Visions of Sugar Plums...

... danced in their heads.


I got a new (to me) dslr camera a few weeks ago. I have been having a great time learning how to use it, and about photography overall. I'm happy to say that I haven't used the manual mode at all! I'm trying to dive right in and figure it all out.

Anyways, since having this fancy camera - I've been taking pictures of pretty much everything. So, naturally when Andrew fell asleep one morning while the sun was coming up (he had previously woken up at 4...) I made to sure capture it!

I love that little guy. I'm so glad he's ours. He makes our family so complete. I couldn't imagine life without him! Come on, look at those cute lips??

Launching my NEW SHOP!

I just opened an Etsy Shop!

It's called Elmwood Avenue. You should seriously go check it out. Right. Now. :-)

www.elmwoodave.etsy.com




THANKS!

Thanksgiving Break

We had a very nice week. Morgan was off of school the entire week of Thanksgiving - so we headed to my parents house to enjoy it. We had a small Thanksgiving Dinner - my grandparents, my parents, and us. Although it was small - it was great. We also spend a good bit of time with Rachel and her family as well as Dan and Kim! We were so happy that they were out here for Thanksgiving. We had not seen them since the summer - it was a nice treat to have them in town.

Although it was a nice week - all three of us managed to get sick - thankfully it didn't really set in for Morgan and I until Friday. (but now I have laryngitis) I'm just glad that it wasn't a repeat of last Thanksgiving (we had to take Andrew to urgent care due to an ear infection) This year I found out how grateful I am for Ear Tubes! Andrew's cold has just remained a cold - no following ear infection (this really is a first for him)

We ate way to much pie - Apple Pie from Ellijay, Blueberry made by Morgan, and Pumpkin made by yours truly. The next few weeks we're going to have to be super good before all the yumminess of Christmas is in full swing.

My mom and I also ventured out at 3:30 am on Black Friday. We got EVERYTHING we wanted - whoo hoo! It was crazy, but actually a lot of fun.

Anyways, we had a great Thanksgiving - this month I've been reflecting on all the many blessings I have in my life - too many to count. I hope that all of you had a great Thanksgiving.

Now... time to get the tree up!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We had a nice time at my parents house this weekend. We had fun trick or treating and eating lots of yummy food. Here are some pictures from the evening.

Morgan, Me, and our Little Raccoon.


We chose to make Andrew into a raccoon this year. I had a lot of fun making his costume. We chose a raccoon, for well.... if you spend any amount of time with him, you'll understand. He gets into everything!


Here are the McKinney Cousins. Mr. Raccon, Buzz Lightyear, and Super Girl.
Note: Andrew eating a cookie. He probably had 5 tonight. The kid was all over the cookies tonight. Needless to say, we'll be sweets free for a while.


Taking Andrew trick or treating! He had a great time. It was fun to go in the neighborhood I grew up in. Lots of fun memories....

Lastly, my pumpkin I carved. What a happy jack-o-lantern.

I hope that all of you had a great weekend!

Mountain Home...

...take me home.... to the place, I belong! (sorry, John Denver was in my head!)

We went up to my grandparent's Mountain Home in Ellijay last weekend. We had SUCH a nice time. Although it was a quick trip, we had a wonderful time being there with my grandparents. Andrew had such a blast going up and down the stairs, and snooping around and finding all types of things to play with. The weather was great, the leaves were just barely starting to turn, and the air had a nice crispness to it. We also made sure to stop and get some fresh picked apples, and boy... are they good! We LOVE being up there. We can't wait to get back up there!

My grandparents had the stuffed RCA dogs. Andrew got a kick out of them. Andrew made sure to line up his toys and admire them on the stairs!

I love seeing these two photos. My grandparents have had this rocking horse for as long as I can remember. Andrew LOVES it. The pic on the left is July 2009... he was just learning how to stand holding onto things, right is Oct 2010... able to giddy up on the horse. He's growing up TOO fast!

Thanks grandma and grandpa! We had a great time, and can't wait to get back up there!