Wordless Wednesday

I'm not sure if you heard, but a snowstorm rolled through Portage last night. It started around 4 and lasted for about 4 hours. And in those 4 hours, about 2 inches of snow fell. Nothing too scary. Until 7, when the power went out. It went on and off twice, then finally went off for good about a minute later. Ugh. Nothing like living in the dark with 2 little kids (who are battling minor colds, by the way) that were looking forward to watching Rudolph on TV. Anyway, the rumor going around is that the snow (there wasn't a crazy amount) somehow knocked down power lines, and of course, we are always among the blessed folks that lose their power. Sigh.

After a quick trip to Target for some warm jammies for sis, we settled in for the night. Hannah in the office in the pack & play, and Cameron on the floor in our room, laid out on a sleeping bag (that was on top of a yoga mat for a little more cushion). Here he is passed out on his 'sleeping bed'.

And you're probably wondering why we decided to stay in the house if it was freezing and there was no power. Well, thanks to advice from a family friend, last year, we purchased one of these:

This isn't the exact one we have, because let's face it, I don't remember the brand names of boring house stuff, but it has been a life saver. That thing works on natural gas, so when the power goes out, it still works. We have it attached to the side of our furnace in the basement, and it's hooked to the pipes to heat the house, which means even when the power is on, the furnace hardly ever has to be. I'm loving that thing, and it definitely kept us warm last night.

(sorry for the not so wordless Wednesday post. I had a lot to say today. :) )

Then & Now - Anniversary Edition.

Today marks the 6-year anniversary of the day Josh and I started dating. Six? Holy crap! It doesn't really seem possible.

As you can see, it's been a busy 6 years, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. Here's to 50 more!

Our Christmas Card.

A Wonderful Year Christmas Card

Personalize your holiday card this Christmas with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

What's on their wishlists.

Cameron has really been digging all the toy catalogs that have come to our house in the past couple of weeks. He has taken time and scoured each and every single one of them to find the best and coolest toys out there. He has decided that he wants the following things. Are you listening, Santa?

Imaginext Batcave

Stinky, the talking garbage truck. 

A camera that can tolerate his roughness.

Legos. The kid is obsessed.

Hannah is still a little tough to buy for. She has started playing with babies and My Little Ponies, but there has to be something out there for her. I'm thinking:

See? Cameron is easy to list stuff for. Hannah? Not so much. In reality, she would rather get into whatever her brother's playing with, she's not really into anything yet. Oh well. The excited girl-mom inside of me is thrilled to buy pink things and keep on trying. 

For both of the kids:

Dual, headrest DVD players. To make longer drives tolerable.

Who doesn't love Winnie the Pooh?

This is in no way included in our budget, but how fun would this be next summer?

Christmas Cards!

I'm sure you all remember my post from last year, this one, about how much I love Shutterfly and their products. We received rave reviews on the cards we sent out last year, so I was really looking forward to working with Shutterfly again this year.

It took me awhile to pick a card design last year, since there are so many awesome designs to choose from. We ended up going with this card:

Like I said, people loved the card. I loved the colors, and the fact that the card was printed on thick paper, and wasn't easily bent/folded/whatever.

This year, I'm looking at these card designs:

Like I said, way too many adorable designs to choose from. Besides their cards, I love Shutterfly for gifts as well. Their calendars are incredible, and so are their photo books. And who wouldn't love to walk to their mailbox and find a greeting card just because? I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I love Shutterfly's products, and I am thrilled to be using them for our Christmas cards once again this year.

Ever have one of those days?

Er, weekends?

You know, the kind where anything that could possibly go wrong does, in fact, go wrong?

Like, for example, a trip to Chuck E Cheese with the family. Everyone eats pizza and is having a good time until your kid throws a skee-ball at your head? Yeah, that kind of day.

Or how about receiving the grade for the paper you worked so hard on, only to find that you got a B on it. Hours spent researching and typing away, and you get a measly 81%.

Even better, you spend hours raking leaves in your front yard, only to be blessed with a wind storm for the rest of the weekend, making your efforts completely useless.

And not to be forgotten, also in the wind storm, is the door to your mother-in-law's TrailBlazer that decides to slam itself on your foot.

Of course, there were some good times among the bad.

Like picking up the new coat my mom bought me for Christmas.

Or dropping $90 at Target on an outfit inspired by Ashley.

Or watching Hannah finally perfecting the idea of walking, and seeing her take off, fearlessly.

**In other news**

Please forgive me for being such a terrible blogger. I am crazy busy chasing growing toddlers and going to school full time (1 more month until the semester is over!). But I have some good stuff in store for the good old blog for this winter. A little boy around here is reeeaaallly excited for Christmas, as am I, but right now, I'm a scoch more excited for Thanksgiving and Black Friday. :)  I promise I will try harder to be a better blogger. See you real soon!