Tuesday, November 30, 2010

* thankful *


Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to all those out there in blog-land. We're so thankful to the friends and family who check in here - the fact that you even care enough to want to know what we're up to means so much. I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgiving weekends filled with yummy food and time with family and friends.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with my parents and some of their friends. It was a really perfect and relaxed day. And the food was pretty amazing. Just look at the size of the turkey:


I wish I had the foresight to take a picture of the table to document all the work that went into the wonderful food, but my stomach got the better of me and I forgot all about the camera. Luckily my mom had hers and our friends took some fun pictures of the family:


I absolutely LOVE holiday weekends because they mean we get extra family time. We used Friday to reward the kids for filling out their star chart (a make-shift behavior chart where the kids earned stars for good behavior).  Chuck-E-Cheese was surprisingly uncrowded and Chris and I had as much fun as the kids. We were all pretty sad to have dad go back to work on Monday but it helped knowing we made the most of the days he had off.

Here is a picture of our "mantel" decorated for Thanksgiving. We don't really have much in the way of decorations, but the kids bring home lots of fun crafts from school and the end result is pretty festive:

And now the Christmas season is here again. Thanksgiving things are put away, Christmas decor is making its way around the house, and the Advent calendar is making its second appearance tomorrow. Hopefully I'll do a better job of documenting things this year. Tomorrow's activity is a paper count-down chain - the kids have been begging for one since we saw it decorating a table of books at Powell's. They'll be so excited to make their own! I just love the simple pleasures of Christmas!

Friday, November 19, 2010

lately

A silly Lucy face:


And her newest trick "I see two mommies":


Maryn's hair is finally long enough for french braids (though my patience for creating said braids is still a little short):
 
Happy Friday!

Friday, November 5, 2010

baby love

Our dear, dear friends were blessed with a newborn baby boy last week and I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of hours with them taking pictures of their precious family. Here are a few photos of sweet baby Eli at three days old.

family1


eli4

eli1

Isn't he such a cutie?? It's so fun getting to play "aunt" to this little guy, and he is definitely already like a cousin to my kiddos. They just love touching his soft skin and rubbing is fuzzy little head. And Jess looks pretty fabulous for having a three day old, especially considering baby E was a nice 9 lbs, 13 oz at birth. You're my hero, Jess!

family2

eli3

feet

eli2

We have prayed so much for you, little one, and can't wait to see the wonderful things God has in store for you!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Halloween

I'm not the biggest fan of Halloween, but it sure is fun to see all the littles dressed up! I hope your holiday was safe and fun and that the sugar highs were short lived :)

I thought I'd do a little rundown of the kids costumes through the years:


2010
 
 
2009

2008
 2007

 2006

 2005
 Awww...they grow up so fast!