Birthday Girl

What a great time we had celebrating Clara's 2nd birthday today! There was the fiercely competitive game of musical chairs, the challenging 'Pooh Flinging Contest' and of course the beautiful (and delicious) Pooh bear birthday cake (thank you grandma). All in all, it was a wonderful way to celebrate our little birthday girl.

Photo Shoot

Christopher was a willing (mostly) participant for Papa's photoshoot downstairs tonight. For this photo, he brought out all his Darth Vader props (except for the boots which are still wet from playing in the snow earlier). This isn't art - but it will be something that will be more meaningful whenever he's older. At least, meaningful to his old man.

Mouth Full

After all the birthday celebrations this weekend, we decided to continue our time together with 'new cousins' at the Newport Aquarium. We saw fish and sharks and (coolest of all) divers in the tanks there and had a great time hanging out! Thanks Chuck, Kelly & Kids for a great time!

Happy Birthday Babo

Adam's grandmother (aka Babo) turned 90 on Saturday. Family came in from Florida, Virginia, Texas, Louisville and Cannon Valley to celebrate. Christopher was delighted to meet his new cousin he didn't know he had.

Gabriel's Baptism

Gabriel, our nephew, was baptized this weekend. There was also a family photo from the day but that will be saved for later.

Lightsaber

This just proves you can make a lightsaber out of just about anything.

Cold

It's been really cold outside. This photo proves it. However, cold is relative. If you're from Wisconsin, you think this temperature is balmy ... at least that's what we hear.

Andrew's Baptism

Our Godson, Andrew, was baptized on the first weekend of 2009. We really enjoyed participating in his baptism and look forward to watching him grow over the years.

Excited

Dave and Tim are very excited about this gift. Does anyone know what it is?

Three sisters

These ladies posed quickly for this photo on Christmas Day.

Piano Lessons

This is a photo from the cousins taking a well deserved break at the piano on Christmas Day at Grandma and Grandpa Hoeben's.

Pigtails

(Adam here) I grew up in a house without pigtails. Seriously. Never had these around EVER. But now, my little girl has totally changed my world. Guess I'll have to learn the proper way to do pig-tails, headbands, pony tails and pink ... everything pink.

This photo was taken on Christmas morning right before we left for Grandma's house. Clara is wearing her new PINK dress and pigtails.

J, M & J

Sometimes you really can have a "Silent Night" when you hang around with two beautiful young children at Christmas time. On this quiet night at home, just a few short days before Christmas, Christopher decided he wanted to be Joseph. With a little help from his Papa (who provided the blanket, the rubber band to tie it back and the home-made shepherd's hook) and a little joining in from his sister (here playing Mary or "Mama") and a favorite baby doll, we had our very own live Nativity scene under the Christmas tree. May you and your family be blessed with just as much true Spirit this Christmas!

Christmas Tree lot

Although we didn't tromp through the woods to cut the tree down, we did snap this photo before leaving the Christmas tree lot. We believe this was an improvement over our experience from two years ago when we plucked the tree off the sidewalk at Kroger's and shoved it into the trunk of the Mercury Grand Marquis.

Breakfast with Santa

This morning we went to Breakfast with Santa. We had a great time hanging out with friends from church. Below, Christopher is asking Santa for a red lightsaber. I think I heard Santa say something like, "You'll blast your eye out" but I'm not sure. Clara was willing to sit on the Jolly Old Elf's lap, but she didn't have anything to say.

Cookie Day

Below are a few photos from the Rice Krispies Ornament Cookies from this year's Cookie Day. We got off to a slower start than normal on these cookies. There was a discrepancy on exactly how warm they should be whenever we attempted to convert them from Rice Krispies Treats to ornament. Eventually we figured it out.



(I caught this photo of Christopher in mid shake of the sprinkles for the cookies. Didn't think to stop the child from making the mess, just thought the moment should be captured....)

Pops' Birthday

Happy Birthday Pops! It was great to hang with you and the rest of the family at the winery.

Trip to Wisconsin

After the election, it was time to head north for a brief reprieve in Wisconsin. Thanks for the hospitality and really good food while at Camp Gray, Jeff and Rebecca.

Trick-or-Treaters

Our two little trick-or-treaters really got into the excitement of it all this year! Clara enjoyed flapping her wings as a butterfly fairy and Christopher became quite a convincing Jedi - the good guy of course! He enjoyed taking on the little Darth Vaders in the neighborhood to light saber duels. Clara found her calling by giving candy out with Granny and mama. "Kids! Candy! More!" she would call. Lots of fun and just the right amount of candy!

Pumpkin Carving

Behind the camera again ... for a little while

Adam here. Just recently got back behind the camera and these are the fruits of my labor. Hope you enjoy them. Maybe I'll be able to take some more shots during the first full week in November.

The first shots are from playing in the backyard on Wednesday night with Uncle Tim.






These are from the cookie making extravaganza on Friday night.

What's a good caption?

Give us your best caption for this photo. Just to prime the pump a little, here are some thoughts:

"In again and out again"
"Playing tops and bottoms"
"Isn't that terrific portrait light?"

Museum Center Visit

Jeff, his electric socks, and the rest of us.

Good morning

Woke up to find big brother hanging out in little sister's room. Tried to catch the two bed-heads before they started moving too quickly.

Natural Bridge

Photos from today's visit to Natural Bridge State Park. Christopher walked (hiked) up and down 90% of the 1.5 mile round trip. He only complained once of his legs tingling. Clara insisted on getting out of the backpack more than once. It was a good way to spend a Saturday away from home.

Visit to the museum

About 16 days ago, we paid a visit to the museum with Uncle Tim. Christopher enjoyed the water while Clara posed for this cute photo.

Corner

Q: What's wrong with this little girl?

A: She's in the naughty corner.

Fun w/Uncle Tim

This is what we did while Mama was out with her sisters and such. Uncle Tim found a way to have fun with just the top of the sandbox. As if that wasn't enough, later we incorporated a small wading pool, 25 feet of rope and the lawn tractor but to the best of our knowledge there aren't any photos. The kids enjoy having Uncle Tim back in town.

Kids in buckets

Finger painting

This is how the kids started the day ... with finger paints!

Pool time

A photo from the kids playing in the backyard last month. Any caption ideas come to mind?