Oh the faces you make!

Honestly, I hadn't planned on taking out the ol' camera today. The kiddos and I had a relaxing "jammie" day here at home watching Christmas movies, singing Christmas songs, and reading a few Christmas books. *can you tell we have holiday spirit here?*

How could I help but snap a few shots of my boys playing so nicely together?! Shawn decided he was going to share an inventory of his toys with Landon. First, he brought out TJ Beary Tales. Landon was just infatuated with this "come-to-life" bear singing him songs. After Shawn saw how interested his baby brother was with his toys he thought he'd show off some of his tried and true favorites: a singing piggy bank and a pop up toy. It was a warming sight to see :)

Shawn and I were both giggling pretty hard at the funny faces Landon was making. What a ham!

And Shawn making his own silly face.

Landon trying to chomp on Shawn's pant leg.

May Your Days Be Merry... and Bright

What a beautiful setup Country Farm has for the holiday season! We met our Wolfgang friends there today for some family and group pictures. Everyone looked so festive in their Christmas attire. My Christmas Cookie Landon was sweet enough to gobble up ;) His Mommy certainly can't get enough of those chubby yummy cheeks!

Shawn & Owen

Shawn being my little comedian of the bunch.

Riley & Landon

Poor out numbered Riley
(soon to be even more out numbered with another baby brother on the way!)

The Wolfgang's:

Lindsey, Riley, & Owen

Trains, Trees, and Sweet Potatoes

Another Sunday and another visit to Nan and "Bee's" house. As usual, Shawn could barely wait to get out the door this morning for his weekly visit to a house he feels needs "rearranging"... which can only be done with his special touch. Upon our arrival I noticed a beautiful glow coming from the front window. To our delight the Sauers Family Christmas Tree was up and running!

A family tradition since Shawn was Landon's age is sitting down with Peeps to watch choo choo trains go around the tracks. Shawn's village that Peeps made for him last year isn't set up just yet, so he surprised the boys with a little train around the tree that Nan trimmed just for them. It was a heart warming moment in deed watching my two sons and grandfather gather around the train tracks with warm glowing lights shinning softly on their faces. This time of year is so magical... for young and old a like.





Speaking of magic... Landon performed a trick of his own this evening. He turned a nearly all white bib to orange! How talented is that?! Mr. Messy had his first taste of sweet potatoes today. He seemed to like them much better than he did the squash. Then again, his bib and clothing did most of the tasting for him.

Adding to the Volumes

Seriously, if I had a dollar for every time someone told me "Ashley, put that camera down!" I'd have more than enough for all the cameras, lenses, flashes, and equipment my heart could desire. To be perfectly honest, I will never listen... photography is a huge chunk of my life and when my children are grown, and their children are grown, Jon and I will have volumes of memories to look through. When we are 80 years old sitting on our front porch my constant "snapping" will have supplied us with years of precious moments captured one shot at a time.

They can keep telling me to put that camera down... but it will never happen. ;)

Thankful

As this day comes to a close I wanted to share just how thankful I am to have such wonderful friends and family. Jon and I both are so grateful and thankful every single day for our two blessings... our little boys and for our friends/family members that share in watching them grow. We are thankful everyday, not just on this holiday of Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving was made extra special as it is Landon's 1st Thanksgiving. Having the opportunity of going through all these "First Holiday's" again is such a wonderful reward as a parent. And now that Shawn is rounding his 3rd year of holidays... watching him grow and gain knowledge of what they are about is amazing. We are so THANKFUL for all of these experiences.

Another year and another wonderful meal prepared by my grandmother. The usual gang consisting of my grandparents, parents, brother, and our family gathered around my grandparents table for a scrumptious traditional Thanksgiving meal.

A photo guide to our day:

The Sauers, Carpenter, Rawlings Crew:
Peeps, Nan, Dad, Shawn, Mom, Landon, Pappy, MeMe, and Gunkle Bike

Our Family of Four

The kiddos enjoying some quality time with their Grandparents.

Shawn and his MeMe & Pappy

They really do love each other ;)

One of the sweetest things... My Dad and Son bonding :)

More of that dreadful squash!

The kiddos and my grandparents... they just adore each other to pieces!

Its so fun to watch Landon play on the same floor at the same spot as what Shawn did with MeMe & Pappy nearly 2 years ago.

Silly little bunch!

Dessert Time

My little Turkeys!

Mommy's sweetie ;)

Landon grabbing a big ol' hand full of MeMe's hair.

Last night we had a "Pre-Thanksgiving feast" with Lizzy, John, and Delilah. It was our first time all getting together since Delilah's birth. I loved having all 3 kiddos in the house and watching all of us with our precious little ones. It is amazing to see Lizzy and John being parents and watch them as they are beginning this awesome journey called parenthood. My hope is that our two families are always this close and our children grow up together as best friends just as their parents are.

Mr. Manners & The Squash

After months (well years) of working with Shawn on his pleases, thank yous, your welcomes, and bless yous I think he might have a grasp on it. Tonight he showed me two wonderful examples of his new found or should I say newly expressed knowledge of these small but very important courtesies. "Shawn, will you please bring Mommy the burp cloth for Landon?" Before I could get the "Thank You" all the way out Shawn glances over at me with a grin... "Or E-come!" Not more than 10 minutes later he sneezed all over his flash cards (which he has been playing with for the past hour.) And once again, before I could even get the words out he blessed his sweet little self by saying "Bess Eww."

My little red-head had his first taste of one of the greatest food groups... vegetables! We decided to start with squash... and from the way it went, we might be ending with it too ;) This little one just isn't getting the hang of swallowing food. I thought maybe it was just rice cereal because looking at it is enough to gag even me. As Jon was feeding him this "foreign substance" that was obviously not suiting well he tells Landon "You can't live on bottles forever!" This kiddo is hilarious. Put something in the mouth and it gets pushed right back out. There is always tomorrow... and more squash ;)


As a little treat for Shawn's wonderful manners this evening Mommy let him stay up a little bit past his bedtime to work on a fall wreath craft.