A Thorn Among Roses

what we've been up to...a lot this week in no particular order: smiling plotting playing fighting sneaking and lots of just good old fashioned fun. happy new year to you and yours...

a few things me and the fam DID NOT do this last week... i DID NOT forget it was monday until almost 9pm...and then write this post! brooke's bmom, brit, DID NOT come and hang with us for an entire day this last week. paige, brooke and brit DID NOT go sledding and have a major snow ball fight whilst i took a nap! ahhhh. my heart DID NOT get a little bigger seeing the true joy of love. someone DID NOT steal my b's nintendo DS lite from our car...that we DID NOT discover christmas eve at 9pm. paige, ryan and i DID NOT search everywhere, call everyone and take apart the entire house and the cars looking "just in case". after a blow by blow scenario breakdown, ryan DID NOT conclude it had to be stolen when we went to see santa bc it was there b4 and not when we got home. hubs and i DID NOT drive 2 hours around to every store praying that one would be open...in case you were wondering, nothing but bars, liquor stores and drug stores. we DID NOT hit a blockbuster a

i get a lot of great pics as a photographer of my kiddos...but there's a whole lot of hilarious outtakes that don't make the wall in the house, let's just say..but are def worth remembering every now and then. so this is my entry this week for the i heart faces "hilarious outtakes" week...it was during our fam photo shoot in early november... sofia is screaming her head of about something...maybe not being able to run around like a maniac or something. as you can also see, jada is terrified of something...maybe the screaming tears of sofia. brooke is being her normal "helpful" self, which means not looking at the camera and trying to soothe sof. cute, but doesn't make for the best pics. and paige, doing all that she can as the eldest...straightening collars and holding sof and well, just anything to get the darn shoot over with getting one good pic. ...which we did, by the way. but this is a hilarious outtake...at least i think so.

merry christmas from my gang to yours... from luke 2... "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and f

there's something to be said about indoor malls...it is indiana and it's snowing and it was FREEZING waiting to see the big guy. i took the "it builds character" road on this one. but it was all worth it once we got inside the cute house that santa had those elves build right in the middle of our outdoor mall! amazing! and then in the amazing christmas spirit, i read this...yep. merry christmas...give us $20 minimum. seriously? it didn't matter, i mean the girlies loved santa...sof zoned in on the candy canes on the other side of the house and darted across to grab them. dang kid...just like her dad ;) ...but she chatted it up with the big guy...after staring him down first, of course! my fav part this year...i mean the girlies were adorable, but when santa lecture paige and brit about not breaking boys hearts and being good, i almost lost it. he was hilarious! turns out that b and jk changed their list and will likely be terribly disappointed since the big g

a few things me and the fam DID NOT do this week... sofia DID NOT make "bucks" coffee for us with her tea pot after dinner. she is def NOT a girl after my own heart. brooke DID NOT say, "wow mom, be careful when you make turns. that one just about killed my n*uts." after i DID NOT almost wreck the car, i said, "what are your n*uts?" brooke DID NOT reply, "you know, the body part next to my bottom. logan said he got hit in the n*uts at the bus stop. i think my nuts hurt." i DID NOT try to get paige to take it, but ended up being the responsible parent and say it was "not a bad word but not a nice word." jada DID NOT play the leapster under the couch in the office to have uninterrupted and unchallenged play time with b and s. she is NOT pretty smart to head to the lowlands for quiet time. brooke DID NOT sneak so many sweets at the mc fam christmas party that she had to ride home with a puke pan on her lap "just in case". i DI

like any lover of the camera, there's never a place we go without our friend... today after church, as we were walking out, the fam just was being normal and i had to capture this glimpse of what normal is for us.... yes, that's hubs...and yes, that is paige's coat. she's 100 pounds soaking wet, so you can see that it's not the best fit. and sofia was obsessed with the fresh snow...again. but look at those sweet eyes. look closer...there's hair!!!! and paige was cracking up...at many things...but mostly at hubs being silly. b and jk decided they wanted to play on the playground...we barely stopped them before sliding down the snow covered slide. we have a 40 minute drive home...wet pants all the home spells whining! and even with the best of parenting, it turns out that leaving a super fun parking lot in front of the church {every single sunday} can bring any of the kiddos to tears. today, it was sofia. happy sunday...

sofia is heading up on 2 in less than a month now...and well, i'm not sure i'm ready. i've said it before, but i'm really feeling it now...she's not a baby any more. i don't get another little one to cuddle and feed bottles to and blow bellies while changing diapers...sofia is the last one {according to hubs, for the record} and i'm not ready. i feel the urge...the urge to have another baby. and since i can't do anything about that urge right now, i'm gonna keep her that way as long as i can, so this is my admission... if she wants a bottle still...well, she's gonna get it. would you refuse that face? and if i can only get snuggle time by buying her off with a cup of ice chips to chew on, then so be it! she even looked at me and said, "mommy. feel pee pee." we all know that means she is so ready for training...and i just hate to see her take that next step. don't get me wrong, i'm so grateful she is healthy and progressing, b

paige is in photography class...which i love...and she just finished a project on eyes. i had to share these fun and amazing shots with you... boys eyes are right eyes, girls are left...and she's mounting them side by side making 5 sets. i think that is totally awesome! remember krystal...yep, this is her eye! look at the colors! and my jada...funny how a brown eye only looks brown until you see it up close. and the fab miss brooke...can you say BLUE? i'm boring...yep, just brown and really in need of a touch up on the eye brows in this shot! {right after i saw it, i did a touch up...i promise!} miss sofia takes the blue to an all new level! who knew that eyes could be tie dyed...this is matt from our youth group! ok, this is a little freaky, but this is josh, paige's boyfriend. orange and green...hmmm. and then ryan...i can't believe how gorgeous his eyes even are....you all can totally be jealous of me! i'm proud of her...this is good work! yeah paige! have a

humor me, okay? i thought this was hilarious when i took it...i mean, a drop down on the couch, belly laugh funny. everyone sees hubs as such a sweet guy {and he totally is}, but to see him with devil horns is hilarious! it's all i got today. hubs is off on another business trip, which started this morn at 4:30am...so i'm beat, it's freezing and well, please just humor me. and 5 minutes for mom are helping me out today!