THAT ONE TIME IT WAS CHRISTMAS MORNING.

 yeah, yeah i know, but just for today let's pretend it's december again and i'm posting these in a timely manner.

this is the good side of christmas morning that we all illuminate in our photos, right? ripping into gifts, expressions of sheer joy and excitement, showing off our loot and enjoying trying everything out. i suppose no one would really want to see photos of thirty pounds of tape, wrapping paper and bows(coming to a landfill near you). what about the stocking stuffer chocolate hand printed walls or the table and chairs caked with playdough that is still being scraped off as relatives are arriving for christmas dinner. i even left out the two trays of burnt-to-a-crisp baguette for my bruschetta appetizer. now i'm starting to remember why i procrastinated on these photos. we keep it real around here y'all. hey, there's always next year right?

i'm sure the kids felt the whole morning differently and that's really all that matters once you become a parent. they had a blast trashing the house and getting love gifts from everyone. that's what you see here, because that's what i'll choose to remember from that day. these tiny people and their bearded daddy are my favorite gifts every year. (certainly you didn't think you'd escape this post without at least one cliche remark.)

here's to the good moments of christmas 2012 and to it's predetermined ass-kicking from christmas 2013. cheers!

-bette

SNAPSHOTS BY JACK.

 jack has been asking to use my camera whenever he sees me with it. he really loves snapping photos and looking at his work when he's finished. i'm planning to have him help me with the editing in photoshop, so he can have full ownership of the final product. i thought it would be fun for friends and family to get a little peek at some of his latest captures. i'll start posting these regularly. he's got a bit of an eye for it, wouldn't you agree? we just need to work on taking a few steps back on those close ups. maybe next time i should also vacuum the carpet before handing over the camera to the newest photog in the fam. more to come soon.

-bette

*madi has of course requested her own regular feature on our little blog. look for that later this week. :)

ALL IN A MONTH'S WORK.

after an unplanned hiatus from our little blog, i am way too lazy to write all the posts i had planned. life has been tear your hair out and run down the street naked screaming dear god help me busy full the past few weeks. we've had a couple bouts of sickness in the house, a friend visiting from out of state, conferences, new adjustments at paul's job, and all those other little unexpected things life brings your way. we've also had a couple unexpected blessings and we are exceedingly grateful for those. god is good.

here's a quick word explosion about the month of january around here. one little snow storm was outdone by multiple days of beautiful sunny weather. the kids have been able to spend more time outdoors than usual for this time of year. a little breath of fresh air to knock out our winter cabin fever. all of my glass jars have been confiscated and filled with "nature collections". if anything in the jar moves, it must remain on the back deck. the kids wanted to learn about dinosaurs and learn about them we did. we read books, watched several documentaries, got to be paleontologists and go on a dig for stegosaurus and apatosauraus fossils. we measured how tall our favorite dinos were and then measured each of the kids to compare height. we wrote dino adjectives on the chalkboard, which lasted about 60 seconds before charlie erased them all. we're hoping to drive up to woodland park soon to visit the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center.

jesse finn has shocked us all by how quickly he's growing. he's nearly four months old and wearing 9 months clothes already. it's basically ridiculous and he should definitely stop that. he's been sleeping through the night since twelve weeks and oh my heavens, what a dream it is. sleep is happening here, actual sleep. thanks blue eyes.

oh yeah, that last picture of madi? she read almost an entire chapter of genesis in the bible without any help. cue obnoxious parental bragging. she is something else that girl. i love her like crazy.

wow, long-winded much? i'll stop now. i have a birthday party for a soon to be three year old to plan anyway.

-bette