Monday, December 27, 2010

What I haven't accomplished (plus a few photos)

My Christmas photos are still on my camera.

The tree is still up.

None of the kids' presents have been put away.

Thank you notes have not been made.

Our Christmas cards have not been mailed.

And I am not stressing about it.

We had a lovely Christmas Eve & Christmas Day and I am spending all my spare time with Mark and the kids. While I would like to have my to-do list completed & all my Christmas photos scrapped, it just didn't happen this year. I have made the choice to be okay with what I have accomplished, and focus on one new item from my list per day. Today's item was to pay bills (which I just finished). Tomorrow I will tackle my Christmas cards. Wednesday I plan on taking down the tree and putting the kids' toys away (which is technically two things, but having the toys sitting in the living room without a tree would look silly), and Thursday I would like to tackle the memory card on my camera.

Because my Christmas photos are still unedited, I want to share a few camera photos we've taken the last few days. I love the convenience of having a camera on Mark's android phone. The indoor photos tend to be a little grainy, but I would rather have grainy photos than no photos at all.


(you can click on each picture to make it larger)

On our way to the children's program at church on Christmas Eve.

While I did a bit of shopping at Baby Gap, Mark kept the kids entertained by trying on these adorable hats. I love looking through the photos on his camera and finding these gems!

After spending several hours at the mall today, Jack fell asleep within minutes on our drive home (clutching pup-pup, of course).

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas.

xoxo,
Erin.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Relaxing.

The kids and I are finally feeling better, and Evan has requested that we relax at home this week. The past two weeks have been super busy, so I'm not complaining about having some down time. We have been hanging out in our PJ's, playing the Wii, doing activities in his pre-school workbook, coloring, doing play-dough, and playing with the puppy.

Rocket is settling in & we are having fun getting to know him. I love photographing those big brown eyes:



After a second trip to the emergency room last Friday, Jack is finally feeling better. He is back to his smiling, laughing, happy boy I love.



I took this picture after I asked Jack "How big is Jack-Jack?"


"So big!"



Mark has one more day at the office before his vacation starts. The boys are so excited to have to him home for an extended period of time.



I really wanted a picture of Evan in his bear hat, but this was the best I could do:



One of Rocket's favorite toys is his Kong (thank you, Terri!). I usually put a small bone or treat int he bottom and he goes nuts trying to get it out:





Drawing volcanoes on the kitchen table with dry erase markers (one of the benefits of having a glass table). Evan loves anything having to do with volcanoes:





Evan loves taking Rocket for walks around the neighborhood. Teaching Rocket how to behave on a leash was a challenge at first, but he has gotten so much better the last few days.



I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Erin.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Visiting Santa and an Introduction.

The last 10 days have been completely crazy around here. Evan has been fighting a cold, Mark has had some major dental work done, and I am in the midst of a nasty cold right now. Jack has had the worst of the illnesses and he ended up in the emergency room Friday night with a high fever, ear infection, sinusitis, and asthma symptoms. On top of all that I decided to damage every electronic devise I own last week, which compounded my stress. I am so glad last week is over!

Evan pre-school had a meet and great with Santa Saturday morning. Jack was still really sick, so he and I stayed home while Mark took Evan to the school. Evan is not smiling in most of the photos, but I like how this one turned out:


Doesn't he look mischievous? I asked him what he asked Santa for Christmas, and he said "a boat with peoples and airplanes." Good thing Santa got that request four months ago when the Fisher-Price summer catalog came out!

Mark got his Christmas present a little early this year. He has been bugging me for months to get a dog, but I have firmly put my foot down. I have my hands full already with the kids, being room mom at Evan's school, my 0wn projects, plus all my family obligations. Last week he found an adorable 4 month old Cockalier that he wanted me to meet, and I finally caved in.

This is Rocket:











He is four months old and is a Cocker Spaniel/Cavalier King Charles Spaniel mix. We wanted a low maintenance, lovable, mellow dog that wouldn't require hours of attention or have so much energy that the kids couldn't play with him, and Rocket is a perfect match for our family. The kids adore him, and I love how easy he has been to potty train.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

November 25 - December 6: In Photos


(Photo by Evan) Bundled up and ready for work.


Hanging out in front of the Christmas tree.


Learning to drink from a big-boy cup.


Decorating the Christmas tree with Ev. (He wanted all the ornaments with his name on them to be in one spot on the tree, so every morning I have to spread them out again.)


Cuddling before bed. Notice the stethoscope around his neck... it's one of his "things" right now. He loves to wear his stethoscope, goggles, eye glasses, Mr. Potato Head glasses, and hats.


Jack's buddy, Dion, on Thanksgiving day.


Well hello, Jack! I love his goofy smile :-)


Making silly faces at the dinner table.


More silly faces between bites of homemade mac and cheese.


Love this not-so-little guy so, so much. He is starting to hide from the camera, or give me his goofy grin, so this was a pleasant surprise when I dumped my memory card tonight.

Evan is fighting a nasty cold right now and is super grumpy, which is making Jack grumpy, which is making me grumpy! We had a low-key day today, and will probably do the same tomorrow. Evan has enrichment at school on Wednesday that he doesn't want to miss, so I'm hoping he starts to feel better tomorrow.

Goodnight!