Gingerbread Parties!

Our family, like many others, has certain traditions during the holidays that my kids look forward to all year.

One of my daughters favorites is decorating gingerbread houses.  Sydney has had the same core group of girls over 4 years in a row and they just have more and more fun each year.  Not to mention the fact that they get cuter and cuter with time!

2009

2012

This year marked the first year for Logan to have a crack at his own gingerbread party - he wanted to do gingerbread men instead of houses...

 

I think they ate more of the candy than they actually decorated the cookies with but they had a blast either way!  I just love this tradition!

Thoughts for Thursday

My daughter got her soccer pictures back from her AYSO season.  The Glow in the Dark Panthers was the team name...democracy gone a bit awry but what are you going to do?  It was her second season playing and my second season coaching her.  It was a great experience for me and I hope for her as well!  Selfishly I hope their are many more years of it yet to come!

 

Our Thanksgiving dinner was a delicious success.  My favorite part of the meal was, and has long been, the Truman Dixie Salad!  What's better than pomegranates and whip cream...not much! Yum!

I was completely anti Black Friday and just about everything surrounding it this year .  We were just not in the mood to fight the crowds that weekend.  How did we pass the time you ask...

 

playing games and shooting hoops at Chuck-e-cheese which, thankfully, was practically void of people! 

The rest of the weekend was passed with time spent at home setting up Christmas decor and working on the tree.  It was so relaxing for mom to have the kids quiet and entertained :)

 

Our Christmas cards arrived in the mail today.  They turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself & I'm excited to get them sent out...even more excited to see all the fun ones that come in from family and friends!

My daughter's school is having their book fair this week.  It's great to see her get excited about wanting new books to read for her and her brother!

Yes, we may have gone a tad overboard!

Finally, we have discovered a new take out place.  Tommy Thai in Mountain View.  This one's menu is sure to stay near the top of the pile.  There is something about good Thai takeout on a Thursday night that makes a tummy happy!

I'm Thankful for...

I missed the boat this year on my "Thankful for list" on the blog.  Next year I have grand plans of starting on the 1st and documenting 30 days of gratitude as a good blogger should.  But this year it will have to be an all-in-one kindof thing.

so here goes...in no particular order; 30 things (big and little) I'm grateful for ;-)

• Thanksgiving Leftovers!
• Family
• Indoor plumbing
• my kids laughter
• our health
• hot chocolate
• our country
• warm fuzzy sox
• Sportscenter
• my camera
• my daughters smile
• my sons smirk
• good friends
• lessons learned
• the Gospel of Jesus Christ
• a good book
• technology
• soccer
• beaches
• mountains
• snow during Christmas time
• sunshine the rest of the year ;-)
• stepping stones
• french fries
• contact lenses
• family vacations
• food on the table
• roof over head
• clothes on the back
• love in the heart!

and last the best of all the game...

• kids in my arms

Its That Time of Year!

No, I don't mean the holidays, though that certainly is the driving force behind the occasion! 

What occasion you ask...Family Portrait Season!

This is the first year that I've posted any of the pictures I've taken, on a blog, or anywhere.  Hopefully the first of many more to come!

So head over to my photography blog & check them out!!!

tawniatherleyphotography.blogspot.com

Better Late than Never...

It seems the Autumn months have gotten away from me!  Wanted to take a few minutes to catch up!

First up:
Bahamas!!!
I mean really its enough said, right!  We took the kids on a week long vacation to The Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and it was, in a word, FABULOUS!  We had such a great time as a family, I wish we could go back every year!

Second:
First Day of School!

 

A second grader and a preschooler....mom may flip next year when little brother starts Kindergarten!  Why do they grow so fast?

Third:
Halloween!
A Disco Queen and Captain America...what could be cuter?  Not much in this mom's opinions!  Between the Trunk or Treat at church, school parties, and Oct 31st, the kids had 3 separate chances to gather more candy than any mom would be comfortable with.

all you need is love

My kids are three years apart in age.  Many have told me it's "the golden number" as far as spacing children go (this is open to much debate).  But the pro's are definitely there.  You don't have more than one in diapers at a time; the oldest one was done with the terrible twos (and potty training) by the time number two came along.  And being a "big sister" was very exciting for my daughter.  She was anxious to help take care of her little brother. 

Of course the inevitable happens whether they are three years or thirteen years apart...they are going to fight.  "He's bugging me."  "She won't let me in her room."  "I didn't do it, he did."  The list goes on and on. 

But every now and then, my kids are the best of friends and their love for each other fills our whole house.  Like this morning, when my kids decided that moms bed was the perfect place to play.

It was pure bliss for their mother to behold.  I mean its not like the bed was neatly made anyway ;-)  And the way they were making each other laugh is a sound I wish I could record and playback every day of my life!  Especially the days when they are at each others throats.

I know they will go through times when they'll forget how much they love each other.  I just hope those moments are few and fleeting!  Because when they're like this...

They make each other, and their mom, so insanely happy!

Snapseed! Where you been all my life?

I'm not the most tech savvy mom out there but I've got some game when it comes to photos.  I stumbled upon this app the other day and it was love at first tap!  I'm a fan of instagram but I've definitely found my upgrade! 

Now I love me my photoshop and I can spend hours engrossed in the editing process (just ask my family!) But this little beauty packs a good punch in no time at all and fits on my phone!  

Take this photo of my boy for example: Sitting on his grandpa's Harley and no I did NOT let him take a ride!

In about 30 seconds I had enhanced it to this...

I love it because even though you can tell its been edited when you see it beside the original, if you saw it alone you wouldn't know. To me, thats a great edit. I want people to see my photos and say "wow thats a great photo." Not, "wow thats a great photoshop job."

another 15 seconds, and I had this...

All on my phone!  I just love technology!