Camera hog

I couldn't wait to get my hands on my new camera and try out some shots. Having such a great learning camera makes me realize how very little I know about photography but with a little practice, I hope to be able to really capture the great moments of our lives- mundane or exciting. So anyway, here are the results of my first attempts with the new camera:



Mack's portrait of daddy. She even drew five fingers on each hand before she started to scribble it out:

Christmas 2010

My living room feels HUGE! The tree is down ( Go ahead. You can say " Bah Humbug!" but it doesn't count since Christmas has been over for almost 24 hours) and the house has been de-decorated and redecorated in a plain and simple winter theme. The winds of winter whip outside and I am cozied up to them computer with a warm cup of tea. It's the perfect time to write the obligatory ( but still exciting ( at least we think)) Christmas post:

When last I left you, the scene was set for Santa. Did Santa come? Did he enjoy the cookies? Do reindeer really know how to fly? Let's find out!

He did! And he brought the requested " Big , juicy, orange!" which had to be eaten before any gifts could be open ( as directed by Mackenzie):
Mackenzie's presents were all loved. She got several puzzles, board games and books, some new rainboots and a 'squishy ball' ( the one she has to squeeze five times every time we go to Target). Grams sent a hand painted picture to go in Mack's big girl bedroom. It's already found it's spot , hanging next to her bedroom door.

The gift that's gotten the most play time, is the Zhu Zhu pet Mack named Sweet Pea. She didn't even want to put him ( yes, Sweet Pea is male, most of the time) to open her other presents:
Santa brought Mack the Tag reading system and that, too, has received lots of attention:

The best present was given to me by Mike:
With in this alluringly wrapped box was my dream camera- A canon Rebel DSLR complete with extra telescoping lens and carrying case, this camera is all I could ever dream to have. In fact, I am still having a hard time understanding that I have it!

No one was left out! here are the cats enjoying their cat nip:
Once things settled down, Mack tried out her alphabet train puzzle:
Later that afternoon , Grammy and Janet came over for dinner. We opened presents, played games and chatted before having yummy lasagna and the much anticipated sweet potato brownie birthday cake to celebrate Jesus' birth.

The girls playing Old MacDonald's farm ( Thanks, Auntie Nikki!)

Mack and her hot chocolate mustache getting up close and personal with my new camera ( any of my side of the family see some hints of Taylor Bug in this picture?) :


A very tired Mackenzie wearing the vest Grammy knitted her:

It was a very lovely Christmas season and we look to 2011 with lots of hope and anticipation for what is to come! Cheers to 2010!

The scene is set..Bring on Santa!

Christmas eve did not go as we had planned . We had to miss the post-church service Christmas party at our friends, the Asher's house, since neither Mike nor I was feeling well. In stead, we came home from church , got into our Christmas eve pajamas and watced "Finding Nemo" . ( Can you guess who chose the movie?). While it wasn't what we had set out to do, it was really quite perfect:

Mack all set for church. She got to wear the cross necklace Grammy gave her at her baptism. She was excited and insisted that Mike and I wear our crosses, too:
Here we are in our Christmas pajamas:
Mike took Mack to the store when he picked out mine. She could hardly wait for me to get them on:
With fully bellies and drooping, tired eyes ( for one of us) we decided it was time to set the scene for Santa:

Mack writing her Santa letter:

With Baby Jesus placed snugly in the cradle:
and cookies and milk at the ready, Santa could come any time!

Andy and Andie

Mike's very good friend, Andy and his fiance Andrea ( Andie) are deployed ( separately) to Iraq but that didn't stop them from spoiling their honorary niece at Christmas! Check out these super cool gifts:

Mike and Andy grew up together and went through Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts together. Mike fondly remembers them eating freeze dried "space food" . This is the food that astronauts take with them on space missions. ( Perhaps this made those MREs more palatable for Andy when he joined the military?) It was very fitting that the box sent included space ice cream. Mack was very confused by this and couldn't understand why the ice cream wasn't cold to the touch:
Two cool cups! These will be our new travel buddies since they are 100% sealed unless you push the button on the side. Mack's already mastered the button and we all know that buttons and toddlers go hand in hand! Score!
This book cracks me up ( It should be noted that Mike attended Space Camp when he was growing up so he really loves this book) You can click on the link if you want to read excerpts from the book:
Ice cream for breakfast, courtesy of Aunt Andie and Uncle Andy:
The whole lot ( minus one, already eaten, freeze dried ice cream bar) . The Nerdy Baby flash cards are science based alphabet cards! I am sure your knew that "O" is for octopus. Did you know that it's also for oscillating current?
What a thoughtful, educational and fun Christmas present! ( Mike really loves that Metric Wonder measuring cup!) Thank you so much!

Merry Christmas, Aunt Meg!

We had a chance to celebrate with Aunt Meg before she headed off to California to be with Leif, Marie and Chloe for Christmas. Although our original plans were to meet for breakfast, we ended up gathering over Thai food at our favorite restaurant. The food was delicious and we basically had the restaurant to ourselves.

On the way home, Grammy took us on a Christmas light tour. Mackenzie was thrilled by all the different lights. She ooh'ed and squealed through out the ride.

After scoping out the lights, we headed back to our house for dessert and presents!

This Camelback water bottle is from Leif, Marie and Chloe and we just love it. Mack carries it around with her and every time I fill it up, I think of them. Thanks guys!
Aunt Meg made Mack a pillow case with the characters of one of her ( Mackenzie's) favorite books ( Eric Carle) . Since getting this , we have read two Eric Carle books at bedtime and hunted for characters on the pillow case as we read.
Aunt Meg also got Mack her first set of high heels and matching princess crown! I knew she would love them but am surprised by how much she wears them. She's worn them to ride her bike, with footed pajamas and with nothing at all!
Mack helping Aunt Meg open all her presents. She wanted to try out Aunt Megs new back washer for the shower ( not for outdoors as the instructions clearly state) :
Cheese!

odds and ends

Who says you have to leave your tricycle out side for the winter? With a little cleaning off, the trike was ready for some indoor fun ( and Fluffy Puppy, too)
Mack has been a big helper with wrapping presents. She's loved it so much, she started wrapping her own toys and putting them under the tree:
Here's what happens when you let your almost three year old apply her own lip gloss:
Mack asked to help make a PB&J sandwich ( or peanut butter and sandwich in Mackenzien) . When I asked her what kind of jam she wanted, she said " Alll of them! and bananas!) So she ended up with a PB, blackberry, strawberry and banana sandwich. She used a butter knife to slice her own bananas and smoothed on the peanut butter.
She finally coaxed Sydney underneath her blankets:

M-O-M

Mack and I were working next to each other, she practicing with her scissors and I getting ready to make a hand print wreath. I heard Mack say " I'm gonna write your name." She loves to write with pens and I figured she'd just scribble on one of the hand prints she had. I heard her sounding out the M then the O and the last M and was shocked to look and see that she had, in fact, written my name! I am so proud of her. She has really shown an immense desire to be able to read. She feels left out not knowing what things mean. It was really, really amazing to be able to see her put the desire to read together with writing. She knows how to write her name but here is her first non-name , written word:

Christmas pictures

Somewhere in my piles of " When I have time" dreams, I would love to be a photographer just for my friends and family. I'd never wanna photograph other people, just MY people because there is something truly beautiful about a picture taken by someone who really knows the subject being photographed. Those pictures really speak to the viewer.

I am a long ( and I mean looooong) way from that but I really do love to take pictures of Mackenzie and Mike. So here are a few that I took with my measly little point and shoot camera:

Nicole doesn't know it, but one her gifts was opened early for the cause ( thanks, Auntie Nikki!)
Mack has been dreaming of snow angels for weeks now. She finally got her wish!
Tasty!
And it must be said that there are those who are just great photographers like my friend Meg who can make magic out of any thing! If you want to be amazed by great natural light photography, take a peek. She's never taken a single class. All her work is just God's talent dusted upon her!

Long/Wilson Christmas extravaganza

As is our tradition, we got together with our dear friends Will, Erin, Olivia and Griffin for a special dinner. This year's dinner was at the Wilson's house and was so much fun!

Will and Mike have been best friend for over 25 years and Erin is one of my closest friends so we see each other very frequently but not very often do we all get together all at once. When we do, it sure is fun!

Erin made a wonderful pot roast and had a cookie buffet for dessert. The girls couldn't wait another minute so wrapping paper went flying as gifts were opened. The girls watched a movie while the adults shared Christmas themed cocktails over Trivial Pursuit- a game that I am not good at even before cocktails! The girls won the game and I am still doing the " We won" victory dance. It truly was so much fun.

Here's a quick shot of Mack and Olivia waiting for the movie ( A Muppet Christmas Carol) to start:

Santa letter

Mackenzie received a letter from Santa!

I think Santa had a special elf in Arizona who knew how much the letter would excite Mack. Thanks, short stuff! ; )
Here's a quick peek at one of our many Christmas centered art projects ( I'm thankful that I posted this on the blog last year so I could remember it this year!) In contrast to last year, Mack did all but the cutting on her own- from rolling the tissue paper to placing the star on the top ( and the extra "trunk" floating mysteriously about)

Build a bear, cookie decoration and light parade OH MY!

In November,Will and Erin asked permission to take Mackenzie with Olivia to Build a Bear and lunch. I was so tickled by the idea because it would be a great opportunity for Mack to spend time with her godparents! When I told her about it, Mackenzie was most excited to ride in the car with them!

Mackenzie has a great time though, due to her sensitivity to loud noises, she choose to pick out a pre-made kitty instead of making a friend of her own. After almost an hour of singing songs and playing in the play area at the mall, the quartet headed to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. Mackenzie still talks about that day and it makes me feel warm and cozy to think of it, too.

Mack with her kitty:

Later that day, our church hosted a cookie/ornament/hot chocolate party last week. It was a pretty happen' place since fellowship has was nearly packed to the gills. We met our friend, Lynn along with Jillian and Gage there and then headed over to the light parade after words:

Mackenzie did well to actually finish decorating her cookie before she tasted it.

Now on to the light parade:

I never have to worry about trying to pick Mike out of a crowd in that hat:
Snuggling in to stay warm:

Mack had a great seat. Here she is waving to Santa, who was in the fire truck:
After the parade, we headed to Alexander's for some dill pickle soup ( YUM!). Mack couldn't resist trying on Mike's hat:


What a wonderfully memorable day!