The Barnums: Thanksgiving goodness, Black Friday shopping,Elf on the Shelf, & Putting up the tree.

We started off Thanksgiving morning with my favorite Fall recipe, Pumpkin waffles with apple cider syrup. Mmmm!!!

We spent Thanksgiving at Braden's Aunt Susie's lovely home. It was nice to take a break this year & only have to make pies.

Which by the way, this was the first year I've ever made pumpkin pie.... And, I was VERY pleased with the Paula Deen recipe I chose. She add cream cheese which gave it a little more of a cheesecake texture. Really delicious! Oh, and of course I made my apple pie with cheddar cheese crust :)

That evening my girlfriend, Emily, & I decided to brave the Black Friday midnight madness. We started off at ToysRus at 9:00, but quickly left because the line was INSANE!

So we headed over to the mall where we parked, walked across the street to get our COFFEE FIX, & got a spot right in front sitting against the glass doors.

I scored a full size bag of Popcornopolis' Zebra for being one of the first 25 people there. LOVE this stuff!!

Unfortunately a half hour before the mall opened Emily got a call from her hubby to rush home due to a family emergency. Thank goodness everything was alright! So I was on my own. I got a few things at Gymboree & then stopped by my local Target for the best deals of the night. And, I made it home just a little bit after 2am.

8 games for $3.99 each & 7 Disney Princess Barbie dolls for $39.99. These were the actual items I had chose out of the BF Target ad.... I was so happy to find them in stock.

I had to at least try Black Friday. I figured if it was a fail then I got the whole idea out of my system, BUT I actual really enjoyed myself. Miss Emily & I are thinking about making a little tradition out of it. Hopefully she will be able to join me in the shopping part next year :)

Friday was the start of Elf on the Shelf, one of the most fun traditions that we do around this home.