Messing around with my new camera

Just a few shots of my boys playin' last weekend. Temp was decent outside but I am ready for some prettier scenery!

Board and Batten sneak peek

This is a little sneak peek to the board and batten we put up in our bedroom. My husband and father were major contributors to this project and for that, I am very grateful :) We painted the top part a shade of gray. Don't ask me which, cause it was a concoction of our own. We used leftover paint from the basement and lightened it. Although I'm still not convinced its light enough. But it works! And the room looks a thousand times better than it did. I still have floor to ceiling curtains I want to hang and some pics, artwork, mirrors, etc. I need to hang before I can call it "finished".

Christmas Day!

Our boys...

a desperate attempt to get Cash in a picture, but he was not having it :)

pajama time!

playing some Christmas carols ;)

little LJ

the big boys

another attempt for a group picture

Maddie and Owen...the 2 most photogenic, and more importantly, most cooperative :)

story time!

little Cameron loving his new books and toys!

and this cutie once again!

As you can see we didn't get any post-worthy pics of the adults this year and didn't have a lot of time to even try. Which I can't imagine why! lol. But these faces are what its all about!

Christmas Morning

Let me just say Cade had a very "sporty" Christmas and Cash was definitely more interested in it all this year. Cade got everything Cardinals, SIU, Bears, etc. and was ecstatic. Although it was nice to get a new toy every now and then too :) He fell to the floor when he opened the white Bears jersey Santa brought him. These are just a few of the best we got Christmas morning with my in-laws.

Cash loved his new Rex dinosaur

Cash & grandma

Cash & GG

Cash & Uncle John

Fire Station set

Erin & Uncle Kody

Cade holding up his new Bears t-shirt from Grandma

Cash excited about some Toy Story candy :)

Cade was super excited to get a new STL hoodie!

never seen a kid so excited for a candy cane on Christmas :)

going thru their stockings from Grandma

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!!!