new camera...

Ok, so, I have this love for taking good pictures. I also do not have mad photography skills. Sooo after Seth was born, we paid big money (for us) for one of the first Nikon DSLR's on the market. I had to capture the best photos I possibly could of my long prayed for baby, right? :)

Nearly 7 years later, and that Nikon was showing it's age and its limits. My mom and dad (who spoil me so rotten with birthday presents that its a little ridiculous) gave me money for another camera. Now, my birthday is in February. This is December. I held onto that money for quite awhile waiting for a good sale. I think it was worth the wait.

Behold what the Canon EOS Rebel T3i can do! (Especially when you get a fixed 50mm lens to go with it.) I am so excited. These are a few I gathered from around the house after the first couple of days of playing with it a little bit.

The reason I haven't had much time? 3 Christmas musical performances and many rehearsals before that for Seth. Christmas feels like it came on fast and furious after Thanksgiving this year. It's been a little hard to get into the Christmas spirit for me. I feel like I started out the gate behind, and I'm not going to catch up. I'm hoping that cleaning up and resting some at my parents' for our annual before Christmas visit will help get me in the right frame of mind.

I love the peace and anticipation of our Savior's birth every year. I need to find a way to grab hold of that soul deep joy like I have in past years. The rush of Christmas events shouldn't drown it out. I'll get there… :)

Sitting down for lunch...

I've decided that I really need to sit and eat breakfast and lunch with my boys. I've discovered that it brightens my morning and my afternoon when I do.

It's easy to justify just standing at the kitchen counter to eat. Someone is going to need something, and I'll just have to get up anyway. Ben will want down from his high chair, so I'll just have to stand up and get him down. I'll just have to stand up to reach the cereal and milk anyway. Or worse, "I can just check Facebook real quick while they finish up."

But when I sit down, I see that little face above sitting across from me. I see Evan breaking his pretzels into little pieces while he tells me about dinosaurs. Seth looks up from his plate to tell me about the ice frozen in the bucket outside and how its breaking up. We get a minute to talk about how water doesn't freeze unless its below 32 degrees Farenheit while eating mac n' cheese.

I look full on into the faces of my little ones without distraction. I do it for longer than a frantic minute at a time. And I'm realizing that this face time connects me to them far more than I realize.

When I sit down to eat with my boys, I see them in their wonder and quirkiness. They talk to me, knowing that I'm not going to spin away to load the dishwasher. I get up from the table wanting to snuggle with them, wanting to talk more, wanting to read a book, realizing there isn't anything more important to do than be with them.

I won't always have that baby face in the high chair. He's growing up far too fast and talking far too much. But at least when I say, "I need a baby to kiss. Do I have one of those?," he says, "I the baby, Mommy!" Frankly, they'd all admit to being my baby right now. That's not going to last forever.

Yep, its past time to make time for table sitting.

a night drive...

It was after dinner, and I'd just dropped Seth and Ben off to play at Mimi and Pop Pop's before going to the grocery store. Evan wanted to come with me to help, so I loaded him up. As we drove through their neighborhood, a contented, little voice came from the back seat.

"I'm happy."

"Why are you happy, Evan?"

"Because there are Christmas lights."

:)