Embrace The Camera: December 22nd 2011

Ok, so I took a bit of a break for a while, but I am going to try and embrace again.

The whole familia

For those of you that have forgotten, or don't know, what all this embracing is about, it's easy. It's just taking the time to get in front of the camera with your kids instead of behind it all the time. 

You'll be glad you did it. 

I promise!

The boys LOVE Ginger... A little too much at times!

Just remember, it doesn't matter what your hair is doing or what your wearing, the important thing is to capture those everyday moments with your family.  

Tis the season...Embrace away people!

Link up with the OG of embracing here.

Embrace the camera:December 15th 2011

I have to start this "Embrace" with a little back ground. When I was a little girl, I LOVED to color. I am also a little bit OCD.  

I used to put all of my crayons, markers and pencils in color coordinated order. I would write my name, the alphabet, hearts, stars, etc.. over and over again in every color. 

My sister Julie on the other hand was just the opposite. Sure, she loved to color, but not in the organized fashion I did. She used to leave the caps off or put the blues with the pinks and I used to get so mad! 

So anyway, every time I put a coin in the fountain to make a wish at the mall, I would wish for a set of markers that was all mine. No sharing with my little sister who obviously had zero respect for color coordination. I would never tell anyone about my wishes because, you know, it wouldn't come true and all. So every time we got new markers it would be for the both of us and I was so disappointed.

Now I have my own kiddos and I have a fellow OCD artist on my hands. 

I couldn't be more proud! 

I bought him some new markers and just look at how excited he is!

Happy OCD artists

We color coordinated...serious business.

We used every color in our drawings...

We even sniffed our scented markers and got dots on our nose.

We had so much fun together I felt like I was a kid again! 

Am I passing along my OCDish habits? 

Probably. 

As an adult there's nothing wrong with having your clothes hung up in rainbow order right? If that's the worst of my habits I pass on, we're in petty good shape.

Embrace the Camera: April 7th 2011

This week is all bout the boys.  I just love how much they love their Daddy and I can't help but snap up pictures whenever I can.  

In case you were wondering...although we all know how cool Jeremy is, he doesn't usually wear sunglasses in the house.  He had Lasik and had to wear them. 

Oh, and you better believe Jeremy broke his glasses as soon as he could.  What better method to do that than a 4 year old?

Link up with fellow embracers here.

Embrace the Camera: March 17th 2011

Man, I can't believe what a slacker I have been lately on my blog!  I haven't "embraced" in a whole month!  Yikes! OK, enough with the Mom guilt...on with the show.

Lately we have been trying to stay sane in the house.  Our rainy season has been truly rainy.  Don't get me wrong, I love the rain.  I know we need it, but there are times as a Mom of two energetic boys, when you just need ban them from the house.  So, naturally when the sun peeks out briefly you drop everything and get those kids outside!  This usually involves Jeremy going out with them. {thanks honey!}

I have always found it fascinating how much children LOVE bubbles.  It is such a simple concept and yet it never ceases to entertain.

Ladies and Gentlemen...I bring you the bubble boys.

Now go get your Embrace on...Link up here.

Embrace the Camera: Febrary 24th 2011

Ty and Aaron both love Daddy's "scratchy face".  They giggle and squirm then come back for more complete with bright red cheeks and ears. 

Crazy kids.

Me on the other hand, well, I prefer the smooth face...scratchy face hurts!

Embrace the Camera: February 10th, 2011

 In our house Jeremy and I have an agreement.  He gets to sleep in Saturday and I get to sleep in Sunday.  It works out great for us and the boys look forward to some individual playtime every weekend morning.
  
So last Saturday, I had to be up and out of the house kinda early so the boys set up camp with Jeremy.  They came up with the idea to turn our bed into a library so Daddy could still get some rest and they would not be bored.  I don't think he got much rest after that, but it was really cute!

Good Morning Honey!

Embrace the Camera: January 27th

Well, we have been ducking and weaving all of the sickness going around until now. Unfortunately, the sickness has found a way into our house through Aaron today.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we don't all catch it. 

So with Jeremy at work and Ty at school, Aaron and I are being lazy bums today.  I would not say that I like it when my kids are sick, but I do find myself taking full advantage of the free snuggles and cuddles. 

I guess if there is a positive to being sick, that's it.

Doesn't he look so sad?

Check out your fellow embracers here.

Embrace the Camera: January 6th 2011

This week is all about my favorite guys.

What can I say? I can't get enough of them.

This shot was taken at Jeremy's office.

The boys were misbehaving.

So naturally we did what every sane parent would do.

We put them in a cage.

JOKING!

No, for real though, they loved these things because they have wheels and Jeremy, being such a kid himself was wheeling them around in them.

We know better than to post pictures of the real cages for these wild little animals. 

Ha.

Get your EMBRACE on here.

Embrace the Camera: December 30th

Our last Embrace of the year.  

I can't believe it!  Is it just me or does time go faster as you get older?  It has been a good year and I think next year will be even better. 

I leave you with this simple picture.  I am lucky enough to call this sweet boy my son and here he is doing what he does best.  Snuggling up for a smooch. 

One of my New Year resolutions is to keep up on the embracing.  I think it is so important to record these memories and to protect them for my family and children especially to see.  I love to hear all of the stories my grandparents tell of their history and how cool will that be to look back on this?  I encourage you to do the same.  Blogging is a great way to do this and don't forget to get in front of that camera. 
Embrace it!

So there you have it.  

My last embrace of the year, but definitely not my last.

Get your embrace on and link up here.

Embrace the Camera: December 9th

So this addition is retro style.  I didn't have a blog when the kiddos were born, so I'm going to do a little retroactive blogging just to embrace those moments too.

These pix were on the morning of Ty's "birthday".  June 8th 2006.  We had a scheduled c-section and we were off to the hospital.  I was a bit emotional, but definitely ready.  So here we are saying goodbye to our little family of three and on our way to welcoming our party of four.  What a great day.

Aaron had no clue what was going on...but he sure caught on quick when we brought home that crying little bambino.  

We used to ask Aaron all the time "What's a dog say?  Woof woof."  "What's a cat say?  Meow."  etc...

One day, when Ty was just a few weeks old, we asked him 

"What does Ty Ty say?"  and with no hesitation, he said,  

"WAAAA WAAAA!"

Embrace the Camera: December 2nd 2010

This week we are "embracing" the whole fam.  It's a bit long, but hey it was a long weekend!  We spent Thursday with my in laws and had a lot of fun. The whole crew made it out from Colorado and a full house makes for a fun house for sure!

A little Father son action

Papa Carl sneaking in on this one...

My Mother-in-Law and her 4 boys.

Good ol' family pic.

Saturday we had a second Thanksgiving at my mom's house. It was smaller, but a good time all the same...enjoy!

My Mom, my sister Beckie, my brother Khris, and my brother-in-law Marcel.

My Grandpa and Ty.

My mom with her Mom and Dad.

My Grandma with Aaron.

Jeremy and I. {Ty took this picture, pretty good huh?}

What a great weekend we had.
A whole lot of embracin' goin' on here!

We truly have so much to be grateful for...

Link up with fellow embracers here.

Embrace the Camara: November 18th 2010

It's Thursday already?!?! Times a flyin'!  I know you'll hate me for saying this, but we only have 37 days 'til Christmas!!!!  HOLY MOLY!!! Santa's helper had better get to work so these good little boys of mine get exactly what they want.  ;)  Remember when you were a kid and Christmas couldn't come soon enough?  Then you grow up and you just need a little more time right?

So, here's a kid that has literally been ready for Christmas since December 26th.  He is already sporting his Santa had for goodness sake.  Remember how excited he was when we started decorating last year? {Click here if you forgot.}  Well Aaron is ready and kind of patiently waiting.  Although, if it were up to him we would skip Thanksgiving all together.  Luckily it's not up to him, or we would miss out on some serious grub.

Jolly rogers and Santa hats?  Haven't you ever heard of Nightmare before Christmas?  It's Aaron's Favorite movie.

Link up with Embracers here.

Embrace the Camera: November 11th 2010

I'm changing it up a bit.  I'm letting "Crazy Gram" get in on the action.  That's right, I said "Crazy Gram".

I know what you're thinking...

"Does her mother-in-law know they call her that?"  

Yes, yes she does.  

Not only does she know we call her that but I believe she secretly embraces it. ha.

For real though, Diana is crazy about her Grand kids and I gather that the feeling is mutual.

My MIL and Aaron.

My MIL with Ty, my niece Hayden, and Aaron.

We all have a little crazy in us right?  Why not embrace it?  

Click here to link up with fellow embracers.

Embrace the Camera: November 4th, 2010

I simply had to say, "What's up with Ty's face?" Cool guy police man? Crazy 4 year old?  Not really sure.  I thought it was funny anyway, so I included a couple more. 

Here we are on Halloween night.  At least I got a different smile out of Ty for this one. 

Link up with fellow embracers here.

Embrace the Camera: October 28th

Another field trip to the pumpkin Patch...with the first graders. Some how I ended up loading on to the school bus with Aaron and then looking out the window I noticed all of the other Mom's lined up on the side walk waving "Good-bye". {Smart women!} They all drove peacefully to the pumpkin Patch with their relaxing music and venti coffees. I on the other hand got to listen to the sweet chorus of children saying,

"Trick or treat, 

Smell my feet.

Give me something good to eat, 

if you don't I don't care,

I'll pull down your underwear!"

Over and over and over again all the way there and all the way back! Oh, what a special experience it was. 

For real though, I had a great time with Aaron. .

Julie {AKA Aunt Auntie} was also able to go with us.  {She drove her own car...}

Wanna' link up with fellow "embracers"?  Click here.