here comes santa claus

Today was Hamilton's Santa Claus Parade. Caleb, my dad and I went out in the frigid ccccold to see "SANTA"!!!!
Caleb had a blast! I don't think he knew what was going on with all the marching bands and people giving him candy....kinda like Halloween but they were dressed up and it was really loud.
Well, it was no Macy's Parade but Caleb didn't seem to mind...he loved watching the parade and was so excited to know that Santa was coming. He loved the miniature horses and all the dogs.
It was so cold but a lot of fun. We snuggled under a blanket and watched the parade while my dad chickened out and stayed in the car most of the time.
Anyway, I am still cold and so very tired. Enjoy the pics!
Good night!

my little monster

This is my little monster!!!
Everytime I say the word monster to him, he goes, "Cookie, Cookie, Cookie".
Yes Caleb does like cookies and he loves Cookie Monster but it's not quite what I am thinking when he is getting into everything!
I put his hair in a little faux-hawk today and it looked so cute! I just love this mischievous look that he has in this picture...he does it quite often.
He is a stinker but I don't think I could love him more than I do!
Caleb just cracks me up! He has quite the personality already.
Well I just wanted to share these pics of Caleb with you all and a picture of me for my hubby.

I love you Gene:)

scents

I am probably known more for my love of "fruity scents" more than any other scent.

I love the smell of red grapefruit, fresh lemons, and oranges. My favorite perfume is the Body Shop's mango/peach perfume. When I had a garbage disposal I loved putting lemons in...it just smelled so clean and fresh!
I am not much of a floral scent fan...although I LOVE the lovestruck candle from Gold Canyon!!
Well recently I have become a little obsessed with a couple other scents...
PINESOL and VICKS!!!
I have washed my floor 3 times this week...well actually twice, I am about to wash it for the 3rd time. I love the smell of Pinesol washed floors! I don't like it so overwhelming that you can't breathe but ahhh....I do love that clean smell!
Then there is Vicks...Caleb has been sick for about a week so he's been getting the vapor baths and Vicks on his chest and feet. I even bought the Vicks kleenex. I haven't let Caleb use the kleenex but I love it!
Is that weird?
There are plenty of scents that I don't like, as I am sure you all can think of a few stinkers out there. Aside from the obvious, I hate the smell of coffee!!! It just makes me ill. I could never work in a Tim Hortons. I also cannot stand a strong cinnamon smell...like the ones at Walmart by the craft section. Everyone seems to have either a pine or cinnamon scent at Christmas time, yucky!!! I like pinesol but not pine...it's like a car freshener. Cinnamon could be okay if it wasn't overpowering and then there is potpourri...I am shuddering at the thought.
Okay this may sound crazy...well Gene thinks that it is weird that when I burn my Strawberry Shortcake Gold Canyon candle, it makes my teeth hurt. It seriously does! It is so sweet that it gives me a toothache if it's burning too long.
So what are some of your favorite scents?

Here are my Top Ten Faves

• My husband, Gene

• Babies, especially mine

• Lemons

• Ruby red grapefruit

• the rain

• Mango/peach perfume

• Chocolate/Freshly baked desserts

• Pinesol

• Fresh cut flowers (not the artificial scents)

• Vicks

lists

I am a list maker. I love lists!!!
I do get so much more accomplished by making lists.
Recently I have been trying to get more organized and thinking about all the things I need to get done here and in Arizona...
Let me share some of the things that are actually written on my list

• finish and print out tags for Christmas
• get haircut
• sterilize pacifiers
• organize ipod/itunes
• finish book on shutterfly
• print out pics
• put pics on memory stick
• Caleb's immunizations
• blog
• unpack/organize upstairs
• laundromat
• budget
• organize/collect recipes
• make lists-home(individual & room to room), Christmas(gifts/cards), groceries, wants/needs, stuff to sell on ebay, packing

Seriously!!! As I was doing some of the many things on my list. The above is just a sampling folks...anyway, as I was crossing off some stuff I realized that I am obsessed with making lists...so much that on my list of things to do is "make lists" of lists! What is with that?!!

Do any of you have this problem? I thought it was kinda funny when I realized it.

Well I better run, I am almost done my shutterfly book. Thank you Caleb for taking a longer than usual nap...still sleeping and it's been 2.5 hours:) He is sick so he needs it!

Well happy Wednesday all!

recipes

I recently tried a couple new recipes...very simple but oh, so yummy!!!
Amy gave me this idea that she had seen on Becky Higgins blog (I think)... Amy's looked so cute and yummy with rolos and m&m's on top of the pretzels.

I decided to go more with the turtle theme and put a caramilk squares on top of the waffle pretzels and then a pecan on top. Oh so GOOD!!!

You take a pretzel (I like the square ones) put a caramilk square or rolo on it. I put a pecan on top and baked them in a 350 degree oven for 4-5 minutes. Take them out when they are a little melty and look glossy. If you are putting m&m's on them, take them out of oven and then press an m&m into them.

Okay now for scrumptious thing I made today. My step-mother was making it a few months ago and it sounded so good. I didn't watch her make it but this is what I did...

Bake a pillbury pizza crust according to directions. (400 degrees for 8-10 min.)

Let cool down a bit and then spread crust with cream cheese. I then spread salsa,

chopped green peppers, tomatoes, and green onions and shredded cheese. Oh so YUMMY!!!

It's like the nacho dip but without the chips!

Anyway, two posts in one day...2 days in a row...I should be good for awhile:)

Have a great weekend!

my latest addiction

ebaY
Okay so I am so addicted to ebaY lately! I went on a month or so ago to check out webkinz. Why??? It's not like I collect webkinz or anything but I thought I would get the Choules kids each a webkinz. Well 13 webkinz later...but I got such good deals:)

Then there were the Christmas ornaments and Baby Einstein DVD's, which I already have 90% of...then the Baby Einstein books, sprinkles, and Precious Moments stuff...

Well now it's the magazine subscriptions! Who knew that ebaY had magazine subscriptions???

Let me share some of the deals I have got...

Parenting magazine $1.04/2 years

ESPN magazine $9.49/4 years

Tennis magazine $4.80/1 year

Scrapbooks Etc. magazine $6.25/1 year

Family Fun magazine $4.68/4 years
Family Fun magazine (gift) $8.98/3 years

and I am waiting to bid on...

Real Simple Magazine approx. $20.00/3 year subscription

Cooking with Paula Deen approx. $20.00/3 year subscription

Entertainment Weekly approx. $10.00/3 year subscription

Family Circle approx. $6.00/3 year subscription

Good Housekeeping approx. $5.00/3 year subscription

Martha Stewart Living approx. $18.00/3 year subscription

Isn't that sick? I already get quite a few magazines and just renewed a few more.

But look at those deals!!!!!!!!

HELP!!!

Amy

I have been planning this post for a few weeks now but wanted to get a few things together and make it a little more special. I wanted to do a post about one of my very best friends,
Amy Ferguson!
Amy is AWESOME!!!
She is the most thoughtful, compassionate person that I know! I don't know what I would have done without her these past few years. I am so lucky that she married an Arizona boy too:)
Let me tell you a few things that Amy has done for me...
(and this is just the last couple of years)
The day I found out I was pregnant, I received these beautiful daisies (my favorite)

Then she planned most of my shower and came up with such

cute ideas, like these water bottles.

When I had Caleb, she drove down from Holbrook by herself to

see our little bundle of joy.

She bought Caleb sooo much stuff...even before he was born she was buying books and things.

Amy and Eldon came down for Caleb's Blessing.

They helped take pictures...which Amy is the best at!

She took all the pictures of our wedding, which turned out awesome! Not only is Amy an amazing photographer but she is quite the scrapbooker. She is always coming up with such creative layouts. I introduced Amy to scrapbooking years ago but she has now become more the teacher than the student. We definitely help feed each other's addiction!

I love this picture of Amy and Caleb. It was taken this summer when Amy and Eldon came to Toronto. It's such a sweet picture of them looking out the hotel window at the construction across the street.

I have learned a lot from Amy...she is a great cook, scrapbooker, photographer, shopping companion, crafter, listener and FRIEND!

I have so much fun with her and

miss her tons!
What more can I say,

SHE IS AWESOME!!!

morning ritual

Today I thought that I would post our little morning ritual.

Usually Caleb gets up around 7am (some days I wish it were 7am) and if I am still really sleepy, I put on a Baby Einstein movie. That gives me another 20 minutes to wake up.

Then Caleb gets a diaper change,

(Yeah, not sure about the potty training thing right now)

I only started the potty training thing because my kid

takes off his diaper all the time!!!!

I will try again but not right now. I am in no hurry personally

but he seems to be taking an interest...we'll see.

Anyway we then come downstairs.

This week all Caleb has wanted for breakfast is an

orange and cookies.

I usually try to sneak a yogurt in there as well. If I have breakfast...on the rare occasion, which is so bad of me, I usually have granola. Then we get washed up and I check my email while Caleb

watches his 2 favorite shows,

Curious George and Sesame Street.

We then read books and play for a bit and get ready for our day. Often we listen to Caleb's playlist on itunes and have so much fun singing and dancing.

Caleb's Playlist

"A" You're Adorable
Shake Your Sillies Out
Skinnamarink
Brush Your Teeth
Elmo's Song
If You're Happy and You Know It
Head, and Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
I Don't Want to Live on the Moon
Old MacDonald
Wheels on the Bus

It's nothing exciting but that is what we do.

Have a good day!!! It's Friday!!!

shoes, snow, Santa and Dora

This is my handsome boy all dressed up sporting his new
hair gel. I tried to get a full length picture of him but it's so hard to get pictures of him these days as he is sooooo busy! He's always on the go!
I bought him these new shoes, which I think are so stinking cute. He loves them. Everytime I put them on him, he goes to the tile and starts dancing and stomping his feet. He's worn robeez most of the summer so he loves the sound of the hard rubber soles. Today it snowed so hard...nothing on the ground but looked like a storm was coming in for sure. Caleb loved it! There were three words that he has repeated a million times today....SNOW!!! SANTA!!! and DORA!!!

He yelled sNoW everytime we were outside, which was plenty of times as we were running errands all morning. He is totally obsessed with Santa. With the Christmas season approaching there are plenty of Santa's everywhere!! Then there is Dora! He watched Dora the Explorer ONE TIME! He's a funny kid! Anyway, here's his new Santa I bought last week. It's appropriately a Canadian Santa....you press his foot and he plays the hockey theme. HEY!!!

Well goodnight all! It's now time to watch me some Grey's Anatomy:)