When Good Crafts Go Bad

What a great idea!!! ... Or so I thought!

I really thought that making a gingerbread house would be a great Christmas tradition for our family, but OH MY GOSH!!! it was a nightmare!

I do have to say that Bailey loved it, and after the roof fell off and icing was all over the floor, I just decided to give in and let her have at it.

She even went and got some rubber gloves when her hands got dirty!

Here's the finished product! Looks just like the picture on the box, doesn't it?!?!?!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas/Crafty Ideas of the Month

Well, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the Doyal house! I've been trying very hard to be organized and on the ball this holiday season so we can enjoy each day before it flys by. Bailey has thoroughly enjoyed getting into the Christmas spirit- I just love to see her little eyes light up with each and every new thing.

Her elf on the shelf, Guillermo, came and she wakes up each morning and looks for him. It's so funny because she'll go stand right in front of him and tell him good or bad things she's done- one of my favorites was, "I pooped in the tub!"

She was also a hoot decorating the Christmas tree. With every ornament she pulled out, she said, "Oh, it's my favorite!"

So I realize that I've slacked for the past few months on my Crafty Idea of the Month post. Maybe I've been saving up because the Mrs. Claus in me pulled out lots of crafty goodness this month!

Shot of mantle with lots of crafts! FYI- if you have small children, you must get the Fisher Price Little People nativity set. Bailey LOVES it and can play with it and act of the Christmas story. She's also quite protective of Baby Jesus (who Izzie seems to have some fetish for)!

I made new stockings this year. Thanks to my great friend Elise for the cute pattern!

Close up of ribbon Christmas trees I made from ribbon (obviously!) and styrofoam cones.

Homemade wreath- or should I say Re-Made wreath. Got this from my mom and took the fake fruit out and added Christmas stuff!

Okay, I'm done now and you probably didn't care to see all of this stuff but I get so excited about Christmas!!!

The Black Friday Friends Strike Again

Call us crazy, but we look forward to this day all year long! No, it's not Christmas... it's Black Friday!!! My friends Mindy and Elise have been waking up at the crack of dawn for many years now to do their Black Friday Christmas shopping. Last year, they invited me to join and I am now addicted!

This year, we got the earliest start yet when I picked up Elise at 10:45 pm!!! Yes, you heard that time right- technically it wasn't even Friday yet! We met Mindy at Wal-Mart at 11:30 pm and started our adventure. This year's store list included Wal-Mart, Target, Kohls, Belk, Bed Bath and Beyond, Lifeway, Old Navy (although we didn't buy anything there), Michales, oh- and Krispy Kreme and Chick-Fil-A for more shopping fuel!

At the end of the day, or should I say morning (I brought Elise back home at 8:30 am after about 9 hours of shopping!!!), we had a carload full and wallets empty. So you might call us crazy, but we love finding good deals, getting the bulk of our shopping done in one day, and spending time together! To me- it's more than worth it! Here's some pictures I took along the way!

So, there's not a lot of places to eat at 2:00 in the morning! The line at Whataburger was horrendous so we held out for Krispy Kreme, which was probably a mistake since they didn't even have some of what we ordered and the donuts were cold!

Elise- always the prepared shopper- with ads, a blanket, and her trusty flashlight!



Mindy shopped so hard, her raincoat tore!

Mindy's Loot

Mine and Elise's Loot- which kept falling out of the car whenever we opened the door!

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

We have much to be thankful for these days! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day with family. I am so glad that Bailey has the opportunity to spend it with her Grandma (my mom) and her great-grandparents (Meme and G-Daddy)! Here are some highlights from our day!

My little turkey!

Bailey with her great-grandfather, G-Daddy

Bailey helping make Thanksgiving desserts...


which lasted about 5 minutes until she decided she'd rather go play outside!



Daddy and Bailey trying to work off some of that pumpkin pie!

Forgotten Halloween!

As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, I realize that I posted about all of our fun activities leading up to Halloween, but I forgot to post the actual day! Whoops!!!

The day before Halloween, Grandma took Bailey and Mommy to see the Mickey Mouse Road Show. She loved it and was singing the songs for weeks afterward!

Her first experience with Dippin Dots- definitely won't be her last!

On Halloween night, we went to some friends' house and trick-or-treated in their neighborhood and ate dinner. Bailey was the cutest little cupcake there!!!

What beautiful fairy wings Mrs. Kellie!

Anniversary Weekend in Natchitoches

Yet another post that is better late than never...

A few weekends ago, David and I went to Natchitoches for the weekend to celebrate our 8 year anniversary. It was a nice, relaxing getaway. Here are some highlights:

Natchitoches is the oldest settlement in the Louisiana Purchase (1714). They had the downtown riverfront area all decorated for fall- I loved it!

Our bed and breakfast, the Andrew Morris House, was beautiful! I believe the house was originally built in 1855.

We went to Fort St. Jean Baptiste, a historic fort and trading/guard post on the banks of the Cane River.

We tourned Oakland Plantation, a Creole cottage built in late 1700s.

We also tourned Melrose Plantation, which I remember visiting back in elementary school. This plantation was built in the mid to late 1800s. The famous primitive artist, Clementine Hunter, lived and painted here.

Thanks for being honest!

So Bailey's been pretty out of whack today- she didn't get to bed til 9:30 last night and slept until about 8:45 this morning. Needless to say, this equals no nap today. I tried to put her down and came in a few times when I heard her out of her bed. The third time I came in, I asked, "What are you doing?" She proceeded to give me a run-down of everything she had been doing except taking a nap.

"I was getting out of my bed.

I was putting Lamby in the baby seat.

I was playing kitchen.

I was reading my books.

I was trying to turn on my barn. It too hard.

I was touching stuff.

I was looking at the medicine.

I was playing with my buddies.

I was awake! I wake up Mommy!"

I really can't even figure out how she did all of this in the dark. Oh well, at least she's honest!