Saturday, December 13, 2008

The Trains at NorthPark

We headed down to Dallas this afternoon to see the train exhibit at NorthPark mall. Considering the insane crowds, we were very worried we'd face long lines, but in fact, Jackson, Cody and I walked right in (meanwhile, Daddy and Lucas visited Auntie Anne's for some pretzel sticks...yummy!). We had a lot of fun, and my 2 little conductors already want to go back for another visit. :)

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Santa Visit 2008


Luke was there, but he just wasn't feeling it today. The nice photographers took a delightful picture of him sliding off of Santa's lap, screaming, but I opted for this fun one of my older boys. Don't they both look ready to give Santa a hard jab to the ribs with their elbows? Haha...

Luke and I might try again with just him some morning next week. Today we went after school, and though the line wasn't nearly as long as it is on the weekends, we had to wait close to 30 minutes. Luke had just had it by the time we actually reached Santa.

But Jacks and Cody had a wonderful time. Jacks told Santa he wanted "Cargo Train Deluxe" and when Santa looked at him blankly, Jackson obligingly explained (with not a little 'duh' in his voice), "Legos."

Cody said he wanted Power Wheels. That's a ride-on car that he saw in a commercial yesterday. Unfortunately, not the one "Santa" already ordered for him from Walmart. Uh-oh.

Christmas is that much closer now that we've actually seen Santa! :)

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

We Elfed Ourselves!

Last month we turned ourselves into Superheroes...and now, with Christmas only 16 days away (yes, we're counting), we decided to Elf Ourselves. Again, the boys just can't get enough of watching these. Give it a try!

Elf Disco!
Send your own ElfYourself eCards


Elf Barn Dance!
Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Monday, December 8, 2008

The Eyes Have It

I've been working on learning more about Photoshop and how to make eyes really stand out in pictures, but I swear to you that I didn't doctor these at all. Luke's eyes really ARE that shockingly blue and filled with light!

The eyes are the window to the soul and all that and....what? What do you mean he's got something on his face? I'm talking about his eyes here! Pay attention!

(Holy wow, people, do you see what I have to live with? How can she not see the evidence of the yummy brownie I just ate? Is she blind?)

When I was using Photoshop to tinker with some other pictures, any attempt at bumping up the crispness in the eye area had my subject ending up looking like a member of the Borg. But with eyes this big and blue, no tinkering is needed. I wish my eyes looked like that! Isn't he perfect? So fresh and handsome, he's totally ready for his close-up, don't you think? What? What crumbs? Come on, now, you're just jealous you don't look this magazine-ready.

(Yeah, if the magazine is all about dirty children. Or advertising Boston Market's chocolate brownie goodness. She's so clueless. I'll try planting myself right in her face. We'll see if she notices anything then.)

Oh my, I just swoon looking at those eyes. They're SO big and blue. I can't see anything but them. He's going to be such a lady-killer with eyes like that...some woman is going to dream about swimming in them, they're so deep and aqua and I bet they're the perfect temperature.

(What the heck is she talking about? She's gone off the deep end...just to continue with the swimming pool metaphor.)

In this next picture, I imagine I can see the man he'll become. Doesn't he look so serious and no-nonsense?

(That's because I'm very seriously considering calling Daddy to report her crazy talk.)

I just love it when I catch glimpses of the future versions of the boys in their little baby faces. I can't wait to see all that they're going to do and be. Before Luke gets much older, though, I should clean that dessert off his face. It's kind of embarassing, isn't it?

(Finally! It's about time she noticed. But it's not that she's clueless...she just loves us a whole lot and that can be distracting. And the fact that she always eventually figures it out...that's why WE love HER. Even if she is nuts.)

Friday, December 5, 2008

Group Hug!


Can't you just feel the love??

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Santa Research

Here's a conversation I just had with my older 2 guys while looking at different pictures the DAM moms have taken of their kids with Santa so far this year (so all the Santas vary because they are from different area malls):

Jacks: Is the Santa at the mall real?
Me: Well, what do you think?
Cody: Yep, he's real.
Jacks: Hmmm, real. (pause) Yeah, real. (walks away and comes back again) I just don't know. Can we GOOGLE it?

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My 6 year-old is all about Internet research! :)

Monday, December 1, 2008

Decorating the Tree

As soon as Thanksgiving was officially over, it was time to decorate for Christmas!

Jacks and Cody tried several different vantage points for hanging ornaments. Jacks went with low....
While Cody tried high....

Jacks with the finished product (if you look very closely, you can see his new R2D2 ornament):
Cody was very excited by all the fun, and I loved this shot of his naked glee, even with the chapped lips, leftover snack, and still-healing chin:
Once the tree was decorated, Jacks moved on to decorating himself:The proud artistes with our beautiful tree:
And of course, we all had the help of a certain little reindeer: