Secret Santa Cami!

This post is all for Cami - may she always have love and joy in her life!

Cami - you are truley one of the best people I've had the pleasure of getting to know in the world...even though we've never meet IRL! You are spunky, funny, filled with love, generous, beutiful inside and out, insightful, observant, intelligent, fun to be around and all around completely awesome!

Thank you for sending me such a sweet gift! I came home one day to a package on my front porch. I wasn't expecting it, the packages I was anticipating had already arrived. The package had my name on it. I opened the shipping box, and inside was a familiar packaging of the fabulous San Fancisco Music Box Company.

I opened it up..hehehe...perhaps I should have waited for Christmas morning....but I'm as bad as a kid! I'll admit it! I'm glad I did open it, it was a gorgeous mini waterglobe ornament with an angel and it has a silver star that hangs from it! :) It works so well on the tree...it's gorgeous...and the girls love pushing the button to hear it play music, especially Abby. I had no idea who this was from and I kept asking all my local friends! :) Turns out it was my dear friend Cami! Which by the way I got her card with her kids picture (they're so gorgeous!!!) So again, Thank you Cami!!!!! You are so sweet!!!

Christmas Stuff

Christmas Shopping
Catherine (Check)
Abby (Check)
Bobby (Check)
Catherine's Stocking (Check)
Abby's Stocking (Check)
Bobby's Stocking (1/2 a Check)

Just a few more items then I'm completely done! :) Yeah!!!!

I'm not hard to buy for....I'll take a gift card to Starbucks! ;P ......Did I just say that?!
Anytips for the hard to buy person...please let me know...besides a gift card...what would be a fun gift to open on Christmas Day????? There's someone I need to buy for (I can't give it away - they may be reading this) and I'm fresh out of ideas!



I've got to pick up a couple items for a few friends up here and them I'm completely done! I love how in just one or two shopping days, I get a lot accomplished! One more run and I'll be done. I enjoy this time of year, and I don't stress over the shopping...it's a thrill to pick out things for others.

I've got lots of gifts wrapped and under the tree already...all in coordinating paper from Target...it looks pretty cool! :)



I've got over 50 Christmas Cards filled out and addressed....most went into the mailbox today (I've got to pick up some more stamps, and some will be hand delivered). I didn't make them this year...I used three designs...I found some really cute ones. I kept thinking of more and more people I wanted to spread some Christmas Cheer to! :)


What do my girls love on a cold winter day? Hot Chocolate!
...and it's even better with a peppermint candy cane! The girls were home today because of the very icy weather....so we had a fun day of watching some great Christmas movies and drinking hot cocoa...then they left me for the afternoon playing at a friends house down the street.

This little guy here is holding a belly full of mini candy canes instead of cookies. :) I wonder how long they'll last....

Enjoy all your Christmas preparations and traditions!

Christmas Movies

Okay, so I'm going to try and update more often....which means you're going to see a lot more random stuff! :)

Christmas Movies
There are many movies going on during the month of December....lots of old classic animations (Rudolph, Grinch, Frosty, Santa Claus, Charlie Brown Christmas, etc...) classic movies (Miracle on 31st St, Winter Wonderland, etc...) and fun newer ones (Santa Baby, Hallmark movies, Polar Express, etc...). Hopefully everyone will get the chance to watch at least one during the season...whatever floats your boat...if it's Lampoons Christmas, The Christmas Story, The Santa Claus....I hope you get the chance to watch one with a hot cup of cocoa! :)

Baby it's cold outside!

I love that song BTW! :) Besides the classics, two of my all time favorite Christmas songs is Baby it's cold outside, and Santa Baby! Sexy little Christmas songs! :)

Well, it's snowing already, Christmas lights are up and shining. All the Christmas decorations are up, boxes put away.....candles from my PartyLite candle party came in.....it's a happy household in PA!

I had our PTO meeting tonight, I've got a book committee meeting here at the house tomorrow night. We have our Holiday Shop at school at the end of the week which I'll be helping with. The girls will do their shopping for each other and for a few friends. So lots of stuff going on.

I had the family out and about on Sunday morning...first we went to Target to look for a star or snowflake to hang outside between the two windows upstairs. Then we were off to take pictures of the girls in front of cool buildings downtown. I didn't take any with my digital camera, all with my Rebel....they were cold and wimped out before I was done, so the roll isn't complete yet. I'll take more pictures of them this weekend then have them developed.

Here's one quick one I took with my crappy digital camera inside...which makes for a horrible shot....

I've wimped out this year and bought Christmas cards. I just don't know where I'd find the time or energy to create them this year. They're cute though so I'm happy with them. There was one more design that I completely fell in love with, but didn't buy them....I may have to go back and pick them up....every time I hear one of my two favorite songs I think of those cards. I may just have to find an excuse to go out shopping tomorrow and get them.....or Wednesday for sure, since I'll be close to that particular store after I drop the kids off at their Awana Clubs.

Oh, I picked up a cute star at Target to go on the top of the tree....the only problem is, that it's really heavy and doesn't want to stay up there! Grmppfhhhhhh..............If anyone knows of any suggestions please fill me in!!!! The cord isn't long enough to plug into the light plugs (pre-lit tree), so we've got to get another extension cord to make it light up.

The girls wanted new stockings so I picked up theirs....but didn't get Bobby and I a new one yet...because otherwise that alone would have been $50! ARggghhhhh why must everything be so expensive?!? After Christmas I'll look for a new tree skirt that's white/silver...that way the next time I decorate the tree in all silver/white/clear it will look a little more polished! :)

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was very nice, I prepared all 5 pies and sweet potatoes the day before. I only had to make the caramel sauce and whipped cream (adding a little sour cream into heavy whipping cream and powder sugar makes a huge difference - very yummy!). We spent the day with Jake & Becky and their family. The girls had a great time playing with Jake and Abby - they said it was the best Thanksgiving ever! :)

Friday I pulled everything out of the storage closet, so that when Bobby got home from work we could set up the tree. Yeah I didn't do the Black Friday shopping. I got the white/pink tree set up in the girls room (so adorable).

By the end of the weekend I had everything decorated and cleaned back up. All that's left is for Bobby to add the lights outside. I've already put up the garland around the front window on the porch...so not much left to do......we just have to wait for the weekend because it's dark by the time he gets home from work...it gets dark so early!

I'll take some pictures this weekend hopefully and upload them. I can't wait to see see how everyone else is decorating this year. Oh big news in our household.....I got to decorate the tree in my choice this year - First time I've had my way in my entire life!!!!!!!!!!!! Wo-hoo! :)
Using our tall skinny pre-lite (clear lights) tree, all I have on is white/silver ornaments - mainly all snowflakes, icicles, silver shiny balls, and starts........it's gorgeous! :) I love it (Thank you Bobby for giving in this year!) Bobby and the girls miss the colored lights, but they can have them back next year! :)

Have a great weekend!!!! Ours is jammed pack hanging out with friends and doing lots of great family stuff.

Thanksgiving Preperations

I've got to run to the store soon and pick up my baking supplies for all the pies that I'll be making, plus my "famous" sweet potatoes with caramel sauce. My recipe was requested my 3 more people this year. I decided to finally make it a pretty recipe card.

I've been wanting to make a mini Thanksgiving album. I want to include my family recipes, pictures, and little blessings that we have every year. One of these days I'll make it!

This year we are celebrating the day with the only family that we have in the state, our dear cousins Jake & Becky and their two kids Jake & Abby. We're looking forward to it, it will be fun, with lots of great food, games, and just visiting with them. The girls enjoy having family here, and they love Jake and Abby so much it's unreal! Around the holidays especially I wish that our girls were closer to their cousins - they have so many.

Enjoy getting ready for the holiday meal - remember to not stress over it and enjoy the whole process. Love to all!

And with Thanksgiving in thought, I did a fun layout using some shabby princess papers to participate in the CALL TO ACT challenge by the Digi Chick. It was fun to create something and share my love for volunteering at the girls' school.

Here's what I said when I uploaded my page...

"When I'm asked what hobbies I enjoy I always reply "Scrapbooking" but my husband is quick to correct me saying "She likes to scrapbook, but she's to busy helping others to scrapbook. Volunteering is her hobby!" I guess he's right. I'm always quick to sign up and help out wherever needed. I'm the PTO President, and I'm on the committee that makes sure every student receives free books throughout the year. I help organize lots of fun activities as well as going into the classroom/library to help out. I volunteer an average of 20 hours a week, more when special events are happening. I have given food & monetary donations throughout the school years. - Way to many to scan and upload! :) Shabby Princess Festival Kit, as well as a few elements from other designers, Tape:Christina Renee

Mid-November

Wow, it's mid-November already! I can't believe how fast this year is going.

We had Parent/Teacher conferences last week....
-Catherine is such a good student through and through. I love going to her conferences because she just gets glowing reviews because she excels academically and she's such a good girl in class that the teachers love having her. Her report card was beautiful! :)
-Abby is doing better. She's making friends, following all the rules and loves school. Academically speaking, she struggles a little. Her teacher said that she just has to find a way to reach Abby because she's a stubborn learner (for example, if she thinks she doesn't know something, she'll say "I don't know that" and shuts off her brain from actually trying to learn it). She's struggling with her alphabet/sounds but on one test about math concepts she completely excelled where the rest of class didn't grasp the content or the way the test was to be filled out (filling in the circles...it was a new concept for the kids). Hopefully, things will click and by next semester she'll be smooth sailing.

Our PTO provides a luncheon and dinner for the teachers during the conferences, so I made some coffee cake and a big thing of potato salad, then I helped set up Thursday morning.

The girls had a LONG weekend (Abby had Wed - Mon off, Cat had Thur- Mon off) The weekend was so busy, we were going and doing things full throttle. We went out to eat, visited with friends, shopped, etc.... Oh, I'm extremely excited that I now wear a size 6 in pants! :) I had to go get new jeans (again) at Old Navy, I found a pair of "skinny" pants on clearance at the Gap - love that! I need new tops though....all my winter clothes are like tents...we got rid of most of them, but I need something to wear! :) I've got to pick up a few at a time though....going from size 14/16 down to 6 in a little over a year costs a lot of money in clothes by the way!

I spent yesterday cleaning up their bedroom - it was a major disaster area. I got interrupted and the job was put on hold, so today I plan to finish it. There is so much laundry to do now, because over half their closet was found on the floor and under their beds . Board games were found all over the place too....this is very unlike me, but I think I'll be throwing them all out and just starting over from scratch (sounds like good Christmas presents to me!).

Ever hear of PartyLite? They make wonderful candles. I went to a party years ago, and fell in love....the candles burn so clean - no soot at all! I went to a party just a few weeks ago, and booked a party off of it. So that's Thursday night.

Friday night I'll be going over to a friends house for a Silpada party. I've heard lots of good things about their jewelry, so I can't wait to see it in person.

Who knows what this weekend will hold, but I'm sure it will be busy, we seem to find ourselves very busy these days.