tis the season: santa - round two

this was coleman's second meeting of santa this christmas season. 

 

the event: a morning event hosted by matt's company

 

the attempt: matt's willingness to sit with santa also

the hope: just one good photo. maybe? sort of? 

the outcome: good enough :)

at least there were no tears...

and one photo where his head isn't buried. 

baby steps. 

tis the season: christmasville

several years ago, our city began hosting a christmas festival called christmasville. matt and i were immediately fans. (matt loves the city, i love fesitvals. perfect match). with spencer being older when it first began, we have struggled to find things for everyone. this year was no different. coleman was old enough to enjoy some pieces...and we just drag spencer along for the ride. 

we did some shopping with local vendors. we checked out the gingerbread house contest (always one of spencer's highlights). we toughed out a long line so coleman could take a train ride...and it was worth it. look at this face....

 

and these faces aren't too bad either... 

 

the last thing we did was catch a dog comedy show. it was pretty darned entertaining! i think we all enjoyed it! here are my boys in the audience...

tis the season: penland tree farm

one of the reasons i love the holiday season so much is because of traditions. christmastime just screams "family traditions", and i'm not quoting hank williams, jr. here. i'm all about trying new things, but i also adore finding something that works and sticking with it. making memories each year. passing those things on to new little folks and even new generations...

 

penland tree farm is one of those meanignful traditions for our family. it's only a few years old (see, to find awesome traditions, you have to be willing to try something new!!). all four of us love and look forward to choosing our tree there. 

 

instagram photos; collage created in diptic app

it's not just the christmas trees. it's the ambience. the overall experience. the free hot chocolate  and coffee (spencer's favorite) and the bonfire. it's the huge hill for climbing. it's the incredibly nice staff and even the reasonable prices. (though i would gladly overpay for the tree to get the experience). 

i adore this photo of matt. i don't even remember why exactly he laughing so hard but i love that i captured a moment of true joy. 

and this is the hill. the hill that creates a battle with coleman every year when it's time to leave. but it's worth it. the boys have a blast, despite the decade between them. they go home filthy, happy and exhausted. 

what big brother does...

...so goes little brother...

...monkey see, monkey do...

and the photo of the day goes to this snapshot. 

in full disclosure: this was edited. the original photo included the silhouette and the sunset. but i tweaked it in PSE7 to make it a bit more dramatic. so sue me. 

'tis the season: daniel stowe botanical gardens

while michelle & maggie were in town for thanksgiving, us girls (and coleman) decided to do something christmasy. we looked over our options and chose to drive up to daniel stowe botanical gardens. it had been a few years since i had been (and this was coleman's first go 'round). i knew he'd love it. it's all about running around outside and checking out awesome christmas lights...what rambunctious toddler wouldn't love that???

as soon as we arrived, we hopped over to see santa clause. coleman wasn't a fan last year and i wasn't expecting much this time, but why not try??? i went to santa, so he followed, but on the other side of me (see top photo below). he was forced to walk in front of him and gladly took the offered candy cane...but that was it. 


later, after we were back inside, aunt sherry had her photo taken with santa (standing up casually, not a "formal" setting). i seized the opportunity to sneak up beside santa. there was a little more interaction this time. still apprehensive but no tears and an overall good experience. we were lucky that santa is so kind and wonderful with children! maybe this positive experience will help coleman warm up to the jolly ole fellow!

all photos taken on my iphone 4 and edited with the instagram and diptic apps. 

celebrate {coleman - november 2011}

coleman...so full of personality. i love all of the awesome and quirky things you say. here's a little piece of who you are. right now. 

"my pennies" a new found fascination with coins. all of which you call "pennies". you will dig and search to find them wherever you can. line them up. stuff them in your pockets. count them. 

"no" a favorite word these days...full of attitude and defiance. despite that adorable face, you are quite the handful. you are independent and so very strong-willed. i love that you have these characteristics. seriously. they make our everyday life quite difficult. you are testing and pushing...and your dear mama just isn't the most patient chicadee in the world. i won't lie. it's tough. but you know what? it will be worth it. i want you to be strong and independent. if that means a few battles along the way, i'm ready. 

"more candy, mommy?" you have realized the awesomeness of tasty treats...and you apparently have a nice little sweet tooth. this made the concept of trick-or-treating quite appealing. you thought it was pretty cool that you could just go to people's door and they'd hand you more and more candy! you particularly love lollipops and ring pops (a treat that you learned to associate with baseball games). you immediately point to the concession stand, knowing it's the temple that holds your special treat! you also took a liking to candy corn and i even caught you climbing on the kitchen counter to get the bowl i'd already hidden from you!

"no pockets?" you insist on only wearing pants with pockets. sometimes when you have on your pj's you will look down and say "no pockets???" with a confused tone. this usually leads to a request for clothes. i have to carefully check your pockets when i do laundry. there's no telling what i might find - pennies, rocks, acorns, scraps of paper...

"my bag" you love to put things into bags and containers. you will hijack any bag you see, whether it's a ziploc bag, grocery bag, pocketbook, tote bag, suitcase...it doesn't matter. at night, we often have to search through your bags to see what you may have tucked away in them. 

"handy dandy notebook" it took awhile, but it seems mickey mouse has moved to second place. blue's clues is your new favorite show. you are so adorable, mimicking the motions and singing the songs. but your favorite part is the handy dandy notebook. you have accumulated a variety of them...basically small notebooks and pads that we've given you. you draw and write in them all the time! 


the little details...you are wearing size 3T clothes and an 8 in shoes. you wear size 5 diapers/pull-ups. you still do not go potty at home. you don't  use a pacifier anymore, but you like to have at least one in your crib. you tend to nibble and graze on your food. you nap better in daddy's recliner than you do in your crib.

31 days: happy halloween

happy halloween

today marks the end of "31 days"...again, my apologies for not being able to keep up. i hope you will forgive me. look at the adorable face above...how can you not be in a forgiving mood???

story: the photo above is my sister's attempt to rectify our lack of pumpkin patch photos this year. we have tried FIVE times to get to a pumpkin patch (an annual tradition in our family). each one has failed. i'm not sure what happened, but apparently it wasn't meant to be! so, coleman picked a pumpkin at aunt sherry's house.

31 days: current road trip

this morning, coleman and i hit the road...headed to conway to visit family. despite how much i love and adore coleman, i have to be honest...he has been a handful lately. he is the epitome of "terrible twos" and is testing us on a regular basis.

matt had a seriously tough day with coleman yesterday. particularly in the car. though we've made this trip many times, i was quite worried...

but it was unwarranted. he was a perfect angel for the entire drive. he slept for over half of it and then we spent the rest of the time singing and dancing to some fun music. 

and our first few hours in conway were easy peasy as well. and then it was time to leave. coleman has given me some trouble getting into his carseat...but only on occasion. and we can usually work our way through it. not so much this time. he fought me so hard, i could not physically restrain him long enough to get him buckled. what a nightmare. i don't know how long it actually took. it felt like an hour. i'm sure it was much less...but we eventually made it. 


and then he was fine. here he is enjoying a yummy snack. waiting for the parade to start. wearing my sunglasses. of course. 

back at the house. dirty boy all cleaned up. chilling with aunt michelle's ipad. we sent this picture to daddy as a christmas hint... (love that michelle has one of the old toy phones that was a small character in toy story three. coleman also loves it). 

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this post is part of  a thirty-one day series.

my goal is to get my story telling groove back.

photos + words = chronicles

find links to all the chronicles here

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31 days: my birthday

the other day i had to stop and do the math to figure out how old i was. seriously. i'm pretty sure that's a sign that you are getting old. when you can't remember how old you are. ouch.

anyway, i turned 33 (i think) back in july. i documented the day via instagram photos...my favorite cheater's way of memory keeping.

every birthday has to start off with a coffee treat (well, at least my birthdays do). i went big - venti chai latte. this is my newest froo-froo drink of choice when the pumpkin spice latte is not in season.

 

lunch. time for another treat. my favorite is mexican but since i knew we'd be doing that for supper, i went with some tasty chinese take out. i needed something quick.

 

and my birthday outfit. new cardigan - love the bright color and fun ruffle. the pretty scarf was a birthday gift from my mom -- seemed appropriate to wear on my actual birthday, right?

 

unfortunately, work doesn't wait for birthday celebrations, so the bulk of my day was pretty typical.

 

a little inside joke here. coleman went through a phase where he started calling me "maw maw". we have no idea why, but luckily it was short-lived. spencer & matt thought it was hilarious. these signs greeted me when i got home. (maybe i should have this photo as the wallpaper on my phone so i will remember how old i am!)

 spencer made me this special birthday "card" which is actually a full 12"x12" size. he raided my scrapbook supplies. i told him the most impressive thing was the fact that he got in and out of that room alive and  managed to find enough supplies to create something!

holly + birthday = mexican food. yay! i could eat this everyday. almost. no, definitely.

when we got home from eating, matt surprised me with a birthday cake! (i forgot to snap a photo before the candles were blown out and removed).

and no celebration is complete without fireworks, right? no? that's not normal? well, when your birthday is the week after the fourth of july, sometimes you get lucky and have leftovers!

*****************************************************************

this post is part of  a thirty-one day series.

my goal is to get my story telling groove back.

photos + words = chronicles

find links to all the chronicles here

*****************************************************************

31 days: vacation in instagram

prior to our beach vacation in late june, i became smitten with the instagram app on my iphone. i love it's simplicity, ease and just super level of coolness. 


but ultimately...i love the freedom. when i make the decision to document something with my iphone and/or instagram, the level of guilt and responsibility gently slips away...


and so, i present...our beach vacation via instagram photos (a few of the many i took):

no beach vacation is complete without a preliminary pedicure...

and in my house, vacation is synonymous with overplanning and overpacking...

 

the drive down -- plenty of techie entertainment for the whole family...

  

the view from our hotel (two night stay, baseball tournament)

 

the best view of the week. ahhhh, relaxation....

 

signs of summer. and the beach. and a  little toddler exploring the sand. 

 

big boys finding water entertainment....

 

a week full of college world series games...couldn't ask for better vacation entertainment....

 

goofiness at a new favorite restaurant...

(thanks for the recommendation michelle!)

 

the boys exploring the ocean...

the tastiest southern treat around (at this point, i didn't know this would come close to ruining my house!)

surviving the drive home with a little dance party....

*****************************************************************

this post is part of  a thirty-one day series.

my goal is to get my story telling groove back.

photos + words = chronicles

find links to all the chronicles here

*****************************************************************