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Good-bye 2008

2008 was such a great year for our family.  Nothing special or extraordinary happened, but that is what makes it so great.  2008 was full of simplicity, predictability, normalcy, and routines.  It was definitely not boring (it never is around here), but there were no surprises...and that's just fine with us.  The years past have been filled with moving, Iraq deployments, childhood cancer, more moving, new schools, new houses, new baby, new jobs.  The predictability of 2008 was so good.  My sweet friend Denise and I were talking on the phone the other day and we discussed how a normal and simple life is so underrated. 
This normal and simple year has brought us family dinners around the table almost every night, regular Friday Night Movie Nights, many long and relaxed evenings in the backyard, security that we will have a normal paycheck every two weeks, and my children knowing that they will be tucked safely in by at least one loving parent every night.  All of these simple moments brought us closer and brought so much joy to our lives. I am so thankful for all of this when I think of the families and especially the children who do not have any of these moments.

I hope that 2009 brings more of the same for us and I pray that all of you can enjoy a simple, predictable, loving, and joyous 2009.

Love is deaf...

You know the saying "Love is Blind"?  Well, apparently love it also deaf.  I started teaching myself to play guitar on Dec 20th and I  have learned "Silent Night" using 3 simple chords with the help of a friend.   So, since I have only been learning for 7 days, you can imagine how it sounds...like a 2nd graders recital.  Today I gave my kids a concert and Abby said "Mom, you play so well that you should make a video and put it on Youtube!".....see, love is deaf!

Not a Christmas Present

My husband and I do not get each other Christmas presents.  We decided years ago that it was a season to appreciate the simple things: spending time with the family, watching Christmas movies, attending local church productions, snuggling in front of the fire.  We get presents for the kids and just enjoy watching them open their gifts and play with them all day long. I never expect a Christmas gift.

So, on December 20th, I was surprised to tears to come home and find a shiny new guitar on my bed!  I have always wanted to learn how to play. I love music and I love the guitar to the point where I sometimes watch guitar tutorials on youtube!  My brother and dad both play and it has always intrigued me.  I don't ever expect to be great, but I just want to learn for my own enjoyment.  I tired after my daughter was born...but life sometimes has a way of making you forget to live.  For the past few years, I have vowed to teach myself something I have always wanted to learn each year...just one new skill a year.  I wanted 2009 to be the year of the guitar, but was going to wait and buy it for myself at some point (which probably would have never come).
My sweet and sensitive husband just went out and got it for me.  I mentioned to him that he broke our "no present" rule and he laughed "It's not a Christmas present sweetheart...it's only Dec. 20th and it wasn't under the tree"!  He is such a brat!  I love that when I lose myself in the everyday and start to lose touch with who I am or who I want to be, he is always there to help me remember.

Back in the summer of 1995 we shared our first kiss and laughed because I had to stand on my toes (I am 5 feet and he is 6 feet tall).  While we laughed he said "Stephanie, I'm gonna keep you on your toes for the rest of your life"....he has definitely kept his word.

I'll be Home...

When I hear the songs "All I Want for Christmas is You" and "Home for Christmas", a few tears always surface...just a little bit.  It reminds me of the 2 Christmases in a row my husband spent in Iraq when he served a 15 month tour there, but mostly it makes me cry for the men and women who are still there and their loved ones at home worrying about their soldier. 
A sweet friend sent us this Santa soldier the year he was gone and it is always the first decoration we put out.
It reminds me of all we have to be thankful for.  My husband made it home.  He is not in the desert, listening to mortars while he eats his Christmas dinner in the chow hall...without family (although an kind Iraqi man dressed in a Santa suit came to visit him on a camel...really).  We are not missing him or worried about him...we are together and that's all we need.

Please pray for the families that are apart this season.  Pray for the soldiers who are thousands of miles away from home, pray for the soldiers who have to go out on missions Christmas day,pray for the families who are home wishing their soldier was home with them, pray for the moms and dads who have to put on a fake smile for the kids on Christmas morning while they are secretly thinking about how much they miss their soldier spouse, pray that they will all be back together soon.

Cookie Armageddon

This weekend the kids and I baked and decorated cookies.  It was just me and  a 2, 6, and 8 year old.  By the time we were finished it looked like a cookie Armageddon in my kitchen.  It totally reminded me of the Gingerbread Man in Shrek saying "No, not my gumdrop buttons!"  By the time we were done my kitchen (the floors, the counters, the table, the chairs...everything) was covered in frosting , sprinkles, and limb-less sugar cookie people.

It made me laugh to see their finished cookies. They totally matched their personalities.  Jackson, the always hungry 2 year old had no cookies to photograph...he ate all of his cookies and decorations.  If you know him, then that is no big surprise. 

Abby is very artistic and pays attention to detail, so I was not surprised to see lips, teeth, and hair on her cookies.

Caleb is a typical boy, his main goal in life is to make people laugh.  He likes to create ridiculous characters on Wii....moles, Afros, noses and eyes way out of place, so of course his cookies would be the same.  He painted the all completely with black icing and covered them with lots of candy and cracked up laughing:  "Look, I made Goth cookies!"....I love my strange little man.

Can't wait to see how the Gingerbread houses turn out.

The Christmas Wish

Me:  What is your one wish for Christmas this year?

Abby:  I wish that I will always have lots of art to do ..oh and a webkinz.

Caleb:  I wish it would snow here and I want an elf costume so I can be an elf.

Jackson:  More tooties (cookies).

My wish is that they stay so pure , honest, and innocent for a long time and that the world does not change who they truly are.

Leave a comment and tell me what you wish for...

The Feeling, The Story

When I photograph people , I am really trying to photograph the feeling between the people in the photo, the personality of the individual, their story...and most of those moments come in between the poses. I am only going to show you one of this family session's posed shots because their in between shots were so sweet!

 As soon as I met the V family I could feel the love that oozed back and forth between the 3 of them and the amazing love these parents feel for their little guy.  As soon as I met T he stuck out his hand for a handshake, told me his name, and then asked me what my name was.  He was so curious, active, and hilarious.I couldn't stop laughing!  His vocabulary is better than most 10 year olds I know!  It's hard to believe that he is only TWO!  I immediately fell in love with this warm family.
Look and see:

Merry Christmas

So Blessed

Being new to San Antonio with no family around, I was very lucky to become involved with an incredible group of women called MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers).  This morning we had our traditional ornament exchange.  It is completely random and nobody knows who they are getting an ornament from or giving an ornament to. Although it is random, I feel like the ornament I got (see picture) was meant to be mine.  I LOVE snowmen and secretly collect them.  Nobody knows I collect them, but I have ended up with many snowmen in my Christmas decorations...and this one has pink and green accessories, so I know my daughter will love him too.  Thank you secret ornament exchange person!  It is perfect!
At our meeting today, as I looked around at all my MOPS friends, I realized how blessed I am.  I belong to this amazing group of women who will drop what they are doing to help you if you are having a crisis or just a down day. Many of the women in our group are going through heart wrenching struggles this year and it breaks my heart to know that they will be spending the holidays worrying about a spouse with terminal cancer, divorce, a sick child, the inability to buy gifts or pay bills, a sick parent, ...etc...my heart goes out to these women and their families. This year I am praying for them while I hug my family a little bit tighter.

Rambutan

One of my favorite things to do is find strange and exotic fruits, veggies, and cheeses to bring home and try out with the family. It's kinda like my own version of a Survivor Challenge.  Sometimes the food we try is amazing, sometimes it's different but not too bad, and sometimes it is a vomit inducing, open the windows and air out the weird  smell kind of flavor.  Luckily for me, everyone in my house still wants to participate in my little game of "Let's See How This Tastes"...no matter how disgusting the last item was.

The last fruit we tried is called rambutan.  The spiky outside rind peels back easily to reveal juicy white flesh.  You eat the fleshy part carefully because there is a hard pit in the middle.  I think ours was a little over-ripe.  The outside skin is usually red or yellow and ours was brown and the normally white flesh had a yellowish tinge.  We tried it anyway...

Everyone in the house had a take- it or leave it attitude after tasting it.  Nobody vomited, but no one loved it either.  It kind of had a melon/caramel/smoky flavor.  I have seen them at Whole Foods, Central Market ,and HEB if you want to try it.