Month: December 2010

Visiting Santa…..

Another Christmas tradition,  in our family, is visiting Santa.  After Tuesday was born, for the first seven years, we went to the same place and there was the same Santa!  He had a real beard….but wasn’t too friendly..but it was neat that he was the same Santa .  We were so disappointed when there was a different Santa…..with a fake beard the next year.    I don’t like the Santas with fake beards.  So, this year I called different places asking if their Santa had a real beard or a fake beard…they must get that question a lot…..because they didn’t seem to think it was strange.

I also don’t like it when they won’t let you bring in your own camera..that really bugs me.  Anyway, we found a local farmers market that had a wonderful Santa..and it was free (He was on a tractor, which was sort of funny).  You just had to bring your own camera.  There was no line and the kids had time to actually “talk” to Santa….a rarity.  He was so friendly and patient. River was so nervous and almost couldn’t get any words out..it was adorable.

This is Tuesday with Santa when she was a few days old.  The Santa was so nervous to hold her.  Here are some other past Santa shots…..

Embrace the Camera…Jingle Ball 2010

It is Embrace the Camera Thursday and today’s photos are Tuesday, Quinn and I……last night we went to our first concert..all together….I went with Tuesday to the Lilith Fair this summer..but this is the first time the three of us went to a concert together.

As an early Christmas present…we hopped on the high speed line and then walked to the concert center.  It was Jingle Ball 2010……with Script, Selena Gomez, Charisse, Train, Flo Rida, Adam Lambert and Justin Bieber…..Bruno Mars was supposed to play, but he was sick..so Flo Rida took his place and Jesse McCartney played for about 15 seconds.

There was a lot of screaming and we had a lot of fun!  When Justin Bieber came out…the crowd went CRAZY!

Everyone was very tired this morning..but they dragged themselves out of bed and made it to school on time!  Oh, and did I mention…..we were in the last row!!!!

Christmas books….

Another Christmas tradition around here is getting out the Christmas books…and books are a big deal around here.  We used to have everyone pick out a Christmas book  to buy every year..but then we just got too many books.

Everyone has their favorite book and loves to be the first one to read it…..especially to River…oh, and to the cat.

I try to tell River that she has to read every book at least once..but before we start re-reading them.  That doesn’t always stick!

Morning Photos…..

I love taking photos of my children when they first wake up……it is one of my favorite times to photograph River.  Especially if I get her to tell me a story about one of her dreams…..the expressions that I capture are priceless….especially because her stories go on and on and on..it is a great way to get her to not make goofy expressions the whole time I’m taking pictures..which is what she does anymore..when I take out the camera…..so here are a few good shots that I got the other morning…….

Also, check out the Water for Christmas Etsy shop……one of my woolies is up for sale….All proceeds from items sold on this shop go directly to building fresh water wells in Liberia, West Africa.

To learn more about Water for Christmas, visit www.water4christmas.com.






Bring on the Christmas traditions….

So this month…I think I might be talking a lot about our Christmas traditions…I’ve done it a bit in the past..but it might be more this year..so be warned.

One of our first traditions is getting out our advent calendar.  My mom gave this to us years ago and I love it because it is reusable.  I also love it because it challenges me to get gifts that are small enough that they fit into these little tiny drawers..which usually means candy or small amounts of change…which is a good thing..because to me the advent calendar is about little tiny things…..(okay..the first day I cheated…I put a little note in the drawer that said to look somewhere else..I got snowman candy bars and they wouldn’t fit in the drawer…but I couldn’t resist..they were delicious…white and dark chocolate with pepermint pieces!!)

We try to do the advent calendar first thing in the morning…when things aren’t too crazy…but River doesn’t always cooperate.  She likes to sleep in..and Tuesday and Quinn have to be off early for school.  So, we will either do it first thing in the morning…or right after school.  If we end up not doing it in the morning, it drives River crazy.  She spends the whole day asking why Tuesday and Quinn aren’t home from school yet!!

Embrace the Camera……photo booth style…


It is Embrace the Camera time…..better late than never…I didn’t get this post up til late!…oh well…..I so rarely get a shot with me and all my children..I thought it would be fun to do a photo booth style shot….so here it is..I love the site Laphotocabine.com.  It is a lot of fun…try it out!

Our Thanksgiving trip to Niagra Falls…..

This Thanksgiving we decided to do something totally different….and take a trip over Thanksgiving.  It was the first time that we have ever done something like that.  At first, we thought we would go somewhere local…maybe camping….then it sort of grew and grew and grew from there…….we ended up going to Niagara Falls!  It was so much fun!

We don’t take many trips, so it was a lot of fun and a great adventure!  I have never been to any part of Canada, so I really loved finally getting to go……we all had a blast.

We saw the Falls from the Canadian side (Tuesday almost fell in…or at least pretended to….), ate in a revolving restaurant, went behind the Falls (the boat tour was closed for the season…..), saw a rainbow, froze, got wet, went swimming in an incredible water park, saw the Falls from the American side, ate a lot of food, did a lot of Mad Libs, saw snow and froze some more!!

It was very cold…so there were hardly any tourists around!  I’m sure if we went in the summer…..we would have been complaining it was too hot!  It was a great little vacation!