Thanksgiving and Thereafter

We went to the gramps' and grams' for Thanksgiving this year.  We had a great time.  It was relaxing and  really fun, which doesn't always happen on a packed vacation.  

Caleb was practically in heaven with all the lego sets G-ma F had saved.

Isaiah found his own favorite toy.  He played with lots of other toys but always came back to this big one.

Caleb, G-ma F and I made cookies one afternoon.  Caleb is either being a crane or dancing.  

The cookies we made were Ritz crackers sandwiched with peanut butter and dipped in almond bark.  What are those cookies called??  Do that have a name?  I feel like they do but I can't for the life of me remember.  So for we've been calling them Ritz Crackers Sandwiched with Peanut Butter and Dipped in Almond Bark Cookies.  I feel like there's a chance it could be shortened a bit.

Isaiah did his part and helped with the dishes.  He'd scoot the stool over every time anyone did dishes and try and help.  

Choo choo!  I'm hungry.

Here's the men doing man stuff.  Who knows what that is.  

Then we drove on over to Iowa and met with my family.  My brother, Chad took my camera and snapped some pictures.  I'm happy to show you one.  :)   I picked the best one you know.  

Caleb is in love with his cousin, Jay.  Wait, I'm completely and hopelessly in love with him too.  We wished they lived closer so we could see them more, but we oogled and oggled him as much as we could for those 3 days.

"Hey, baby Jay.  It's the claw!"

Reason #421 I love small towns:  The small town malls give free train rides to the kids so that people will show up and shop.  

We'll take it!  Plus, there was never ever a line and the boys rode on it constantly for 45 minutes.  

We ate, we shopped, we communed, we played, we baked, we thanked.  It was wonderful. 

Then we came home.  Caleb was really excited to set up the Christmas tree so we did.   Isaiah spent practically the entire time on time out because he wouldn't listen and kept touching the lights.  I'm starting to wonder if he secretly likes time-out.

I won't go into the Isaiah-listening-is-probably-hopeless situation because I could spend waaay too much time on that.  I'll just show you a really cute picture of Caleb putting ornaments on the tree.  That was his job and he did it with sincerity.

And I might have eaten a bit too much Thanksgiving turkey...

Isaiah got a hair cut!  His hair is curly at the ends so I've been putting this off forever in fear that the curls would go away and never come back.  But with the dry weather they weren't curly anyway so I chopped off the sides and the long pieces in the back. 

Here's before:

And here's after.  He hated the haircut, but it was worth it.  AND there's still curl!

We have a new piece of furniture in our kitchen.  Kyle and I ran to Lowes one day and bought a board, some hooks, and some braces.  It only cost us $16.  I think it looks really nice, and it makes getting to our pots SOOOO much easier.

That's the rundown.  

P.S.  What's the best teacher gift you've ever given or gave that's around $5-$8 bucks??  I need ideas.