Christmas ’09: Knight in Shining Armor

For Christmas, I made Carter a Knight in Shining Armor costume, which he said makes him Prince Edmond.  He just happened to have the movie Prince Caspian playing in the background while he opened it, which seemed appropriate.

The lion on the front is a copy of the Finnish national emblem, but Carter was excited that it looked just like the flags from Narnia. : )

A rare moment of sweetness between the slashings of the sword:

Carter went out in the backyard and trained on a trash can. He may only be 3 1/2, but I have never seen someone so ready for battle before.

Here’s his “pretending to die” series. He let me know that he can’t actually die, because the “chainmen” (chain-mail) protects him.

The End.

Gingerbread Fun

Tim and I bought a gingerbread house kit the year we got married…which was 3 years ago. It had been in various kitchen cabinets until we finally pulled it out this year! Two perfectionist creative people working on the same gingerbread house at the same time? It actually worked out very well… : )

Here are a some picture of the process of getting it all together…

Tim gets all the credit for this lovely stick person…

Voila! The finished product on the wall above our kitchen table : )

Avenue of the Giants

We didn’t get to spend much time in Eureka, but we tried to make the best of what we had. Mindy suggested that we drive down the “Avenue of the Giants” on our way back, and I’m glad we followed her suggestion!

The “Avenue of the Giants”  is a portion of old Hwy 101 in Humboldt County. It’s a very pretty scenic detour from the new Hwy 101, and there are some nice spots along the way to get out and wander around. Click on the map to see a zoom-able version from the original website. : )

Redwoods are pretty any time of the year, but this drive was super gorgeous with the yellow, orange, and red autumn leaves- not to mention the recent rain, which made  everything glisten with dew.

It would have been worth the drive even if we didn’t get out of the car, but Carter wanted to go lizard hunting, and we all needed to stretch our legs…

These trees are soooo tall…

We came across a cool tree that was missing most of the inside, and Tim told Carter and Lily that if they passed through it, they would step into an imaginary land…

Carter asked, “We will be in heaven?!?!” After clearing up the misunderstanding, they stepped through the tree-hole and proceeded to find lots and lots of old dinosaur bones. At least this is what I’m told…I was too busy taking pictures of everything. : )

Silly Kids in a Crib

Tim and I stole Carter and Lily from their parents and took them to visit their baby cousin, Leanna way up north. They’re all pretty goofy and very cute.

Leanna wasn’t so sure about these “big kids” and their shenanigans in her crib…

…but, she soon joined in the fun.

Carter may be one of the craziest boys around, but when he gets around babies, he definitely knows how to slow down and soften up.

Lily learned how to make goofy faces since the last time I saw her. She thought she was pretty funny.

Carter learned that Lily’s pigtails make for the perfect horsey reins to hold onto. Lily was the giggliest horse I’ve ever seen.

Model baby

I told Lily to do something goofy, and Carter didn’t really approve. He put his arm around her and explained that I shouldn’t tell his sister to do things like that.

I’m glad we stole them, even if they did eat all of our food and make us buy more every 10 minutes…

Baby Boy Brody

Do you remember Brandon and Stefanie’s maternity pictures at Laguna Beach?  Brody is about 1 month old now, and he is so cute! This week, Katie and Joey joined me to take a few pictures of him.  Brody was so good with the three of us and a bunch of lights in his face. : ) Here are a few of my shots: