Austin

New Camera!!!!

Santa surprised me and got me a new camera for xmas. I am now the proud owner of the Nikon d90. LOVING IT!! I'll tell you more later after I figure it all out. :)

Christmas photo chaos

So I decided it would be so nice to have a shot of all of the kids in their cute pjs in front of the tree. Well, I will let you see how that turned out.

Coop thought the tree was a fun place to rest

Ella was ready and waiting for the group shot

But she was really ready to open more presents

Beck was sampling the play food

and we are waiting for big sister to make her appearance...

blamo...meltdown

babies made a break for it but coop had to make sure he was still in the shot

So we moved to where the babies were at, and this was the best shot

because after that, this is all I could get.

Maybe I'll have better luck in the morning. :) Now get to bed and sleep soundly, so that Santa can make an appearance. Our cookies, fudge and carrots are ready for the visitors.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Merry Christmas Eve to all...

I hope you all have a wonderful day today and tomorrow. Hopefully all of the stress will melt away for you all and you'll be able to truly enjoy the holiday. Take a moment to grab some mental snap shots of the time you are having. You will never get this time back, so find the joy in it all.

We are about to get some snow!! If we can't have a white Christmas I will gladly take a white Christmas eve. :)

Crazy playdate...

that wasn't so crazy after all.

So you would think if you got 17, no I mean 18 kids together ranging in age from 1.2-11 yrs that your house would be filled with chaos, right? Amazingly enough it was quite calm. All of the Posse kids got together with their moms and came over to our house for a Christmas break play date. We never know what to expect and of course we always expect the worse. (because you just never know with kids, right?) We are always astounded that when we do get them together they all behave for the most part and we don't have to do much.

They all started coming over at 10:30 and left around 1:30ish. And I think we were able to sit around the kitchen table and chat the entire time. We all voted that this was the world's easiest play date.

It is really special to find a group of girls that all get along and then have kids and hubbies that get a long as well. I love that our kids get the opportunity to grow up with a big gaggle of kids. This just makes me happy.

I think it may be time to trade my brain in...

or maybe its just time to enjoy some vacation. I have seriously been losing my mind lately.

Two days ago I left the van door open all night long. I had forgotten to shut it when I was ushering the babies and kids inside. So the next morning when B mentions it, I almost didn't remember even going anywhere the night before. Then I thought that maybe someone had tried to break into our van. (it has happened before) So I look around the van to see if anything is amiss. I notice an empty sweet tea bottle that I hadn't noticed before. I ask B if he had left it in the car. He, of course, laughs and said he did. Then he proceeds to come up with a crazy story as to how the thief just decided to sit in our van and drink some tea and then leave. (he has the most creative entertaining mind at times) When I thought about it that way it seemed much more obvious that no one had been in our van, but for a few moments I was sure someone had broken in just to have a place to sit. ;)

Then I realized I had been washing my hair with just conditioner for the last few days. I was really wondering why the new shampoo wasn't lathering up at all. Then I got really smart and actually read the bottle.

Just yesterday I was driving through a parking lot and ran right over an island that was dividing the lot. Totally didn't see it. Luckily I was in B's montero and not the van.

Like seriously, where is my brain. It may have something to do with all of the cold medicine that I have been downing. I am seriously not this loopy normally. I am ready for this cold to be over and done with.

2 weeks off!

Feeling much better emotionally (I tend to get over it all in a day or so, or even right after I write about things), but tired as all get out physically. Still getting over this cold funk. Brandon just got it as well, so we are a very fun couple right now! The good news is, I have the next 2 WEEKS OFF!!! So excited. A little break will be so nice. I got some of the nicest, most thoughtful teacher gifts from my little swim students. I am seriously a lucky girl.

We got our holiday cards out.(photos thanks to deanna and design thanks to jen) I think most of the shopping is done. Now while the big kids are gone, I need to get the wrapping done.

And the best part which (I just realized you can't see) is what is written under the crying pic on the front. It says "its the most wonderful time of the year its the most wonderful time of the year its the most wonderful time of the year" And that picture sums up what the last few months have been like at our house. Lots of crying but lots of joy as well.

And few late pictures

The big kids helped me put the tree up a week or so ago. We had a great time!




and the twins decided to take our chinese leftovers and make up their own concoctions. And decided to throw the rics all over the kitchen. I thought it was quiet in there...

Holiday humbug

I've been in a bit of a funk lately and have had no motivation to blog. So, sorry if you've checked in to find nothing new. I won't promise to get better at posting, because every time I do, I fail to blog. I hate to break a promise.

I think I'm just in a holiday funk. I've been sick off and on since thanksgiving and it has sucked all of energy out of me.

The kids have been driving me crazy and making my heart swell with love. Sometimes that happens in a 5 minute period.

We have had some super CRANKY moments, both on the babies part and mine. There have been a few days where I am just tired of all of the shit that comes with being a parent. Luckily I have had my hubby there to support and help me out, if I didn't have him there I would have lost my mind.

Then I have this whole other mom issue. I don't have a mother that I can talk to anymore and its really hard not having that during the holidays. My mom always made the holidays and all birthdays very special. And I am sad that I don't have her in my life anymore to share those occasions with. But I will deal with it. She made bad decisions and has lost privileges to my family. She is no longer welcome in my life or my children's life. And truthfully it just sucks all around. The good side of this is that I have gotten rid of the poison in my life and I can keep the memories of her that were good. But sometimes I just want her to be here to hold me and tell me it will be alright. I will never have that again.

You know how you feel, when you are just over it all but you still have to act like you care? I may have those moments from time to time. (like maybe the last month or so) I will get over it. But the holidays always bring the "I don't wannas" out, in full force.

So, as I sit here with a cold, laryngitis and pink eye, I have to remind myself how lucky I am to have everything I have. So in an attempt to cheer myself up here is my list of positives:

1. I have a loving supportive family
2. We have a roof over our head and heat to to keep us warm
3. We have food to eat and nice clothes on our backs
4. We both have jobs
5. We may be short on money but we still have enough to get presents for the kids
6. I have friends that have proved themselves time and time again
7. Even though my babies may be whiny and my big kids may be moody, I am lucky to have them. Some people can't ever have any of their own. For that I am extremely thankful.

I'm sure I have many more, but that's all I can come up with right now. What are you thankful for this holiday season?

My girl and her dog

Here is a quick shot I got today and Hannah and Cooper. Everyone always wants to see how big he is! So if you can imagine Hannah is about 4'6" and when they are standing side by side the top of his back goes to the middle of her rib cage.

When he is on leash she can walk him quite easily. He knows not to pull with her on the other end of the leash. But I still won't let her walk him all by herself. I could just see him dragging her down the street if he saw something he wanted. Luckily its never happened but it still could and I don't want to take the chance.

She loves that dog! :)

(Excuse the poor quality of this! I took it on my phone. )

Please VOTE!

Another one of my most fabulous photog friends (many of you know her and have seen her work her magic with my family many many times) Jennifer Weintraub with Sugar Photography has made it to the next level in a contest. Click here to vote

All that you have to do, is go to the link. Click on Jen's most fabulous picture that has her name below it. Add it to your bag. Put in your name and email address. Then "checkout". It will show you a receipt of your vote when you have finished. It literally take less than 2 minutes.

Its a matter of PRIDE at this point. We need everyone possible to stand behind this awesome woman and photographer. Show your support and stand behind our friend. She deserves this more than anyone else I know.

Some seriously DEVINE images!

We just did a photo shoot for the big kids this last weekend.

I wasn't brave enough to do both the bigs and littles all in one sitting. And it was a wise choice. The babies just cannot be bothered to stay still long enough to do a session. But the big kids are just fine with it.

One of my best friends Deanna with Devine Memories Photography did the shoot. (I am seriously one of the luckiest people in the world to be surrounded by all of my fabulous photog friends!!!) And I think these are my most favorite I have ever had of the kids. It really helped that my most stubborn child actually cooperated.

So far behind!

I promise to post something in the next day with updates and pics. The last 2 weeks have kicked my butt! We had Ben's birthday party with 7 crazy little boys and noise levels I have never heard before in this house, Thanksgiving (which was so nice and not crazy), I got a wonderful cold, cranky cranky babies, my wonderful inlaws were in town and saved my sanity, and I got some much needed family time in.

So tomorrow I will try to update with some pics from all of the above. :)