Christmas Card Outtakes

Here are the ones which made it and the ones which didn't... for somewhat obvious reasons.

First of all, when you decide spur of the moment to photograph your children, you should COMB THEIR HAIR. But I didn't. Hey- au naturale, baby.

A little cropping takes care of the problem most of the time. :)

Speaking of cropping. Why didn't I notice this band of light on Sam's face? This pic is oh so cute if it weren't for that distracting light band.

So, crop away. (My current solution to just about everything)

Zack is not the best subject to photograph. Too wiggly perhaps. Here are a few good ones that showcase his funny personality and are hopefully cropped in enough to hide his rats nest hair. Just pretend you don't notice.

Sam thought the light from the windows was WAY too bright.

Especially when combined with my flash. :)

But that doesn't stop me.

These boys were being so adorable, when their hugging didn't turn into a wrestling match that almost knocked over our Christmas tree.

But don't worry. It didn't fall over. Only ALMOST.

Their bad guy faces. A staple these days.

Sweet moments.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Great Grandpa

2008

2010

We love this man and his legacy. Sadly, he passed away this past week. I have always felt tangibly loved by Matt's grandfather even though I married into the family. When we named Sam, we named him after Matt's distant ancestor, William Bradford, since we lived in Boston at that time. We also named him for this man. He and Sam shared their middle name. Hopefully Sam will take after his great grandfather and grow up to be a kind-hearted, witty, smart, loving, and charismatic man as well.

Until we meet again, Grandpa, we will miss you dearly.

Santa's Elves and Sick Days

Overheard today...

Sam: Dad, do Santa and his elves MAKE all the toys or BUY all the toys for Christmas?

Matt: Santa has a very complicated supply chain network.

This is one five-year-old boy who is VERY excited for Christmas this year!

(Sorry for the horrid picture quality... that's the best I can do with what I have)

On another note, Matt took a sick day last week (unheard of). Sam and Zack found him reading a book on our bed and just had to join him.

Matching Clothes, Baubles and That Smile...

Cute somewhat matching boys this morning wanted to pose for a photo shoot. This is their "excited" face. Note Zack's NORMAL face...

Then, when I tell them to smile... I get THIS.

Did you want to see that closer up? I thought so. Check out Zack's maniacal smile.

But, how could you not love these cute faces? Ignore their red chapped lips. That's what you get in Utah in December...

On another note, I love wearing baubles. (And for Leese - here's a not-so-great pic of my not-so-recent-anymore haircut)

And this? No words...

None at all...

Maybe, just maybe

I'll blog about this baseball game

or this wedding
or this fort
or these long lost friends
Not to mention this tower
and this ride
and this snow angel
and this superhero
and this lovely receipt
and these awesome cookies.

Cross your fingers...

Long Ago and Far Away

some superheroes went to the library.

back when it was warm and sunny outside.

and you could wear shorts

and tanks..

Those same superheroes showed up at our Trunk or Treat.

They loved the banana derby

(And I slaved away all morning making FOUR dozen of these for our cupcake walk...)

My favorite? THIS one...

Happy belated Halloween!

For Tiffany...

Thanks for the tag, Tiffany! You know I blog-stalk you religiously. :)

Here you go...

1. Whats your favorite thing about your spouse or significant other?
To just name one? He's wicked smaahhhhht and I love talking with him. When we're old and wrinkled, we'll still have a fun time yakking.

2. What is one of your proudest moments?
Last year's Christmas program in church. I accompany the choir and was playing The Hardest Piece in America. It took literally hundreds of hours of practice, but I nailed it. Booyah.

3. Out of the jobs you've held, which one was your favorite? why?
Working as Assistant Controller at Moshe Safdie and Associates. I LOVED it there. I worked with the most interesting, creative, international, bright, etc people ever... and I loved what I did.

4. What's one of your "not so obvious" talents? How did you discover it?
Working with children who tend to be difficult. I can't claim this talent with my own children because I run out of patience too quickly. But for the two hours of Primary on Sundays, give me the crazy hard ones! They don't faze me!

5. What is your earliest childhood memory?
My dad giving me a popsicle.

6. All time favorite book? why?
Probably Cry the Beloved Country. But it's SO HARD to narrow it down. Check me out on goodreads...

7. So far in life, what is the biggest lesson you've learned?
That all relationships take active work and effort.

8. How did your spouse propose to you?
Over dinner in Cambridge after weeks of dropping to one knee to tie a shoe, retrieve a book, look at something on the ground, etc. It was driving me CRAZY.



Thanks for the tag! Gave me something to think about at 6am when Zack woke up this morning!

Here are my questions:
1 - Pancakes or waffles and why? (OR what is your favorite breakfast food?)
2 - Favorite date? Where, when, and why?
3 - Which are more prevalent in your home? Cars or princesses?
4 - What singular thing determines your happiness more than any other? (for me - the cleanlines of my kitchen)
5 - If you could change one thing about your wedding, what would it be and why?
6 - Facebook or blogging and why?
7 - Favorite blog you follow (or stalk)? Why?
8 - If you could buy one item RIGHT NOW for under $200, what would it be? Why?


My tag-ees... (you're supposed to tag 5, but I couldn't help myself...)
1. Corinne
2. Dr. Kate
3. Mary
4. Adrienne
5. Lesley Jean
6. Belowicious
7. The Great Mindini (if your family is healthy again...)
8. Jen Jen Phen Phen
9. Reggster
(#10 Honorary Mention: Lisa. She gets off the hook this time for just having a darling baby girl...)

Learned Today

that regular detergent has no business being in a high-efficiency washing machine.

Would have taken pics, but once I opened the door of our front-loading machine, the wall of bubbles that greeted me started blopping onto my floor. Yes, blopping.

Needless to say, I misread the label on this detergent! HE detergent only from here on out! (Sam and Zack LOVED playing in the bubbles though...)

Toy Room Activities

When I finished that prior post, it was rather quiet in the toy room. (Always a suspicious sign.) This is what I found...

What adorable brothers!

Zack saw me taking pics, and immediately retorted, "MOM! Don't look at me! I'm busy READING right now!!!"

(Speaking of Zack- do you see that double chin and luscious CHEEKS in the above picture??? Yum.)

Grocery Shopping $100 goal

I have decided to live within a $100 per week grocery and household shopping budget. For some of you, that's a lot. For some of you, that seems impossible. For me, it's a challenge, but doable.

I'm getting really into couponing and scouring the weekly ads for deals. This entails going to multiple stores each week... but I can handle that right now.

To help keep me commited to my goal (and accountable to someone!), I'm going to post my weekly expenditures on here.

So, here's this week. Amounts are what I actually paid. Some in pictures, and some not pictured.

Walgreens: $0.82 for 2 small pkg oreos
Rite Aid: $1.71 for 2 bottles kids vitamins
Reams: $10.17 - last minute change of dinner plans purchase (which is partly to blame for being over budget...)
Smith's: $56.70 (case lot sale! 40lbs flour, case of chicken broth, brownie mixes, cake mixes, canned veggies and some random groceries)
Target: $0.78 for three Fage yogurts (LOVE THIS STUFF)
Fresh Market: $26.94 for all this!!! Best deals were Gma Sycamore bread 4/$5, Yoplait yogurt ended up being $0.20 each, red and yellow potatoes were 0.69/lb, peaches and grapes were both $0.88 / lb, and the Post cereal after coupons were $0.62 per box! (Not included in this picture are the Tillamook cheese and bag of baby carrots that I had misplaced when taking this pic... So imagine a 1lb bag of baby carrots and a 2lb block of cheese too!)

Harmons: $10.48. That's right... $1 per box of cereal / granola bars. Can we say $0.10 per person for preschool snacks???

Dan's: $6.65. Look at all these apples. $0.77 / lb! Apple crisp, apple pie, apple everything here we come...

I think I have gone to every possible store around me. It feels that way anyway! Now, I'm off for a snack of fresh peaches in fage yogurt drizzled with honey. YUM.

Total this week: $114.25.

Don't judge me. It's my first week... :)