A Weekend of Birthdays

We got together with my family for lunch the day after Thanksgiving for Veronica's birthday.

Smiles for when Theresa came in, those boys love their aunt Theresa

Happy 17th Veronica!

all my siblings with some festive snowflakes

We went out for Kris' birthday the next day. We did some shopping, went to the Melting Pot for dinner and stayed the night at a hotel so Kris (ha and I) could sleep and have a yummy breakfast. Thanks Theresa for watching the kids! Later that day we went to Kris mom's for dinner.

My sad looking cake. I was given about an hour notice that I needed to make a cake and no longer keep cake making ingredients on hand. (I went wheat, corn, soy, sugar free in August.) But, cocoa powder, coconut oil, coconut flour and coconut nectar make an amazing cake. But, I didn't have time for it to be fancy looking.

Thanksgiving 2012

On Thanksgiving we visited Kris' parents. We had brunch with Grandma and Grandpa Ericson and afterward helped set up the village under the tree.

It was a beautiful day out, so we played outside for a bit in the afternoon. Luke did not nap, which I was actually pleased about so I could catch a family photo in some great light.

For dinner we went to Grandpa Phibbs. The boys were highly entertained by flashlights and hats and other fun things Grandpa found around his home.

Warm Day Before Thanksgiving

The boys loved that it was warm enough to take off their coats today. Lots of fun at the park as usual.

close-ups

Now that I'm learning more about my camera, I felt more comfortable using the lens that has been sitting in the bag. It is not good for action shots, but does great "portraits" or things that stay still. Not the best for a playground. But, I got a few. I now have a better idea of what I could use it for. I'm looking forward to using it at parties this holiday.

Man, it was on manual focus, not auto

Look at that, handsome, works best for a subject that stays still

Kris wanted a turn

Raking Leaves

Kris took on the big job of raking the leaves from our yard and unbelievably he accomplished the massive job.  I have limited upper body and core strength for such a task.  So, I resorted to getting in most likely my last chance for leaf pictures.  The leaves are now off the trees and out of our yard.  We are ready to start putting up the Christmas lights and we will see about the snow.

I'm taking a photography class for the next several weeks and learning a lot about my camera.  But, after just one class, these were still taken in auto.  But, I have a new appreciation for light.  The sun came out for a few minutes so I quickly got the bottom few shots.  It definitely makes a huge difference.  It's still a matter of luck to get a good picture, especially when photographing fast moving children that are cooperative for a limited time.  I couldn't get a picture of the both of them today.

Daddy Face

Dramatic Play

I feel like we spend a lot of time playing with building and assembling toys, so I have tried to introduce more dramatic play. The week before we played "doctor" and this week we played "babies". The boys do not choose this type of play by themselves so I encouraged it a bit. They will  play for an hour a time as long as an adult keeps the "story" going, otherwise it's back to the building toys.

Alex taking on the doctor role.  He typically refuses, but today he made a great doctor.

Sore throat, means you need some medicine

Poor elephant, had a broken leg, wrapping it up

Alex and his baby, he dressed himself, now it snack time for baby

Luke and his baby

Giving baby a bath before the baby takes a trip to the doctor

The "babies" were good at the doctor so they got have lunch at the "restaurant"

A Few Park Pictures