Orange Tree

Took this shot just outside our hotel.

Sunset Duck

Not a desert pic, but I did take this in Tucson. Just at the park at sunset. I love late afternoon light.

Tucson Mountains

I love visiting Tucson, in the winter :-), because of this view right here. No mountains like this in Texas!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Jonathan!

Jonathan spent his 2nd birthday in Tucson. To celebrate, we went to Claim Jumper to eat...awesome by the way. For dessert, they brought him this piece of Mudslide Pie. It was messy and delicious. I didn't have my big camera with me so this pic was taken with David's iPhone.

FIVE HOUR DELAY

See those storm clouds in the background? They were the reason we got to Tucson FIVE hours late. I don't understand how a storm that lasts for about an hour can put everything 5 hours behind but that's what happened to us. So what do you do with all that extra time in the airport with 2 small children? Yep, you ride the airport train. And then you find a secluded nook of your terminal and let them run like crazy to burn off as much energy as possible before finally boarding.

Light Saber Battle

Thomas now has 5 light sabers. Is that enough? :-) He had a blast battling my cousin, Christian, while he was visiting.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Sweaters

I found these sweaters after I'd already printed my Christmas card, but they would have been the perfect clothes for it. Assuming I could have gotten a shot of both boys smiling. Or at least not screaming. :-)

Gingerbread House Again

Both boys really got into decorating our gingerbread house. They worked on it for at least 30 minutes straight. It was really fun doing it together. And did I mention how cute our final project was? ;-)

Gingerbread House

We made gingerbread houses at D'Ann's house. See how lucky I was to avoid all of the messy stuff at my own house? We used a kit and made a REALLY cute house. And I am so mad at myself right now because I didn't take a pic of the completed house and since it's now January 10th, we no longer have the house. Take my word for it though, it was CUTE!!

Light Show

As we do every year, we went to the local drive through light show. This year, they'd added something new: a walk through show too. We enjoyed it. Jonathan LOVES Christmas lights. He screams, "Light! More! Light!" the whole way.

Christmas Cookie Party

Melinda had everyone over for a Christmas Cookie Decorating Party. It was fun and messy. Tried something new in Photoshop Elements. I think it worked out pretty well. Dayton's in there twice, but that's my fault, not the software. :-) From top left: Dayton, Jonathan, Natalie, Sembree, Dayton, Will, Thomas, and center: Ashlynn.

A FAST Zoom

This was shot with my 50mm 1.8 lens and my ISO is only 1250. He's a little further down the slide since I couldn't zoom, but see the difference? My $100 50mm is fast. Just won't zoom and with my busy boys, that's what I need. Is there a nice, fast lens that doesn't cost 1100 bucks?

Why I'd Like a Nice Zoom Lens

Like yours Lisa. This is my 18-135 in the dim bounce house place. I had to zoom in because Thomas is coming down a really high slide. My ISO is 3200 and the pic is still incredibly noisy.

Bouncy Jonathan

And how did Jonathan enjoy the bounce house party? Of course, my fearless boy LOVED it. Can't you tell?

Handsome Guy

Caught this one of Dayton just coming off the bounce house slide.

Sweet Girls

Here's a pic of Natalie and Ashlynn taken at Natalie's 6th birthday party.

Sleeping Pirate

Thomas likes to stay up and play in his room for a while after we leave. We never know how we're going to find him when we check on him.

Christmas Card Outtake

I mentioned in the last post that my first attempt at Christmas card pictures didn't work out so well. So this was my second attempt. I like this pic. Just not for my card. Still thought you'd enjoy it.

Christmas Tree

While adjusting the settings on my camera for my wonderful idea for my Christmas card picture, which was a total disaster by the way, I got this pic of our ornaments. The two on the right are mine from when I was a little girl (my Grandma bought me a new one every year) and the one on the left is Thomas' (his Grandma is buying him one every year).

Weight Lifter

While eating a snack the other afternoon, Thomas made some "Spongebob Weights" out of his pretzels and marshmallows. This is him pretending they're really heavy to lift.

Santa Visit

Well, at least Jonathan isn't screaming. :-)

BTW, this is the BEST Santa ever. One of these days, I'm going to post the story of the visit on Thomas' blog. Really.

Tasters

The boys decided I needed some taste-testers for my home-made cream cheese frosting. It passed.

Snack Time

Thomas decided they both needed the same snack and that they could watch Barney since Jonathan loves that show. He also covered them up with the blanket so they could stay warm. What a sweet big brother Jonathan has.

Tree Decorating, part 2

Tree Decorating

Christmas just keeps getting more and more fun each year. And decorating gets even faster when you have good helpers like Thomas and Jonathan.

Tree Buddies

I'm too lazy to do everything that needs to be done to fix this pic so you'll have to just enjoy their sweet smiles and ignore the blown highlights and Jonathan's unsharp face. :-)

Leaf Fun, Part 3

Aaaannnnnd in!

What fun. Thanks Grandma for your fun leafy backyard.

Leaf Fun, Part 2

Jonathan getting ready...

Leaf Fun, Part 1

Thomas

Jonathan's Pose

Isn't THIS a lovely face? This is his idea of a pretty pose. Just trying to copy Thomas. Complete with rashy face from playing in the leaves all afternoon and the booger in his nose. Only adds to the beauty of the pic in my opinion.

Thomas' Pose

Thomas wanted me to take his picture with his cup. It's not the best picture but you'll see why I had to post it when you see what Jonathan did while watching Thomas pose and smile.

Thanksgiving Craft

We did our first ever Thanksgiving Day Craft while we were in Lubbock and it was a lot of fun. My aunt Patty (or Uncle Patty as she's known in this house) brought it for us to do. I think she intended it only for the ladies but Thomas enjoyed it too. We might have just started a new tradition...

Pecan Tom

I just love his silly smile. It never gets old!

Pecan Jon Again

It's not enough to just push the machine over the pecans and let it do all the work. Nope, you actually need to pick the pecans up off the ground and push them in there yourself.

Pecan Jon

Jonathan was fascinated by the pecan machine. He loved pushing it, sitting in the collection bin, and most of all, putting pecans in the rubber forks as you see here and in the next shot.

Pecan Pickin'

If you're reading this blog months from now, this won't matter to you, but if you're reading this now, you know that it's actually December 7th, but I'm backdating it to November 25th. I'm REALLY behind aren't I? So far behind, that editing and posting 2 weeks worth of pics seems like too great a challenge. So I'm going to try to do a few a day until I'm all caught up. Hopefully that'll happen. :-)

For now, enjoy this pic of Dale, Thomas, and Jonathan with his pecan picker-upper. Dale, does it have a more official name? I can't remember it if it does. Both boys LOVED playing with it when we were in Lubbock for Thanksgiving. It's a pretty cool contraption if you ask me.

Zoo Waterfall

Since we're getting close to the end of the year, ALREADY!, I thought I'd take and post another waterfall picture from the zoo. It was harder this time because the sun was out, but I still like the results. If you haven't been following this blog all year, a shot of this waterfall was the first one I posted way back in January.

Rhino

Next time we go to the zoo, I'm going to try this pic again. Not quite as crisp as I'd like.

Rhino Watching

Lion Cubs

are cute.

Eyes Wide Shut

Nothing is really in focus in this shot but I liked Jonathan's squinty eyes and the flapping motion of the bird's wing. The two birds were fighting over Jonathan's feed stick.

Ground Feeding

Jonathan was much happier when the bird would sit on the ground and eat off his stick. See, even his fingers are out of his mouth. :-) And didn't the bird pose well for my shot?

Feeding Birds

Jonathan loves birds so of course, he had a blast being able to feed them. The only problem was he didn't really like them on his stick. He'd let them sit there for a second or two and then shake the stick to get them off. This was probably the best day we've ever had for feeding the birds because they were really hungry and there weren't 10,000 kids in there with us.

Lovebirds

I captured this shot in the bird feeding exhibit at the zoo. I'm sure the exhibit, and these birds, have a name but both escape me. I'm guessing parakeet, but I don't know my fowl. :-)

Crocodile

These crocodiles are one of Thomas' favorite animals at the zoo. I took this one through the glass. I think it turned out pretty well.

Carousel Pals

Jonathan and Grandpa riding the carousel together at the zoo. I had plenty of opportunities to try to capture a good pic since the ride lasted for a looonnnggg time.

Or...

This one?

I think this one.

Which Windmill?

This one?

Ball Baby Also

And you know if Thomas does something, Jonathan does too...