Introducing...

My new camera! YAY! After many months of researching and asking people's opinions I finally decided on which camera I wanted and cashed in my birthday present. The winner was a Canon Powershot SX210 IS. I originally wanted a "fancier" camera but decided this camera probably better fit my current lifestyle. I am, so far, thrilled with it and glad to welcome it to our family! At 14.1 megapixels and 14x zoom it is a definite upgrade from my old 8.0 megapixel 6x zoom dinosaur.

Jack was the only person awake in the house when I began playing with my gift yesterday afternoon. He was unimpressed.

I moved on to capturing a few pictures of our Christmas treeAnd then we went back to my parents house where I took some shots of some of my very favorite people.Benny Boo

Aunt Mal Mal The Beebs!! Ben snuggling Landon Baby Dinosaur

Silly Joe The Diva Snuggling with Uncle Craig Uncle Clint, Bubbie, Uncle Craig, and Baby Landon

Ben was so excited to get to go to the Pacers game with Uncle Craig, Uncle Clint, and Abby.

And Joey was excited to spend some QT with Brookie...until she tried to play with his bath toys and then he had a meltdown and it was time to go home!

So excited for my new toy and can't wait to capture more (better quality) memories!

My Favorite Turkeys

As I was preparing to update our Turkey Day festivities, I realized I had a few other cute pics that had never been shared.

Two weekends ago Benny accompanied me to the Colts game along with several of the high school youth group kids I work with. He had a great time (though you wouldn't guess it from his scowl in all the pictures) but was way overwhelmed and intimidated. Abby rescued him at halftime from our nosebleed seats and took him down to the lower level seats to enjoy the better view!

Last week Joey and I snuck up to Lafayette for a day to visit Landon and Brookie B. It was a quick but fun visit and Michelle and I cracked up as we watched Brookie and Joe interacting with sweet Landon. He is such a chill little dude and seemed mostly just interested in the two crazy beasts stomping all around him. He didn't mind being snuggled by them even!

He mostly loved being held by his aunt though :) The feeling is mutual my little boo!

It's hard to believe this little pumpkin

was living inside this belly just over 2 weeks ago (the picture below was taken the day before Landon was born). Which brings us to Thanksgiving. We had a lovely day. My mom hosted the feast and though there wasn't near enough food....I'm kidding, check out this spread.

The food was great and the company was even better. My mom outdid herself and we enjoyed spending time with my family (minus Michelle, Clint, Brookie, and Landon. boo), Uncle Bob, Aunt Julie, cousins Jane and Fred, Rick and Marcie, and 2nd cousins Mackenzie and Cameron. Fun!

My view across the table included two of my favorite guys.

Seated next to me were Joe (too speedy to be caught in a picture) and my sweet cousin Mackenzie who is a sophomore in college. Mackenzie played the harp in my wedding for those of you reading this who can remember 9-1/2 years back and the amazing then 10-year-old musical prodigy!

Abby spent the afternoon coloring/entertaining Ben, which gave me plenty of time to catch up with my cousins Marcie and Jane while we did dishes and grab a picture with my mom, aka my twin.

We headed to Dean's sister's house for a quick visit after leaving my parents and were home snuggled up and watching holiday movies at a decent hour. I was the first to fall asleep but Dean assures me the boys had a good evening!

Thanksgiving is always one of my favorite holidays and this year was no exception. The only thing missing was Sissy and her crew but we will see them today! incidently, I think I broke a new record for pictures of myself in one blog post.

Full of Thanks and Full of Heartache

It is easy to be thankful for all the blessings I have in my life. If I were to list them it would be embarassing, overwhelming, undeserved. I am thankful. Probably not enough and I probably don't say it enough. On Tuesday this week I volunteered at Ben's school and it was an eye opening experience and one that was very upsetting to me for a myriad of reasons. I left his school that day upset at how many disruptive children there were in the "other" kindergarten class (there are two K classes and I had only ever really been exposed to Ben's class). I had zero control over the kids during the 1-1/2 hours I spent with them, covering the classroom so the teachers could have a holiday luncheon with their fellow teachers. Now, granted, I had both kindergarten classes so there were over 40 five and six year olds in a room with pushover me and another mom who was an even bigger weenie and basically didn't say a word. I happily turned the kids back over to their teachers and left the school feeling sorry for Ben, feeling sorry for myself, feeling upset that I send him into this cacophenous environment every day. The more my tears flowed the more I felt a different force (I am quite confident it was God...and also Dean) at the same time trying to calm me down and pointing out how well Ben is doing academically this year. He is already reading at a 1st grade level (and will be at a 2nd grade level before the school year is up), his behavior at school is really good, he has friends, and he LOVES school. Seriously, he gets up with a smile every single day and is ready to go see his friends. So what is my problen? The kid evidently likes chaos and thrives in it! My selfish feelings grew to an overwhelming point when I found out and had confirmed by the social worker at the school yesterday morning that a little boy, the little boy who had given me the most trouble in fact the day before, in the other kindergarten class is homeless. Homeless. The words homeless and kindergarten boy do NOT go together. This is a six-year-old boy who is my son's PEER, who could be MY son under different circumstances. This is a sixy-year-old boy who does not have a bed to call his own, a kitchen table to sit at to do his homework, a front yard to play with his friends in, a place to feel safe and call his own. I can't even wrap my mind around how that can be. How can I feel so thankful for all the things I have and yet know that there is a little boy in my town who doesn't have nearly as much to be thankful for? And at the same time, how can I not be thankful? I am really struggling here. I spoke with the social worker for a long time yesterday and with Dean. I spoke to God. I cried. I cried. I cried. I am sad, angry, hurt, confused, and lost as to what I can do. Everything seems minimal. So I am thankful, obviously, for the blessings in my life. I know how lucky I am; I have a husband who is not only my BEST friend, but the BEST person I know and hands down, bar none the best dad on the planet, I have parents and a mother-in-law who are always on my side and there to help when needed, siblings who I am lucky to call my friends, a healthy new baby nephew and his older sister whom I adore, friends galore who fulfill all my needs; friends I laugh with, cry with, play with, excercise with, and worship with, and I am thankful for the adults in my boys lives who love them and raise them up. And I have my boys. My boys. I can't even go there right now but since this blog is all about the love I feel for those two monsters God has entrusted me with, I'm just going to leave it with my boys. Enough said about that. I am so very thankful for my healthy, sturdy, silly, fun-loving, adventurous, michevious, laughing, dancing, crazy boys. They make my life feel complete and real and worthwhile and on days like yesterday when I was questioning the universe and wondering how I can live in a world where there are homeless children, being able to see my boys helps things make sense, or at least helps me to slow down and realize that I have so much to be thankful for. I am also thankful for meeting my new six-year-old friend this week. My eyes have been opened and I am ready now to listen and see what I can do to make a difference. I am thankful.

So, So Much

There is no shortage of "I love yous" in our house lately. And I love it! Joey quite literally will tell me 50 times a day "I love you momma....I love you so so much." And this isn't just idle chatter. He says it with such feeling and conviction he would make an evangelical preacher proud. "I LOVE you SO, SO much." Amen. Man I love that kid. I will never grow tired of hearing him tell me he loves me. I will never stop loving him. I will never forget how good it feels to be loved by him. Ditto for his brother.

I thought I recognized that sweet face!

I have always said that I think Joe looks a lot like Michelle. My theory has been proven as I now see a lot of Joey in Landon! Such handsome boys :)

Joey:

Landon:

Joey: Landon:

Joey:

Landon:

Welcome Baby Landon!

We were thrilled to welcome our new nephew/cousin John Landon to the family yesterday, 11/11/2010. Our big boy was born at 4:27 p.m. (is that right, Michelle, I need confirmation?) weighing in at 8 lbs 21 inches long. He is just beautiful and we are over the moon to have him join our crazy family. Michelle was, once again, a stud and delivered my gorgeous nephew naturally. That's right. No epidural. She is crazy tough. And beautiful to boot...even when in labor.

The following picture is why I both love and hate my sister. Who looks this good after nearly 10 hours of labor without drugs?? Annoying.

Landon's birth was almost as speedy as Brookie Boos. Michelle said that is where the similarity ended, however, as Landon's labor was much more painful both during and after and Landon came out quiet as a mouse (whereas Brookie has been vocal since birth)and 20 hours into life he still is the least fussy baby on the planet. Michelle said he even slept through his circumcision this morning!

Clint did a great job keeping all of us in the waiting room updated via text messages while Michelle's labor progressed and we all laughed and cried when Brookie sprinted toward the door into her daddy's arms when Clint came out to tell us that Landon had arrived. We are all head over heels in love with the youngest member of our family. Mom and Dad both have colds so they wouldn't risk infecting little man but Craig, Abby, Mal, and I couldn't wait to get our arms around him.

We couldn't be happier to welcome our new little man. We are, however, all a little fearful of the princess we are creating with Brookie. She has always been a diva but now she is the true Queen of the grandkids. Watch out! But, seriously, have you ever seen a sweeter "big sister?"

See, Landon, Brookie is already stealing your thunder. I will conclude with my favorite picture of my nephew. I love you Landy Loo...working on nicknames and having trouble coming up with one but hang in there. You have blessed our lives with your birth and we will love and cherish you forever. Your cousins can't wait to meet you!