Happy Birthday Bubs!

Dean~

I can hardly believe that you will turn 2 years old tomorrow! I am almost sure that I will cry.

We all love you so Dean and cherish you so very much!

You are such a precious gift to us..and we are so thankful to God for you!

So thankful for all the ways...... you make us laugh....

Take 2: The Winner!

Success!

Family Pictures: Take 1

So I waited last minute to take family pictures for Christmas cards this year....again. So one day after church I pulled out the tripod and rushed the fam outside for pictures. I am a brave woman trying to tripod shoot my family! It is so hard to not have a real person behind the camera giving direction, playing peek a boo to the kids ...fixing our hair etc. I told Ryan if it was possible I would pay myself to take our pictures!
But I did get some cute ones of Ryan and the kids. Those made it worth it all!
Coming soon...."Take 2: The Winner".

Let it snow, let it snow!

I am on a blog roll here folks! I am spitting these pictures out fast! Well, fast for me ...
p.s....Dean has learned the art of climbing out of his crib tonight. Anyone got a twin bed they want to discard?


If you haven't guessed yet, these are from that one day of snow we had a few weeks ago. It was super fun for the kids. We were not prepared and didn't even have snow gloves for the kids. So they both wore mine.

And this was before getting snow gear on. I snapped some of them looking at it all fall that morning. And note....ER dressed herself. I on a daily basis will choose her clothes and tell her this is what I have chosen for her to wear. And it never fails that after breakfast she will change into "dress up" clothes. And then she does this all day long.

A little on the Punky Bruster side at times...

" day to day pours forth speech..."

I seem to always find myself in places beholding the glory of God and never having a camera to record it. Coming home from a photo shoot at 5pm on Pelissippi I passed this. It was hot fuchsia pink at the time. Passing it, I kicked myself for not pulling over. So I turned around, and in the 7 minutes that passed it turned into this beautiful rich blue.
Absolutely incredible!

" The heaven declare the glory the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge."

Psalm 19:1-3

Note: I did not Photoshop any of this. This all the creative genius work of God himself!

Oh Happy Day

So I finally cut Dean's hair sometime in November. It was looonnngggg past over due.

I just could not put myself to cut his little baby hairs off. So one night after baths I spontaneously decided I would cut it. I sat him down to watch TV with a bowl of snacks and chopped away. Ella Reese watched me and said, "Oh Dean, you look so handsome!...Like a prince!".

After it was done and he hopped down to show Ryan, I saw his profile and I started to cry a little...tear up really.

But now that I look back at his before pics, I can't believe I let it grow so long! He looks like one of the Beatles or Monkeys!

P.S.

We had anawesome time on our getaway! He took me to Chattanooga!.....details later.

few more....

Here is a pic of our humungo ( if that is a word) tree in our backyard. I have not yet take any pictures of the outside of our house ( as requested by my family...sorry!) ...but here is a partial view of the back. And another leaf pile. Ryan just threw her in they were so high and deep!

Speaking of throwing...is it just a boy instinct to throw well at an early age?

Or to stand in front of the TV with eyes glazed over when football is on?

Boop-ball he calls it. One night I was flipping through stations really fast, and flipped past a football game. Like I barely knew it was a game.....Dean, standing next to me yells out excitedly with hands raised in the air, "boop-ball!"

Brrrrrr it's cold !

Well, today was actually pretty nice outside! But looking at these pictures from the fall make me miss sunny fun days outside. And certainly remind me that it is cold outside.

Here are my poor neglected pictures of the fam from early Nov.

Do you see my child in here?

I almost stepped on her before I took this. The only thing that cued me that a human was under there were the arms sticking out. She did this to herself. She loves the leaves. We have a super mega tree in our backyard. So we had a super mega pile of leaves. Natural playground for the kids...along with the itches and sneezes. But all worth it! Love his kissy lips. Imagine this coming at you trying to plant a wet one on ya!

We hold ER down when Dean tries to kiss her. She laughs hysterically trying to dodge his lips.

This immediately reminds me of the Lord of the Flies. I dunno, maybe it is her warrior looking stance or something. Either way it makes me laugh

I painted these for Thanksgiving. ER almost cried when I had to toss them. Then I showed her the banner on this blog and she was so excited to see them.

Every time we left the house or came home..she would hold her squash like a baby.

Oh, that reminds me,...I never posted Halloween pics. Man I am behind!

Ryan with his PT( Prince Technologies) shirt on. And holding some wires in his hand. He does network cabling and owns his own biz.

He's got a new site...check it out : http://www.ptcabling.com/

Packing my bags....

I am so giddy and excited! I am packing our bags and Ryan is taking me to a surprise weekend trip...without the kiddos. That is key...without the kids.
I love them dearly!!! I do! But whew, I am exhausted from all this photo business and then trying to stay on top of things at home and serving the family.
I am thankful for all the grace God has given me over the past 3 months with this busy season. And also for all of Ryan's wisdom and leadership to help me steer through the biz. He is my backbone and brains to the entire shindig. If it was not for him I would be an over worked anxious wreck.

I am thankful for him. My b-day and our Anniversary is this month so Ryan is taking me away. Away from computers, Photoshop, the house, the kids. I am excited. He gave me part of my gift last night. A gift card to GAP for a shopping spree for me. I call it a shopping spree b/c we do not shop for clothes. So any shopping/buying clothes is a treat for me!
But here is my temptation, my flesh wants me to believe that this weekend will satisfy me. Give me ultimate joy and bliss! And I know that to not be true!

I sat this morning reading God's word with sun ( oh yes what glorious sun we had today!) flooding onto my bible in my lap. And I prayed for God's grace to enjoy this weekend as a blessing from him, and that only HE can bring me the JOY me heart is forever seeking. And in that moment I did experience JOY as I poured myself and meditated on the Psalms. Then the cries of Dean's morning get-me-out-of-this-crib and ER jumping on to my lap brought me back to the demands of my day. So you see, I am looking forward to this trip so I can have extended uninterrupted time with God!

So I am pumped. I want to take every opportunity the next two nights and three days to give thanks to God for my husband and our marriage, and also to make my heart happy in the Lord!
But as I was packing tonight, Ryan told me to pack clothes to get dirty in. And that I would need some kind of thermals under my clothes. eeeek! What does me hubby have planned??!!!

But, I am also super excited about the pictures we took for our Christmas cards. I am posting the ones that did not make the cut of me and Ryan. I love love love love them!

I will post the family ones another time...

Ryan hates getting his picture taken. No I rephrase,....disdain, abhor, disgust...those words describe it better. He hates it ..bad.
I had tried once already a week ago when the weather was ok. I did the tripod method thinking we could get it. Well,...thumbs down. They stink.
Take two.....much better! Having a real life person take the picture works much better!
Props to my sista Sharon !!!

I love these all b/c they capture us as best can be. Ryan had an ear infection, it was cold and had snowed the day before. Ryan was trying to make the best of it and put on a genuine smile. And even took some kissy pics with me. You are a trooper!
I thanked him over and over for doing it all a 2nd time for me. These will be a treasure to me ~