My new camera is here!!!

My Nikon showed up yesterday late afternoon, so I've pretty much spent all day today and last night taking pictures. I had some inklings of photography that I'd picked up along the way, but really there is just SO MUCH to keep track of. Regardless, I am pretty proud of what I'm doing so far.

These pictures are of nothing major - we let the kids use the chalk and paint from their stockings this afternoon, that's the first set of pictures. Then the next set are some randoms from inside the house this morning. Finally, the last couple are from my first group of shots right after I opened the camera.

Green eyes like his mama.
Paint covered toesies.
And hands...


Blue eyes like her daddy.








Being silly.

LOVE this picture of JR. I left the aperture open too long, but was able to doctor it a bit and get a neat affect.
Same thing as above. Everything came out TOO bright - but it worked for this shot of the paint.




A picture of the text from the book I bought about the Nikon. My new favorite picture of Jeff.

Christmas Day!

Well, Christmas Eve Night, anyway.

Here's the tree, in all it's glory. Our kids did well this Christmas. Part of the reason was that we have a family trip coming up in January. I bought some items for the trip (cots, Disney shirts, and Disney outerwear). I decided to wrap it up and put it under the tree. The beds alone are taking up the whole picture. Jeff and I exchanged gifts that night. It was so nice to sit and do this, alone, without the distraction of the kids. Moreover, it left us open to really appreciate the kids on Christmas morning. I am fairly certain this will be a new tradition for Jeff and I.

I tell you this because Jeff completely surprised me and purchased me my "pipe dream" camera - a Nikon D60. You can bet that once it arrives...(tomorrow??) I will be taking pictures of EVERYTHING.

In the mean time you have to settle for the Kodak that we've had since Janna was born.

First gifts: The stockings, Janna's plastic playsets (made in the USA!) and JR's wooden train set.

Little Mommy in training.
The Disney beds.

The Slinkies - one of the hits of the day. $1.00 each at Target in the dollar section - AND made in the USA!


New Puzzles (another favorite, and also MADE IN THE USA!). Can you catch the theme this year (or at least as much as possible).


This was Janna's new Princess set. Now, I had really wanted to buy this for her - but I'd already maxed out most of the gifts. Luckily, Grandma purchased it. Except for a current punishment for being sneaky, she's pretty much been inseparable from them. If she refrains from being sneaky for the rest of today - she will get them back. Janna's having a little bit of an issue trying to manipulate people - like asking Mommy and then Daddy to get the answer she wants. Or...directly disobeying me and then trying to get her brother to cover for her. She's a smartie pants - so it will be difficult to get her to use those powers for good and not evil!
Janna and Mommy in their aprons that Granny made. Oh, and Molly (her beloved doll from her birthday) too!

Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve actually started off pretty late. I was up in the middle of the night, somewhat of an insomniac. So Jeff let me sleep in a little that morning. When I did finally rise at around 9 AM, I hopped up and made some crepes.

As expected, Janna ate the whipped cream...and that's it. JR ate at least half of his serving with strawberries. Jeff and I were happy, and in this family, sometimes that's the best that we can hope for.

Later in the day, the kids and I made popcorn balls (which is a hugely simple, kid friendly recipe, found in a Paula Deen magazine).
And before we knew it, it was dinner time. This year, we were able to have the kids sit with us while we fondued. I was hopeful that the kids would eat some of the shrimp. Depending on the barometric pressure, the Dow, and if her sheets were soft enough the night before, Janna might try something new. Being that it was Christmas, I decided to at least give her the option of a PBJ instead of the fondue dinner. She took me up on that. JR took one bite of a shrimp - and then happily snacked on the broccoli.

I have the wierdest children.


We fried mozarella, scallops, and shrimp in hot peanut oil.

After dinner, we dressed and went to church. Here are the pictures before.

Janna is such a ham.





The kids did pretty good in church this year. There were a WHOLE BUNCH of kids there. Poor pastor must have had 30 for the children's message. I honestly have no idea what the sermon was about - Janna is pretty good about sitting quietly and doing whatever activity we have planned. But JR isn't used to being in church with us - so he hasn't been "trained" yet. Our family rule is that kids big enough for Sunday School are big enough for church. JR isn't yet in Sunday School, so he stays in the nursery with Ms. Nadine (whom he LOVES).

Here are the kids ready for bed.
There are no pictures of the kids setting out cookies for Santa. Jeff and I made the decision long ago to not make Santa part of our holidays. The kiddos have a book that talks about who St. Nick was, and we've told Janna that he's a "make believe" character like Rudolph or Frosty. We've also told her that we all have a little bit of Santa in us, which is why it feels so good to give to others at Christmas time. I'm sort of glad because Janna came out of her room while we were doing stockings. I was able to keep her from really seeing what she got - but I'm glad I didn't have to explain my way out of the activity itself.