Smile, You're on Candid Camera

I blogged very little between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That crazy time between the holidays sure makes me wish the world would stop for a breather during that time period.

How 'bout you? Shall we commission Mr. Calendar and request that life slooooow down for the month of December 2010?

Now that we're settling back into the norm, I wanted to rewind and post some pictures. Edie, my niece, came down from CO for Thanksgiving. While she was here, we had a photographer take pictures of my entire family. After a 2-hour photo session, we had over 300 pictures to sort through, which is slightly overwhelming to me. Anyway, I thought I would share some of the outtakes for grins.

Edie, the Michelin Baby

Yes, her cheeks are just as delicious as they look.

She brought her parents, too. (My brother, Ben, and his wife, Jessica)

We did get some really good pictures, but some of them caught us a little off guard. Like this:

But this was a little better:
What I really enjoy is candids of my boys like this:
And some weren't quite so "candid" but a little posing never hurt anyone:
And sometimes we were just a little confused on what the photographer wanted from us:
Liam really wasn't enjoying himself without his glasses, so we got a lot of squinting from him.
But I love this one:
Garrett had a hard time relaxing for the stranger lady behind the lens.
But this looks like my baby boy with caramel skin:
Jack was dubbed "Mr. GQ" that day:
A lot of our family shots were similar to this one, where Jack is looking somewhere else. Hello, Jackson?
I can't tell you how many times Rick and I had our eyes shut!
I love you, too, but can you get your nose out of my eye?
Thank you. That's much better.

While Rick and I were posing together, the boys were running amok, or so I thought. After our part was finished, we tiptoed to find Liam and my dad playing around.
And Garrett was climbing trees and would only stop to make faces at the stranger lady.
Jack often asks for my dad to do the "tick tock".
Yes, Rick and I stand around with our hands on our hips frequently.

And then my brother joined in all the horseplay.
My boys love all that rough play.

And I love my family portraits.

Friday Funny

After watching "That Darn Cat", Liam asked, "Is there a 'That Darn Dog' movie?"

Look Out World, Jack is FIVE!

Yesterday was Jack's 5th birthday! I am having a HARD time believing it. Time flies for me, but the big day couldn't get here fast enough for him.

I guess waiting for his birthday is a lot like waiting for his cupcakes to bake the night before. (Tick, tock, tick , tock....)
And, of course, Garrett was right there with him. He has a hard time allowing Jack to have a birthday first. He has to wait a mere 26 days for his 5th birthday, which is an eternity in his mind.
Those two are quite the characters lately.

On Jack's actual birthday, Daddy snuck (Or is it sneaked?) out of the house early that morning to bring home donuts for breakfast.
Gee thanks, Daddy! Bring home the sugar and leave me here to defend myself.

After taking Liam to school, the littles and I headed to a fun bouncehouse to burn off some serious sugar highs.
Our little friend, Reagan, met us there.
Finally, we ended the day with dinner and cupcakes with the grandparents and two cousins.

And Jack scored some loot.
Naturally, his brothers were right there to assist him with his gifts.
He took care of his own candle though.
Currently, I have a 6 year old, 5 year old, and 4 year old. And that's a wrap.

(For my newer readers, Jack's adoption story is an amazing testimony of God's work. Please see my sidebar for links to his story.)

A Christmas of Firsts

On the morning of Christmas Eve, my mom informed me that we were to get snow later in that day. I laughed and said, "I'll believe it when I see it."

As I was baking in the kitchen a couple hours later, the rain that fell all morning turned to pretty, fat snowflakes. The wind blew like crazy, and before long, we were telling the boys that we were going to have a white Christmas!
That photo was taken before the snow stuck to the roads. By Christmas morning, we had 4 inches, and the roads were icy. It was a true Winter Wonderland around here!

We kept telling the boys how unusual it was to have a white Christmas here, but I'll bet my last dollar they'll ask for more next year.

Lo and behold, four days later, it happened again!
We only got about an inch that time, but it was the THIRD snowfall for the month of December at our house. It is amazing, and I am grateful the Lord blessed us this way this Christmas season.

But a white Christmas wasn't the only unusual occurrence around these parts.

Garrett learned how to tie shoes! He's not even 5 yet, so we're all quite proud of him. Apparently, he's proud of himself, because he stopped all gift-opening to show off his new skill to his grandparents.
His eldest brother couldn't be shown up, so Liam sat down and finally figured it out.
Jack didn't take the time for tying shoes, but he pulled his firth tooth!
And he learned how to ride his bike without training wheels.
Go, JMan! He's extremely proud of his new accomplishment. He rides with a beaming smile upon his face, and we watch with wonder. Never did we imagine he would learn so quickly.

But, at age 4 years 11 months, he still needs the occasional encouragement from Daddy.
Meanwhile, Liam is riding circles around him and acting like his usual silly self.
And Garrett was content to carry on with training wheels.
Daddy did, however, convince him to try riding without.
But it ended in a fit, which Daddy tried to remedy with hanging him upside down.
It didn't quite help the situation, so we won't force the issue any further.

At any rate, our Christmas and New Year's holidays have filled our minds with good memories, and we look forward to whatever the new year may bring our way.

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours,
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Remember that this holiday is not about the gifts and the busyness. What God really wants is YOU!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:16

Let It Snow!

Let it be known that it SNOWED on December 2, 2009!

I don't remember a time in my life where it's snowed this early in Texas. It was only a dusting, but it's snow nonetheless.

Since it was in the 70s last week and the 50s the day before this snow, it didn't last long. But we're still rip-roaring excited about it, and the boys are hoping for "lots and lots of snow next time". Me too!

When we went out to take these pictures, Winston picked up on all of our excitement and wanted to join us outside. When we lived in Colorado, he loved to play in the snow. He would run and play in it while I shoveled the driveway. I think he remembered those fun times, because he ran through the yard like a maniac this morning. But two minutes later, I found him by the garage door:
"Mom, pleeeeease let me inside. My aching bones aren't what they used to be."

After we took Liam to school, the littles and I went to the gym and returned home for hot chocolate by the Christmas tree.
(Do you think I actually let them drink hot chocolate by the tree...on the carpet?! No way! We drank it at the table and staged the photo afterward.)

If you look close, you can see a hot chocolate mustache on Jackson. Teehee.

Right here is where I'm going to admit that I am prideful about already having my tree up and fully decorated. It's been up since the day after Thanksgiving. And my Christmas shopping is almost finished. Yes, I'm proud. Please forgive me while I relish in the lack of stress ahead of me this month.

Family Time

Who said the calendar could roll over to December??? Where has the time gone? Not only am I having a hard time understanding how it's already December, but I'm really confused how 2009 will be over and done with in less than a month!

Before December came roaring in like a train wreck, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving break with my extended family. While I was contemplating how I could wrap up our week with family, food, and fun, I decided that it could all be summed up like this: we spent the week loving on our family. That may not be a very creative summary, but it's very true.

See for yourself....

Jack loved on Uncle Ben. (My boys climb on any male that's at least 5' 7". My brother is 6' 2", so they think of Uncle Ben as their personal climbing tower.)
I loved on my Edie girl.
Lordy, I love that girl! And there's just so much to love on her!

Liam loved on Daddy. (Rick tried to take a pre-turkey nap, but he quickly realized that ain't happenin'.)
Garrett loved on his Didi, who made a smashing meal for turkey day.
And I loved on Edie some more. I was in heaven.
Edie loved on her namesake, too.
Look at her tights. Are those not the cutest things you've ever seen?! Edie's momma has a lot of fun dressing her.

And I had a lot of fun loving on her. Oh! I think I said that already.

Maybe Thanksgiving should also be dubbed love on your family because life is too short.