What's been keeping me so quiet?

Slaving away in the Bell Sweatshop. I can't post all of what I've been working on, but here are two of the big ones.

A playhouse for Kinley:

It's supposed to be a barn/farmhouse. One day it will have a hay loft above that door with a rooster. Probably not before Christmas however.

Horse and apple tree. The apples are on with Velcro, so she can pick them. We may have lemons or oranges in the summer.

The cow's in the corn. ;) The corn cobs, carrots and lettuce are all made so she can pick them.

On the back, a piggy, window and flowers.

This thing was a pretty big task. The biggest one was finding time when Kinley was sleeping and Heather able to come down and help. Without her this thing wouldn't be nearly as cute or finished at all. Kinley is one lucky girl to have Miss Heather love her so much. :)

And the pile of pepper quilt:

It's just the quilt top right now but hopefully I can get it all finished up before Christmas. It has been a nightmare tracking down enough shirts to make this thing...including having to tell Drew about it when an eBay seller was trying to scam me. So sad it isn't a surprise, but I have a feeling this will be the most appreciated thing I've ever sewn which makes it totally worth it.

Storytime Special Visitor

Kinley and I started going to story time about a year ago. It is one of our favorite activities for the week. This week's story time was extra exciting. Kinley's first visit with Santa.

She was a little unsure about the jolly ole fellow at first:Then he read Twas the Night Before Christmas and she warmed up a little:

He did the Teddy bear song with them:

Sang if you're happy and you know it (her face was surely showing it):

And then it was time to go sit on his lap. She's not so sure anymore:

What do ya think? Worthy of the Christmas card?

Ms. Debbie, Santa and Ms. Elizabeth

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We can't have a holiday without a pair of ruffle pants can we?You can't really see them, but those are candy canes on the green fabric. I also made two pairs of khaki and brown corduroy ruffle pants the same night. Drew promptly staged an intervention the next morning. No more ruffle pants for Kinley, he says she has enough. :(
We finally found a tree and got all the trimmings set out. Including this guy:

We inherited this last year. It was one of Drew's favorites growing up. Aunt Tava and Uncle Jim kept him safe and sound all these years. To be totally honest, I must admit he creeps me out a little, but Kinley apparently takes after her daddy. She loves him.
I'm hoping she loves the live Santa at the library on Wednesday just as much, and we can get her first photo with Santa. In Walmart on Saturday, they were doing free photos with Santa, but Kinley wouldn't even let go of Drew let alone sit in his lap. He still gave her a candy cane which she enjoyed while we shopped. It's amazing how quickly she picks up and remembers things now. One taste of candy cane was all it took.Good thing she got a few at the McDonough Christmas parade, so she can stay out of the supply on the tree. I must say the parade was the coldest and longest parade I've ever experienced, but it was still a good time. No surprise but Kinley enjoyed the marching bands and horses the most. The rest of the time she sat frozen stiff in my lap.
Thank you JT for the chair and Jen for the blanket. I don't know what we would have done without them!

Time flies!

I've just realized how quickly Christmas will be upon us, and I haven't even shared our Thanksgiving photos.
Trying to tame Kinley's hot mess of hair before heading to Nana and Grandpa's. She thinks it's funny apparently.

Feeding Uncle Kev some grapes:
The three Bell girls of this generation. I have a feeling they may give us more trouble than the original Bell girl, Aunt Gin. Just look at those faces, all three pleading innocence despite the throwing of objects that was taking place just seconds earlier.

Enjoying some pumpkin pie that will likely be the last anyone in this family eats for awhile. She got sick the next morning from it while I was out shopping. It's actually a good thing it happened while I wasn't home because daddy is much more able to deal with cleaning up those kinds of messes.

Loot from said shopping trip. Down to just a few gifts for the adults in our families.

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday with my family. It's always interesting to get all three kiddos together at once. I believe Nate is both Kinley's and Merritt's favorite person in the world. See how they are both enthralled by him?

We attempted to get a group shot of the grandkids. None of them turned out any good except maybe for a laugh. Here's the first try:

And take eleventeen (can you tell they are done?):

Cookie Monster

Not only does Kinley love watching him on Sesame Street, but she also imitates him. She shoves food in while saying yum, yum ,yum if you ask her how Cookie eats. Heaven forbid you leave the package of cookies out on the counter where she can see them. Today was an extra special treat:

Kinley meets Oreos:This was my shameless attempt at keeping her awake on the way home this afternoon. If it hadn't of been raining like cats and dogs I would have gotten a picture while we were driving and she was asleep sucking on the oreo. Instead I waited till we were safe at home in the garage. I failed miserably at keeping her awake for the car ride, however I'm sure the sugar will keep her up the rest of the afternoon.