Perfectly Dinky

My Christmas Tree.

I don't remember how many years old it is... all I know is that it was mine long before I was married. In all it's 5-foot splendor, it makes me happy. Every Christmas. Some of the branches are hanging much lower than they should. Others would probably fall off if they weren't being suspended by strands of lights. I think in all it's years I have bought one small box of ornaments for it, yet I can't help but notice each Christmas how much harder it is to find room for them. Homemade from Kenzie, beautiful WillowTree ornaments from my in-laws, fun hand-me-downs from my parents. If I had to give this tree a theme, it would be 'pieced together from love'. There's just something satisfying about the fact that this little tree would feel entirely out of place on a department store show floor...

Maybe I love it so much because I can relate to it - - - I often feel like the branches of my personality are drooping. And sometimes, they definitely need to be supported by some outside source. I, too, would feel entirely out of place if I were on display. And, though I may not provide happiness and joy to the multitudes of people walking through the department store, I like to think that I do bring happiness to my family and others who are willing to stop and take a look.

As always, we had a wonderful time decorating the tree this year.
"Mom, these angels are weird. Why don't they have faces?" McKenzie asked as she pulled a few Willow Tree ornaments from their boxes.
"I don't know. They just came that way," I half-heartedly replied.
When I walked back into the living room hours later to scan the tree again, I gasped when I saw this angel... then, I laughed out loud.
One of my WillowTree angels is no longer face-less...and I have a pretty good idea who fixed that.

It's fun this year to have a baby in the house. Miles is so sweet, and completely adorable.
Happy December - and Merry Christmas!

The Stars have Aligned!!!

Miles watching Daddy play football Thanksgiving morning

It's true! The stars have aligned to make this the most fantastic Thanksgiving weekend ever. Last year, if you remember, I was mostly concentrating on keeping the nausea at bay because of little Miles (and all those pies unfortunately made my stomach churn), and therefore spent less time thinking about all that I was grateful for. But this year made up for it entirely. We had a blast putting up Christmas decorations the day before Thanksgiving (because Brian was going to be on-call much of the rest of the weekend), watched Daddy play football in the Turkey Trot game on Thanksgiving morning, had Thanksgiving dinner with friends so wonderful that I sometimes get confused and think they're family, and...

...and - the moment we've all been waiting anxiously for - the moment of all moments - the crowning, shining jewel -

Hooray!!! Do a dance!!! Run around!!! Shout for joy!!! My camera!!!

This awesome, new little piece of my heart has been attached to my eye ever since it came home on Friday! It truly is everything I'd dreamed it to be! And I did dream...in fact, the three nights before Black Friday, I literally lost over an hour and a half of sleep each night because I was too excited to get back to sleep after feeding Miles. I'd lie in bed snapping pictures in my mind, thinking about how I'd carry it around, which lens to get, how I'd get Carson to smile (the little stink has a camera-aversion at the moment)...as I'd drift to that place right between sleep and awake, I'd see little patches of light and get frustrated that I didn't know whether or not good pictures could be taken in it. Yes. You could call me obsessed and you'd probably be right.

Brian was on-call on Black Friday, so there was really no choice but to brave the shopping craze with all three kids in tow. I could hardly push the gas petal hard enough in my van to take me to get my camera, and when the floor employee wrote the tag for me to take to the cashier I seriously had to stop myself from hugging him. *You're an adult, Lindsay. Hugging random men is inappropriate, especially in the middle of a store. Just smile and say thank you. Control your excitement. Control...control...control.* He handed me the slip of paper and I walked briskly to the cash register. I'm fairly certain I looked like an idiot as I took the invaluable box into my arms...I couldn't help but beam with excitement! I even glanced around expecting to see the whole store turned toward me with smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes, whispering to one another, "Oh, look at her beaming face!" "You can tell she's wanted it for so long," "How lovely," "What a beautiful day." They weren't.

My kids were so wonderful the whole morning as I dragged them through a few more stores. They actually seemed to be having a great time! At the end of it all, I told them that that could each pick something out for $5 at Wal-Mart. McKenzie found a locket and it was seriously love at first sight. She carried it with her the whole way through the store, watched it with dismay when the cashier put it in the shopping bag, and started begging me to let her hold it the second I finished paying. "Just one second, honey," I said. "Let's get out of this crowd first." As soon as we walked outside, I pulled the cart over to the side of the building and began to open her locket. She started jumping up and down, clapping her hands together, with her mouth in a wide, open smile. I found myself beaming again, "I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL!" I thought, "I just got a CAMERA!!!"

Here are two of the first pictures I took. McKenzie has had a wiggly tooth for a while now (look at those two bottom teeth!).

It's a good thing I took those pictures when I did...because the very next night:









She was VERY excited!

I still have so much to learn with this camera - - - I've been amazed at how just a tiny change in light affects the whole mood of the picture. I've also been amazed at the ability to take all of the above pictures in my house, at night, with no flash!!! (I think that's probably why some of them are a little grainy...) I can't wait to learn more - - - this is going to be fun. :)

Here are my favorite shots so far:

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Puzzling - - -

There are a million things about this computer that I don't understand. There are plenty of folders I've never looked in, and plenty more that I don't even know exist...but, there is one folder on this computer (perhaps one of the biggest) that I know every detail about. I surf through it. I organize it. I dream about it. I love it.

The folder is My Pictures.

Like I said, it's quite a big folder with over 6000 photos that have been taken over the past 5 years. Most (most most most) of them are of my kids. But there are a few sprinkled throughout where my face shows up. And there are even some of random objects - stools, candles, jam jars - that I have used to tell a story or explain a thought.

You know that feeling of recognition and excitement, as you pan across a big room full of strangers, when your eyes fall on your husband's face (or your mother's, or father's or another family member's)? That's kind of how I feel about each of my pictures. They could be thrown into a mix of a million pictures and I'd be able to find each and every one without focusing enough to see the actual faces. Yeah, I know...it's a little creepy. I know them well. Very well.

So, I was a little surprised when I came into my pictures and found an entire folder that I had simply forgotten about. They were taken last month, and have been waiting patiently for me to re-discover them. And, in my completely unbiased opinion, they're way too cute not to share. :)

It seems a little late now but, thanks to Jean for the Halloween package last month! I got the kids all dressed up in the cute shirts and took them outside to snap a few pictures in the fall leaves. Of course, no one wanted to be cooperative, so this is the best we got...


You might notice the little brownish-yellowish discoloration on the bridge of Miles's nose here. He sorta rolled off the couch and face planted on the hard floor. Oops... Don't worry. He seems to have forgiven me.


I do hope to someday be able to shoot every picture in focus. But, obviously, I have to work on that a bit more.

Now, take a look at this! Does this freak anyone else out but me? This is in our driveway, folks. (Yes, our driveway is covered in leaves...why do you ask?)

Brian took these first three photos, and I absolutely love them. There's something about the ladder in the background that I really love in the first one...and in the second one, you can actually see the spider connecting to a few different strands of his web...and I love the idea of the third one - to have the kids in the blurry background. It would be perfect if the spider was in a little sharper focus and not directly on McKenzie's face. :)


I try to not think about all of the creepy-crawliness that goes on right outside my door. Eww.

Want some?

It could be suspected that we starve this child if you focus entirely on his ravenous behavior whenever food is involved. He eats quickly, relatively cleanly, and in massive quantities. Who would have guessed that this tiny human could consume an entire bowl of rice cereal, 6 oz. of formula, and still want to nurse after it all?! We have figured out, however, that this gorging doesn't come without consequence. We made the mistake twice of feeding him until he simply refused more, and the entire night was spent spewing up excess food, and complaining with a restless tummy. You know, fish will eat and eat and eat until they die if there's enough fish-food in the bowl. Anyone else seeing similarities?....

The funniest thing about this is the way he behaves directly after eating so much. He becomes almost immobile, but for the eyes, and you can see the look in his face saying, "Whoa...I ate way too much."
We've since learned the wisdom in the phrase, 'moderation in all things'. :)

On a side note, McKenzie was so tickled that we let her feed him his whole first bowl full of rice. She did awesome - I swear, that girl could almost handle a baby of her own. My boys sure are lucky to have her.

And, of course, so am I. It does seem, however, that with the addition of each child, I get pushed further and further into the background. It might be silly, but the second night Miles ate rice cereal, I waited until the older two were in bed so I could have him all to myself (much less messy!).

Just Another Day

Miles

Miles can't seem to get enough of his car seat. I swear he'd stay in that thing for the entire day if I'd let him! :) He generally sleeps in it, too - - - and this is how the kids and I found him when we went to get him from his afternoon nap. Maybe it's time to transition to the crib?


McKenzie

On the drive home from school, this was our conversation in the car:
Me: Hey, babe! How was your day today?
Kenz: I tooted.
Me: Um...oh. Like, right now, or when you were at school?
Kenz: While I was sitting on the carpet at school.
Me: Oh... ... so, did everyone laugh?
Kenz: No. No one noticed.
Me: Okay. Cool.

So, that was her day in a nutshell.


Carson

Misleading marketing:

"Dere is cow guts inside dis?"

Octoooooober

I seriously love October. It's probably my favorite month out of the entire year. December is close - - - really close - - - but I think October takes the trophy. There are so many great things I look forward to each October, and this year proved to be just as wonderful as previous ones. Let's face it...digging into the guts of a pumpkin surrounded by giggly kids, a happy baby, and a pumpkin-seed-loving husband is enough to put a smile on my face anytime.

The giggly kids:

The happy baby:

The pumpkin-seed-loving husband:

The finished products:

McKenzie was extremely proud of her pumpkin. She had me draw the face (according to specific directions), and she cut the whole thing out all by herself. She only lost a couple of teeth, and in the end was ecstatic that one of the remaining teeth ended up being 'wiggly'. She, herself, has a wiggly tooth...so she felt a sort of kinship with the pumpkin.

More pumpkin fun was had at the pumpkin patches...one with Carson's preschool, and another with McKenzie's kindergarten class.

Carson's preschool:

Kenzie's kindergarten:

And, of course, what October post would be complete without Halloween pictures?!? A sweet little witch (who kept trying to be scary) and a couple of darling wizards made me smile all night long. :)

Hope you all had a wonderful October!!!

Kamikaze Acorns

"Ready, set, GO!" I yell from the safety of my doorway. The kids, who were huddled around my legs, dash down the steps and run full speed to the van. They have already decided that McKenzie will slide the door open - - - this makes sense because her long legs make it inevitable that she will reach the door first. As they jump into the van, I glance down one last time at Miles, kicking in his car-seat, and pull the sunshade over his little body. Picking up the diaper bag, my car keys and the heavy car-seat, I step out onto the first step, close the door behind me, duck my head, and clumsily wobble to the car as fast as I can with my heavy load.

I breathe a sigh of relief as I slide into the drivers-seat and bask for a moment in our victory. *plunk* The moment is brief, however, for after a few passing seconds, *plunk* the sound of acorns hitting the top of the van, fills our ears. *plunk........plunk plunk*

Kamikaze Acorns.

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It's windy. Brian and I are just about to plop into bed when a strong gust of wind blows through the trees outside sending sheets of acorns down on our house. It sounds like heavy rain on a tin roof as they hit, then like rolling marbles on a tile floor as they roll down to the roof's edge, and then like mad, wrestling squirrels as they fall into the crunchy leaves below.

We stand there, in the middle of our room staring wordlessly into each others wide, surprised eyes. "I don't remember this happening last year," I say anxiously.
"Me neither," he replies.
"Do you think we were supposed to, like, treat the trees with some sort of something that might make them not produce so many acorns?" (After several 'we're-supposed-to-do-what' moments concerning home ownership over the last year, it was an honest, legit question.)
"Nah," he says reassuringly, "I remember an article from CNN last year about how there was an eerily low supply of acorns last fall. Maybe this is normal and last year was abnormal." It becomes clear to me at this point that I have married a nerd. He actually read an article about acorns...and remembered it a year later. After laughing at him for a few minutes, he pulls up the actual article and, sure enough, there apparently was a shortage of acorns last year.

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Yes, they may be small and look like harmless little squirrel snacks, but trust me, when you hear those acorns free-falling from 75 feet in the air, you'd better take cover...

...and hope that next year will bring about the same eerie deficit in acorns as the last.

A Simple Love

It didn't take long for Carson to figure out that eating bar-soap is actually a pretty bad idea.

While Carson was bathing, Miles and I entertained ourselves by talking to the mirror and snapping pictures of ourselves.

Such a simple afternoon - it's quite remarkable how these two sweet boys can make even the dullest of days seem beautiful.