"Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree"

So this Christmas Tree Cake didn't look quite as good as I had hoped but it was still fun to make with Brody yesterday. He loves to help me cook in the kitchen but all he wants to do is make sweets. I am never going to lose this baby weight if I keep eating all Brody's goodies.

My Sweets

This is actually the after shot of the picture below it. Brody was holding Brooklyn and because she is such a big girl and weighs probably half of Brody, they toppled over. Brooklyn was scared, Brody was cracking up and I was too. It was quite funny. After

Before

My baby girl loves to smile and coo. Lately she has been talking my ear off. She looks at me with her big blue eyes and smiles then she starts to slobber. That's when I know she is going to start a conversion. She blows lots of spit bubbles and is just too cute for words.

Brody has been such a good boy lately. So much better behaved than a few months ago. I guess our stricter discipline is working....I hope. He is so excited to go see his grandma and grandpa on a airplane tomorrow. He has asked me everyday for a week if we could go. His favorite songs right now are "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "I'm so Glad when DADDY comes home." He has asked for a basketball hoop for Christmas from Santa. (My thoughts---oh great another BIG toy! Just what we need in our tiny place.) He loves to see all the Christmas lights in our neighborhood and asks if we can drive by a particular one every time I am in the car. All I can say is he is overwhelmingly cute.

My sweets are so much fun. I love them to pieces. And I hope that they all have the best Christmas ever.

A Special Thank You!

So this morning I woke up to the most wonderful surprise. Josh stayed home and made me breakfast in bed. I know that he is stretched thin for time right now as he has a big test tomorrow, so it was a big sacrifice. It brought tears to my eyes. I know silly emotional me. But it meant so much to me that he would put my needs above his own during this stressful time in his life. I know he could very well have used the time to study more. So honey, thank you for all that you do for me. Thank you for making me feel loved and special. I love you!

Cleaning on a TIGHT BUDGET!

Well, anytime I go out of town for a long time one of my favorite things to do is come home to a clean house. So the past couple of days I have been doing a lot of organizing and cleaning. However, since we are on such a tight budget, I didn't have any money left to spend for this week and I had no cleaning supplies. So I looked online for some homemade cleaning supplies (besides the usual watered down bleach) and I was pleasantly surprised at the end results. I used white vinegar and hot water for my tile floors and already used dryer sheets for the dusting and polishing of my wooden furniture. The vinegar smelled yucky but it worked. The dryer sheets worked amazing. I will definitely be using that one again. You should try it and tell me what you think. If you have any more ideas for homemade cleaning supplies that work great, let me know!

Good Luck Honey!

With Josh in the full swing of finals I took pity on him and decided to make him a finals survival basket. Lots of caffeine, goodies, and food for the week that I am gone. Josh I am so proud of your efforts and we all love you so much.

Josh Christmas Gifts

Honey- I love you with all my heart. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I know I will with you by my side. Thank you for giving me your heart four years ago and for allowing me to love you with mine. You are my everything. Thank you for your constant encouragement and support. Thank you for being my best friend and strength when I am weak. Thank you for working so hard for our family so that I can stay home and raise our children. Thank you for being a wonderful father and husband. Merry Christmas my love.

Kicking Myself

Well two days ago I had one of those days where I was in a hurry, rushing out the door, and low and behold I locked the front door and shut it. Immediately I knew...I said to myself, "Oh NO!" I had forgot to grab the keys on the way out. I locked Brody and Brooklyn and me outside of the house. And of course the house key is with the car keys as well. So it was about 40 degrees outside and windy, I called Josh first thing and he didn't answer. So I said a quick prayer and I thought the only other person to call would be the rental company. I called them and told them my situation. They said that they would call me right back and let me know if someone was even in our area to come and let me in the house. Thankfully there was an old man that came to our rescue. We ended up having to be outside in the cold for only twenty minutes. And luckily I did have the kids' hats and mittens. Now here is the part of the story where I wanted to kick myself. My mom had told me when she came for Brooklyn's birth that I needed to make a copy of the house key and hide it. I said okay mom. She told me that she didn't want me to have to go through what she went through countless times of leaving the keys in the house or the car. Well of course I listened but didn't actually do what my mother told me to do. I called her right after the sweet old man let us back in the house and told her what happened. She said, "Cami, I am your mother, you need to listen to me." MOM--I hear you now! I will get a key made this week so that never happens again. I am just grateful that we were not outside for a longer period of time and that I had food, warm clothes for the kids, and toys to occupy them until we were rescued.