Black and Whites

I have a few photography goals for myself this year and one of them is to work on my black and white editing.  I'm not sure why, but I really struggle with getting images to look right in b&w.  I had this cute series of photos of Alyse and Calder in the tub from January, and the color was really off so I decided to try them in b&w.  After about an hour's worth of experimentation, I am pretty happy with how they turned out!

 

 

More Presents and a New Room!

On Tessa's actual birthday, she got to stay home from school and spend the day with Grandma.  That night, we had a little mini celebration at home with more presents. She really raked it in this year! She got so many gifts, I had to sneak a few away to the storage area so I can bring them out gradually throughout the year.

Alyse and Calder were just as excited about the gifts!

Matching hat, scarf and gloves

I finally finished the tooth fairy pillow that I've been promising her for about 6 months.  Literally...I finished it the night before her birthday.

Lots of arts and crafts gifts to keep her busy!

Her last present was a week late,but for good reason.  My mom and I painted her room while she was at school on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  She had no idea we were going to do it, so she was quite surprised and very excited.  

My girl loves purple!

One of my favorite things about Pinterest is the ability to easily find cute free printables.  I was excited to find these to update her frames. 

One very happy girl, ready to sleep in her purple room!

Party Time

We kicked off our crazy birthday month with Tessa's 5th Birthday party at a local bounce house.  She had an absolute blast and loved every second.  Almost every kid in her pre-K class has a birthday in December or January, so the number of birthday parties has been a little out of control lately!  Despite the party overload, all but one of her classmates came (as well as lots of other friends)!  She was thrilled with The Incredibles as her party theme.

She insisted on writing each friend's name on a goody bag (and also her own, so they would know who it was from).

 

I love this picture!  They were having so much fun.

Christmas 2013

We had a super laid back, relaxing, cozy Christmas at home this year. Most of us never even got out of our pj's! My mom was here with us, and the kids loved staying at home and playing with all of their new toys.

Santa came!

Starting to check things out

A happy girl, with candy in hand.

Legos!

Roller skates!!!  Just what she wanted.

A new chair for Alyse's dolls.

Another gift from the top of a wish list!

Tessa was so excited about her Incredibles shirt -- she put it on right away.

New goggles!  Is it summer yet?

A rare moment.  All three playing together with no screaming.  Yet.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2013

 

  

  

   

 

Snow Much Fun

In mid-December we had our first significant snowfall in years! The kids LOVED it. They had so much fun building snowmen, throwing snowballs, and sledding with neighbors.  The only thing better than playing outside for an hour was coming inside for some yummy hot chocolate!