Highlights for a New Year
I'm not nearly as good at taking pictures as I should be, considering how absurdly attractive my family is. Here is a smattering of the last few weeks.
This is: a pictures of Charlotte showing off her finished Christmas cookies. The pictures I did not take: anything at all of the 20+ people we had in our house one afternoon during Christmas break when we hosted a cookie decorating party. Together, we managed to decorate well over 200 cookies. I was inspired to host this party by Matt's work friend, Terry, who has hosted a similar party for many years and who has invited us to come and frost her home year after year--despite having no children of her own.
These are: pictures of the kids in their new Christmas jammies.
The pictures I did not take: the kids running around the house searching for "Christmas angel" clues, "mary" (Charlotte) riding on "the donkey" (Grandpa), while the "angel" (Anna) stands on the coffee table and shouts, "Behold, I give you good tidings of great joy!"
This is: a picture of the kids on Christmas morning, ready to go downstairs.
The pictures I did not take: Charlotte and Anna throwing up on Grandma right before bed on Christmas Eve. Matt sneaking downstairs to turn on my new iPod dock (which started playing manheim steamroller while it was still wrapped under the tree.) A morning full of frenzied, noisy joy, crinkled paper and "oh, mommy, I LOVE it!"
This is: a picture of the girls painting each other's nails.
The picture I did not take: Anna opening her nail polish straight out of her stocking and proceeding to paint her lips with it...like lip gloss. Also, token splotches of nail polish that ended up on Jack and Ben's church clothes.
This is: a picture of Anna's stitches, the morning after her unfortunate disagreement with our TV stand. (January 7th)
The picture I did not take: blood streaming down Anna's head as I yell up the stairs for Matt, who was mercifully home and ready within minutes with lidocaine and sutures. Anna, crying but holding remarkably still as Matt put 7 stitches into her forehead right in our bedroom. The 6 OTHER children (ours, plus Lark's) that sat downstairs while all this was happening, being considerate enough not to break their heads open, too.
The picture I did not HAVE to take: Liz sitting with 6 other children in a crowded ER into the early hours of the morning, waiting for someone to get her 3 year old's head to stop bleeding. Wow, am I grateful at times like this for the highly specialized talents of my superhero husband!
