"These are a few of my favorite (Christmas) things. . ."

Every year, I love to watch Oprah's "Favorite Things" episode.  Sycamore 320 is doing something similar.  However, what I love about the favorite things on Sycamore 320's blog is that most of the items are affordable, unlike on Oprah's "Favorite Things" episode.

The following are a few of my favorite Christmas things:

1) My new Canon 60D tops my list.  It is so worth having a good camera to capture holiday memories.

2) Each year, I buy a Bed Bath & Beyond Yankee Christmas Cookie Candle.  I have yet to find another candle that I like better.  It is a little expensive for a candle, but I always use one of Bed Bath & Beyond's coupons--I LOVE their coupons! 

3) Last year, I decided that our Christmas decorations needed to be re-organized.  I LOVE Snapware and I LOVE their Christmas ornament organizer.  I bought this at Bed Bath & Beyond for around $15.00 (after the coupon of course!) and I LOVE it.  Look how organized my ornaments look!

4) It is difficult for me to find Christmas music that I actually enjoy.  In my opinion, you can't go wrong with a Mariah Carey Christmas CD.

5) I am not a huge coffee drinker, but around the holidays I LOVE Starbucks' and Dutch Brothers' peppermint lattes.  Every once in awhile, I splurge on a coffee, but I have fallen in love with Coffeemate's Peppermint Mocha creamer.  It allows me to have a peppermint mocha latte without breaking the bank.

Stop by Sycamore 320's blog if you want to see other bloggers' favorite things.  

Shutterfly Shout Out!

Just this week, I remembered that I needed to add Christmas photo cards to my Christmas budget.  Well, not anymore! Shutterfly is offering bloggers who blog about their products 50 FREE Christmas photo cards.  I have never ordered anything from Shutterfly, so it was fun browsing through their website.  My favorite Christmas cards to send are the flat Christmas photo cards.  Shutterfly has a good selection of flat Christmas photo cards to choose from.

Now, all I need is for Caden to cooperate when I am trying to take a photo for our Christmas cards.  I tried to take photos of him last week, but he was NOT in the Christmas spirit!

The following photo is a photo that did NOT make the cut last year. . .I wonder why?! He has such a sense of humor!

Are you a blogger? If so, head over to Shutterfly and sign up for your free Christmas cards--It is hard to beat FREE!

Caden's 2nd Christmas

Snow Day Fun

Today, was the first snow of the season.  Surprisingly, Caden LOVED the snow! He had the most fun chasing Sasha.  She LOVED the snow, too! We didn't stay outside for very long because both of us have been fighting the sniffles.  My school district has already canceled school for tomorrow, so I will be at home enjoying a six day weekend with my family!

Another Version of "Jesus Loves Me"?

Today, Caden was singing a version of "Jesus Loves Me" in the backseat that I have never heard before. . .

"Dinosaurs are scary

This I know

For the Bible tells me so. . ."

I think he's been hanging around his "Uncas" too much!

Engagement Photo Session: Kelsey & Mark

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to photograph my friend, Kelsey, and her fiance', Mark.  They were such a fun couple to photograph.  I told them that I would edit 30-50 photos for them, however, I ended up editing 120 because there were so many good photos.  I wish them the best!

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the shoot:

From the Mouth of a Two-Year-Old

In the car. . .

Mommy:  "Can you please turn Elmo off while we're in the car? He's kind of loud."

Caden:  "No! Good heavens!

Photo of the Week: Wide Angle Lens

Recently, I purchased a wide angle lens for super cheap on Amazon.  It arrived today!!!! (Yes, that deserves four exclamation marks.) Caden begged me to go to the park today, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try out my new lens.  It is going to take some getting used to as you have to be much closer to the subject than with a normal lens.  So close that toddler fingers can touch it. . .eek! Here are a few photos I took. . .like I said before, it is going to take some getting used to. . .