Crazy Family Photo Shoot

This year the holiday season seemed to sneak up on me including having some holiday photos for a Christmas card.  My friend Cindy & I decided that we would get together on an afternoon and take shots of one another's family.  I had fun piecing together color coordinating outfits for our family and practically envisioned the adorable photo. Sounds good in theory but... we were a little nutty and chose a Friday night to do this, we let the kids (and their family dog) play while we got things set up, we had some cute expectations about fun holiday backdrops, had some candy bribes, and the biggest fault of the evening was expecting the kids to cooperate with all the distractions. 

We started off with Jensen and Davis and couldn't get smiles out of the baby. Davis admittedly did a great job looking at the camera and we ended up with a lot of great shots of him, even a few of him & the dog.  Then it was Clara & Janie's turn!  HA!

 

Most of the photos turned out about like these!

 I lucked out and got one cute one of each girl!

 

 

Even a cute one of Daddy & his girls...

 

Amidst of hundreds of closed eyes and super silly faces, I did capture this sweet one for which I am grateful, but the shot below (with my crazy hair) was the best out of some comically bad expressions photo after photo.  And I had to sacrifice the color of this photo where we are all looking forward because the exposure was a little off.  So much for matching outfits!

 

My take away...Change my expectations!!  And next year get a professional sitting scheduled early!

Holiday Gathering, Garden D'Lights & Snowflake Lane

 

The Michael side of the family got together for an holiday kick-off celebration this year.  We hosted a meal at our home and then took everyone to see some of the fun local holiday sites.



First stop was the Garden D'Lights exhibit at the Bellevue Botanical Garden.  Then we headed down to a crazy-packed Bell Square Mall to see the Snowflake Lane show.  The kids liked seeing all the characters and it was impressive to see how they have grown the show, but this year there was a crazy amount of people and the it took a little away from the charm. 

 

The nieces and even the nephews enjoyed the holiday fun!

 

Thanksgiving Fun

Thanksgiving in Quincy this year was filled with lots of fun for everyone.  Of course the kids love being around all their cousins but this year after we stuffed ourselves with a wonderful turkey meal, we had lots of laughs playing catch phrase and Apples to Apples.  Here are some of the shots of the family fun:

 

 

Tea with G.G. Wanda

Growing up, I was blessed to share a lot of special memories with my awesome grandparents.  My sweet grandma was always doing little things to make my brothers and I feel special, mature and important.  I can't express enough how great those experience of a weekend trip away without the boys, special lunches with stemmed glass for my milk, or even helping her with an "important" job made me feel as a child.  Even now as an adult, my loving grandmother continues to do little things for me that always brighten my day and make me feel fuzzy inside.  This time it was an adorable tea party for Clara, Janie & myself. 

 

Grandma has made all sorts of fun tea sandwiches, pastries, fruit trays and rolled meats perfect for little fingers.  She got out some special tea cups and pretty napkins and we had a delightful time together!  Clara and Janie enjoyed passing the food and helping themselves to the spread of goodies.  Even with Janie's tea spill it was a delightful time for us to share. 

 

After we had mostly finished eating, the girls went and invited Papa Bob in from his study to share in the fun.  I am glad that I remembered to bring my camera to help the girls remember this special day with such important people.  We love you SO, SO much G.G. Wanda & Papa Bob and appreciate all the ways you make us feel so special!

Reflections

Clara was selected as a top participant in her school reflection contest.  Her art work will go on to districts and represent Challenger Elementary.  The theme for the project was DREAM, BELIEVE, INSPIRE.  Love how proud of herself she is here! 

Sweet Punkin's

 

What sweet little pumpkins we have! 

 

Of course I had to keep up with the tradition of taking the girls photos on the front porch with their pumpkin masterpieces.  This year Clara opted for a Tinkerbell design and Janie selected a Plex face from Yo Gabba Gabba.  Daddy did a wonderful job bringing their wishes to life.  This year when it came to carving the pumpkins, our typically timid Clara was a little more brave than in years past and was willing to get her hands in the pumpkin guts.  On the other hand, Janie was much less interested this year and preferred not to dirty her hands.

 It wouldn't be a photo session in our house without a lot of silly shots.  This time Clara came up with the idea for being zombies after seeing the Thriller flash mob of zombies at Green Halloween a few days before.  Here there are posing in Daddy's spooky little grave yard.  AHHHHHHH!

Keddington Halloween Bash

 

Clara & Janie-Bug were invited to their best pal, Davis' Halloween party!  Davis' parents made such an amazing party for the kids with awesome decorations, creative treats, and fabulous games.  Our sweeties were excited to attend for the days ahead and the party didn't disappoint in the least! 

 

The party crew were mainly friends from Davis & Clara's Kindergarten class in the neighborhood.  The kids inhaled sweet treats and then got pretty hyped up.  When Kevin arrived a little later in the evening the boys in the group saw him as a fun targets for their swords and light sabers. 

Even Mommy , who was behind the camera or helping corral kids all evening  had to get in on a little of the Halloween fun, too!