Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A unique version of Jingle Bells

I watched a video of my friends daughter singing Jingle Bells which reminded me I had yet to record Keenan singing Christmas songs this year. He sings them nonstop. It's pretty funny. However he started singing Jingle Bells and then switched over to his own words to the tune of Jingle Bells all on his own. I was cracking up. Eric is sleeping - can't wait to show him this one!!!

In case you were wondering, this little boy bit Keenan at school yesterday and he has a big mark on him. We were talking about it with him earlier today as in "Did _____ bite you???, but certainly not singing about it in any way!

Christmas Pictures

I will never go to picture people again since I visited Portrait Innovations last year. They are AWESOME and priced great. They take a ton of shots of your children with props, no probs, a bunch of different backgrounds and even welcome a change of clothing. Like picture people you get your portraits back fast BUT it's much cheaper! You can pick any pose you like and get a HUGE package for $9.99. After that they have small packages per pose at $16 but they include 3 sheets! Now I wouldn't recommend going during Christmas because it's a nightmare but any other time I suggest you try it! We are on a tight budget so we just got a shot of the kids and a family shot. Why is it that you always look 100 lbs heavier in pictures? Ugggg.....Oh and Keenan was soooo cooperative (yeah right) that the picture of the 2 of them was the best pick of them even though they both have goofy faces on.

Lowes Workshop

A friend on my baby board mentioned something about a "grow and build" Lowes workshop she was going to with her son. It sounded fun and was free so I checked the site out to see if the Lowes here in NJ did anything like that. Indeed they did! The age recommendation was for 6 yrs and up but I figured Cayden could pretty much handle it. It was building a gingerbread house out of wood. We went with a friend and another child and both girls had a blast! You got a little pack of precut wood pieces, nails, and stickers. Oh, and of course instructions LOL. They gave the kids mini hammers to use and some goggles (although Cayden didn't get to wear goggles because they were all being used already). It was really neat and I'll surely be looking into more workshops at Lowes in the future. Here are a few pictures of Cayden building her gingerbread house and the finished product:

Cat Tales

The day after Keenan's birthday we were faced with a unforseen tragedy. Eric was at work and I went upstairs to open the windows as there was a beautiful breeze. I walked by our cat Saturn and noticed our other cat Sambucca was standing next to him acting odd. Saturn appeared to be sprawled out on his side sleeping, in a spot and position I had seen him in many times. I opened the window, walked by again and noticed something was off. To make a long story short, Saturn was not alive. We have no idea what happened to him as he was only 7 yrs old. That's pretty young for a cat. It was devestating. He was a 21st birthday gift to me from Eric and had lived with Eric and I as a couple in every place we've been. When Cayden found out the news she was sooo upset. It was awful. He was a family member to us and we all grieved over the loss. We told her one day we'd get a kitten and we still had Sambucca (who will be 7 on Christmas day). Well last week a friend got a call from a friend of a friend who had 3 kittens she wanted to get rid of. So......I surprised Cayden with an early Christmas gift whom she has become quite attached to. He is so sweet and calm and only 8 weeks old. The new kitty loves her and sleeps on her lap and everything. She named him. Meet........

Bolt

2 hours of pure bliss!

Eric had to be in work early tonight and as he was leaving for work I was whining how I needed to go Christmas shopping and that I really needed to go out and do it ALONE. A few mins later I got a text from him saying his mom would be over at 5:30 and would watch the kids for 2 hours for me. Gosh I love this man! So my mother in law arrived at 5:25 and I scooted right out the door. I can't believe I'm going to say this but yes being in an overcrowded mall full of crazy shoppers was like a little taste of heaven. No stroller to squeeze through those ridiculously small stores my neices will only wear clothes from. No kids squealing and knocking crap off the shelf in the poorly laid out tiny disney store while I wait in a never ending line (they were having an awesome sale!). No prying children from the television set at Gymboree. No snots to wipe (well other then my own), no mouths to feed, no questions to answer.....it MUST be Christmas.

The only downfall to my alone time was that my hands and arms ached from holding all the bags. I should have been one of those nutty people who brings in the stroller anyway just to hold my crap. I can't believe how much I got accomplished. I am in the best mood I've been in for weeks. I think I need to get a life and get out more often!