History Relived

I just love Christmas break!

No only do we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior, but it also means NO SCHOOL which translates into FUN FAMILY FIELD TRIPS!
After a trip to Build a Bear, we went to the pier to see the replicas of the Nina and the Pinta.

It was FREEZING!!! We had to go back to the car to get jackets. Brrr!
But how cool is that? It was like we had stepped back in time.

These ships were built exactly like the originals.

The kids had a ball climbing all over the ships exploring.

Although I can NOT imagine living in these close quarters with dozens of other people out in the middle of the sea. It made it all very real to me.

Brian keeps saying "ARGH" while I am typing this post. I keep reminding him that Columbus was an explorer...NOT a PIRATE.

We even stopped at a few of the educational signs to learn a thing or two.

Land Ho!

What a fun way to learn about History!

I really don't need too big of a push in order to become a homeschool mom. I learned more about Columbus and history while touring these ships, than I ever did in a classroom.

Friends Forever!

We met up for a playdate with my childhood BFF while she and the fam were home for Christmas. I was beyond words excited to see her and ESPECIALLY her precious babies that I only get to see twice a year now that they have moved to Utah.

Of course, I had my camera ready to capture this Kodak moment but Parker was less than thrilled to see me or the camera.

I still stole some pictures of him hiding from me because he is just so darn cute ~ even when he is being a stinker!

PEEK A BOO!

I met Aimee at church when we were in preschool! Our friendship has been one of the sweetest blessings from the Lord. She knows all my secrets and I know all of hers ~ She challenges me and encourages me in my walk with the Lord. She is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. She is truly one of the most positive people you could ever meet! She is an INCREDIBLE wife and mother too!

In High School we attended two separate schools that were RIVALS to say the least. The funniest thing happened though, during our Senior year we were each voted "Most School Spirited" for our respective schools!

She is and always has been one of the first people I want to call when something WONDERFUL or something HORRIBLE happens in my life. She is a true friend and I know she will always be my biggest cheerleader on good days but will also cry with me on the bad ones.

I almost forgot...she is also a LIVING WALKING MIRACLE too!

Eleven years ago she was diagnosed with a brain tumor!

It was terrible scary ~ at least for me!

I remember calling from Texas to "comfort" her and I just sobbed and boohoo-ed on the phone while SHE comforted ME!

She overcame brain surgery and came out even stronger ~ physically, spiritually, and emotionally ~ than she was before.

Savanna had the best time teaching Hayden how to shop like a "big girl" at Justice.

They both had Christmas money that apparently was just burning a hole in their pockets.

They each got a new Webkinz so they can let their virtual pets play together.
Not only are our little girls friends, but our moms have been best buddies for decades too!

One of my favorite memories of Mrs. G was when I was about 13 years old and my parents were separating. I remember her coming over to our house to spend the night and help support my mom during that very difficult time. I was so touched that she loved my mom so much and I also remember thinking how cool is that ~ I didn't even know grown ups could have slumber parties!

We had a wonderful time catching up and playing (not to mention SHOPPING!)

~ the only problem was...

it just makes me miss them more!!!



(notice Parker is still not in the picture...maybe next time)



Love and miss you, Aimerz!

More Pics From Amanda

One of the things I told Amanda that I wanted when we scheduled our photo shoot, was pictures of the kids playing in leaves.

I don't know what it is about it, but I just LOVE photos of children rolling around in leaves!

I wanted totally unposed, unrehearsed, crazy playfulness captured on film.

Amanda was glad to accommodate my strange request, but there was one problem.

She lives by a MEADOW...that means there are virtually no trees.

And where there are no trees, there are also no leaves.

Brian knew I was a little disappointed so my WONDERFUL hubs actually went and raked a bag of leaves for us to CARRY WITH US to our photo shoot!!! Have you ever in all your life?!?

Can you just imagine us with our Hefty bag of leaves over our shoulder as we trudge our way out into the field to recreate a pile of leaves?!

Okay, so at this point in the story you are either thinking...

1~ That I am an absolute loon and have truly gone off the deep end for doing this

OR

2~ That Brian is the SWEETEST man you have ever heard of!

Well, whatever conclusion you come to does not change the fact that these pictures are TOTALLY worth it and will probably go down in history as some of my ALL TIME favorites!

I feel like I can practically hear them laughing in the pictures.

These wonderful expressions would have never been captured while they were "posing" for the camera ~ but these are their true expressions of joy and happiness. These are the expressions that they make most of the time during day to day life, but somehow, they never seem to make it onto a picture.

Thanks a MILLION Amanda!

You are truly the best!

Amanda Leatherberry Photography

We have a dear friend, Amanda Leatherberry, who is also a professional photographer who offered to do a photo shoot for our family. We excitedly took her up on the offer and had her capture some relaxed, fun images that we could give our family for Christmas gifts.

My goal was to get some casual shots so she suggested we move the photoshoot into the field in her backyard. She was so amazing and easy to work with! She took TONS of pictures, but here are some of my favorites I have been dying to share!

I will post more later, or better yet, check out her website listed under "my bloglist" on my side bar under Amanda Leatherberry Photography.

This one of Savanna took my breath away!

I love the lighting, her expression, those sweet little fingers, ...

I think I am going to order a large canvas wrap of this image.

I am so glad we did the pictures when we did because I LOVE LOVE LOVE that toothless grin Here we are only a month later and we now have half of an adult tooth where that precious gap once was!

Birthday Fun

We are still planning Savanna's birthday party with her friends, but we spent her special day just with the fam. In our house, you are QUEEN (or KING) for the day on your birthday and you get to choose whatever you want to do and where we will eat.

We started out the day with PRESENTS!!!

We let Aunt Beth open up some of her birthday goodies too since her birthday was only two days away on Christmas Eve.

Micah got Savanna a groovy peace sign with his OWN money.


I am as excited as Savanna about the Piano Wizard that Dede got her. Maybe I will even FINALLY master how to play the piano. She ordered this from CBD ~ it hooks up to the computer and uses the Suzuki method to teach you how to play the piano. And get this... it uses praise and worship music! How cool is that?

You could definitely tell we are inching our way closer and closer to the tween years as we heard high pitched squeals for all her "name brand" goodies from her wish list.

Vera Bradley and Aeropostle were at the top of the must have's!

I still can't seem to believe that my "baby" is actually 11 years old!

Tyson came over to help us celebrate and to take his first trip to Chuck E Cheese. He had a ball on the rocking horse that Papa made for me 32 years ago!

He was so curious about how Uncle Brian made the music with his guitar.

He reminds me so much of Savanna at this age ~ very cautious and contemplative. He watched for quite a while before trying it himself. Maybe it's a "first born" thing.

After watching for a while, and then decided he would try it out for himself.

I love the way his little tongue is sticking out as he tries to concentrate on playing the guitar.

I just love the expression on all three of their sweet faces in this one.

I could just eat them with a spoon!

Time to celebrate with Chuck E!

I told Beth that Tyson looks so much like his Daddy right now with the red scab on his nose from the nose dive he took at Papa's Birthday Blast. Ty ALWAYS had some sort of wound on his face when we were growing up.

Giddy Up Cowboy!

What cute kiddies ~ not that I'm biased or anything!

We finished up the day with shopping and dinner at Mellow Mushroom ~ Savanna's choice of course. After all, you're only 11 once! What better way to spend the day than with family, Chuck E. Cheese, shopping spree, and yummy pizza dinner?

Veto Power

So... our "sweet, precious angels" have had a struggle with sharing all the wonderful, new toys that they got for Christmas. Specifically, the arguement has been over the Paperoni craft maker that Micah got and the Pixos that Savanna got. I won't get into all the details, but it wasn't pretty. My solution was to send them into their respective bedrooms with pen and paper in hand and make them come up with their own set of "toy rules". I also gave them a quick lesson on the power of veto and explained that they would each get to veto one of the other person's rules if they felt like it was unreasonable. Would you believe, that IMMEDIATELY all the tears and complaining stopped! I don't know if they felt impowered or maybe they just thought their dear, sweet mother had officially lost her mind. Anyways, a few minutes later they emmerged with their freshly penned rules. You can probably use your detective skills and piece together what provoked the original argument based on the specificity of some of the rules.




Savanna's Toy Rules:




1. People should NOT play with the toy without asking the person who owns it.



2. We should NOT argue who gets to play with a toy first.



3. Always share your toys with other people.



4. Let the person that owns the toy play with it first because it isn't fair if it is their toy and the other person plays with it first.



5. Always obey the rules!

(Savanna's last rule reminded me of Barney Fife: "Here at the rock, there are two rules. Rule number one: NO WRITING ON THE WALLS. AS IT TAKES A LOT OF WORK TO GET WRITING OFF SUCH WALLS. Rule number two: OBEY ALL RULES!")

Micah's Toy Rules:

1. No one should have to ask to play with the toys.

2. Savanna can play with Paperoni if she wants.



3. I won't play with her toys when she is sleeping.



4. Savanna can not play with Paperoni when I'm asleep.








Overall, I think they did a very good job at writing their own rules. Neither one exercised their veto power, and they even shook hands in agreement over their new "contract". I asked what the consequence should be if someone broke one of the rules. They decided the toy should be taken away. Sounds good to me!



Ahhh.... adventures in parenting!

Happy New Year!