Christmas Card Picture Day

So now that the Christmas cards are out in the mail, I thought I would share some of the fun we had trying to get just the right photo.

The girls were great.

The ground was muddy.

The "props" were abundant (and heavy!),

and amazingly Daddy held it together without one bit of grumpiness!

Take a look at my little angels... oh how I wish they would stay small forever!

Love these girls.

Love these outfits.

Grrr... trying to get them to look at the camera.

Impossible.

Or stop laughing.... impossible.

My favorite picture.
Daddy trying to adjust them for the picture.
Poor little ones had to sit there with the glass candy jars without moving while mommy tried to get a picture.




Each girl wanted some time "alone" with the camera.
Absolutely. Go for it cuties.


Charlie wants to wear this skirt everyday now.
Seriously, who wouldn't?

I'm sure you know that I wouldn't let the girls wear these new shoes before "picture day."

God forbid, they get a scuff. Steve would make me go buy more. LOL...

Gonna frame this one.

I don't know why.

I love it though.

(Truth? Probably gonna frame a lot actually)

Sugar and spice.

Can you tell which one is which?

Spice.

Sugar.

Ahhh, just kidding. They are both sugary sweet!

"I'm sooo over this mom. I'm outta here!"

Merry Christmas to our friends and family.

We live a blessed life and are so glad you are a part of it!

Happy Birthday Katie Kudron

Our niece, Katie, turned 7 this month! We celebrated with a great afternoon with the family. The kids ran around and played while the adults got to chit-chat! What dawned on me is that the kids are finally all old enough to entertain themselves without constant adult interaction! Catch 22 I suppose.... on one hand the adults can have a conversation from start to finish but on the other hand, they are all growing up (way too fast)!

I wonder what was Katie's wish!

It's hard to get Cameron to smile but somehow, Aunt Lori can always make it happen!
It always makes us laugh!

Is Ryan pouting in this picture or is she trying to be the next Top Model? LOL...

The presence of presents is always the best part of the party for the birthday girl!

Love you Katie!

Happy Birthday!

Our Sweet and Sugary Christmas

Each year the girls get to choose a theme to decorate a Christmas Tree in their room. We have had lots of fun themes over the last couple of years.... a mermaid tree and a fairy princess tree are the most recent. This year we kind of have a common theme around our house for Christmas (you will see when you get our card)... it's all about CANDY this season!

The girls helped to pick out all of the ornaments and get to arrange the tree to their liking.

It's so hard for mommy to not get involved when they put all the ornaments on one branch...ha, ha! Actually, this year, they got better at separating them.
They picked a fun color theme too!
Ahhhhh.... two little decorators who love a theme. The apple didn't fall far from the tree.
(No pun intended...LOL)


Little Miss Decorator Ryan

Little Miss Decorator Charlie

Proud girlies. I wonder if Santa will find their little tree in their room.

Hmmmm, I wonder... I wonder... :-)

Rain or Shine... or Just Rain!

The USC/Notre Dame game was Saturday night. Shhh...No need to discuss the outcome of the that game! I don't really want to relive the aftermath around here so just ... shhhhhh!

Win or lose, rain or shine... we had a great time!

We took a shuttle over to the game which was such a nice treat!

We walked around campus a bit beforehand! I love people watching, so fun!

Momma needed a band-aid! I forgot how bad these boots hurt! I haven't worn them in a long while.

Ahhhh... the brothers! Great pic boys!

The brothers with our newest member of the Graces! Love ya Jules!

Finally, we found someone that would take a picture of all of us. Can you tell how freezing it was? Whoa, super cold! (That's in "Ryan Talk")

Great seats! One of the first times I actually was totally interested in the game. (Maybe, because the happiness of my morning depended on the outcome of this game.

Needless to say, the morning was LLLONNGGG!)

Rainy and cold but oh, so much fun!

Thank you honey!

FIGHT ON!

A "Grace"ful Thanksgiving

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, Jeff and Julie drove into town to stay with us for the weekend. We decided to take advantage of having our house guests and do Thanksgiving, round 2! Steve and Liz came down and we all headed to Old Town for dinner and a trip to the bakery afterwards!

The sons and the granddaughters...

Liz and Steve with the littlest "jewel."

Officially now, Aunt Julie and little Buggy...

All warm and ready to brave the cold...

Cool girl, Ryan, loves to put together the perfect outfit!

Sleepy girl is as happy as can be with her "Jeffy"

Charlie "milking" the snugglies from our guests... (above and below!!!)

Stay tuned for pictures from the USC game...

A Kudron Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we celebrated with the Kudrons. The three F's are what Thanksgiving is all about... food, football, and family! We had a very relaxing day remembering all we have to be thankful for.

Ryan started off our dinner with a special prayer that she wrote in her SRE class (aka "Catholic class").

We got the kids all set up at the kid table before the grown ups settled in to their meal.

The grown up table...

I loved my centerpiece but the best part was how I had to talk to Steve throughout the dinner! It makes me laugh out loud even now... haha!

After dinner and dessert, we celebrated Nonna's birthday.

Cameron had a big smile for the camera.

Nonna with all her grandbabies... I'm sure her favorite part of the night!

Momma looks tired... getting Thanksgiving dinner out on the table is hard work!

Getting everything out hot (or at least warm) is the most difficult task in the world... even with one of my famous lists! Whoa!

Luckily for tired momma, Ryan had a surprise homemade pumpkin bread ready for us to have with our coffee the next morning! She made it with her Daisy troop and cleverly hid it in the fridge so that it would be a big surprise! It was yummy!

So many things to be thankful for...

counting my blessings this wonderful weekend!