Laura's Bridals

Michael's cousin is getting married in January and asked me to take her bridals. How could I pass up taking a tall, blond, beautiful, and FUN bride's pictures? We had a blast, and Laura did an amazing job despite the freezing temperatures.

I did almost have a heart attack when she laughed into the straw of the Coke she was drinking and it blew up all over her dress. Thanks to some quick thinking, I had her stand up and we wiped it off the dress with a coat. Luckily, there are no spots on the dress!

Merry Christmas!

I heart sledding!

Sketchy Santas

I'm loving the sketchy Santas blog.

Felt Mr. Potato Head

I just love this felt Mr. Potato Head found over at Make it and Love it.

Small Magazine

Have you had a chance to check out Small Magazine? It is adorable!

Tradition

We have a little tradition that on the babies first Christmas we take an "all natural" baby picture in a Santa hat.

Reece's First Christmas


Maya's First Christmas


Mason's First Christmas


And, our sweet little Madelyn's First Christmas


But, this tradition didn't start with us, it started way back in 1975 with my sweet husband's first Christmas. Isn't he a doll?



This picture just never stops getting funny, and has SO MANY MANY uses!

"Hey There Big Fella"

Yes, this is what Mason says to Madelyn. It is so funny I just hate to tell Mason that a "fella" is normally a boy.

You are What You Live

If a child lives with criticism,
he learns to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility,
he learns to fight.

If a child lives with fear,
he learns to be apprehensive.

If a child lives with pity,
he learns to feel sorry for himself.

If a child lives with ridicule,
he learns to be shy.

If a child lives with jealousy,
he learns to feel guilt.

BUT

If a child lives with tolerance,
he learns to be patient.

If a child lives with encouragement,
he learns to be confident.

If a child lives with praise,
he learns to be appreciative.

If a child lives with acceptance,
he learns to love.

If a child lives with honesty,
he learns what truth is.

If a child lives with fairness,
he learns justice.

If a child lives with security,
he learns to have faith in himself and those about him.

If a child lives with friendliness,
he learns the world is a nice place in which to live.

WITH WHAT IS YOUR CHILD LIVING?

Dorothy L. Law, 1959

Ahhhh Thanksgiving

I realize I'm posting my Thanksgiving post way late, all the savvy bloggers have their Thanksgiving musings up the day after Thanksgiving. Not I.



Our Thanksgiving story starts with an ugly turkey I drew and feathers that hold things we are grateful for. Mason is very thankful for robots and sea monsters, oh how they have touched our lives! What would we do without them?

This year, was the best Thanksgiving EVER! Alas, Reece and I are both glad it is over so that we can start enjoying Christmas. You see, we believe in keeping our holidays pure. If it is Halloween, let's enjoy Halloween, when it is Thanksgiving time, I just want to focus on Thanksgiving. Reece and I had to roll our eyes, complain, and banter back and forth about retailers not letting us enjoy our holidays one at a time. Why do I have to start listening to Christmas music in October?

Now, onto the pictures and boring details of our Thanksgiving....

Last year we went to Golden Corral for our Thanksgiving meal. It was great, everyone got to eat what they wanted, while nobody had to slave for hours in the kitchen cooking (Michael) and nobody had to spend hours cleaning up (me). So, it was decided, Golden Corral again this year. The sign says it all.

We did have a few pity invites from well intentioned friends. When they heard that we were going to Golden Corral for Thanksgiving we would get the invite to their cousin's, uncle's, twice removed aunt Marsha's house for dinner, and they were sure nobody would mind. What they didn't understand was that although it is really "white trash" to go, it was a choice. It wasn't our only option. Each day leading up to the "big day", we would all make our personal "play list" of what we were going to eat....I'll start with the pizza, then move to steak. Steak, how many people get to say they had steak?

It was just great to be together as a family, and with all the "interesting" people there with us, it felt just like being with extended family.

Why is it that I can't ever get all of my kids to look good in a picture? We have Maya daydreaming in one, and Mason complaining that he doesn't want more pictures in the other. They are children of a photographer, they should know to just grin and bear it!

After our meal, we went to see Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was just that....fantastic. The kids are still talking about their favorite parts and acting them out. We hurried and read the book before we went to go see it. The movie is better than the book, rare, I know.



The day didn't end there, oh no. We got some free tickets from my friend Janis to the Jazz game and just couldn't pass them up.

Reece and Michael obviously didn't hear the memo that they were supposed to pretend to be cheering.






It was one of these rare, and I mean RARE days that everything was just dreamy and wonderful. The kids didn't fight or cry, they said, "Thank You", we laughed, we ate, and we loved it all.

A Little Sneak Peak on My Next Project....