Mommy & Me Monday: Date Night with Cam

Cameron and I went to see The Secret Life of Pets movie last week. He had been dying to see it and was so excited when the time finally came to go. We had snacks and he got to see Chloe (the cat), which was what he was most excited for. We definitely need to do little outings like this more often with just the two of us. I enjoyed spending this time with him, it was so much fun and The Secret Life of Pets movie was super cute. I would recommend it to everyone. 

Linking up at Mommy & Me Monday over at Really, Are You Serious?

You Two

I love watching my son and step daughter together. I just had to scrapbook this photo of the two of them!! They have such a special sibling relationship and friendship. M is always watching out for Cam and being so helpful toward him. She treats him just like an older sister would a younger brother. Their relationship is so much better and just MORE than I ever could've imagined it being.

Cam's DIY Boy Cat-Themed Birthday Party

This year, Cameron asked for a cat themed birthday party. I wasn't exactly sure at first how I was going to do that. I was really expecting to have an Avengers party. We went over his past themes before we settled on this one:

1. Fish theme
2. Cars theme
3. Thomas theme
4. Angry Birds theme
5. Ninja turtle theme
6. Ninja theme

Obviously normally it is whatever he is into at the moment and also normally a licensed birthday theme (lol!). This was not exactly a normal request for a 7-year-old boy, but I decided if that was what he wanted, that's what we were going to do so I go to work!!

First, I knew we needed decor. I found a template for this awesome banner here and go to work. I just used construction paper from Dollar Tree and some string I already had on hand. I purchased the letter stickers from Hobby Lobby.

Next, I got to work on figuring out the decor and favors. I wanted there to be a few small items for the few kids we had coming to take home with them. 

I ended up purchasing a few cat toys at Walmart to put along with the centerpiece and I also went to work gluing yarn on Styrofoam balls I found at Walmart. (The Styrofoam balls I found at Walmart were cheaper than the ones I found in the craft section.) I also got my yarn (except for the ivory yarn I already had on hand) at Walmart. I had an idea to put them in a small hurricane vase from Dollar Tree. 

I also picked up some cat food dishes from Dollar Tree to use for decor. I ended up finding some really cute cat figurines, paw print balloons, and the paw print stamps at an online store called Party Palooza. Best price I found, and they shipped pretty quickly. (I apologize for how yellow-ish these photos are. Wrong white balance setting on my new camera. lol)

The kids didn't end up taking any of the favors, but I think that is due to the fact that they are older than Cam. They might've just though they were decor also. Wasn't a priority that day to make sure all the favors were gone. :)

I normally get Cam a special shirt to wear on his birthday and I really wanted to do that again this year since I skipped it last year. The one I purchased from SiblingSpecialtees was purr-fect (as Cam would say!). It did fade a bit when I washed it even though I followed the directions that came with it, but it still looked great for his day. Here he is with it on... this is one of his new go-to "smile" faces...

When Cam and I first starting planning his birthday he saw cat photo booth props that he really wanted me to buy from the Printable Prop Shop on Etsy. So I did and planned out how we could have a photo booth. I just used a yellow plastic table cloth and taped paw prints to it. I got wooden rods at Walmart (BIG shopping trip to Walmart was involved here lol) in the craft section and just used a piece of regular Scotch tape on the back of the props.

The day of his party, it was super humid and rainy so we had to improvise and have the photo booth inside. Not ideal at all but it worked out fine and everyone thought it was super cute! 

I happened to be super busy the week of Cam's party, so I asked my Mom if she would make Cam's cake. She did and it was based on this pin on Pinterest. It turned out very cute and Cam loved it! And I loved my Mom for making it. Brought back the days when she'd pull out all the stops to make me some awesome cakes (but that's a story for another day!). 

M, my step daughter, is super artsy, so I asked her to draw a picture on our little white board.

My stepson, C, wanted to draw Cam a picture so we put this up on the fridge for decor also. :)

I am posting this in hopes that it can help someone else. Every post I saw online for just a regular cat birthday (NOT Dr. Seuss or Pete the Cat) was for girls. It's cool that boys like cats too and I hope this helps someone else plan a perfect cat party for their son also. (If that's you, be sure leave me a comment!!)

Hippo Love

Last year when we went to the zoo Cameron just loved the Hippos! I never expected him to be so obsessed with them, so I had to document it for his scrapbook.

I mostly used the Bella Blvd Zoo Crew Collection Kit to create this page, along with a graph Project Life 3x4 journaling card that I cut down to fit. The alpha is this one from Ali Edwards and the chipboard I had on hand already.

Open House

Last Wednesday, we went to Cameron's school's open house. He begged me to come so I promised I would. I also invited my mom, and his dad came along as well. 

Kindergarten has been a struggle for Cam. He has really had a tough time transitioning to his new school from the private pre-school he used to go to. He missed his friends and didn't know any of the teachers. He has had a lot of behavioral problems, even though he is thriving as far as academics go. His grades are perfect, yet his behavior - not so much! We have tried SO MANY things. Things from lists on the table reminding him what to do to pictures of him making a "be quiet" face taped to the table. Recently, his teacher has allowed him to bring a small stuffed tiger to school. He seems to be doing really well with his tiger as his companion and is focusing much better recently.

He was having issues socially too early in the year. And just when it seemed like he had found a good friend, the one good friend moved. It's been exhausting trying to keep him on track. Finally, we decided it would be a good idea if he went weekly to visit the behavior/social counselor once a week. It seems to have helped him and he is slowly warming up to this new group of kids. (Just in time for school to be out in a few months! I hope some of his friends are in his first grade class!)

Finally, it seems we are having somewhat of a breakthrough with him. Transitions of any kind have always been hard for Cam so I wasn't surprised, but I was surprised at how long it took for him to accept this new school and all the new people. 

At the open house it was so good to meet everyone Cameron interacts with, besides his primary teacher. One of my favorite visits was with his librarian. That boy has a deep love for books, and I just love that. When I was young, I loved going to the library and checking out books, and I'm so happy he shares that same passion. His librarian said "boy, he sure does love cats". Oh yes, he sure does. She told us all about his library routine and how great he does at story time. 

It seems we are on the downhill side of this new school transition. Here's hoping the upcoming spring break doesn't completely throw us off!

Linking up with Mommy & Me Monday at Really, Are You Serious?

March for Babies 2012

This morning was the March for Babies. It was a such a perfect day for walking. Lately, I've been identifying a lot with Ali Edwards' showing up mentality. This morning was definitely one of those moments. Where I was happy I showed up. Last year, we raised over $500, but did not end up walking for a handful of reasons. This year, even though the date changed, I was determined to go. I was determined to show up.

I've preached and spoken many times about why the March of Dimes is so important to me. Cameron was born at 35 weeks, and was in the NICU for 3 days. 3 days is nothing compared to many of the stories I've heard, but the fact that he was there still had an impact on me. It hurts my heart to think of parents having their children in there for months, having to leave their babies or their babies never leaving. No parent should have to go through that.

Our ambassador mom this morning said this: "I know I can't change this by myself, but we do this hoping if we all come together, one day no one will have to go through these things anymore." That, my friends, is why I do this.

There were tears, but there was also a lot of celebration. Celebration, for me personally, was having Cameron there with me. Some of you may also remember the miscarriage I had at the very end of December in 2010. I don't like to talk about it, and rarely do, but I think about that little one often. He or she would have been one this month.

The whole event was very therapeutic. Talking to fellow parents about things other parents take for granted during the birth, knowing its ok to feel how you do, and the sense of knowing what the person walking next to you has been through. It just made me love the March of Dimes and what they are doing even more.

I can't wait to do it again.

Potty Training

Hopefully later on in 2012 I will be able to say we are a diaper-free household. We'll see. I do know that we are working on potty training. Cameron moved up to the "2's and 3's" class at his school earlier this year, and well, they potty train in that class. Every day he sits on the potty. Sometimes he goes, sometimes he doesn't. Either way I'm proud of him. He's doing really well. I'm trying to get some incentives going around here. Including printing out a Lightning McQueen potty training chart. I let him know that he would receive a prize for every 5 times he uses the potty. We'll see how it goes.

We have a book that helps us. It's called "No More Diapers for Ducky". It's really great, Cameron loves it. I purchased it through his school so we could have something potty related to read while he sits on his Cars potty seat. We just got a new Scholastic pamphlet today so I'll probably hunt for another potty related book as soon as I get a moment to look at it.

Cameron isn't really, really interested in going on the potty yet. He cries or whines when the teachers or I put him on the potty. I don't want to push him, but I also don't want him to get away with not trying. He does actually go sometimes when he sits on the potty.

Basically, we're getting there. 

Cars

This week has been all about Cars 2 for us. It actually came on Halloween, the day before I got Cam back from his Dad. When we got home on Tuesday evening, he was so very excited to see the Cars 2 Blu Ray sitting on the coffee table waiting for him. I seriously have not seen that child so excited in so long. It was totally worth the wait.



He literally did not eat dinner because he was so excited and engrossed. This child loves him some Cars.

We have also been reading two Cars books that he owns. The Cars golden book and a Scholastic Cars book I ordered through his preschool recently. I bought him a Christmas Cars book, but shhh, don't tell. That's for when we are closer to Christmas. ;)

Last night, Cam sat on his potty seat, of course he has a Cars one, and went potty on it for the first time. I was so so proud. I'm pretty sure the potty chart I am going to make will need to have Cars on it too. If only there was a Cars potty book. :)

What is your kiddo into right now?

Around the Apartment: Cameron's Room

I know I keep saying I'm going to show photos of our apartment, so I decided I'd start a little series here so you can see our new home in different posts. :) I decided we will start with Cam's room.

Here's a peek:



As you can see, it's ALL about Cars. :) I did the decals over his bed and he did the ones over his little table. I put the decals up higher than I would have liked, but I did it so Cam wouldn't peel them off all the time. ;) I'm making an effort to do more creative things here at home with him. I helped him paint some pictures on that table the other day. We have his bed from his old room here. He has a growth chart my mom embroidered on the wall, along with a birth announcement thing we purchased from the hospital when he was born. Cam and I colored that big Rex picture together that is on his wall. He has a bookshelf and a stuff animal net on the other wall that's not shown. He has two windows and I am so jealous because his room gets the most light in the whole apartment. :)

So there you have it. A little peek and a lot of ramblings. ;) I don't have too many handmade things in there yet, but that is something I definitely want to do. I'm thinking about making some curtains soon. I think it will make it feel a lot more homey. And also cut down on the light during sleep time... not that it bothers him. :) What's something you did in your child's room that you really love?

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday was a lovely day for pumpkin picking! I had planned on Cam and I getting our photos taken, but we had a change of plans so I decided to plan something fun for us to do. I remembered I wanted to take him to the pumpkin patch because I wanted it to be something we did every year. So we got up in the morning and headed to the patch!



We had a really good time and are going back this weekend with my mom. Here were our picks:

A Blog About Blogging... And Stuff!

I miss blogging.

It was something that was a very large part of my life when I was staying at home with Cam. I enjoyed doing reviews for different websites, posting recent scrapbook projects, and other life randomness. I shared a lot on my old blog. Since my divorce, I have shared a lot less about my life except with those I am closest to. I'm pretty sure some people still don't know I'm divorced, actually. I am in a very different place in my life now than I was even 6 months ago. At the end of the day though, I control what I share here and I think it's silly to sacrifice something I like doing. So I made this blog public, and I'll just share what I want when I want. I don't have a lot of time since I work full time and go to school full time, but I want to make an effort to at least post once a week. (Someone hold me accountable for this! ;)

We have quite a bit going on around here right now. I've been at my job almost 7 months now and I still love it. I often say that they are going to have to drag me out of the place before I'll leave. ;) There are days that I am frustrated, of course, but it is so rare to find a place to work that you love so much. I have learned so much, and I am so grateful I applied for that job online in March and that I stuck it out through those first few weeks when I wasn't sure what I was doing.

Cameron is doing great. He loves his preschool and I love it even more than he does, I think. He has the best teachers and has learned SO much since starting there in June. He is working on potty training now. So far he has gone 3 out of the 4 days he's been there this week. :) I am so proud of him. He knows a lot of his numbers and ABC's, and he knows a lot of animals and their sounds. I worried about him being behind when he started in his new class, but he is doing so well!

All in all, we are happy with our new life here in our apartment! :) Hopefully I'll get it together enough (and tidied enough) to show it off to you all sometime in the near future. ;)

Cameron's School

Cameron switched daycares back in June. We were having problems at the other daycare with a child biting. And even after Cameron had been there for 4 months, I still wasn't feeling good about the daycare. Sometimes I would come in and Cameron would just be sitting in the corner. I could tell he wasn't very happy there. They took okay care of him, but okay was not good enough for us. We were also a bit concerned that he wasn't learning as much as he could. Although it was a bit sad leaving, I am SO glad we put him in this new daycare.

The new daycare has been wonderful! Every time I get there, Cameron is playing and he seems really happy. He has started talking more and he can even count to 10 now. He recently switched rooms and although I was a little concerned about the transition, he has done awesome. He is still able to see his friends from the old room sometimes because they all have play times together. They have started working on potty training with him and he's been sitting on the potty sometimes even though he hasn't gone on the potty yet. They have an actual classroom curriculum, like a school, where they learn new things all the time. I'm so thankful we were able to put him in the one of the best daycares in the area. Here are some photos of his new room (they even have class pets - fishies! :)

Cameron's cubby :)

Hello again, Blackberry.

I had to say goodbye to my iPhone recently and it has been SUCH an adjustment. I got a Blackberry and although I really like some things (hello NO autocorrect!!), I wish other parts were a little better (hello not-as-awesome camera). Oh well. In a few years, I'll get the newest, coolest iPhone. Who knows what it will be like then! :)

Here are a few photos I took with my Blackberry (and played with in Picnik) from our trip down to the campground last weekend:

Snacking on Goldfish

Napping with Whalington :)

Taking his Cars for a ride in his stroller. :)

Weekends

Cameron and I have been going to visit my parents every weekend on Saturdays. A few weekends ago they were camping in their new camper testing everything out before their upcoming vacation. We decided to go down to the campground and hang out with them. Cam had so much fun! We took him to the playground there too and he loved it. (He would hardly put his cars down though to play.) I really enjoy getting out of the house on Saturdays with him. Here are a few photos from our trip down there a few weekends ago. (I promise to have more new photos very soon!) :)

He loves his Cars!

A trip to see Cars 2 is in our very near future. :)

Cameron's Baby Advent Calendar

I really wanted Cameron to have an advent calendar this year. I have fond memories of using my own. I can't remember exactly what it looked like but I remember each day, I would open a little flap and see a new little picture. It would be one of my favorite things about December. I should really find out if my mom still has it.

Anyway, I knew I didn't want Cameron to have candy every day, because that is a no-no around here. I found an idea online somewhere that suggested cutting a tree out of construction paper and using foam stickers, one for each day. He loves putting stickers on things right now so I knew it was perfect for him. As a scrapbooker though, I cringed at the thought of construction paper and foam stickers. ;) So I decided to develop it into my own little project.

I found a cute little tree template here, cut it out, and traced it onto the back side of my CTMH Mistletoe paper. I didn't like how small that tree stand was, so I cut a larger one out of Cranberry cardstock. I didn't use a template or anything for that, just eye-balled it.

Every day Cameron will add an "ornament" sticker to this tree.



After that I cut out 6, 1 inch circles using my Fiskars Shape Cutter and circle template. I cut them out of 4 of the different patterned papers from the Mistletoe Level 2 pack. You could use a circle punch though. :) After that, I ran them all through my Xyron. Voila! Ornament stickers that match my tree! :)



And I cut them up and put them in a sandwich bag so Cam can randomly pick one every day.

I adhered my tree to my Colonial White cardstock cut to 8.5x11 and added some embellishments from the Mistletoe Level 2 Assortment.



(I apologize for the bad photos. It was crappy outside and they were taken with my phone. ;)

I also sewed in between the embellishments because it looked funny without anything else up there. At the bottom, I have added "Christmas 2010" in Cocoa cardstock cut out with my Cricut. I am sure there will be a better photo taken of this as we go through December and I'm working on our December Daily. :)

What kind of advent calendar do you have for your kids?

Supplies:
CTMH Mistletoe Level 2 Paper Pack
CTMH Mistletoe Level 2 Assortment
CTMH Neutral Embroidery Floss

Originally posted to my Cameron Crazy Mom blog. Brought here courtesy of me. :)

Holiday Handprint Ornaments

For my craft project, I decided I wanted to do a handprint ornament since it was Cameron's first Christmas. Starting out, I was only going to make one for our tree, but after some thought, I decided to do some more for some other family members.



I found an example somewhere on the internet of how to make these, but now I can't remember where it is at. It's neither here nor there since I pretty much winged it anyway. :) So here is what you will need for this project...

• Crayola air-dry clay
• Paint (I used Making Memories "Daiquiri" and some regular white craft paint)
• Paint sponges and brushes
• A paper plate
• A sheet or two of foil
• A sharpie and ink pen
• Ribbon
• A super cute little assistant

Ok, so first thing you are going to want to do is take some of your clay out and put it on a sheet of foil. The first time I did this, I did it on my craft mat. It worked ok and was easy to clean, but it was hard to peel the clay off once I cut out my shapes. I used foil the second time around and it worked awesome!

Since I don't have a circle cookie cutter, I used a mug to make my circular shapes. Now, I will warn you this was almost too small of a circle for my six month old son's hand, so if you have an older child, I would recommend using a bowl and making a plaque instead. Still cute, and the grandparents could keep it out all year 'round.

After you get your ornaments cut out, you'll need to lasso your assistant and get his/her handprint embedded into that circle. I went ahead and peeled off my circles before I got Cam's handprint. To actually get his handprint I held the clay in my hand while I pressed his chubby little hand down onto the clay. If you have older kids, it will probably be easier. Cameron and I had it out on this part. He did NOT want to have his hand print put into this clay.



Here is what our ornaments looked like after we were done hand-printing them. Notice I put them on paper plates to dry. I also used plastic sandwich baggies. They worked equally as well. Ideally, you would use wax paper, but I didn't have any of that so I improvised. :) Also, I used the head of an ink pen to make the little holes that I put the ribbon through.

Cute, huh?! :) The clay container says to let it dry at least 24 hours, but I think I waited 2 or 3 days. They were nice and hard once I started to paint them. I used a sponge brush (is that what you call it? I'm not artsy...) to paint my base blue color on. After it dried, I decided the hand print just didn't stand out enough so I went and bought some white paint and filled in the handprint with that. Looked so much better!



I just die every time I see it. SO CUTE! (Even if I do say so myself!) And it really was THAT easy, I swear! It just took a little bit of time for them to dry.



I put the ribbon through the hole and then added Cameron's details on the back so we (and our parents and grandparents) don't forget! This is where my sharpie came into the picture. :)



If you have any questions for me, leave them for me in the comments or send me an email and I will answer!

Originally posted to my Cameron Crazy Mom blog. Brought here courtesy of me. :)