Tent Building 101

Ok SO I am an Architect, among the other things I do...you would think I could build a tent...BUT I put up Holden's tent (an awesome 3rd birthday gift from Tante Beth!) and Tom got home and immediately deemed it unfit, and fixed it...now Holden doesn't trust me to put up his tent...he is happy to wait for daddy to fix it...humph!

Holden and Daniel were "camping" :-)

The W Family | 2010

Just a few of my favorites from my latest family session...There were so many great ones!

 

My good friend asked me to photograph her family, at her parents home.  It was such a nice setting, and her grandpa was there to get in on some of the shots...what a special shoot.

The whole family is gorgeous so it was an easy shoot:-)

Mr. A and his daddy:-)

Love this series:-)

The siblings...

The Cousins...

Thanks W Family!

New job!

Tom accepted a new job today:-)   One of the best things about it is the commute...it is in town!  So it's 15-20 minutes as opposed to his previous 45 minute+ commute...

Update on the job front...

This week Tom was expecting 2 job offers...while waiting on those we received word that our renters would not be able to fulfill the lease...so we are now jobless and seeking new renters...the job offers have not come yet, and while my first thought was "uh oh here we go..."  God simply whispered, "My kingdom remains the same.  I am still here, still the same, nothing has changed"  I looked at Tom and said, "it will be ok"  He of course never doubted this...

So we wait hoping one of the offers comes through...

I should add that Tom has been working since the week after he lost his job on a short contract project with a great friend.  We are so thankful for this opportunity.  This contract has a possibility for an extension and Tom also has another opportunity that would be part time with the possibility of developing into a great full time gig...so we are not lost without hearing about jobs...but we are looking forward to what God provides...

I am so grateful for Tom's resourcefulness, and his work ethic, which has led to these opportunities with people he has worked with before...He is a great husband, friend, follower of Christ and such a hard worker for our family...

Wordless Wednesday - Oh How I have Missed You!

Faces

While taking pictures of the boys Holden asked me to take a picture of his sad face...Here it is...

What would you call Daniel's face?

Holden at 3 1/2!

 

As we are getting ready to celebrate Daniel's 6 months...we are also celebrating Holden at 3 1/2 today:-)  He now tells everyone...I am NOT 3 I am three.and.a.half!!!!  That's in between 3 and 4!  He cracks me up!

So 3 1/2 looks like this for Holden:

 ::Has grown 1 inch since his 3rd birthday::

::Still about 30 pounds::

::LOVES preschool although drop off is still tough sometimes and he is still mostly an observer...::

::Has really come a long way in his food eating and sometimes prefers "only meat please"::

::LOVES to help, mommy is learning to let go of this and just let him help...which means letting go of perfection...::

::Is slowly giving up his nap...he naps about 3 times per week::

::FINALLY has gotten control of his L's...I love hearing him say, "Mommy I Love you!"::

::Has started singing songs, real ones and made up ones...so fun!"::

::LOVES LOVES to make Daniel laugh...and can't wait till he can play with him...is so excited to feed him and "help" him sit up:-)::

I LOVE HAVING BOYS!

Two Boys...

I never would have thought that you would see our boys interact so much already...Holden loves Daniel and always wants to help, and give him loves...sometimes a little too much...the other day he LIFTED BY HIMSELF Daniel out of his swing and "carried" him around until Daniel slipped out of his grasp...luckily daddy was right there!

AND he is always wrestling with Daniel...much to Daniel's delight...it about gave me a heart attack the first time I saw Holden lay on Daniel and rock him back and forth and finally roll WITH him...BUT Daniel just smiles and giggles and LOVES it when Holden plays so rough with him...

The feeling of love is mutual from Daniel...besides laughing whenever Holden is rough, he smiles as soon as Holden walks in the room...In the morning if Daniel wakes before Holden and he is in our bed...as soon as he hears Holden's voice (which ALWAYS enters the room before he does) he strains to see him and smiles...He loves to watch Holden be crazy and run around...He loves it when Holden shows him a toy, or even better gives him one to play with!

Holden quite often just wants to be with Daniel...and maybe it's true what grandma's say, that kisses REALLY do make you grow...because Daniel is a little big for his age! AND he gets kissed by mom and big brother ALL DAY LONG!

It is so fun to watch their relationship starting, and hopefully it will continue to grow and they will always be close...although with two boys I am sure there will be plenty of fighting as well! But right now Holden is counting the days until Daniel can do what he does and play with him...

I mentioned to Holden we would be starting to feed Daniel solid food soon...He asks me now everyday...can we give Daniel Banana, or avocado, or cereal? I want to help...

And Daniel...he is SO frustrated with watching Holden and not being able to sit quite steady yet...he sits for a little bit...maybe a minute? and then topples over...he is ready in his head you can tell...ready to move...but his body is not quite there! But little by little he is getting it:-)

My boys as models:-)

My friend Jen makes these great hats for girls...I almost wished I had a girl so I could buy one!  Then the other day she called and said she was trying out some boy colors and patterns and would I take pictures of my boys in them, for her Etsy site...

I said of course!  And I got these great hats out of the deal:-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Little Koala

This little guy, is my koala, my cuddler...when you pick him up he clings right to you and pulls in close...If you happen to lay with your face within reach he reaches out pinches whatever he gets in his hands (OUCH!), pulls you close and gives you a big open kiss...or tries to EAT you!  I LOVE it!  He loves being worn...and he burrows right in, especially to his mama...

Sleep is still alluding us, its not bad he gets up every 3-5 hours to eat...if he wakes up before 3 hours and we try to calm him, it always requires picking him up.  He is not like his big brother who was happy with a hand on the back and a song...nope, he needs to be held, and burrowed in...I don't mind...I'm soaking it in!

I know one day he won't want to cuddle...but I am not thinking of that right now, now I am snuggling in,even when trying to get stuff done, most times he is in the carrier...now that I have mastered the back carry I can do laundry, cook, clean, and play with Holden while keeping Daniel happy:-)

How we make dinner:-)

At least the last few nights:-)...It used to be like this...

One Week in...

One week ago, Tom lost his job...

Grocery shopping is no longer as fun, BUT I can still do it...

I spend a lot less time "window" shopping...

I am sure there are more, but that's not why I started this post...

I forgot to mention in my previous post that part of God's preparation included attending a church service where members of our church stood and shared what God had taught them over the last year, or years in some cases...It was extremely moving and timely...we weren't aware how timely till the next afternoon...

The talks touched Tom and I in different ways, but it also started a conversation.  We talked about if he were to lose his job, what we thought of that.  It led to admitting we knew WE were not in control and we would have to trust that God's timing and plan was best.

That was the first Sunday, Monday the job was gone.  Now yesterday...I had my usual trouble getting the boys out the door for church on time, and was a little ticked I would be missing most of worship.  Worship is my time with God, it is usually very intimate and it is my refreshment for the week ahead.  We made it for the last two songs.  It was God's plan I know.  Over and over the message of  "this world is temporary, I am forever"  washed over me during worship.  We sang a song called 40 Wait...part of the lyrics are:

"Your love is forever, and Your mercies are forever.  Your love is deeper than the oceans I go down I still breath."  And yesterday our Pastor shared that he wanted this year's "focus" to be prayer.  I thought, "YES!  Prayer, that's what I want too."   I don't want life to get in the way of God, I want to trust and RELY on Him fully in the easy times as well as the hard times.  And you can't do that without prayer.  I also want to pray in community and watch God work.  I am excited for this year and what it brings.

My prayer is that whatever the job situation, the house situation, the life here situation, that MY Heart would be set upon God's forever, not the world's temporary.  Whether we are living in abundance or not...His kingdom is the same. 

Snow Day 2010!

About a week before Christmas I was driving with Holden and we were talking...I can't remember exactly how the conversation started, but it was about Christmas and when it would be...I asked him if he was excited...and then why...his answer, "because I want it to snow!" he was SO sure there would be snow on Christmas...I felt bad telling him no there would be no snow on Christmas...but I told him we could do our annual New Year's hike in the snow:-)  Well we didn't make it New Year's Day, but we did make it the next day...Grandmere caught the picture above...I was too slow...she stepped in front of my camera and I had to give up:-)

 

Daniel was all bundled up...He really doesn't care where we take him as long as he is in the carrier he's good...Uncle Josh held him for a while so I could do a sled run...no pictures of that because I was sledding and Beth was back at the car with Miss A:-)  so no proof...

 

the big kids were ready for the snow...even with their limited gear...although about halfway through Holden got some snow in his rain boot and it was a near tragedy...lots of whining and crying that comes with being three... MJ on the other hand...well keep reading and you will see.

 

 

Beth was ready!

 

The Daddy's had as much fun as the kids I think...probably because they are just big kids themselves:-)

 

 

 

MJ could not get enough of the sledding!  She is a little daredevil...no snow was too icy or too cold...a few icy fingers were not going to stop her...neither was her 80's era snowsuit!  Gotta love hand me downs:-)  I think Tom and Josh took her down the run 15 times each!  She even went down face first!  Notice her Ziploc baggie kerchief in her upper pocket?  That's her chip bag...

 

Uncle Josh...well he was a mad man...his runs were always a bit out of control...AND his faces were hilarious this was his first run and he got injured when he ran the kids into a small bush...luckily he recovered quickly!

 

 

We finally found a run that was good for us...it just needed a little stop so that the kids wouldn't go off down a steeper fall...the big boys worked on that...they had a lot of fun doing it...Seriously we always have so much fun with Beth and Josh and the girls...many tears are shed...tears of laughter...and when the boys work on something together there is usually an injury...but they have fun doing it!

 

Shortly after the snow in boot incident Holden gave up sledding...he didn't like it...At age three he has become the opposite of a daredevil...he is timid about a lot of things...we will see how it pans out through the years...

 

Seriously look at Josh's face...and MJ's

 

 

Tom was much more controlled although he had more snow spray...His face looks just as fun:-)

 

 

 

Oh how I love this man!  Thank you Tom for keeping me active and outdoorsy, even when I try to be a homebody with our babies:-)

MJ decided to try to slide on her own face first, was more like an army crawl...

 

The Peterson clan minus Miss A....I think they had fun...

 

 

 

 

 

What a fun day!  Grandmere and Grandpere were there too:-)

A great way to start the new year!