Family photo 2010

You never know what you are going to get when you try to take a family photo at the holidays. This year there were 13 of us, with five under five. Surprisingly enough, there were two takes and one of them was actually quite decent (at least of the kids!).

Outdoor fun with the cousins

I thought I'd share a few more pictures of our Christmas with the cousins--these were taken by my brother Andrew. Though the weather outside was often quite frightful, we did manage to find some playtime outside that the kids found quite delightful. My mother fell victim to the John Deere bicycle display at the local hardware store and the kids were most appreciative that they didn't have to fight over two tricycles.

There were a few traffic jams...


A little help pushing here and there...


And a lot of smiling faces...


And no matter what, they were all looking quite cute in their gear...


And I think we missed the fun of this day of football, but looks like the girls had fun!






This turned out sweet. This is Pete and his oldest daughter...


And a few other good pictures that should be shared:

Sweet Eliza...


Uncle Trey reading a story with the kiddos as we waited to open presents...

What a fun time was had by all!

Christmas with cousins

I am terrible at blogging. No need to make excuses! But I do resolve to do better in the new year. And I also plan to catch up on some posts that need to be made. In the meantime, I thought I'd share pictures of my favorite part of our Christmas holiday this year -- children! Christmas is truly best seen through the eyes of children.

With my brother living in Canada (and previously in California), we seem to have one time a year when our whole gang is together and we try our best to make the most of it. The happiest of all of us though are the grandchildren--the five of them. They have a nonstop ball playing with each other and it is so wonderful to see. Our boys love their cousins dearly. But I'll go ahead and say that a picture of all five of them together just doesn't happen. Oh well.

The oldest ones (Katherine is six weeks older) took a moment to sip some apple cider (a first for Thomas):


The middles (Eliza is exactly six weeks older than Parker) had a ball hiding in the pantry with some flashlights, eagerly waiting to be discovered!




And the youngest, Lauren, was great at keeping up with the big kids and at doing her own thing. I taught her my best "TA-DA!"


There were cookies to be made...


And cookies to be eaten...


Gingerbread houses to be built...


A golf cart ride on a windy, cold day...


There were hugs...


And tackling...


And playing with Uncle Trey...


And there was Lauren trying to figure out how to get the sheep from the nativity set...



But most of all, there were smiles all around...











(first apple cider for him too!)







Nannie even managed to convince them they could be "ADVENTURERS!" if they tried various veggies (like raw squash)...and Parker even bought into it...


And on the rare moments when they weren't running full speed, they occasionally stopped to listen to a book...


Or crash for an episode of Dora the Explorer...


We enjoyed the time we were able to spend with our family for Christmas. The boys cannot wait until they can be reunited with all of their cousins again!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms and one day mommies-to-be out there! I spent a wonderful day with my two precious, crazy boys and I couldn't have asked for more!


It's hard to believe it's been two years since my first Mother's Day with both boys. Parker was nine days old, and Thomas was wearing the pjs that Parker had on tonight.


Parker's hair sure has changed a bit since then...and he's just a wee bit larger!

After church today we headed up to my parents' town to meet them for lunch as my Mother's Day wish was to spend the day with my Mom. My brother and his family were there as well and it was great to see them too. And the boys had a ball playing with their favorite SC cousin, Eliza. :) I'll share more pictures of their "beach" time later, but for now, I thought I'd share a few of them in their Sunday best.



If only their California cousins had been around, it would have been perfect!


I hope all the Mothers in our lives had a wonderful, beautiful day full of everything that makes them smile! I know I certainly did!

Happy birthday Eliza!

On March 21st, we celebrated with "Baby Eliza" on her second birthday. It's hard to believe it has been two years!


She wasn't quite sure what to do about blowing out the candle, but she looked awfully cute trying!


Thomas was moving too fast in every attempt I made to take a picture of him.  But I did manage to get one picture of Parker there.


Thanks Eliza for allowing us to share your special day!

California adventure: Random pics

I just have a few more pictures of our big California trip and since they are all a bit random, I figured I'd just throw them into one post. I tried to get a cute picture of Katherine & Thomas together, but at least one of them seemed to always be playing shy. Silly kids:


Lauren & Parker both got hats too, but here's a picture of the big kids:


At Katherine's (well, actually Aunt Sheena's!) church, Thomas tried his hand at a drum set there. I was somewhat impressed that he actually seemed to look (and sound) like he knew what he was doing.


We attended the casual evening church service on Sunday. While the adults congregated, the children stayed outside with the youth leader and played until they couldn't play anymore. By the time it got dark, it seemed they'd never run out of gas.


And then, Thomas did.


The next day it was time to head back to SC. I think what gave Thomas the most excitement was knowing that once we got to the Atlanta airport he could ride the "train" again. Luckily we had a long-enough layover so we could really go for a ride. We landed at A terminal and rode the train all the way to E, then all the way to baggage claim, before going to C to get a bite to eat. And then we had to go to B terminal to catch our flight. He loved sitting in the front (a big window beside a bench seat allowed him to see all the track in front of him), so that's where we went and he was in heaven.


I do have some pictures on my phone of our trip to the beach and Thomas' first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, but I haven't sent them to my email yet. So for now, this is the end of the California adventure. We had a wonderful time and we hope to go back soon! Thomas didn't want to leave and I know he will gladly return anytime...especially if it means we fly through Atlanta!

California adventure: Happy birthday Katherine!

Back to my California recap (yes, it's been nearly a month since we went, but hey, life has been busy!)...  The biggest reason we went out there was to attend my niece Katherine's fourth birthday party.  On the way to the party, we had to pick up 20-something balloons...


The children were back there somewhere...


Katherine wanted an "Ariel cake" for her birthday, as in the main character from "The Little Mermaid," and that's just what she got!  Just look at this wonderful cake:


The children were impressed:


My newest niece, Lauren, looked on from below and said, "Yeah, it's pretty neat."


While waiting for the guests to arrive, Katherine and Thomas took a moment to entertain Lauren (or vice versa):


Thomas was most intrigued by Lauren.


Soon all of the children arrived, and then came the special guest...Ariel herself!


After some bubble time, she offered face painting (Katherine did it, Thomas was too shy and preferred to ride tricycles instead).


Katherine definitely seemed to enjoy the party:


Thomas had a ball on the many different types of wheels available to ride:


There was a game of Limbo:


...and magic time:


...and fun with the parachute (bouncing stuffed animals):


Thomas loved that part:


After cake and ice cream, it was time to open gifts (Thomas wanted to help Katherine do this, but he had to settle for being a spectator):


It was a wonderful party and we were most happy we were able to be there to share it with Katherine and her family.  Everything was so much fun and everyone was so kind.  At the end of the day, this picture summed it up well.  Lauren did what we were all probably ready to do, take a rest.  Here she is with her Grandma.


Thank you Katherine for allowing us to spend such a wonderful day with you!