Grandpa

She loves him.

He loves her.



What could be more beautiful than that?

Pooped!

The can't help it.

They've had a busy week.



They've been playing nonstop for 5 days now.

Could this mean we all get to sleep in tomorrow?

Score!

These kids scored BIG at Christmas!

And I have to admit, Christmas is much more fun with kids around.

My little man here got this lovely tractor from his Nana. It far overshadowed the rest of the loot that Santa brought him. We are hoping that he gets REALLY good maneuvering this thing so we can turn him loose on the "real" John Deere mower in a year or two. :)



My little lady got this cute pink kitchen from Santa. She loves it, and I love watching her cook. I'm dreaming of the day when she will cook for Mom and Dad - and clean up afterwards. :)



Here's a pretty pink pony that was sent to her from her Nana. She loves bouncing on this little guy.



There is no shortage of things to do in this house (as if there ever was). Christmas was a success for these two kiddos.



Hope you had a wonderful holiday, and I wish you much happiness for the New Year!

The Abominable Children

We had such a beautiful white Christmas.

And the snow didn't stop with Christmas - it snowed all day the following day - enough to give us about 8 inches.

We braved a trip to Target to get the kids some snowsuits and snow boots.





What a fun time we are having here in the Midwest!

Her World

Here she is again . . .

in her own little world . . .



playing peacefully . . .

as if nothing else in this world matters.

I love that about her.

The Two Santas

Rub-a-dub-dub

Two little Santas in a tub



Best Santa bubble beards this side of the Mississippi!

I hope you have a wonderful week.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you and your family have a beautiful holiday!

Here's our Christmas card that I designed this year:



Here are some out-takes from our little photo shoot to try to get a few decent pictures for the card.



Have a wonderful holiday!

The Thinker

He's lost in thought . . .



Probably something to do with trucks or tractors or trains.

Or dinosaurs.

Maybe he's thinking that there is a big pile of presents under the tree that he's dying to open.

OR . . . maybe he's contemplating about what to do with healthcare, and the deficit, and the war, and the homeless, and China.

OK. . . I'm pretty sure it's just tractors.

Have a great week!

My Man

He gets annoyed with me, I'm sure.

I can't remember a conversation we had a week ago, a month ago or a year ago. I'm forgetful like that I suppose.

And then . . . there's this little camera in his face at least a few times a week. He thinks I have plenty of pictures of him . . . and the kids . . . "Do you really need another picture of him/her watching TV?"

Well. . . um . . . yes. Yes I do.

I know too well that I'm forgetful. I wish I weren't, but I am. If I don't take care of something right away, or if I don't write it down, it gets filed away in that little Rolodex in my head never to be found again.

So you see . . . I need this camera. I need to take pictures of silly little events that are of no major importance. I need to document little things like playing with cars or sitting with dad, or even watching TV. I don't want to forget ANYTHING - and yet, I know I will. I snap these pictures so I will always have something tangible to hold, and hopefully always remember these documented little times that I find so precious right now.



So to my husband, thank you for allowing me to capture a few of these moments with you in them.

Merry Christmas to all!

My Hope . . .

Is for you to always find joy in the world around you.



Little lady, your smile makes me smile.

Thank you for that!

My Family Portrait

We loaded up the car and headed to my office's holiday party this past weekend. There were lots of fun activities planned for the kiddos, but I was so busy chasing around one or the other of my kiddos that I didn't have time to take any pictures. We did sit down long enough to have a caricature artist sketch our "portraits."

Amazing talent - that's what I have to say about this girl that drew a nice resemblance of my family in less than five minutes (with two squirmy, sometimes fussy kiddos, mind you).



I have to say, I like the cartoon version of me - she's got a lovely thin face, high cheek bones, nice pouty lips . . . she kinda looks like a . . . a . . . supermodel! Yeah, I REALLY like the cartoon me!

I ♥ Faces Challenge: PETS

Here's Jake the German Shepherd with his two pets . . .



To see more pet pictures, just visit the link below!

The Photo That Was Never Meant To Be

I TRIED my best to get a good Christmas photo of these two.

One where they were BOTH in the picture and happy.

One where they weren't crying or hitting or cringing because they were touching each other.

One that was suitable for a Christmas card.

I TRIED, but it was just never meant to be.

Here they are playing in our bed - complete with Christmas sheets in their new Christmas pajamas. This is the best I could do.



There's always next year, right?

Right???

Learning

It's fun to watch her little mind in action.



- Concentration -

Have a great week.

Sweetness

This girl sure can love on her Daddy.



This is made cuter only by the fact that she can say "Daddy" now, and she RUNS to him and throws her arms around his legs whenever he walks into the room.

So stinkin' adorable that I can hardly stand it!

The Little Man

Hi there, Handsome.

What are you doing for. . . let's say . . .

. . .the rest of your life?



Want to spend it with me?

Remind me when he's 15 that I said this, OK?

Peek-A-Boo

Peek-A-Boo. . .

I See You!



Have a Happy Day!

Our Visit With Santa

We've never done this.

This was our first time.

Visiting Santa is not something I have done in years past because I was always worried that it would be a little traumatic for the kiddos. I can't say they really LIKE when strangers talk to them - let alone letting a complete stranger hold them.

This is how I envisioned our meeting with him going . . . . (no, this is not my little one).



I was right there waiting to whisk them away if they started bawling because some strange man in a red velour jumpsuit was holding them (who wouldn't be a little creeped out by that?).
But here's what happened . . .



They saw Santa, and wouldn't look away. As a matter of fact, my little man tried to climb OUT of the cart so he could go talk to him.

Once in his lap, they weren't too keen on the idea of smiling for the camera.



I was sure that my little lady was about to fall apart, and although I knew she didn't much care for him . . . she held it together. Such a big girl!



My little man got to tell Santa he wanted a treaded tractor, and my little lady didn't pull his beard out - life was good when we left - not to mention they both got candy canes. My little man already wants to go back, and although my little lady didn't say, I'm sure she'd go back if she could have another candy cane.

December Already? Really?

Hard to believe that we are in the swing of the Holiday Season. What happened to Summer? Where did Fall go?

This was probably one of the last few days of decent Fall weather. I'm so glad I could capture a few images of the kiddos.





These babies are growing up way too fast. I'm so thankful that I've discovered photography. It's a great way to make time stand still - even if only for a second. I'll take what I can get with these two.

Happy December!