christmas cookies 2013

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from 12/6 The girls had such a fun time making Christmas cookies this year. I let them pretty much destroy the dough. Kate decided they would be making pizzas instead, and I was having too much fun watching them play to salvage the dough. I did end up re-rolling it and baking them, but they were hard as a rock! Better luck next year!

Here's my post from last year.... what a nice sunny day that was! These were taken the first day of the ice storm, so there was very little light coming in.

 

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And here's an insanely long video. I was having so much fun watching them play that I had no idea how long I'd been recording. :)  Also, I took it with my camera, and since I don't really know how to use the video capabilities, there's a lot of re-focusing. You've been warned!

Mother's Day FILM

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Yup, another roll of film. (Or actually, the second part of this roll.)

For Mother's Day, we took a picnic lunch to Arbor Hills after church. I just took my film camera, but I sorely regretted that decision when the girls started splashing around in the stream and I ran out of film! Just means we'll have to go back. ;)

Nikon N80 + 50mm
Portra 400 (rated at box speed)
Scanned by Indie Film Lab (large scans)






















Easter dresses (& a peek behind the scenes of our shoot)

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ONE. One decent photo of both girls out of dozens.

I feel so frustrated shooting them lately. Kate pouts and Caroline just starts crying, so trying to get a "formal" shot like this can be quite trying to say the least!  Nick is a saint. 

So, here are 3 "keepers" from the set. Scroll down to quickly run through our entire series. It's nuts.

I guess one is all you really need! 




Here's the full (UNedited) set if you're interested. Just click through fast...  

'tis the season...

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for Christmas cards...


And here's the image a little bigger. I love getting sweet sister shots! They're definitely hard to come by, and Daddy was a BIG help to snag this one.




for pictures with Santa... 

Kate held this pose the whole time, and Caroline was between sobs here.




and for Christmas programs...

Kate's class helped sing "Away in a Manger," "Joy to the World," and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." The little ones were all thoroughly distracted by all that was happening on stage and watching the big screens, but they managed to squeeze in the lyrics here and there. :)

The picture on the right was when they told the kids to "catch a bubble" so they would be quiet. I loved Kate's little bubble face!



Caroline and I are off to Kate's "Happy Birthday, Jesus" Christmas party at school here in just a few minutes! This post could go on and on.... so many fun things to enjoy during the Christmas season!



Christmas Cookies (and video, too!)

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Kate and I made cookies during Caroline's morning nap yesterday. Caroline woke up in time to enjoy our hard work!













And some videos!

Clip #1 is short & sweet, taken w/ my iPhone.

Clip #2 is longer, and I took it w/ my camera, so you hear the camera focusing. It's herky-jerky and quite a bit longer, so I assume only our family will want to watch it. :) Kate's had a cold, so she sounds all nasally. She says, "just a minute" about 500 times.

Take your pick!







halloween

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Starting to play blog catch up here!! 

For Halloween, Kate wore an Ariel dress, and we put Caroline in the clown costume Kate wore for her first Halloween. (It was a 9 month size that ran really big, and Caroline's on the short side, too!) We went to the "Scare on the Square" event in downtown McKinney for a little while, and then we came home for dinner and some trick or treating! It was Kate's first year to go door-to-door, and she had a blast! You might notice she had a costume change. She decided she wanted to change into her bumble bee dress for trick or treating. We have a lot of dress up options in this house!







father's day at the zoo

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from June 18 (STILL playing catch up!)

For "actual" Father's Day, Nick went golfing, so he took the day off on Monday for us to do something as a family. We had never been to the Dallas Zoo, so off we went! We stopped for breakfast at close-by Oddfellows first.

Love how you can see Caroline grabbing for everyone else's food!

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And here is just a Flickr slideshow of our zoo pics. I didn't really get any good pics of the animals, so these are mostly just of the girls enjoying the zoo! (Or sleeping through the experience, as in Caroline's case.)
 


the fourth

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In the morning, the girls played in the baby pool in the backyard, and we ate lunch on the patio...






In the evening, we had my parents and grandmother over. Nick served the pork shoulder he smoked all day, and we played in the backyard some more.



And finally, we bid farewell to Kate's paci. We attached it to a balloon and said goodbye. It now takes Kate much longer to fall asleep, but even though she has asked about it several times, she hasn't gotten upset, thankfully. So glad Caroline doesn't use one!


And that was it! No fireworks for this family... there's no way Caroline would be a happy camper that late, and I think the noise would freak Kate out. Can't wait for that to be part of our Fourth of July ritual! Nevertheless, it was a fun family day!