The Christensen's Camelot : A Friday Night Post...

It's Friday night 7:00 p.m and I am all settled in for the night... the hubby is officially non-active duty for The Marine Corps, however yesterday, he became a Marine Corps Reserve. Rich is out of town with his new unit this weekend doing training and won't be back until Sunday.

The reserves are nice because the commitment is only one weekend a month, which gradually gets us back into the swing of civilian life again.

My little guy is fast asleep and it is only 7:00 p.m! I will admit, he is going to be snuggling and sleeping with me tonight. We have had such unusually cold weather for Southern California, with temperatures expected to drop into the 30's tonight! (Plus, I love snuggling with my sweet little boy! :) I am getting cozy in my Christmas flannel jammies, listening to Christmas songs and ready to blog! :)

I wanted to start today's post by wishing a Happy Birthday to my two FAVORITE TWINS...

...Kaitlyn & Hannah, who are 15 years old today!!!

Where does the time go? I was their second grade teacher almost 8 years ago when they were around 7 years old...

Five years ago, they were the flower girls in our wedding ...

I personally think, God sent us twins because Rich and I have been so smitten with these twins. He gave us our own and blessed us with this wonderful family as friends! :)

Kaitlyn & Hannah, you two are precious, beautiful young ladies!

You are smart, talented and have the most beautiful spirits!

Love to you both on your special day!!! :)

I hope your Mama doesn't mind that I took this picture from her Facebook! :)

Dressing For Your Pregnancy This Holiday Season For $50 Bucks...

Every year, my Mom and I go to a Christmas boutique at one of our local thrift stores.

We started going to this thrift store many years ago. We happened to find it by driving by on a summer/ June morning, when we noticed a line of people lined up down 2 blocks. We read the sign which stated that you could buy a $3.00 bag and fill it with anything at the sale. We stopped and got instantly hooked.

We have since discovered, through the years, that there is also a Christmas Boutique! It is the best! They have decorations, clothes, electronics, households, linens , jewelry, china and so, so much more!!!!! Things are priced separately for the Winter sale, however.

The ladies at the store are so very dear and cordial! This wonderful place is near the Foothills of a quaint little town called Sierra Madre, Calif. Can you believe it? They have no stop lights!

I taught 2nd. grade in this city over 5 years ago, and I still find myself drawn to the art stores, the Cafe's the antique shops, and so much more!

This town is known for having one of the largest Wisteria vines in the world. It is at a single residence's home. They have an entire festival called the Wisteria Festival with buses taking you up to see the grand Wisteria.

I am partial to the Women's club, which is where we go to the thrift shop. I am a volunteer myself, and have been since I was a small child, so, I esteem these dear ladies highly!

Well, today was the opening day of the winter/ Christmas Boutique! You can bet my Mom and I were there bright and early to snag the best buys! I hit the jackpot this year!!! I was on a mission for any and all large and comfy, or maternity clothing that I could get my hands on! :)

I managed to get outfits for only $50.00!!! I was thrilled, because at a maternity store, I probably would have spent $50.00 on one or two articles of clothing!

I am embracing my larger pregnant self and am enjoying wearing brighter, bold colors, ( like the shirt on the left). The shirt was $5.00. The coat on the right is such a warm snuggly winter coat. The total for the coat was $10.00 !

Again, loving colors and prints; some of the fun of being pregnant is wearing colors and prints that I otherwise might not be daring enough to wear. The shirt on the left was a steal for $5.00 and the cute little sweater on the right was $10.00.

I always have loved flannels! They are so bright and Christmassy! They just make me happy and boy, are they comfy! This Pendleton flannel was $8.00 and the black and white striped long sweater was $10.00.

So there you have it folks.. 6 different articles of clothing for $50.00! I am quite happy and comfortable in my new clothes! :)

Where Is Jingle Today ??? Day: 5

Jingle left us a little reminder of his name this morning! He found the cutest place to hide!

Jingle decided to leave some jingle bells from Santa's sleigh...

Robbie was so excited to find this note from Jingle!

Robbie's new favorite Christmas song is Jingle Bells... he especially loves to shout out the; "jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh... HAY !!!!" ( emphasis loudly on the Hay!) :)

I am cherishing each day I have with my sweet son... one day he will be grown and these days will only be a memory! I love you my dear boy. :)

25 Nights of Family Christmas Movies ...

Night 6

Well, last night my little one fell asleep super early. We decided to watch a shorter video due to the lack of a nap yesterday.

We watched "Curious George Plays In The Snow" Robbie loves "George Monkey" as he calls him and so watching George play and have all kinds of adventures in the Christmas snow was a BIG hit!!