SNOW DAY!

I got my wish to have a white Christmas! We really are loving the snow. Aaron used Gabe's 4 wheeler to pull the boys around on their sleds (my kind of sledding)! If it's going to be this cold there might as well be snow on the ground right? I know once we hit the new year I will be ready for the snow to be gone and for spring to be here!

FUN WINTER TRIVIA!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper
2. Real tree or Artificial? Switched to a fake a few years back, but I LOVE fresh!
3. When do you put up the tree? The weekend before Thanksgiving
4. When do you take the tree down? After New Years.
5. Do you like eggnog? Gag!!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I always got the coolest make-up kits
7. Hardest person to buy for? My mom
8. Easiest person to buy for? Avery. Anything pink and girly!
9. Do you have a nativity scene? No, I have never found just the right one.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Usually mail, but this year blog!!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? (an ugly watch from Aaron...hey babe I'm just being honest:)
12. A Favorite Christmas Movie? It's a wonderful life,...oh and Christmas vacation!
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In years past I have been done before Thanksgiving. This year with the dreaded economy, I am still pulling it together :(
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Those chocolate oranges
16. Lights on the tree? The lights on my tree are white
17. Favorite Christmas song? I LOVE Christmas music. I have been digin' Sarah Mclachlain's Christmas CD. I love the lyrics to Clay Aiken's song "Mary did you know"
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Definitely be at home with family.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes
20. Angel on the tree-top or a star? Star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Open only one Christmas eve.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? It's Christmas, how can you be annoyed about anything?
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I have a woodland theme (pine cones,squirrels, acorns, fall leaves, icicles, snowflakes, etc...)Very sparkly!!

24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? Ham
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A White Christmas!
*If you want to play along, just copy and paste the questions and put in your own answers!

BLAST FROM THE PAST!

Getting our own family pictures a few years ago was an event! The boys were antagonizing each other which was all caught on the camera. Plus they were pulling goofy faces and being silly. But those are some of my favorite pictures! I'm lovin' the long hair on the boys!! Peekboo photos did a great job!!

MESS MAKERS!

My kids can do a number on this place in not time at all. It seems like just after we clean it, I turn my back and it's a disaster again. It never ends. I need to get tougher around here! I was looking back through some of my old pictures of the kids and some of the grand messes they made then. Good thing I love them so much!!!

AVERY'S FIRST HAIR CUT......BY AVERY!

So for about a month I have been trying to conceal the fact that Avery got a hold of my scissors and cut several chunks out of her hair. She had quite the choppy mullet going on! We could disguise it through buns and pig tails but when it was down, it was pretty obvious that she had more than some slight slithering going on :) I even rationalized that she could keep it the way it was and I could just cut off an inch or so each month until it was even again. But I soon realized that my plan was just crazy. I needed to face the fact that the mullet had to go!

Saturday we went in and had her hair cut into a bob. If anything it just seems so much healthier.
I will miss styling her long hair but I think her new hair cut is a fun change!

COMING SOON........

It's official, I will be starting a legitimate photography business soon! It's something I have thought about for a long time and often wondered if I would really ever take it that far. I can't think of any creative outlet I enjoy more. There are so many steps to take, so much to do, so much to learn. Thankfully I have a new DSLR camera with a couple of different lenses that will make a big difference. I have spent hours and many late nights trying to learn my camera inside and out, and there is so much to it. So it will take a while to master that. Also PhotoShop know how is a huge must in today's digital photography world. So there will be a huge investment in time with that as well. I am just in the beginning stages of this, and it may be months until I am up and running with a professional website and blog. For now I will probably just come up with my own simple blog where I can post images from different photo shoots. I will link it to my personal blog. I have been using my niece Kenadee as my little muse lately, dragging her around to different locations and working with my new camera. Here is a preview of some of my favorite head shots (also to get my blog off my Halloween post)! Thank you to everyone who has been so encouraging and helped to steer me in this direction. I appreciate your support and confidence!!

HALLOWEEN WAS GREAT IN 08'

This year our family was in a new area and a new neighborhood which provided some new adventures for Halloween! The kids loaded up once already at the fun ward trunk-or-treat! Then on Halloween we had family over for taco soup with all the trimmings and plenty of other munchies and baked goods. This year I was brave and let the kids run through the neighborhood with their cousins and friends to trick-or-treat. They had a blast and enjoyed some freedom :) The weather was so fantastic this year. My neighbor even had her grill out doing a BBQ for all the little trick-or-treaters that came by! It was so fun to see everyone in their costumes (kids and adults)! I LOVE Halloween......almost ..... as much as I LOVE Christmas!