NEW Camera

jan 29

My beloved spouse let me upgrade my camera. :) I *love* him, and I'm quite fond of my new camera too. With the thrill of having something new to play with (and get used to) I spent many days chillin' at home taking shots of my boys. Enjoy!!

This is his "EIIIIHHHHH" face, which means: "NO- THAT'S MINE." or "I WANT THAT" or "BROTHER, GET OUT OF MY SPACE/AWAY FROM *MY* MOM/OFF MY BLANKET". He's a passionate little lad. :)

Tender face... with healing face wound.

Our little artist is quickly expanding his skills and talents. Now he's very into scissors and tape. Ugh. But seriously. How cute is this crown?

I see his sweet baby face here.

Oah-- yup. That's more like him!

Ya know how people post those pics of their feet at the beach or somewhere fabulous? Here is my view. And messy/not-tropical as it is, I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Metzingen-- Boss Outlet

Jan 25 (you questioned me, didn't you... but I'm showing you I'm serious! I WILL catch up!).

Nathaniel had a day off work so we decided to spiff-up his wardrobe with a trip to the Boss Outlet in a town an hour away. This place was *enormous* and the sales lady told N that not ONE suit would work for him and his manly muscles. Apparently Germans fall more into either the "pencil" or "fat" varieties. ;) He was at least able to find some shirts there and some other clothes at another nearby shop, so the trip wasn't an entire wash.

The kids and I spent our time out on the playground... It was *cold*!

The boys were great sports-- and endlessly enjoyed throwing leaves down into the window of the parking garage. They even thought it was good fun to kick the walls of the garage too. I ran over to them almost as fast as a parking attendant who told them to knock it off.

*sunflare*!

Here is Andrew playing on this fun toy jeep-- that was fun, anyway, until Andrew split his eye open on it.... Then N and I got to go track down an Apoteke (pharmacy) to buy steri-strips, rather than finding an ER. Oi.

Iphone pics-- Andrew with his new facial accessory.

These sorts of things rarely seem to phase my monkeys for long though. :)

William was also in on the adventures... On our way home we stopped at a base food court to have dinner and let the boys get some wiggles out. Some older girls (maybe 8 yrs old) took major issue with him trying to climb up the slide and grabbed his hand and SPRAINED his finger. Oh man. If I'd realized what had really happened then (bruising showed up the next day), those girls would have gotten some WORDS from me.

Jammies

jan 9

It took quite some time after the holidays for all the boys to be healthy AND for all pieces of their matching pjs to be clean. :) The boys were in good spirits this day-- so I dressed them for bed and, since it was dark by 4pm this winter, I busted out my big flash. I'm telling' ya. I *adore* that thing.

Oh man. This feels painfully familiar....

Angry William face: Check. Cameron in his own world: Check. Andrew screaming for me: Check!

So much love here!

This clearly isn't working.... let's try a new location...

... First, a quick one of Cameron.

I love this kid. I love how well you can still see his birthmark on his forehead too. :)

Uh. No. This location doesn't seem to be working either.

Believe it or not, this is the one I declared the winner and sent out with our thank-you cards. One big toddler snuggle. ;)

Skyline Shots

jan 3

The clouds were so cool! See that line of light? An airplane taking off from Frankfurt airport.

This makes me feel like I live in the Amazon... or should. haha

New Years!

December 31

Bear with me as I play with my tripod and long exposure times.... :)

I *love* this skyline... sorry... you'll see some more in future posts. I think this was a 3 second exposure.

Another 3 second exposure. It was a very dark night!

Neighbors setting off fireworks. :)

Park!

Dec 29

We had such a painfully mild winter! Only two real snowstorms (one on the day we went to Strausbourg-- but it rained so much I didn't take a single picture there!). On days when the sun was actually out, I tried to take the boys out to the park. These boys are really happiest in their element-- the wild!

Tell me how much you love his cowboy boots/warm-up pants combo... :)

THIS kid... is growing up way. too. fast. He navigated this challenging playground like a seasoned pro.

Exchanging words at the swings. Yikes. ;)

Sunflare & my beautiful boy. *swoon*.

Christmas Morning

Dec 25

After Santa's visit!

I took very few pictures this day and only with the point and shoot-- as part of an effort on my part to be more IN the moment. Also, I was exhausted. On Christmas Eve the boys got their adorable new jammies from N and I. I was careful to not put Cameron in his new pants incase he wet the bed-- same with Andrew.... only to have Andrew wake up a couple hours later that night covered in vomit. UGH. It was a very long night.

Christmas morning we let Andrew sleep in and began the festivities with the older two. They were super excited! It is so fun having the kids get older.

Later that morning we heard a knock on the front door and found this! :) A happy surprise from our neighbors. The picture behind the chocolate santas had a picture of a snowman and the neighbors dog Falco. Awesome.

Rhein River cruise

Dec 19

To celebrate our anniversary (7 years, baby!), Nathaniel and I tagged along on an AirForce Christmas party dinner cruise up the Rhein river. :) I was hoping to get some better night shots, but... on a boat, in the dark, without a tripod-- it was hopeless. Still a fun trip though!

N and the local postmen. They worship him for his muscles. Seriously. ;) The adoration has come in handy-- when we're running late to pick up a package, etc. ;)

Our sweet friend and another friends baby. Love both of them.