Christmas in Cleveland and little bit of Devin.

The Saturday a week before Christmas, Santa made a special stop at our house. We went to Utah over Christmas weekend, so we decided to have our own Christmas day early. 

It wasn't quite the same, because Matt worked the night before. He couldn't be there for any "Christmas Eve" festivities. And we had to stay upstairs until he got home from work in the morning. He brought home bagels and orange juice from the hospital for breakfast. The kids were very excited. It was fun to see Devin's reaction. He wanted to deliver all the gifts, but didn't really have a big desire to open any of them.

Our little Christmas.

Matt asked for some of Frank's hot sauce....well sometimes Santa stops at Costco.

Matt did a GREAT job this year. He bought me red, leather gloves, a yoga mat, boots and gold, glittery, Steve Madden shoes. Sadly, they didn't fit that well, so they were returned, but it really was the thought that counted this time! :)

We spent the remainder of the day returning half of the stuff we purchased! And lounging around, like Christmas should be. 

Off the topic----here are a couple of pics of Dev. He loves to growl and play with these little animals, it's so cute.

One of his cousins sent him a Christmas gift and he wanted the box more than the present. He'd sit in it until he couldn't get out.

Next up...is Christmas Part II-Utah Style....

Merry Christmas!

Joy School Christmas Festivities

This month we had a little Joy School Christmas party at my house for our little class. 

We made a paper chain to count down to Christmas, played games, sang songs and decorated sugar cookies.

Here are some of the grainy, indoor photos. :)

The two newest Joy Schoolers

And then the next week we combined with the younger Joy School class and put on a Christmas program for the parents. 

Luke was one of the wise men.

Luke and his best bud Emmett, and Wyatt (not shown) were the wise men.

A common sight to see, Luke pickin a winner!

This pic is so cute. They were checking out their gifts to get to baby Jesus.

They sang a few songs, including Jingle Bells in sign language.

It was super cute! I remember when I was in Joy School and we did the nativity. I was the angel and remember being mad that I wasn't Mary, because it was obvious that I should have been! haha

Merry Christmas!

Photography

The past few months I have had a major increase in opportunities with my photography. I am so happy to have so many great experiences! This month has been especially fun. Two of my clients have me take monthly photos of their babies. It's a lot of fun, but since it's so often we really have to get creative. And since it's Christmas this month we have done Christmas themed photos. I love how these ones turned out, so I wanted to share.
To see more of my recent work check out my website, here.

A couple years ago I was assisting another photographer and when they swung the child in the air she dislocated her arm! That one ended early and in the emergency room. 

This picture is just funny. Not all photos go exactly as planned...luckily this one had a good turn out.

Thanks for all the kind comments and encouragement along the way. I love what I'm doing!

Come into my house.

We've lived in this house for a year and a half. We haven't done a whole lot with the place due to the lack of time and money, mostly the later. My sisters have been asking me for a long time to post some pics of the place. I waited and waited for it to be super clean and perfect to take the photos, but that opportunity never came. 

So here are several pictures of my house on a pretty normal day. Seriously, what normal person has a pristine perfect house anyway?! Don't judge the messes, or the baby proofing.

The front room.

The kitchen from the dining room.

From the kitchen to the backdoor, down to the bathroom and basement.

Tinsy tiny half bath.

The office/play/entertainment room.

The scary side of the basement.

Laundry room. I'm still trying to figure out why anyone in their right mind would split the washer and dryer up like that! It's annoying, but still a million times better than our last one, so I'll take it!

Coming back up the stairs. Kitchen to the L and living room to the R.

Dining room. Notice our chandelier? It used to be gold, but we spray painted it a textured brown color and we love it! Way cheaper than replacing it. Still need to refurbish the furniture in the dinning room.

Our starved, Charlie Brown Christmas tree...

Some of these pics are a little blurry...I was in a hurry.

Probably my favorite Christmas decoration this year....my wicker-ball lights. They make super easy ornaments too.

Going up stairs. Super sharp left goes up to the attic, slight L bathroom, straight L Luke's room, straight R master bedroom, slight R Dev's room, sharp R closet.

I am not all about the decorating lately...so the upstairs bedrooms have been slightly neglected...

And I've found even if I try to decorate Luke's room, he rearranges things, takes things down, puts things up, basically he does his own thing in there.

I'm really embarrassed to show our bedroom, because it's probably the least decorated (notice the empty shelves?), boring room in our house. Plus it's messy today, but at least the laundry is done! :)

Dev's room.

Hallway to go up to the attic, behind that door is the bathroom. No pictures, because it's just bright yellow and hasn't changed much since we've moved here!

The guest bedroom. COME STAY WITH US!!!

This is where I let Matt put up his things...like the chinese scroll or the knight guy...we compromised.

Well that's our house in a nutshell! 

Don't mind the mess. Now come and visit us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!