Crazy Week Catch-up

How's that for an original title? This week I've been going nuts getting the house all decorated. Basically not doing a whole lot of anything else...unless you count laundry.

Sunday I attempted to take pics of the girls for this years Christmas cards. After 65 pics I was agrevated & gave up. Joe even tried but only got 5 pics before he gave up. I was annoyed & decided I'd try again during the week.

Monday, Gianna woke up extra early complaining tht her belly hurt. Hmmmmm....could it have anything to do with her refusing to eat dinner the night before & going to bed rather than eat the pasta I made for dinner? Maybe. She was also running a slight fever so we skipped going to gymnastics just to make sure. She cuddled up on the couch watching tv all day as I decorated the house.

Found out Monday afternoon that it was the last day for CCD until after the holidays. Not only was I happy, but Marissa was estatic!! The down side? I forgot to get a gift for her CCD teacher & felt like an ass but luckily she's a teacher at Marissa's school so I can easily get something to her. They even had a little "party" of sorts & Marissa (not wanting to spoil her dinner) brought most of it home. Here's the "snowgirl" she made with a tree in the background. She's creative like her mother & made sure I took a pic! LOL!

Didn't get a chance to re-shoot the Christmas pics.

Tuesday, was Marissa's Brownie meeting for the month. Luckily after Monday night's screw up of not having a gift I made sure to go out & get something for the 2 Brownie leaders. Marissa was happy to pass out the gifts & thrilled to find out she was the top seller for the "nuts & magazine subscriptions" they sold in the Fall. She got a special badge (that I'm adding to the pile of badges I need to iron on her vest) & a fancy smancy light up pen/fan.

oooooooohhhh...aaaaaaahhh

I also came to a conclusion Tuesday that the earliest I'd be able to re-shoot the Christmas card pics would be Thurs. That wasn't working with me since I already felt so far behind & just wanted to have it crossed off my list. So I broke down & went through the pics I took of the girls on Sunday. There were a couple that were acceptable, not ideal, but they worked. Got Joe's vote on it & ordered the cards from Costco to be picked up the next day. Call me a cheater but it's just easier for me. I like saving time/my sanity this time of year. This is the pic for the card, maybe next year both girls will be looking at the camera at the same time. **SIGH**

Gianna was fine & went to school on Tuesday. She's got a considerable amount of Christmas clothes (Marissa's hand-me-downs) so I figured it'd be fun to see how long she can go without wearing any "normal" clothes to school. Just realized I should've taken pics of each days outfit but too late. Oh well.

This was Wednesday's outfit. Aren't those stockings adorable??? Like how they match the elves legs on her top? Yeah I scrapbook--not recently mind you but I do!

This is Marissa 3 years ago wearing the same shirt, taken at Disney World at the Christmas Party. Today I went shopping with my F-I-L's ladyfriend Marlene. I helped her get the girls' Christmas gifts. We went to Target & I showed her how to power shop! We were done in record time! I showed her things they'd like & got her approvel & bam! into the cart it went!! We hit a few other aisles while we were there only 'cause you gotta check things out & make sure you don't miss any good deals of course. We were out of there in 1 1/2 hours max!

From there we got a Dunkin Donuts fix & decided to hit Kohl's. I had to shop for our family Secret Santa & knocked that out which still only killed an hour. I impressed her today by both my power shopping skills & my ability to make sure I stay on budget with my shopping--oh yeah I also showed her how to make the most of the Kohl's coupons. I think I blew her mind! (Sorry just giving myself a pat on the back.) I'm happy to say I've only got 3 people left to shop for but they're mostly done already just need a few more little things. WOO-HOO!!! I'm so starting early next year!! This year it all just snuck up on me & I don't like it one bit!

I also tried figuring out my camera settings so I could try my luck on getting a nice picture of the tree. I finally know how to adjust the "iso" but my camera would freeze up & not take a pic. Resisting the urge to toss it out the window I got out a tripod & tried taking a pic without the flash. Think it's the best tree pic I've taken.


The family room. The double doors behind the tree lead to my scrapping area in the den.

After Christmas my camera will head out to get fixed. I just know they'll tell me it's not worth fixing & to upgrade to a new model but I really like this one (despite the problems) & it's not available anymore. **Sigh**

Finally starting to get into the Christmas Spirit! I feel like I can finally breathe....but not for long! There's cookies to bake & gifts to wrap!