my heart is full.

If you ask Grant for a kiss, he sticks out that pouty lower lip every time. He gives the sweetest kisses.
And he likes to pretend he's asleep. Just say, "oh no! Grant's asleep!" and he'll immediately collapse in pretend sleep.
The only way you can get him out of the bathtub without tears is by pretending he's a baby and wrapping him in a towel while rocking him.
He sleeps with three pacifiers. Yes, we're saving for orthodontists bills now.
He says I love you, "uv oooh". It'll melt your heart into a big puddle.
He says no with his whole body.
I love him so.
Mason is too big.
He can read. In week 2 of the six weeks, he had already met his AR goal.
Math is "easy cheesy lemon squeezy" for him. So he says.
He plays with the boys in our neighborhood for hours. Bike Riding. Football. Made up games.
He will play tic-tac-toe with you until you can't stand it.
He laughs at real jokes now.
He already wrote a letter to Santa. Completely on his own. It detailed how good he's been in school. He's buttering him up I guess.
He still begs for me to tickle his back at bedtime.
I love him so.

cozy.

We made the first fire of the year the other day...cozy.

"Yesh"

Every day when we pull into the driveway, grant begins to say, "Yesh? Yesh!" in an excited pleading, giggly way.

For some reason, in his mind, "yesh"(yes) means playing outside. I'm not sure how he came up with that...Maybe because every single time I ask him if he wants to go outside, he says, "yesh." And then I say, "yes?" And then he replies back with a giggle, "YESH!"

Yeah, that's probably why.

And it's so cute. I mean, it really is. Really.

but.
When I'm pulling into the driveway at the end of my day, all I can think about is wanting to sit down on my comfy couch in the warm house. Not on the hard bench in the cold outside. But Grant always wins the "yesh" battle. We stay out there until I somehow lure him inside with the promise of snacks or a surprise.

I'm a terrible mother. :)

far too much.

In October, I traveled to Midland to take pictures of this home, as well as the architect and her family.
Let me describe the home... 20,000 + square feet.
Three stories, and a basement which was home to a theater.
More bathrooms than I could count. Literally.
About 7 bedrooms. A dog room.
A wet room.
A pool bath.
a game room.
A craft room.
An office.
an attic the size of my first apartment. and better looking.
I lost count of the number of washers and dryers - on at least every floor and in both master closets.
A kitchen that looked more like...well, not a kitchen.
The wife's master closet made me think of this episode I saw of Oprah once where she showed off her closet.
The master shower could hold my entire bathroom. and then some.
There were refrigerators and coffee stations in about 5 different locations.
Then the back yard - pool, ping pong, bbq grill, landscaped perfection...full court basketball,

It took two full hours to photograph.
It was amazing.
And far too much.
Amazing, beautiful, perfect, homey even, but far too much.
But, man it was fun to photograph!



This is the front of the house - there is quite a lot of house missing from both sides...



The back yard...uh, how badly would you have wanted to be friends with the kids in this family?

The wife's master closet. Just a part of it. It was shockingly huge.

Just another view of the pool...


more back yard....

the kitchen. I would feel ashamed to make anything less than steak and lobster here.
The dining room.

And my favorite, the theater. Well, actually the craft room (below) was my favorite. But the theater had a special charm...

and for fun...

Crystal is good, huh? : )

just one more...okay...two...

Now I really will go clean this house...

the first of many...

Crystal and I attempted the impossible today.
Two photographers.
Two shoots.
four kids.
2 husbands smiling for a camera at 9am on a Saturday.

But as you can see, Crystal got at least one good one of us. I am praying I got a good one of them!

I'll post more later! :)

it is time.

After being handed my christmassy Starbucks cup this morning, I made the decision.

It's time for Christmas Music.

I'm usually adamantly opposed to Christmas Music until after Thanksgiving.
Not this year.
I reached in my car console and found the one CD that had lasted the whole year in my car, slid it in to the CD player, and in moments Oh, Holy Night began to play.
I cried! I always cry the first time I hear a Christmas song. It doesn't really matter which one. It's like the surge of nostalgic memories mixed with the hope of what the season means is just too much.

I'm so very glad that I decided it was time.

She writes with tears brimming in her eyes as pandora plays The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole...

love it or hate it?

I bought this gem of a camera at Christians in Action the other day. I thought I'd just put it on a shelf in my office or something. Then, today when I was cleaning it, I noticed the very cool way I could see the world through the viewfinder. See Mason?
So, imagine a cute couple kissing in the viewfinder or a family laughing or a cute senior making a silly face?
Is that cool? Or is it too small an image for the subject? I know I could zoom in but then I'd lose the coolness of the camera... So, opinions please!