo of the entire family:

And they have cards for people like me who can’t decide on just one picture:

I never thought to mix black and white with color for a card, but I think this looks awesome!

I love this one for its simple design:

You can browse their gorgeous selection of Christmas Cards HERE.

You can also order personalized gift tags and address labels for that extra touch! Check it out HERE and HERE.

They also have new calendar designs! We have enjoyed our 2010 calendar, which I made with pictures from each month of 2009. It hangs in our kitchen and we love to look at the pictures from the prior year and remember the special memories we’ve made. You can also personalize your calendar by adding in all those special dates you don’t want to forget!

Here are the pictures on our current calendar for the month of November:

Check out their awesome calendar designs HERE.

I am already getting excited about the possibilities for Eli's birthday invitation because they have so many cute birthday invitations to choose from as well!

Check out their cute birthday card designs HERE.

Have fun designing your family's perfect Christmas card at SHUTTERFLY!

And if you are interested in doing a blogpost for Shutterfly and recieving 50 free holiday cards, sign up HERE.

More Fallish Fun

Hats, Cookies, Legos

I've been craving fleecey fabric lately and found some half price at Hancock Fabrics. The boys have outgrown their hats from last year so I thought, how hard can a hat be to make?

So I took some, cut it so it would be 20 inches in diameter and then folded it twice and sewed a little hem. Then I sewed the ends together. I then cut strips in the top for the pom pom, took a loose strip and tied it around the crown under the strips and viola!

BJ said they were girly, but I happen to think they are adorable!

And all that extra fabric around the base will keep little ears nice and warm!

Eli LOVED his and wore it until he got hot.

Which was around lunchtime.

Typical:

We washed his hands really good before getting started on the cookies. ; )

I've learned the hard way that it's best to get all the ingredients out before you call them in to help make the cookies.

He just couldn't resist sticking his fingers in there too.

Stirring in the dried cranberries.

Toby woke up and heard something about cookies.

His little busted lip is already healing nicely. I'm so glad we avoided stitches even though the pediatrician was about to send us up to the E.R. for them. Our trusted oral surgeon gave us a better opinion!

Eli grabbed the cookbook and decided to play bakery in his playroom while the real ones were baking.

(black play doh on a plastic lid)

He ran to my kitchen and grabbed my pot holders when the timer on his kitchen dinged.

Dude, I think they're a little burnt. : )

Toby devoured a cookie.

BJ's Aunt Angela and her kids sent Eli and Toby these really cool action wheeler legos. Eli is totally loving them because you put them together with these little plastic screwdrivers they came with!

Thank you for the legos Furlotte Tribe! : )

Abby Cadabby's Magical Pumpkin Cookies

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp baking soda

• ½ cups packed light brown sugar

• 1 cup(1 stick) butter, softened

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1/2 cup solid-pack pumpkin

• 2 cups uncooked old-fashioned oats

• 1 cup dried cranberries

• 1. preheat oven to 350 F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

• 2. Sift the flour, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and baking soda into a medium bowl. Beat the brown sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.

• 3. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the pumpkin; beat at low speed until blended. Beat in the flour mixture just until blended. Add oats; mix well.

• 4. Stir in cranberries. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets.

• 5. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool the cookies on the cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely