A Christmas Gathering...

Some very special friends of mine came over for an evening of fun with the kiddos! We cooked, talked, and relaxed. And even managed to capture some pictures :)

Had a wonderful time girls! Can't wait to do it again.

a little experimenting...

I splurged on a new camera right after Thanksgiving and finally got a chance the other night to try it out. I had bought a 50 mm lens before I purchased the camera so I got to try that out as well. These were by no means the best circumstances to try photo shooting but photo ops are rare these days with toys galore and messy faces. So I had to just go with it. It was still pretty fun to play with my new gadget! I'm looking forward to a little help from a friend here soon ;) We spent an entire lunch hour (and then some) talking about cameras/photography. Not that I have the energy or talent that she does in me, but I think I have a lot to learn :)

Love those faces in the morning!!!

Fall fun

Just some fun pics I took of the boys last weekend playin' in the leaves.

I can't believe Christmas is less than a month away!!!

A 30th birthday celebration

Customize a photo slideshow

Matt's birthday was Friday, the 19th so we had a little celebration on Saturday night at The Blue Martin. I have to say, it turned out to be the perfect amount of fun! He had a great time seeing old friends and of course the people he sees more often too :) I just have to make more of an attempt to get pics of those people he sees more often. After looking thru my pics, it seems I take advantage of that fact. Anyhow, it's hard to believe it has come and gone. Now it's time to start on my next little boy's birthday party planning! lol. It was a great evening and he was humbled by all the family and friends that stopped in to wish him a happy birthday. This is just a glimpse of some of those people. Thanks to everyone that helped make it a special night! And to everyone that traveled hours just to be there for him. He is truly a lucky guy!

Happy Birthday again babe! Love you!!!

Projects

Read at the very bottom of this post for its explanation. I typed it before posting the pics and it won't let me change the order now. Unfortunately, I don't have the time or energy right now to retype it all :)

Wood cubes I had and painted white, a UL gift my mom gave me for Christmas (2 years ago?) and painted white, 2 plates and a frame I found at TJ Maxx. My favorite part about it all is that I get to display a priceless black & white photo I found of my dad and husband from my brother's wedding and 2 special Willow Tree angels that had been given to us.

This weekend we stayed in most of the time which resulted in me "projecting" and the hubby watching football. I had been collecting things around the house for my "gallery wall" for some time now. But just wasn't sure if I was done with all the things I was going to include and unsure of the right spot in our house. I have been hooked to this blog called thenester.com thanks to a fellow blogger :) and it has really helped me assess the much needed organization and simplicity in my life. So I now shop in our basement to see what I can paint/reuse rather than going out and buying new. Chances are, I can find just what I need just maybe not the right color. It saves money and declutters my basement at the same time, not to mention it saves several shopping spree arguments with the hubby...LOVE the concept. We're going to finish our basement soon so all the more reason to USE all the unused junk in it. Oh yes, and I DO want to mention how great it turned out next to my collage photo of the boys I already had there. The photos are in "aged color" and the soft aged blue in the photos match the light blue frame and plates rather well, I must say.

Eckert's Farm

A few weekends ago we took all the boys to Eckert's Farm in Millstadt. The amount of things to do there was unbelievable. We didn't even do them all. We were too worn out! The boys had a lot of fun despite the hot weather and they were nice and tired for the ride home!

Showing Cade the view of the Arch. It was so pretty!
Love LJ's face in this pic!

Cade trying hard to pedal...it was pretty difficult!

Cash couldn't reach the pedals so he just pushed his tricycle around the track ;) lol.

Logan waving to us.

me and my baby

Happy now...finally found someone to help him :) Uncle Matt pushed him for a while!

the 2 youngest loved the airplane ride

I was surprised to see Cash feed the animals...although i think he dropped the food before they could get it ;) At least he attempted.

Logan was having a blast and got right in there!

This Christmas we will have ALL the boys together (and of course our oldest babe Maddy :)). The interesting thing about it is that the boys will be 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years old! Should make for a chaotic, but fun, holiday!!!

Happy Halloween!