Caution: Lots and Lots of Photos Ahead

Because seriously, every time we take family photos we have at least a few like this:

But look at how precious these girls can look when they're threatened/bribed/begged.

Never mind

Apparently, the thought of any sign of emotion between Mom and Dad was comedy gold.

And only our die-hard romantic found this shot appealing. 

But seriously, do you see how sweet my tiny ballerina is?

Particularly when contrasted with her ornery big sister.

I honestly have no idea what our sis-in-love/ photog extraordinaire had to do to get this shot.

And this one is looking WAY too old for this mama's heart.

Ohmygoodness, I'm buying more shotguns and ammo and door locks.

And she was so sweet to help her little sister with her accessories.

Now, the outfit is perfect.

And this is what was happening directly behind the photographer.

We made sure to get shots of just us sweethearts.

But it's really hard to not crack up when you're trying to act romantic in front of a camera, your kids, and your sis-in-love.

And then we were attacked by the minions.

But we did get this precious shot, which made the whole morning worth it.

Oh, and this.  Hubba hubba!

Our little divas struck a pose.

Jerome practiced his pensive look.

And then got a few head shots for work.

My hearts flips for this precious shot of a daddy and his princesses.

And the sweetness of their love.

And the goofiness of their relationship.

Well, two out of three isn't so bad 

Oh my goodness, this one was full of piss and vinegar that morning!

But, finally, we were done!

Seriously, my sister-in-law is amazing.  You can check out her stuff online at Sunflower Eyes Phototgraphy.  

This photo shoot is our family.  It is our life - giggles, goofiness, sweetness, and love.  

Catching up

So, here's what this crazy crew has been up to lately:

We've learned about the human body by building them.

Mom went to an 80's party and ROCKED IT!

Madi started gymnastics.

Violet started ballet.

And Nina started jazz dance.

The dog got dressed up...

A few times...

Ok.  This happens more than I should admit.

We officially became sponsors for our favorite balloon crew,

And got to chase/crew for them at two different rallys.

We got all dolled up in support of our favorite team,

Then had to share in the pain of defeat.

Madi confirmed my suspicions that we will need good health insurance for her later in life.

I made chocolate covered strawberries.

Jerome made crepes.

Violet made me cry.

Translation: "God is coming down to me.  I believe in God. One day I saw God, so I'm now in peace and I have faith in God."

The snow (finally!) made me attempt to be a photographer.

And my sweet kitties getting along made me smile.

And I wonder why I'm so tired at night!

The Literal Child

Tonight, this happened:

But not after a full-on freak out session earlier in the week.  

She absolutely lost it - tears, snot, and screaming - at the thought of losing a tooth.  Freaked out and lost all control.  I could not figure it out for the life of me.  She had to have two teeth pulled by the dentist earlier this year - no big deal.  She's seen her friends and big sister lose teeth - no sweat.  But when it came to her own mouth, she freaked out.

Come to find out, she was scared of the tooth fairy.  Scared that some tiny creature was going to sneak into her room in the middle of the night.  Oh.  Given the fact that we had a similar incident over Santa a few years ago, I should have seen it coming.  

Once my extremely literal child was reassured that the tooth fairy was, in fact, Mom, all was well in the world.  She was perfectly happy to lose her tooth, even asked us to pull it out tonight.  And now my sweet, seven, gap-mouthed kid is sleeping peacefully.  Waiting for her "tooth fairy" to come.  

Food, family, and fun in the sun

This Thanksgiving we made our annual trek to the land of sun and cactus to cram as much fun into 6 days as possible.  And 8 hours in the car is made a little more enjoyable when you have a brand new DVD player for the car.

Yes, this is pretty much what they looked like for the entire 8 hours.  

Thanksgiving was spent enjoying our precious 1-year old cousin,

Enjoying our furry 8 year-old cousin,

And discovered new ways to carry a ball

We also got to take family pics with our amazing sis-in-love and photographer extraordinaire

Took all the monkeys to the zoo

And had a close encounter with a very sweet baboon

Saturday night we got to go out with Adam and Kristin, our bro and sis-in-love to our first pro basketball game.  It was amazing to watch the spectacle

And managed to snag a rare photo of the four of us

Sunday evening we went out to dinner with Grandma, Grandpa, and Great Grandma.  It was precious for the girls to be able to spend quality time with two grandmas at the same time.  And teaching Grandma the dot game was an added bonus!

We are so blessed, every year, to spend precious time with family.