Yes, it really was THAT cold.

Here's the long-promised family photo shoot post. First off, a HUGE thank you to Heather for taking the pictures, all the touch-ups and fancifying, and our Christmas card. Seriously, I'd be up a creek without her...or at least fabulous family pictures-less. She seriously saved the day and is uber-talented to boot! Thanks so much again Heather! Oh, and thank you to my mom for the girls' adorable outfits. I'm just too cheap to buy that many matching accessories myself ;)

I'm feeling lazy and short on time, so I'm just going to post the pictures straight up. Y'all already know our names, so why bother with captioning? Oh, and if you're wondering, yes, it was friggin' cold. Right around 40 degrees if I remember correctly. Yes, that is why Scarlett is so un-smiley in most of the pictures and yes, that is why the girls have purple lips (you didn't think it was lipstick, did you?). Anyway, onto (more than a few of) our favorites from the shoot...

In case you're wondering, Georgia is attempting to kiss Ezra.

Since it was so cold, Spencer would hop around with the kids in order to help them stay warm. It was adorable.

If you really want to know, the smile was only because I was reminding him of our bribe...I mean reward...ok, bribe.

I can just hear it now...eww, gross, get a room!
Let's just say this is the one I'll be sending with Spencer to work ;)

Hope you enjoyed! I'll go over the other pictures when I pick them up from Heather, so there just might be a second half coming if I find some more. We'll see...

ps~I know, I know, I couldn't resist a few captions. You know me too well.

Happy holidays from our family to yours!

Because every girl needs some charm

yay! yay! One of my very favorite jewelry sites is having a free giveaway because they have a fabulous new font available! I have one of their dainty name necklaces w/my kids' names on it and I ADORE it. Check it out!

The Vintage Pearl

Killing Time

I've got a heinously big family photo shoot post on it's way.

Well, at least I've got one planned...I haven't exactly started it yet.

In the meantime, for all you Twilight fans or just fans of making fun of Twilight fans...enjoy.

ps-Thanks Megan for the tip-off!

Twilight Years from Tom on Vimeo.

World, meet Owen. Owen, World.

I don't know that I've ever officially introduced y'all to Georgia's twin brother, Owen.

We named him after Owen Wilson, as we've always joked that that's who he faintly resembles (minus the prominent, crooked nose). Owen isn't around all the time, just on the messiest, craziest days. The type of days where my children all seem to run around like little unisex, naked, mowglis.

On this particular day, Owen was wearing an old pair of Ezra's jammies because I'd managed to somehow leave a good chunk of our clothes at my mom's house. He'd also just gotten yanked out of the sink bath he'd decided to give himself (he claimed he was making puddles [insert eye roll here]), soaking his previous outfit, one of very few of his we managed to take home with us.


Despite the obvious resemblance between Owen and Georgia, there is one pronounced difference...Owen is measurably crazier. Owen is like Georgia to the 3rd degree. Owen is like Georgia in her most manic, exuberant, tom-boyish state. When Georgia busts out a spoon/sword (because everyone knows that princesses need to defend the castle too), strips off most of her clothes, yanks out her hairbows, and runs, shrieking around the house Braveheart style (minus the blue paint), that's when Owen comes out to play.

It's a good thing we love him as much as we do...or else, frankly, we might kill him.

I know, I know I missed like half a month there. That's what happens when I head to my mom's house where the internet seems to always have such struggles. Let me unpack my bags and put up the Christmas tree and I'll get back to you real quick.

On a random note, anyone from the Kansas City area have any recommendation for a photographer for a family picture? Someone not too expensive, preferably. They don't even have to be an uber-professional...just someone who knows more about lighting and poses then me (and believe you me, I know nearly nothing). Thanks loads!

Our God is an Awesome God

I was talking to Spencer the other day and I mentioned the song, "Awesome God" in passing. He had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. "You know, the born-again song where all they say is 'Our God is an awesome God/He reigns from heaven above...*' basically over and over again?" Still drawing a blank.

Then I realized the obvious. FCA was not the most popular club at Spencer's high school. All the local churches did not have an annual Mormon Bashing on the sermon schedule. His friends probably didn't get together every morning to have a prayer circle around the flag pole. A quarter of all his local TV channels were not Praise & Worship. Not to mention he probably didn't't see WOW Worship infomercials on late at night. In short, Spencer didn't grow up in the Bible Belt.

So, for all you other deprived souls out there, I give to you "Awesome God"...

*On an interesting sidenote, contrary to popular belief, the entire lyrics of the song aren't just "Our God is an awesome God/He reigns from Heaven above/With wisdom power and love/Our God is an awesome God." For whatever reason, many churches sing only the chorus lines. You can find the song in its entirety here.

Portrait of a Sunday Afternoon

I try to take cute pictures of my kids. I really, truly do. Somehow though, things just never seem to work out. I knew I was being overly-ambitious today when I brought out the camera.

On our way to church this morning, I realized by happy chance my kids all coordinated. I had both the girls wear their dressy velvety-taffeta dresses and kind of look alike that way, but Ezra matching was total coincidence. As Ezra usually throws a fit whenever I try to coordinate him with the girls, I figured I'd take a few matchy-matchy shots while I had the chance.

Before we go any further, I have to warn you that you're going to see some hideous dead flowers on my porch. I always intended to plant some mums in place of the dead ones, but just never got around to it...just imagine some pretty gold and red mums in the flower bucket. So consider yourself warned.

It started off by Georgia refusing to get off the ground.

Oh...and my lens was smudgy.

Ezra, on the other hand, swore up and down he wasn't having any pictures of him taken.


It was at this point in time that I gave up and went inside exasperated. I'm a big baby, I know, but it just wasn't my day. My husband, bless his heart, kept on truckin' on for my sake.

Once Georgia decided to cooperate (only semi-cooperate of course 'cause she wouldn't reallly smile because she was exhausted from a couple of late nights), things took a turn for the better.

(I swear this girl is so photogenic it kills me. It doesn't matter what she does, she basically doesn't take a bad picture...well, unless she's making her stupid red-neck, teeth-baring face...but if she's smiling, chances are she looks adorable. I would say that probably every mother thinks that, but that isn't the case with Scarlett and Ezra. They're waaay harder to get good pictures of. Not because they're any less cute, just less photogenic, I guess.)

Especially once Scarlett got in on the act.





Eventually Ezra surfaced for air to bring me a dandelion he had found. Spencer managed to convince him that I'd appreciate beautiful pictures of him even more than a "beautiful flower to put in [my] hair".


I don't know if it counts for beautiful, but I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating chips (well...actually, I probably would :P).


And of course, what worth are coordinating outfits without a few group shots...HAHAHAHAHA!! Excuse me while I laugh at the mere thought of my three children cooperating long enough for us to get a picture of all of them smiling, while looking at the camera, and holding still. Sorry folks, just doesn't happen. You'll have to take these instead.




And my personal fave...

The Mother of All Posts

Oh...the uber-post you are in for...

Hope you enjoy!

Ezra's 4th Birthday

Ezra turned a big 4 years on the 23rd. He was so excited and is officially "big" now. If you know Ez, you know that up until this last birthday, he refused to allow us to call him a big boy because, according to him, his hands were "still so little." Apparently they grew overnight because now he's constantly reminding us of how big he is. Oh, and yes, Olive Garden was as fabulous as Ezra claimed it was going to be. It had "lots of good food and spaghetti."

If you're wondering why there's a random picture of Georgia in all these, it's because her grandma sent her the quilt she made for her bed and so Georgia was lucky enough to have had a present to open too.

Thanks MiMi and Grandad!

In this picture, Ezra is in the midst of a scavenger hunt...lest you think I'm an uber-mom, I'm tellin' you now that I was just too lazy to attempt to wrap a big and funny-shaped present.

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for the "funny mouse movie." Incidentally, in this picture, I actually look like a mouse.

Like the Lego cake? It took me waaay too long to make, but I thought it turned out cute.

13 Nights of Halloween Festivities

Dirt & Worms

yes, you are seeing a picture of my fridge. The worms were a surprise dessert, so I didn't want the kids to see them while I took pictures

The results of said dirt and worms:

The Pumpkin Patch

We went to a fabulous local (free) pumpkin patch called Schaakes Pumpkin Patch. This place is FABULOUS. They have free hay rides down to the pumpkins. A cute little hay bale maze (which, incidentally, is verrry easy for kids to intentionally lose their parents in), and lots of other fun things to see and do. If you're ever in the area, it's a fall must-see.

They're just so darn excited to be there

On the tower of hay bales:

Yes, I know Ezra's making an odd face in this picture. Basically he must have seen someone pose all cutesy for a photo sometime, because that's what he's attempting. He's putting his finger in his "dimple" and puckering his lips. How funny is that?

In the maze:

They had a fun little slide in the entrance and exit of the maze

I loved this little set-up here. This way, when you come back the next year, you can see how much they've grown (thanks for the idea, Heather!):

(this was my only semi-successful one with Scarlett. I was attempting to take the picture by myself while Spence was buying our pumpkins)

We got to ride down the the pumpkins in this. How lucky were we?

Scarlett, in particular, enjoyed it

Down in the pumpkins:

(there was actually a lot more Halloween festivities...but I'm realizing how huge this post is going to be, so I just posted a few of my favorites)

Scarlett's 1st Birthday

Our little Scarli is all grown up and now a big one year old! We've been so lucky to have her in our lives! Although, as Georgia and Ezra remind me often, she still is a baby.

Our dinner of Candy Corn pizza

Thanks Auntie Lib & Fam!

Scarlett adores clothes of all kind. It was so much fun to watch her open her clothing gifts (which are typically every child's least-favorite gift), her eyes would light up and she would immediately drape them all over her body.

Thanks Mimi and Grandad!

Another scavenger hunt picture

I made a pear pie instead of a cake because I was pretty much all frosted-out from all the Halloween goodies and Ezra's cake. If you look real close you can see a flower within a flower cut-out on top of the pie.


Halloween!!!

Daddy started the morning off right with Jack-O-Lantern pancakes

We started out with a bang at Trunk or Treat:

Superhero Ezra

Fairy Princess Scarlett (minus the wings) with her Soviet Russian father
(Spencer and I were a little worried we were going to get lynched for dressing up as communists and handing out bread, but luckily people thought it was as funny as we did.
ps-spencer's hip isn't that weird in real life, he had a raw potato in his pocket that he'd occasionally take bites from)

Firecracker Georgia
(oh, how true...)

That evening...

A bad picture of Scarlett WITH her wings

My attempt at a picture of all three kids on our porch. Yeah, it turned out sooo great :P

The Morning After:

Spencer kept on making fun of us for organizing the candy. I'm the girl who likes to organize her DVDs by genre...of course I'd have to get in on this.

If you look really close in this picture you can see the method to our madness. Ezra was organizing candy by skittles, sweet tarts/smarties, and "small candies with ties." I was logically organizing by fun-sized chocolate, bite-sized chocolate, gummy candy, suckers, etc.

Georgia was organizing candy by Everything I Want To Eat.

Wow, are you as exhausted as I am? I'm uber-impressed if you actually stuck with it long enough to be reading this. Hope your Halloween season was as much fun as ours was! Now on to Thanksgiving...it's almost time to bust out the Christmas music. yay! yay! (this is the one on my must-have list, this year :) Have a fabulous day!