advent activity:

make silly hats out of construction paper and craft supplies

only 19 days until Christmas!

activity:

it’s 21 degrees right now.  this may or may not take place tonight…

Only 20 days until Christmas!!!

activity:

discover how to say “i love you” in 4 other languages

(i know this picture resembles a mug shot.  that’s what  kids look like when their mom is constantly snapping pictures of them.)

1. sign language

2. quechua (ancient inca)

3. greek

4.  japanese

Only 21 days left until Christmas!!!

i don’t know who made this advent calendar, but whoever did, did not plan very well.

they should know better than to plan a time consuming activity for a crazy day like a thursday when people are running here and there.

today our advent activity read:  ” make and decorate sugar cookies together”.

if you’ve ever made sugar cookies with kids (or without kids) you know it’s not a quick little project.

there are steps involved.

first you make the dough.  then you refrigerate the dough.  then you clean up. then you roll out the cookies and bake them.  then you clean up. then you let them cool.  then you make the frosting.  then you decorate the cookies. then you clean up. again.

well, it’s almost midnight and as promised, i am blogging about our advent today.

we made the cookies and frosted them. (well most of us did.  one of us was caroling with the cub scouts.)

here’s the proof.

Only 22 days left before Christmas!

as promised, i am updating the blog.

i remembered something yesterday.  i remembered why i do not craft.

it takes too darn long!

that’s why i usually leave it to my uber-crafty sister tatertotsandjello whose blog is literally saturated with craftiness.

so, my goal yesterday was to make an advent calendar for the kids.

after surfing for ideas online for a few minutes, i headed out to the craft store.

{by the way, there are TONS of great ideas for advent calendars out there, for any of you even more last minute than me who wants to make their own}

i thought i could whip out this simple paper bag-strewn clothesline advent calendar in an hour or so.

my goal was to make it, stuff it with goodies, and open the first bag with the kids last night.

well, long after the kids were all in bed, i strung the last of the bags on the line, exhausted from so much crafting, covered in glue and glitter, and wanting nothing more to do with my cricut.

but, it’s finished.

the kids love it.

and we opened our first {two} bags this evening.

in each bag is a scripture, an activity, and four little treats for the kids.

day 1: buy and read a new Christmas book.

luckily i had been to barnes & noble just last weekend and picked this up:

the kids named him … what else but …  Buddy the Elf.

buddy will sit on the shelf during the month of december watching over the kids, magically flying back to the north pole every night to report to santa, and then magically reappearing on a new shelf every morning.

the {little} kids are excited to see who will be first  to find buddy each morning.

what a genius idea!

only 23 days left before Christmas!!!

i can’t.  poor neglected blog.

i’m taking december off photography so I can catch up on life.  my house will thank me.  my kids will thank me.  my husband will thank me.  Christmas will happen. etc…

here are some pics from thanksgiving.  we had tons of fun.  ate tons of food.  and took tons of pictures.

my goal for this blog for the month of december is to post everyday at least a picture of our advent activity for the day.

i’m off to make an advent activity calendar.

i KNOW it’s already the first of the month.  remember?  i’m playing catch up this month.  give me a chance at least.

see ya tomorrow.

My new blog site is up and limping along.  But it’s up all the same.

I’ve really wanted to separate my personal blog from my photography blog for quite some time.  But creating an entirely new blog site is a TON of  work.

I’ve been neglecting this blog for so long in an effort to get my photography business up and running.  Now that my busy fall season is coming to a close, I will have some time to devote to personal blogging.  Yay!

So, go check out my new site.  I’ve loaded the galleries with lots of the faces I’ve been lucky to photograph in the past few months.  I’m working on adding music and tweaking all the details, but for the most part, it’s dressed enough to go out in public.

Not me.

Him.

Anyone up for a playdate?

What a genuinely sweet and sincere family I had the pleasure of shooting today.

They have spent hours upon hours working together at this orchard over the years.

What an apropos spot to get some portraits taken.

We were thrilled to see there were still some leaves hanging onto the branches this late in the fall.

Thanks for listening to my lame jokes this afternoon.  I promise to collect some new ones soon.

Enjoy your sneak peek!

After keeping my eye on the fickle weather today as it rained on and off with gusts of wind here and there, I wasn’t so sure this shoot was going to happen.

Luckily, we ventured out and managed to avoid getting wet.

These two were awesome!  I only had to mention McSteamy and gorgeous Miss S would swoon just a little.  And the mention of Mr. J’s fine punting skills elicited some great smiles.

Thanks for trekking through dirt and cornfields and sand with me this afternoon.

Enjoy your sneak peek!!!