Elves!

I spent a ridiculous amount of time yesterday elfing my family. Then we laughed our heads off. Seriously, this is an addictive activity!

And now the kids...

Christmas Photo Attempt, Revisited.

Once again, I decided to attempt an impromptu Christmas Photo. We were camping over Thanksgiving this year and the surroundings were unique and beautiful. THE SWAMP! How can you not love that?? I mean, who else would have a Christmas photo taken in the swamp. Well, except those who actually live in the swamp.

So I decided to line up the crew, including the dog this year, and get that photo! Yeah, that never works. One problem was that, well, we were camping so we looked a mess! No one has any nice clothes, and the kids were a bit dirty, I mean, we were camping in the swamp after-all!

So...here goes.


Smile, Everyone! Wait, where's Annika?


There she is! Wow, that hair's a mess!

Um, Annika, what's with that face?

Annika, look at the camera!

Really, Gunnar?

And again with the goofy face, Gunnar.



Nice trash can.

Evelyn! And I don't really want to send out a Christmas card featuring Violet's bottom!

Gunnar again with the Stink-eye.



And this is what happens when you tell him to stop with the stink-eye.


I guess this one's not bad.

Why did I decide to do this again?

Dangerous.

This afternoon after church, Dave and I and the girls did something very, very dangerous. We went to the local SPCA.

We had some time to kill and we thought the girls would enjoy it. We didn't tell them where we were going, but right before we pulled in the parking lot we told them that the place where we were going was a LOOK ONLY place. That we were, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES, shopping. We WOULD NOT be going home with anything.

Once that was firmly established, we pulled in the SPCA parking lot. There was squealing.

Um, maybe this was not such a good idea...


Oh no...



NONONONO!



You'll be happy to know that we did not leave with any 4 legged friends. I was proud of the girls, I know they wanted to ask about 4 million times if they could take one home, but they didn't.

One day, maybe, if we ever move to a bigger place we may get a puppy. I think Violet needs a puppy.

Right now she does not other dogs, and I think if we got a puppy that would help her. She needs a 4 legged friend.


But for now, in our little place Violet is enough. BUt look at that face! If you live anywhere near DFW, this little doll could be yours. She's at the Industrial BLVD SPCA right now....

So...Blogging...

The blog's been kinda quiet lately. It's not for lack of stuff to say. I have much to say. Much I would like to share, but, well, I have all these internet savvy kids now and they're not so happy about me blogging about them.

I mean, yeah, they're okay with me sharing some stuff, like last night Ev and her cousin Kaarin went to the opening of Harry Potter. They made these shirts with tape and bleach water in a spray bottle. Cool huh? Bryce and Gunnar took them. It was a blast.



But when I started this blog I had younger kids and I could share the joys and frustrations of parenting. I can't really share the frustrations anymore. They don't like that. So it feels kinda fake sometimes. Raising teens can be extremely rewarding and extremely frustrating. I love them, they are funny and I enjoy their personalities and being around them, but why, WHY can they not clean their rooms? WHY? And the amount of food that is consumed in this house could feed a small third world country! And I have to go buy it all and bring it home and put it away. That, in and of itself, is a full time job. WHEW!

And watching them on their path to adulthood can be excruciating. They have to make their own decisions. I may be sure what's best, and I can guide, but sometimes I just have to stand back and watch them fail. Even when I knew it was coming. I had to just watch. That is hard. I don't like that. I'd like to share that, what it's like, how to handle it, but it's not really fair to my kids to smear their issues all over the internet.

So the blog's quiet, and not quite equitable. So, I guess, when you read here about all our joys and fun and success and happiness, assume that we're a normal family, just like yours and we have just as much frustration, and yes, they are turning my hair gray. I just don't write about it.

I think this may be my new favorite quote...

Wit makes its own welcome, and levels all distinctions. No dignity, no learning, no force of character, can make any stand against good wit.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Halloween '10

Here we are, all decked out for Halloween.



Can you guess what Dave is? He's a Chilean Miner. Not so PC I don't imagine, but it sure was funny! I'm a Gypsy, Ev is a cowgirl and Annika is the Pink Panther.


Bryce was supposed to play in a soccer game that night but it got canceled so he was a dejected soccer player, and not by choice. It's kinda sad when your kids outgrow Halloween.



Here is Gunnar's last year. He dressed the same and he was not around at photo taking time. Both of my boys spent all day at the Church setting up and taking down the Trunk or Treat. I have pretty amazing, hardworking boys.



I know that many Christians do not like to celebrate Halloween and I totally respect that. But I LOVE how so many churches are finding a way to redeem the holiday. In our area the streets are nearly empty and the churches are full. Never does our church look more like our community than Halloween night. We live in a very diverse community; white, black, hispanic, Asian... and on and on. But our church is mostly white. On Halloween I look around and the parking lot is packed with all different colors. This makes me happy.

People come from the community because they know it's a save place. Hopefully while they are there they are seeing that we Christians are just regular people who love the Lord. Maybe when times get tough in their own lives they'll remember the hope they heard about when they were visiting my church, or just the friendly,loving people they met there and they'll come back to see what it's all about.