"Playdate hangover"

Jeff snapped this picture of Colton while I was out finishing up some Christmas shopping. We've named it "playdate hangover." We had a playdate at our house this day, and he didn't take a nap, so apparently he was really tired and crashed out pretty hard. He fell asleep with the Wii remote, but I believe Jeff planted the pizza and pretzel on him (that is a pretzel hanging from his mouth...).

Christmas at the farm

This weekend was a busy one with Jeff's side of the family. We went to his Grandma's house in Bonham Sunday morning and had Christmas with that part of the family. It's always a fun time there. The boys LOVE riding the tractors. This time Jeff's cousin Kory took the kids on the newest tractor with his son Jayden, who is a month older than Tyler. It completely made their day! After Granny's, we headed out to Mesquite to try to catch the end of Jeff's Mamaw's party. We arrived a little bit too late, but it was great to visit with Mamaw for awhile. We're looking forward to all the family time we have coming up this week for Christmas!

 Jeff's mom Vickie asked if I could take a picture of her, Tiffany (Jeff's sister) and Runell (Vickie's mom). Three generations of ageless women! ;)

A blog update!

Sorry for the two month delay, but I finally had a moment to myself where there wasn't something else I needed to be working on, so I finally updated my blog! Hoping this will be less hectic from now on and I can keep up with it better. Today I added posts from Halloween all the way to this past weekend!

A Preschool Christmas

On Friday, December 17th, Tyler had his school Christmas program. Each class sang a song, then a couple of the teachers narrated a version of the Christmas story, and the four year olds were responsible for coming to the stage as the characters were mentioned. Tyler was an adorable, perfect little shepherd. After the Christmas story, his class sang two songs. I was so sure Tyler was going to be silly on stage, but he did great! He did everything he was supposed to do and was really into it. It was so cute! Can't wait til next year when Colton will get to be in the program, too. :)

Surprise!

We surprised Jeff's mom Vickie for her birthday - we all met at Pappasito's Mexican Cantina. She had no idea the whole family was going to be there. It was another fun time with the Walkers. At one point during dinner, Tyler asked her to dance (bottom left). Later teh waitress brought out some dessert and a giant sombrero - always a good time. :) Happy birthday, Vickie!

Perfect day for a ... tent?

What do you do on the coldest day of the season? You pitch a tent in the backyard, of course! Well, that's what my family did! Jeff was cleaning out the garage and came across this tent that we got as a wedding gift but had never used. He decided it was a good day to try it out, so the boys played in it all afternoon and we ate lunch inside. But - it was FREEZING. We'll have to actually camp in it someday when it's not quite so cold!

Tyler's first basketball game

Tyler's very first basketball game was Saturday, December 11th. It was SO MUCH FUN. Those kids are a blast to watch. Some of them really know what they're doing and look like little pros out there, but since they're still so little we get a lot of comic relief during the games as well. His next game is not until January 8th. I really can't wait!

St. Nick came!

St. Nick came to our house the night of Dec. 5th, so we woke up on the 6th to stockings full of Christmas surprises. We each got a new ornmament, some candy, and some other sillly surprises (see Christmas tree glasses...). Yay for St. Nick!

Family Christmas pics

We tried to do an official family photo on our own this Christmas with the tripod. It was a lot of work! But we did end up with some nice, usable photos! The kids liked running around at Nash Farm and the botanical garden. Colton was so tired that afternoon that he layed down on the playground equipment.

This is my favorite of the four of us:

Tyler's first basketball practice

Tyler had his first basketball practice November 30th. I was really surprised at how well those kids can dribble. It was comical at times, but they were pretty impressive for a bunch of 4-year olds who've never played basketball before!

Colton was there, too, and Daddy tried to teach him how to spin the ball....

"Gingerbread"

The kids and I attempted to make gingerbread houses together out of graham crackers early in December. We had a great time doing it, but we decided we'll need a better construction plan next year because the walls kept caving in! They turned out cute though, while they were standing. :)

Sharing meal

Tyler's class had a sharing meal for Thanksgiving. Everyone brought something and all three 4-year old classes had a feast together. Colton and I were there for the feast, too!

Tyler's last soccer game

Tyler's soccer season ended with his last game on November 6th. It was his best game ever! Everything seemed to click for him that day and he was really going after the ball. He (nearly) scored five times! It was such an exciting, fun time. :) The collage you see above is one that I put together as a gift for our coaches. I framed and matted it and we gave it to them at our end of the season party. GOOOO PIRATES! ARRRRR!

The Botanical Garden with my boys

On November 4th I took my boys to the Botanical Gardens in Grapevine. They loved running over the bridges, looking at the coy, and most especially, collecting horse apples! They've been asking to go back. There is even a fun playground right next to it.

Halloween festivities

Halloween this year consisted of many fun activities. First was Pumpkin Express with some friends from Tyler's school:

Next was Halloween on Main Street in Grapevine:

Then Tyler had his Halloween party at school. The kids were so cute. I helped out with his classroom party. We decorated pumpkins, played freeze dance to Halloween music and had a spooooky lunch!

And finally - trick or treating! We trick or treated in my parents' neighborhood and then went to a couple local houses with super spooky decorations. And we ended up back in our own neighborhood and then inside to check out our loot. A neighbor in my parents' neighborhood was really nice to take this great picture of the four of us!

Another blog

So, I'm a bit behind on this blog, and that is in large part due to the fact that I've started keeping up with another blog and have expanded my photography hobby, which is keeping me very busy. If you want to see what I've been up to, go here: http://k-photo.blogspot.com/

An exciting adventure!

Christmas is coming

The Toys R Us "Great Big Christmas Book" arrived yesterday, and this morning the boys were intently going through it, picking out what they wanted to go on their Christmas lists. I'm pretty sure they pointed to just about everything in the catalog and said, "Mom, look! I want this!" Santa shouldn't have any trouble finding things that will make them happy this year!

Happy birthday to me

Today is my birthday, and I spent the day with my family. Jeff gave me an early present last night - a new camera - so I played with it a lot today. My mom took me out for lunch this afternoon to Thai Ruby, which was really nice, and the food was delicious. Tonight my friends Kirsten & Wilson and their daughter Lorelei joined Jeff and I and the kids, and my parents for dinner at Rainforest Cafe. I had to stand on a chair when the wait staff came to sing happy birthday to me. Our waiter handed me two snowcone cups and had me put them in my mouth like a beak, and then I had to hold two to-go boxes and flap my arms like a bird. Seriously! I really think he came up with this on the spot to try to embarrass me, but I was a good sport at played along. Also because he told me if I took the beak out of my mouth while they were singing that they'd stop and start all over again. It was pretty funny. At the end of dinner a balloon lady came around and Tyler had her make me a beautiful crown (see below...) It was a fun night! Thanks go everyone who celebrated with me. I had a good day!

Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch

This morning I got to accompany Tyler's class on a field trip to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. The kids went through a hay maze, played in bounce houses, went for a hay ride and got to pick a pumpkin. It was a beautiful morning, and it was nice for me to have some time with Tyler. In one picture you can see him peeking up over the maze to see where the end is. (Is that allowed? ;) ) And in another picture he is holding a pretzel to his chest as an emblem b/c he was "Super pretzel." A fun start to the day!


 

Circle of Science

I got to accompany Tyler on his first field trip for the school year. His class went to Circle of Science, where they learned about mammals and birds, and got to see and hold some animals, including a parrot, chinchilla, sugar-glider, hedgehog, guinea pig and more. It was a fun afternoon!

I love freckles

Colton ended up with a lot of freckles by the end of this summer. I was happy when I got this picture that shows them up close. I think freckles are so cute. :)

MO Preisers in TX

We were very happy to have a visit from my brother Kevin, his wife Christina and their son Alex in late September. It was so fun to have Alex, Tyler & Colton together. They played so well and were really excited to see each other. We had a blast swimming, going to the movies, watching the kids play and swimming some more. Here are some pictures from the Preisers' visit to Texas.

Baby Riley

Awhile back I had taken some photos of my friend Kirsten's daughter, Lorelei. Kirsten's co-worker Kelly saw the pictures and asked if I'd be interested in doing newborn photos for her. Kirsten got us in touch, and I had a great time photographing this family. Here are baby Riley's newborn photos...

Julia & Owen

In late August I took some maternity photos for Julia, a mom from my moms' group/playgroup here in Texas. Her son Owen was born just a few days later. Here are Julia's maternity pictures and baby Owen's newborn pics (taken when he was about three weeks old). Also pictured are big brother Alex and Julia's husband Dave.

My cute little airplane

Well, Tyler's games seem to get more entertaining with each one. All the kids are playing really well, and Tyler helps with the entertainment value. During his second game he decided it would be fun to run around like an airplane (top right). I am reminded that he is only four, and this is not unusual behavior for a four-year-old sporting event... He may not be all that competitive with the game, but he sure looks cute out there, doesn't he?