Santa went crazy

Santa Claus was very good to us this year, basically spoiling hubby, me and Caleb rotten. We received gifts ranging from toy fire trucks to Thomas the Train lego sets to diapers to wine glasses (the wine glasses were for us), but no gift could compare to what our wonderful friends Pam and Rick delivered last night.

Earlier in the month, Pam asked me what Caleb needed for Christmas. I mentioned a few random items and then said, "but the best gift is when you babysit for us...Caleb loves spending time with you."

Pam and Rick have always been really generous in offering hubby and I nights out while they take care of Caleb. He adores them. Sometimes I even have to bribe him to fall asleep at night by promising that he'll get to see Pam and Rick the next day.  Needless to say, these friends have been a huge blessing in our lives.

So yesterday evening as we exchanged gifts, the final present that hubby and I opened was what appeared to be a photo album that holds 4x6 photos. Inside the photo album were 24 handcrafted coupons that read "Good for one night of babysitting with Pam and Rick." The coupons were themed for different events too, like celebrating a birthday or play date at the pool or a Father's Day out.  They expire on December 31, 2012.

Could there be a better gift? Or a more generous set of friends?

Icing on the cake

Hope all had a very Merry Christmas! Hubby, Caleb and I returned home after being away visiting family for the holidays. We drove to Morganton to visit with Grandpa and Grandma, as well as Bridget, Tim, Ian, and Sofia, and then went over the mountain to Tennessee to visit the Cuban family.  Because our schedules aligned perfectly for the first time in many years, we were able to spend three whole nights away instead of cramming all those holiday celebrations into one night as we usually do.

What a wonderful Christmas gift to have time off work together!

I have many special memories of this trip, though the first I'll share is the decorating of the Happy Birthday Jesus cake extravaganza that took place at my cousin's house, since Christ's birth is the REASON for the season!

Lindsey baked the yellow cake and iced it with plain white icing before guests arrived. Then Lauren,  Lindsey and Will very patiently instructed Madeline and Caleb in proper cake decorating techniques.

 

The finished product - it says "Happy B-Day Jesus," if you can't see the script through all the sprinkles.

 

 

Then we all gather round the table to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and to Bryce, whose birthday also falls on December 25th. I love this photo because it captures a grateful birthday boy, toasting his brother-in-law (my hubby - who is just an arm in this pic), while Madeline is clapping enthusiastically because she was successful in blowing out the candle, and Caleb's face is completely covered by a beer can. But if you could see it, he'd be drooling at the icing on the cake.

Pump Track, Puppy Dog, and a Park

This dreary Tuesday morning Caleb and I visited one of the playgrounds down the street to burn some energy before nap time. We've been cooped up in the house - Caleb off from school for the holiday break, me working from home due to his school closing. Excursions to the great outdoors are necessary during these times.

 

 

While playing on the playground adorned in our puppy dog halloween costume (Caleb won this fight before leaving the house), we noticed what looked like a dirt patch off in the distance. We just had to investigate.

It was basically some lumps of sandy dirt that formed a loop.  There was a succession of humps and bumps and mounds in it, as well as some deer tracks and bike tire tracks.  Then I noticed a sign that read:

I had never heard of a Pump Track, but then again, I'm not a big bike rider. I don't even own a bike, unless you count Caleb's orange tricycle.

I looked it up on the trusty old internet and found that pump tracks are a common destination for bike riders, professional and amateur. I guess they are the equivalent of a skate park for skaters? This one looks a bit dilapidated, but still a fascinating find for a Tuesday morning.

A change in scenery

In preparation for Baby Busbee #2, hubby and I have begun the process of turning Caleb's former nursery into a big boy room as well as creating a nursery out of the guest room. I'm not going to lie, it was a little bittersweet making this shift. Caleb's nursery had treated him well. But such is life.

So on Saturday, we (hubby) moved lots of furniture, sent a truck load of stuff off to goodwill, and vacuumed the floors many times.  Moving furniture really is disgusting. The nursery is still a major work in progress, but things are moving in the right direction.

Here is the bare bones nursery.

Here is "Baby Elmo" aka "Baby Natalie" in the crib.

All these changes in scenery prompted many questions by Caleb, and I think this is the first time he truly understood that there is a baby sister coming into the picture.  So for now, we are practicing taking care of a baby sister by taking care of Baby Elmo/Baby Natalie.

We swaddle her and play with her and put her down for naps. Occasionally she gets to join us at the dinner table - if Caleb allows. Baby steps.

And here is Caleb and the daddy man in Caleb's big boy room.  We still haven't chosen a new comforter for him, but I guess that's not a necessity. For the past few nights (since we've made the change) he has done really well in his new bed. He likes all the pillows, covers and sheets. 

I feel like this is a huge accomplishment and I'm glad we took the plunge. Now we'll have time to acclimate before March.

Cresset Christmas Performance

Caleb was in a Christmas performance at his school in which all the children (aged 2 through preschool) strutted their stuff on stage and "sang" a few songs.  Hubby was able to get most of the performance on video, in small, manageable clips. Caleb was right on the front row with the rest of his classmates, but getting a good filming angle proved difficult. I guess every parent really wanted to film their child, so heads and video cameras kept getting in the way.  Here is one small clip that shows Caleb performing with such remarkable talent. I am a proud mama.

The Cookery featuring The Parlour

When my friend Pam won tickets through the Stir-Crazy Moms Blog to attend a cooking class at The Cookery in downtown Durham, I was thrilled for her. When she invited me to tag along as her plus one, I was even happier!
We got to choose between different classes offered and narrowed down our selection to a chocolate class, which was taught by Vanessa Mazuz, owner of The Parlour, a local ice cream truck that opened this past year.
Pam and I were pretty excited; we'd be preparing French-style hot chocolate with caramelized white chocolate whipped cream, ginger-spice chocolate bark, and chocolate pepper cookies during the class. I was most excited to taste our creations, and to check out The Cookery. We were told we'd have to wear hair nets...so that was our biggest discouragement. hehe
Neither of us wanted to bring along our professional cameras because we just wanted to enjoy the experience and it is really hard to do so when playing photographer.  Pam however, did bring her smaller digital and snapped a few quick shots for us, which I'll be featuring on this page.  Thank you Pam!

 

Chocolate pepper cookies, cooling on plates - these were phenomenal and had the warm gooey texture of freshly baked brownies.

Ginger-spice chocolate bark, topped with candied ginger and drizzled with white chocolate spiced with cardamom.  DIVINE!

Pam and I, no hair nets ended up being required as long as our hair was pulled back.

 Parlour owner Vanessa scooping out servings of the french-style hot chocolate.

The french style hot chocolate was the one menu item I thought I might pass on.  Come to realize it was heavenly as well.  I guess I hadn't had hot chocolate in about a decade.  If you make it well, it is thick and creamy and frothy and addictive.

 

Extra servings of bark and cookies to take home with us.  

I will now be experimenting with bark very soon, perhaps today.

Thank you Pam for inviting me. I really enjoyed this experience!

Dean Family portraits

I was recently asked to photograph the Dean Family for some last-minute holiday portraits.  I met the Deans about a year and a half ago through my church and have grown quite close to these three.  Baby Magdalene was born in spring of 2011 and has been a charming addition to their family. She joins us for our bible study group every week and always has a smile on her face. When I was asked to do the portraits, I knew this would be a great photo session and a fantastic family to photograph. 

We opted to do the photos at our church between Sunday School and the worship service; there was only a small window of opportunity - but the family was flexible and and easy to work with.  Our church is full of gorgeous, natural light, large windows and wide expanses of hallway.  We are all quite satisfied with the resulting portraits.  Thank you to the Deans for allowing me this opportunity.

My first art show

Being a vendor at an art show is something I have wanted to do for quite some time in order to help advertise Melanie Busbee Photo.  So when an opportunity at my church practically fell into my lap (in the form of a church bulletin announcing an art show), I had to jump. 

The Church of the Good Shepherd hosted its very first Women in Arts showcase last Saturday, and all members of the female ministry were invited to attend as artists and display their work.  When I called to register, the organizer said they hadn't even considered a photographer - most other vendors would be painters, jewelry makers, knitters/crocheters, musicians, etc.  I was excited and eager.

I prepped by getting many prints together for sale, having hubby build some large displays for framed prints and canvas enlargements, updating my portfolio, and printing pricing cards and coupons, etc.  My plan was to sell matted prints, take orders for canvas enlargements, and to book photo sessions.  At that point I hadn't even realized the value of just getting my name out there.

The day of the sale rolled around and I was lucky to have hubby help me set up and my dear friend Pam, who also owns her own photo business, stand by my side for the duration of the art show.  She's a trooper.  We stayed busy chatting with attendees, handing out cards, selling a few prints, and taking a peek at the other goods for sale.  All the other vendors were extremely talented!  I wanted to spend a lot of money, and I'll be more prepared to do so next year if the church hosts another art show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The talented gals from the vendor table beside mine.  Beautiful jewelry!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to have been represented among such talented and gifted artists.  And, I am happy to have my first art show under my belt. A big thank you to CGS and to friends and family who have supported me along the way.