The perfect Christmas picture!!!

Every year we try, and I mean TRY to get a picture of the grand kids in front of Nana and Papa’s tree.  Every year we have such high hopes of how the picture will turn out.  Every year we come up with a game plan, who will shoot, who will pose, who will do the funny dance in the back to get them to smile, etc. 

And every year, well, just see for yourself. . . .

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Sooooo, yea, you pretty much get the idea, huh?  Well, there’s always next year . . .

Not Me Monday!

 
Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
 

I have NOT put off finishing up my Christmas shopping until the week of Christmas.  And now the kids are out of school and I have 3 days and no idea how I am going to finish.  Hoping the stores have “extended” store hours this week!

I did NOT completely crash yesterday after having Nate’s family over for Christmas dinner on Saturday.  I would never totally space out and basically need a day in bed after planning and hosting a dinner for 10 adults and 8 kids.  And I did NOT leave the dishes from the dinner until last night before I washed them.  Besides just being gross, it makes your job twice as hard when trying to scrub dried broccoli off of a bowl!

I did NOT just say to my children “The next person that asks me for a piece of candy is going to get their fingers chopped off!!!”  Really, I find much better ways to explain to my kids that candy at 9 am is just not healthy and that mom is a little stressed and the same question asked 24 times in 6 minutes might cause her to lose what last bit of sanity she has left.  I would NEVER just shout out something that would make my kids run and hide in the other room!

Happy Monday!

Evans Family Christmas session

A few days ago I got to have a session with the Evans family!  It was fun and baby M was as cute as ever!  I picked a few of my favorites to post:

E family 1 8x10

Sweet family!

E family 2 8x10

E family 4 8x10

E family 5 8x10

I love her little hands in her lap!

 

E family 9 8x10

This one is my favorite!  Such pretty eyes!

 

E family 10 8x10

Showing off her pretty dress!

 

E family 11 8x10

E family 12 8x10

E family 13 8x10

Another fav!

 

E family 15 8x10

E family 16 8x10

Can you believe those eyelashes??!!

Merry Christmas!  Thanks Evans family!

Photo of the Week!

jon 8

 

I think this was summer of 2007.  Playing in the fountains at Seacrest Beach is one of the kids favorite things to do!  I just love how you can see the excitement on J1′s face.  I love summer!

Not Me. . . Tuesday?

I admit.  I AM a day behind. 

I did NOT make a pot of coffee this morning, but forget to put the coffee in AND forget to pour the water in the back of the coffee maker.  If I had done that I basically would have just warmed up a pot of water!  And I am NOT that scatter brained that I would forget the 2 essential steps to coffee making!!

I have NOT put off ordering my Christmas cards until today.  Other people have probably already sent out cards with pictures that I took!  So, being the photographer behind others cards, I would NEVER have neglected ordering my own cards!

Nate and I did NOT sneak in a quiet meal at Texas Roadhouse this past Sunday while we were supposed to be out Christmas shopping.  We would never do that!  But if we did, it would have been awesome, and sooooo deserved!

I promise I will try to do my next “Not Me Monday” post on, well you know, Monday.

Family Christmas Session

Last Sunday I had a Christmas session with a sweet family.  It was a great session and the little boys, ages 1 and 2, did great!  It is always hard with young children to get them to feel comfortable and smile at a stranger!  And throw in a couple umbrella lights and the fact that they have to sit still and it can be a great challenge!  But these little guys did great!

Here are a few of my favorites:

C & C 3

c & c 4

c & c 5

c & c 6

c & c 7

c & c 8

C & C 18

c & c 20

After we did some indoor pics we headed outside to get some of the little ones in action!

c & c 13

c & c 15

c & c 17

WHY???

Why do people think that they need to verbalize their opinion on how many children another family has?

Of course this is coming from the story about the Duggar family and that they delivered baby #19 at only 25wks gestation.  Baby Josie weighed in at 1lb and 60z.  Wow!!  Just the thought of that is completely breathtaking!

I will admit, I have made comments such as “How in the world do they give each of their 18 children individual time and attention?”  But then I have to admit that just because I can’t do it doesn’t mean that the Duggar parents are not able to do it.

I read with sadness this morning that baby Josie was born so early.  I felt sad for the mom and family and mostly for Josie.  But then I began to read these awful, judgemental comments about how others feel about this family.  And again, my question is “Why?”  Why do you care???  Are you being asked to care for these children?  Do you have to feed them?”

The Duggar family is a Christian family who believes that children are a gift from God.  Michelle Duggar suffered a miscarriage after her first child was born and was told that the miscarriage was most likely caused by the birth control pills she was taking.  So, heartbroken over the loss of her child, her and her husband decided that they would no longer try to prevent conception, and would welcome any child that God blessed them with.  I can understand her decision.  I myself have had to research birth control options because of my blood clotting issue. 

Even with only four children I have experienced the raised eyebrow  and the “what were you thinking”  and the famous “You do know what causes that don’t you?”  expression and comments.  I also feel the same frustration because I just want to say, “What’s it to you??” 

From what I know about the Duggar family:

- they have strong moral values

- their children are well behaved and respect authority

- they live a structured life and are taught the importance of self discipline

- they are all well fed and clothed

- they live in a house much nicer than the average American

- they helped build the house they live in.  This helps give them a sense of pride about their home, and therefore a respect for property, theirs and someone elses.

- they have no debt.  Everything is bought with cash and as far as I know they do not receive any government assistance

This is not a family that is continually having children and relying on the government to support them.  This is not a family who has numerous, rebellious children that are a threat to society.  This is not a family who is leaving these children to raise themselves with no guidance.

So again, I ask “Why do people care so much?????”

Again, I don’t think that I could raise 19 children.  But just because I can’t do it doesn’t mean that they can’t do it.

Prayers for the Duggar family and baby Josie.  We all know that pregnancy complications and premature birth can happen whether it’s your first or 19th baby.

TWINS!!!!

I had my first photo session with TWINS last Friday!  Wow, what a workout!  The twins belong to my long time friend, Samantha.  And they were sooooo cute!  Their little smiles will melt your heart, and hearing them laugh in unison is just precious!  Here are a few of my favorites from the session!

H & L 7

H & L 10

H & L 15

H & L 16

H & L 18

H & L 21

H & L 2

H & L 30

I told you they were adorable!!  Thanks Sam for letting me photograph your beautiful boys!