Weekend Update Link Up

Well it's Monday .. Wah Wah Wah!

Ha ... today is super rainy and dreary and I am just really wishing I could stay home and be lazy and wrap Christmas presents, but unfortunately that is not happening today :(
Too much to do today, and then tonight is my Christmas dinner/Ornament swap with a few of my girlfriends!

Today I am linking up with Sami over at
Sami's Shenanigans for the ... 

So here goes my weekend ... 

Which was very kid-packed and fun might I add ;) 

Our Elf, Mr. Jingles, was up to no good this weekend! 

His sister however is the good one :) 

He TP'd our Living Room and it was a mess, which he didn't clean up haha

It was funny to see the kid's faces when they woke up and saw what he did! We were a little shocked ;)

Next on the agenda... 

We surprised the kids with "Pajama Night" on Saturday and left their PJ's on their beds with a note that said "Meet us in the car" ha and then Chris and I had our pajamas on too, along with Frankie of course, and we had snacks in the car, blankets, and Christmas music playing ... then we drove around and looked at some awesome lights for over two hours ha! It was SO much fun for all of us! 

We found lots of Christmas lights and then went to Fire Station for them to run around and play, and then to Orange Leaf for dessert ha! 

(Which happened to be packed, and we walked in with our PJ's on lol, oh well!)

Next on the weekend front ...

We got ready and took a few pics ... 

 Love this picture of Ella & Ava <3 

Then ... 

We saw Santa!

Pose 1 ... the smile pose

Pose 2 .. the "I'm thinking of what I want for Christmas" pose 

And... Pose 3 .. the Reindeer Ears Pose, lol 

It was funny, but they all were so excited and couldn't wait to tell Santa what they wanted, which actually was ALL different from the things they already told us they wanted ...? We were like say what?? I thought you wanted blah blah blah .. "no we changed our minds" ha. Gotta love that. 

Looks like Chris will be the one fighting traffic and doing some last minute shopping ;) 

(jk babe, I know you're not the shopping pro like me, we will do the "you drop me off at the door and I will run in while you circle the parking lot" number! lol) 

Lastly, 

WE GOT TO SEE OUR ENGAGEMENT PICTURES!!

Oh.My.Goodness.

The talented Alicia @ Aesthetiica Photography took the most beautiful pictures, more beautiful than I could have imagined! 

PS. Be sure to check out her blog, she travels ladies ;)

I know this will be a tease, but because we haven't picked which one we want to use for our 

Save the Dates,

I can't share them all yet :( 

But these two I have to share ....

I love this one with my love ...  

And this one with my other love ... ;) 

hahaha

 We should get our disc in the mail this week and once we pick a Save the Date pic, then I will be able to share the rest of them! Can't wait!!! Ahhh!! So exciting!! :)

Ok I am off to do some work and run errands today ... 

Please don't forget ... 

On Tuesday, December 18th, there will be a blogger day of silence. 

We will post the button and that's it. Please try to not post anything else that day if possible.

We are also raising money that will go to an organization in the memory of this tragedy. The organization is called The Newtown Family Youth and Family Services. Here is the official description of the support service we are donating to: 

"Newtown Youth and Family Services, Inc. is a licensed, non-profit, mental health clinic and youth services bureau dedicated to helping children and families achieve their highest potential. NYFS provides programs, services, activities, counseling, support groups and education throughout the Greater Newtown area.

ANY DONATIONS MADE TO NEWTOWN YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES WILL BE DONATED DIRECTLY TO THOSE EFFECTED BY THE SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SHOOTING."

Please visit THIS PAGE to make your donation.

We can't imagine how they must be feeling, especially this close to the holidays. We would love for you to spread the word on your own blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Let's make a difference and use blogging in a positive way. Thank you in advance for participating.

Love,
The Blog World 

p.s. If you would like to, copy-paste and repost any part of this, please do. Share on. I copied from Living in Yellow :)  

Friday Catch Up & WELCOME!!

Happy Friday Friends!

So ok, before I get started on my topics for today ... I want to give a gracious welcome to all my
NEW FOLLOWERS!!

So glad you're here! Hope you stay a while ;) 

I mean, lets be honest, I knew Erin was kind of a big deal in the blogsphere world... but I had no clue she was the "40 new followers in one day from a sponsorship shout out" kinda big deal! 

Good grief, girl's got a fan base!! 

And I am lovin' it! 

So today I was working hard at the office ... 

(Pic for all you really visual friends ha!)

And started to feel like there was a brick in my head, then I couldn't swallow ... and got body aches ... 

UGH PLEASE NO I CAN'T GET SICK! 

So I left my office, and came home, took a 3 hour nap (I do not take naps during the day because I will officially be up all night now) but I def needed it apparently because I didn't blink an eye until Chris woke me up to make sure I was alive lol ... such a sweet fiance ;) 

I still feel yucky but hoping tomorrow it will be GONE because I have lots of things to do this weekend, Christmas shopping being one of those things... I am major slacking on the shopping ordeal this year!

Let's talk Christmas Parties ... 

I feel like I have been to a million in the last two weeks (4 to be exact, but I mean that's kinda a lot!) ... 

This week I had two work related parties ... 

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party 

Let me prelude by saying I honest to goodness went to all the ugly sweater stores I could think of .. 

Walmart, Meijer, JC Penny, Sears AND a childrens store thinking I could squeeze my fat butt into a size 14/16 kids if I found a sweater ugly enough ha ... BUT I had ZERO luck ... NO UGLY SWEATERS!

It was insane.

So I decided, in about the 45 min time frame I had to work with, that I would just make one.... 

Chris stopped at Goodwill and bought a sweater then I bedazzled it up to match me :) 

How do you feel about that beauty?

The tinsel cuffs on the sleeves were my favorite part ... gave it a little something extra if you will ;) 

Chris's was pretty good too ... if I do say so myself ;) 

We had a lot of fun! 

Next night was my office Christmas Party ... 

It was at a steakhouse downtown and we had a great time!

My friend/partner Maria ... Love her!! 
I will be mentioning her further down in this post  because of the most amazing birthday gift she gave me!!

(no clue what the heck is going on with my hair in this picture? crazy!)

My fellow Realtor and friend, Stephanie

who literally no joke spit red wine out of her mouth she laughed so hard and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen ... not so funny that it went all over our friend's husbands white dress shirt :( lol 

#partyfoulofthenight  ;) 

This is random but how cute is this?

I loved this sooo much! I got it for Chris and put it in his stocking ... then couldn't wait 4 hours and had to tell him there was a surprise in there and to go hang it on the tree haha! I just loved it! <3 

We took some family pictures ... 

It had been 2 years since we had professional pics taken of the kids and I like to do that for Chris as often as we can and then give them to him for Christmas and to his parents and family ... so this year we did some for a Christmas card and then I had lots of the kids done to give as presents and I have only seen a few...

 (waiting on the disc to come soon!!)

BUT THEY ARE ADORABLE ... 

Our photographer was awesome!

If you are in the Lexington area I would highly recommend her!

Mary Maldonado Photography ... and Mary is amazing and was so fun with the kids! 

They loved her and she made it fun and easy for us all! 

Go like her Facebook Page HERE!! 

How adorable is this?

and this .... 

or this ... 

and then there's this one ... I died ... the cutest thing ever! 

Looovvveeee this shot! 

I am sooo excited to see the rest of them, can't wait to share with everyone too!
But I am saving our Christmas card one for closer to Christmas and once everyone will have gotten their card in the mail ;)

Brace Yourself ... Cute Arm Candy Alert!!
The amazingly sweet and beautiful Maria, who is my buyer's agent on my real estate team ... got me the most amazing birthday gift ever and I am OBSESSED with it!



The Deco Strap Bracelet from Henri Bendel

I love it!

So much! 

It is so "me" too!

Such a sweet gift and you know she has lived in NYC when she gifts Henri Bendel haha

Maria, thank you for the amazing bracelet which is glued to my child size wrist ha, I love it so much and it was so thoughtful of you! XOXO Now wear yours so we can be twins ha! ;) 

Last big news of the day ... 

SURPRISE!

Mr. Jingles brought his cute twin sister to our house this morning

Hahahaha

The kids were freaking out! 

So surprised! I loved it! 

They have named her "Belle" ... to go with Jingles ... as in jingle bell ha get it? 

She is so cute is she not?

Her cheeks may or may not resemble Bobbi Brown Shimmer Rose Blush haha and her earrings look a little like Essie nail polish in Haute as Hello ... but hey, who is looking? She looks fresh and pretty from her trip from the North Pole .. and her skirt is super cute too might I add ;)  

Well lovelies, that's all she wrote for today ... 

I've got to go rest and watch 4 episodes of Law & Order Special Victims Unit since I will be up all night after my day long nap! 

Have a great weekend!

Elf Update ...

You may remember our elf, Mr. Jingles ...
 the kids love him... this year for some reason they actually are enjoying him more I think. Literally as soon as Jake opens his eyes he is ready to run around the house and look for him.
If the girls wake up before us, I can hear them tip toeing around the house whispering "he's not in here, look in there, where is he??" ... haha it is hysterical!
He is a sneaky little thing let me tell ya!

The first day he appeared, he brought elf "friends" for the kids ... ones they can actually TOUCH and cuddle and play with. They carry them around everywhere, its cute!

They walked into the Dining Room to eat breakfast before school and were SO surprised to see him! 

How cute are those little elves? 

They all named them ... Rosie, Lilly & Nugget haha

He also brought letters from Santa!!!!

Don't think he forgot my baby ....

hahahahaha ;) 

So now that he has arrived, he's been up to lots of stuff... 
He hid in a glass in the cabinet ...

This took the kids literally almost an hour to find ... they were PANICKED he forgot to come that morning 

Jake's army men tied him up in his room and held him hostage until Jake got home from school haha... 

On my birthday he brought donuts for everyone for breakfast and then some mini ones for himself ...

IF one were to happen to try to make those ... let me tell you that I am sure it would take a VERY long time! They were little, small and look very tediously made haha :) Perfect for an elf however! 

Then last week he missed the snow and the North Pole so he was actually outside in some snow next to the car that they spotted while about to leave for school ... this was another panicked morning, the entire time they were getting ready they couldn't find him and thought he didn't come again ...

Then there he was! 
In some snow! 

He has been very tricky this year, and I can't wait to see what else he has up his sleeve lol :)

Fa La La La ....
Tis the Season ;)

XO,
Mr. Jingles & Dana PS. Please if you haven't already ... go to Miss Katie's Blog today, read the story of a sweet girl in need of your prayers and donations!Even if it's only $5, donate something ... every little bit counts! It's Christmas and there is not a better time to give to someone who needs it more than we do! Blessings!