kicking off the holiday season, busy bag swap, family dinner

friday night thatcher hosted a lan party for a bunch of his buddies. if you don't know what that is, consider yourself lucky. haha. basically, a bunch of nerds people get together and connect their computers, so they can all play each other in a computer game. suuuuper nerdy :) but...i can't complain. i got to spend time with my sweet girl, and after she went to bed, i curled up on the couch in my pajamas and watched love actually! one of my favorite movies of all time. perfect end to the work week, if i do say so myself!

saturday we dropped azalea off at my parents', so we could run some errands. one thing i needed to do was pick up supplies to create 7 toddler 'busy bags" for a swap i was invited to that night. what's a "busy bag"? basically, it's a little activity kit, perfect for entertaining a toddler at a restaurant, on a plane, or even at home. each mom comes up with a concept and makes one for all the other moms attending the swap. then you get to take home a bunch of different busy bags. such an fun idea! here are my supplies and the finished project. i did a ribbon with a button sewn on the end and felt circles with a hole in them for "threading". 


that afternoon, we had our picture taken at my church for the photo directory. they do one like every 10 years and they are the super cheesy, studio photos. aside from being in the directory, we get a free 8x10, but we didn't even buy any others. haha. i have to give the photographer props for getting azalea to look at the camera and smile, though. he was a pro! here is what we wore:



saturday night we had thatcher's whole family over for dinner (10 people including us). we can barely fit that many in our house. :) we made super yummy sweet potato tacos. here are a couple pictures from the night:

 azalea playing with her uncle anders and her cousin jack

thatcher, his sister, and his mom

because i had already committed to the busy bag swap a few weeks back, i had to take off right after dinner. the swap was a lot of fun. i only knew 2 of the girls there, but we all ending up hanging out and chatting for 3 hours. i came home with some awesome busy bags for azalea. check 'em out:

a couple color-matching games, a pool noodle string-up, a fishing game, and more! 

sunday was a pretty relaxing day. my parents took azalea for a couple hours again, so i could have a little retail therapy with my friend kelli, and thatcher could get some stuff done outside. kelli and i went to southdale for a couple hours. i get giddy at the prospect of an adult shopping trip these days. being the mom of a toddler will do that to you. :) i found a couple cute shirts and had fun just hanging out with kelli. azalea took a 3 hour nap in the afternoon, so i was able to get some cleaning done and bum around on the computer. i hate how early it gets dark now...it's gonna be a long winter in that regard :( i was ready for bed at like 6:30pm (no, I didn't go). 

Comments

Carolyn said…
I love the idea of busy bags! So smart!
~Dawn~ said…
That busy bag swap is genius - such neat ideas to keep the kiddos occupied for awhile.

Sounds like a nice weekend spent with friends and family!!! :)
ajs {of MN} said…
what a fun idea! i need to be apart of something like this!

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