Live it!

When Santa comes to town...

we all line the streets to see him!

Foxboro had their first ever little country Christmas parade today. We gathered at Kerri & Matt's and watched the floats go by. Sipping on Hot chocolate is always a good way to take in a parade.

Keaton was on one of the floats this year and was so proud of himself. He was all smiles as he drove by and saw his Nana and Poppa along with the rest of us.

After the parade I asked him if he had fun and he told me "I don't like being in parades". I was surprised and asked why...and he told me "I didn't even get to see Santa". POOR GUY!

More Snow!

Now that i am home with the kids and it is not an absolute NECESSITY to brush and scrape snow and ice off my vehicle just to freeze my butt off to get to work... Winter is so much more enjoyable.  I get excited when I hear a snowplow zooming down our road at 5am... and so was the case this morning.

We woke up to powdery winter white-ness. Keaton was so excited. Every time it snows, he thinks that Santa is coming right away. Today he was just happy to get to put his snow clothes on and play outside for a 1/2 hour before his school bus came. The kids look cute this year in their snowsuits and Shaune just got a smashingly handsome new down-filled winter coat while we were shopping on the weekend. Then there is me... wearing a ski-coat from highschool (yes, it is an old but beloved coat!), boats that are too small and extremely unflattering snowpants. Note to self: (or santa)... time to think of myself and get some fashionable clothes for this Wintery weather. I am currently looking for a nice light-weight Winter coat like a Columbia that is in a celedon green and black or something. I hope i find something soon!

Keaton's bus came, even though i was sure the buses would be cancelled. Now at 11am the sun is shining and i'm afraid the snow may melt all away within the next day or two :(

Chloe marches to her own drummer and always walks off into the woods to play in the snow. She was having a ball until her mitties fell off and she got soggy hands. Then she was finally ready to go inside.

On another note: Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends. Eat lots of yummy turkey and fixin's and enjoy this family time. Gotta love the holidays.

Girlfriends....

are the best. There - i just had to say that.

Today, for no reason other than that we were all free and willing - Melissa, Ang, Pam and I went out for lunch. No kids. Just us hanging out and eating and shopping.

And i realized how much i love being with my friends... and how i need to do it more.

I am lucky. Thanks guys for a fun time!

Baby... it's cold outside!

Anybody else llllloooooovvvveeee this song? i find i'm humming it all the time... mostly because the kids have watched the movie ELF a bunch of times this week and i love that duet with Zooey and Leon Redbone.

I was humming it this morning when i had to put both the kids in the snowsuits because...dang - it is soooooo cold out this morning. brrrrrrrrrrrr. Just a light sprinkling of snow but the cold is just nasty feeling. Chloe got her new snowsuit JUST in time and thankfully it fit! You know, if someone had told me 3 years ago that i would embrace pink and fun flowers with such happiness... i would of told them they were nuts.

But... i put her in pink and i forget about how cold it is as i try and get her to look at the camera and smile. She of course, wanted nothing to do with it. But... i think she likes her new duds just the same ;)

On other news... i was so happy to score both of these DVD's (Jingle all the Way and Home Alone) for under $20. Keaton watched them both and has totally memorized all the lines that Macauley Culkin says. It seems it is Christmas 24/7 at our house...  OH BOY! Let the good times begin! Chloe on the other hand is completely addicted to one Christmas movie...and only one. If we put in other movies... she tells us "No, i wanna watch DISSSSSSSS"  She is a big Jim Carrey fan maybe  - The GRINCH.

I also found this CD by Alabama and it is pretty good. Definetly not as good as their first Christmas CD that i absolutely play over and over all season. I like original songs and they do that well. i get tired of hearing the same classics resung by different artists all the time. So... that was my Christmas treat for this week :)

Tell me why...

the Christmas CD I most want and have been looking for forever - needs to cost $57 USdollars --- why?

do i, should i? Christmas Vacation

probably! {{SMILE}}

The Weekend...

was another busy one.

Keaton spent Friday night with my Mom & Dad. Since Cory (my brother) moved out, Keaton has 'his own room'  at their home and is totally in love with spending the night there - Chloe is too young and mom isn't brave enough to try and keep her for sleepover's quite yet. They live just up the road so it is great when Mom stops on her way home and says: "Keaton, pack your bags, do you wanna come sleep at our house tonight?" Of course he grabs some pajamas and he is out the door. He especially loves his 'new room at Nanny's house' because when Cory moved out he left a few of his aquariums behind... Keaton loves being surrounded by them at night and mom thinks he needs his own aquarium full of fish... i said NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Saturday Keaton had his friend Ben over for a sleepover... his first ever sleepover. It was a success and they had a great time. We rented Elf, Kickin' & Screaming, and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. They watched Elf 3 x i think! ha!

I took them to see CHICKEN LITTLE which they 'kinda liked'. I thought it was cute but not that great. I guess i was expecting something different. RUNT made me laugh though :)

They stayed up very late (ack - 11pm i think) and then woke up in the middle of the night and watched ELF again at 3:30am.  Needless to say Keaton was tired (BUT SO HAPPY) the next day!

(Note: Keaton just saw me adding their sleepover photos in here and said "Mom, I like Ben, I want to keep Ben") Now that is funny.

Shaune takes Keaton to Public Skating in Stirling every Sunday - so this time Chloe and I went and watched. Chloe was fascinated by the skating. Keaton is still at the wobbly walk stage and he falls a lot too. Still - he is trying and he is getting a teeny tiny bit better every time. Shaune says "He just needs LOTS of practice" - ha! Keaton wants to play hockey next year so he will have to figure out this skating this by the end of the Winter i guess.

Other than that, lots  of work for me. Shaune cleaned the basement, which Chloe will inevitably wreck in quick form by the end of today. She is a messy bird i tell ya! I heard Casey Cassum's Top 10 Christmas songs count-down on the radio...so i guess the Christmas "season" has officially started. Yahoo!

Poems/Lyrics/Suggestions?

i have decided to try and tackle a project very near and dear to my heart. it isn't going to be easy and i have just spent the past hour looking thru the most heartwrenching and sweet photos of my cousin Mark.

Mark passed away at a very young (too young) age. he was 3. Although i was young (i think i was about 10-11?) i remember him... i remember the sadness... i remember what a sweet kid he was. i remember wanting to go to his funeral and not under- standing why my mom would not allow it. i still go to his grave from time to time when i visit Boulter - and i never get over the sadness that gets me everytime i think of my aunt and uncle and them losing that boy.

My aunt sent me an album with all her special photos of him during his 3+ years. He was a beautiful boy. His smile lit up the room. He was diagnosed with cancer as a baby and underwent more treatments and suffering than any little child should have to. I wish he could of survived it. How i wish that!

I really feel a need to make something special of our families memories of this special child. I have the photos, I have the means and ability... I will find the time. It is something I NEED to do. I am needing any poems or special song lyrics, etc that all my scrapbooking (and other) friends may have. I want this to be a special project about him. Rejoicing in his life and how special he will always be to the Whyte family. If you have any suggestions or quotes/lyrics/poems... could you please please please forward them to me at [email protected] or just add them into the comments section here - i would be truly grateful.

me in cartoon world...

-minus a "few" lbs and with plump luscious lips... gotta love animation ;)

thanks to my über talented friend RHONNA for sketching up this fun little "Leslie" for me. She is so cute if i do say so myself. I love her little freckles and her ultra-thin face - ha!

Rhonna - you are wonderful!

The way he LOVES...

Keaton has got to be one of the most loving boys out there. He tells me he loves me probably 20x a day. he is always looking for kisses and hugs. Another comment he made today, just something... nothing 'special' but 'special' to me.

==============================================================

"Mom, you know who has the bestest hands ever?"

"You mommy".

(Keatons way of asking me to hold his hand while we watched a cartoon together after school)

It all happened...

on a leasurely stroll thru the toy store. Suddenly we weren't just looking for a birthday gift for Bryce but looking at this and that and then this again for Christmas ideas for the kids. Keaton wanted this this and that. Chloe had her favourites too. Then i noticed i was smiling and enjoying being at Toys R Us... then I noticed I was humming to music === CHRISTMAS MUSIC. It was 4 days past Halloween and my subcontious had already skipped forward to the Christmas Holiday. All of a sudden I feel excited about Winter coming. All of a sudden Keaton is talking about making his note to Santa and I felt a mad panic to order Chloe's snowsuit before the snow flies. And another thing: this year we said we weren't going to spend the rediculous amounts of money that we normally do on our children's Christmas experience. We promised eachother we wouldn't... and yet, as we strolled thru Toys R Us again yesterday (2 days in a row people!!!) i felt this overwhelming urge to buy Keaton everything he pointed his needy little fingers at. LOL. The final straw came when he saw a new vehicle to drive around the yard. It was this BATMOBILE and he went crazy for it when he saw it. I had to remind him that we had said no more vehicles (the garage is full!) and that he already had a 4 wheeler and a Jeep in his possession at home. His response: "Thats ok Mom, I will sell my 4 wheeler and buy this instead". HA!

Anyhow, this led to many things.

1) rushing to get some toys the kids "had to have" before they sold out. (not the Batmobile, i'm holding firm on the 'no more riding vehicles this year' thing)

2) listening to Christmas music for 2+ hours and dancing around the house like fools.

3) feeling an urge to get the Halloween decorations put away

4) pulling out the packed-away Christmas movies and selecting one for our Sunday night movie = can you say "Christmas Vacation" for the 100th time... oh yaaaaaaaaaaaa!

5) feeling the need to purge out a ton of old unused toys.... so i can buy new ones - i know, insane!

So, that was my weekend. From Halloween to Christmas in 2.0 seconds.

I love Christmas, what can I say... and i BET i'm not the only one listening to their Christmas CD's even though it is only early November. Am I?