Getting the Perfect Christmas Card Photo

Yesterday morning, I wanted to very quickly get the kids' picture taken for our Christmas card. Hallmark had a promotion going on and I wanted to take advantage of it! No big deal. I'll put the kids in their Christmas-sy outfits and snap a few shots in front of the tree. In a nutshell, this is how it went:



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And the winner was...





Yes. Out of over 100 shots, this photo was the ONLY one where all three are looking towards the camera and happy about it.

Experimenting with Color

On one of our many drives down to Jackson, while conversing with Clayton, I discovered that though he can name many an obscure dinosaur fact, he doesn't know what happens when different colors get mixed. Red and Yellow? Nothin. Blue and Yellow? Nada. Blue and Red? .... So last week while I cleaned up a kitchen mess of my own, I let the boys experiment with color. A few jars, a couple drops of food coloring and some medicine droppers. Clayton recorded his observations as he was working. Levi was mainly fascinated in how the medicine droppers worked. Clarey was just excited the boys weren't messing with her while she played around my feet. (I really included this picture to show how long her hair is getting!! :) ) It was a very simple activity, very little effort on my part and all had a great time.

Congratulations, Neal & Kori!

On November 26, Neal and Kori said "I Do!" It was a great day. Everything went as well as it could have.

A BIG, BIG thank you to Emily and Christy for your help with the dessert bar. Emily - I couldn't have finished it without you! And a BIG, BIG thank you to Curt, Kathy, Garrett, Anna and Cameron for caring for my three sick kids! I couldn't have enjoyed the day without knowing they were in good hands!

Once again, I didn't take very many pictures. And my camera was on the wrong setting at the dance so many of those are blurry. Luckily Kori's sister is a very talented photographer. Check out some of her pictures here.

Congratulations, Neal and Kori! We love you!

Lost Tooth!

This is Clayton on November 3. All of his baby teeth fairly securely in his mouth.

This is Clayton on November 11. One little baby tooth, the very first tooth he got, out!

He was so excited to lose this tooth. It was pointing forward and just a gentle tug pulled it right out. He ran around the house. He jumped up and down. Then he ran into the bathroom to look in the mirror at the "hole in his mouth." He stopped and looked and said, "It's bleeding a little." "Yeah," I said, "That happens sometimes." Then he looked at me and said, "I don't think I feel so good. I think I need to lay down." Seriously, the tooth didn't bleed any more than you see in this picture. The excitement was over until that evening when he got to put his tooth in his Tooth Fairy pillow and set it next to his bed. There's another tooth loose, so I'm sure the Tooth Fairy will be visiting us again shortly.

Leaf Fun

I raked a big pile of leaves in our yard and the kids had so much fun jumping around in them. Levi said, "I just love autumn leaves!" Clarey wasn't as thrilled as the boys and once she was in the pile, couldn't move fast enough to get out. I have to say, as small as she is and as much as the boys were moving and throwing leaves, I, too, would have been trying to get away.

Clarey just loves phones. Especially iPhones. She is remarkably good at working it and even sends texts to her Uncle Neal. How the times have changed!

Halloween Festivities

Levi's class Halloween Party






Boo at the Zoo ~ Just before Halloween we met Catie at the St. Louis Zoo for Boo at the Zoo. While it was fun to walk around and see the decorations, it was disappointing to not see any animals. We got there early enough that I thought we at least see a few. We only saw a bear, flamingoes and some penguins. Nonetheless, it was great to see Catie and the kids had fun in their costumes.





After a short shopping trip to Target with Nonna, the kids came home with a haunted gingerbread house to construct and decorate. As we were working on it and the kids were munching on all the candy decorations, Clayton declared, "My stomach hasn't been this happy in years!!" The boys really enjoyed making the house, but they had much more fun destroying and eating it.

Darling it's better down where it's wetter, take it from me!

We definitely had an under the sea theme this year for Halloween costumes. Clayton was a hermit crab, Levi was an octopus and Clarey was a little starfish. They loved their costumes and had so much fun at our small "Halloween Feasts" at Grandma and Grandpa Huck's and at Nonna's. A short trick or treat jaunt filled our candy bags to the brim and we all had a great Halloween!