Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

What better way to celebrate Christmas Adam than with a blog post about Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving festivities began on Monday with Jack's holiday feast at school. It was fun for the whole family as Clara and Meghan joined us. We arrived and were directed to our seats where beautiful table decorations were provided by Jack. He was adorned with a nifty pink headdress.

Then on Tuesday afternoon we headed out of Raleigh straight from elementary school pick-up. The weather was pretty rough the entire ride up to Richmond; it rained the entire way, but luckily the traffic was a little lighter that it probably would have been the next afternoon.

Meghan, armed with her blanket, iPod, and an armful of cats.

Awaiting Clara's arrival from school.

Next morning up bright & early shaving with Pop-pop!

Jack got his hair cut da Delshay who decided that he needed a faux-hawk to show Pop-pop.

Finally on Thanksgiving day the sun came out. Uncle Jack and Jack enjoyed some quality time together with death-defying wagon rides (which will be uploaded if I ever get the videos from Nay-nay) and  slightly more tame raking adventures. Lucy brought over her new baby, Magic!

Loving Pop-pop's new rake with an adjustable handle.

We traveled over to Su-su & Gramby's for a noon day Thanksgiving meal with copious cousins.

After the meal was a heated game of backyard football during which Gramby takes out his only grandson.

On Friday I was off shopping with Nay-nay and Dy while Pop-pop and Daddy took the kids to play at Tuckahoe. Check that ice chunk!

Rocking down the playground.

Making more music.

On Friday night Julie Overly, née Gehm, came over with her husband, Nate and Poppa Gehm for a drink that turned into two that turned into dinner and a game of Cards Against Humanity at which Poppa Gehm was surprisingly deft.

Meghan did not enjoy being interrupted from the onion dip for a picture.

Baths in the morning? You know what that means... Santa time! Meghan requested her hair to be "like Jack's", i.e., a faux-hawk. Pop-pop, of course, obliged.

We went to visit Santa at the Children's Museum of Richmond late in the morning. Those antics and pictures will be covered in a future post. 

That night we got together for dinner with Zimmerman/Schaeffer clan. Tatti got some snuggles as she read to Hal & Meghan.

What a great holiday! Now bring on December.

Pre-Thanksgiving November

November passed by in a hurry and somehow in its haste left us without having taken many pictures or videos.

The weekend after Halloween we spent a lot of time outside. The weather was perfect. Jack and Daddy had a little fun with forward facing camera.

Relaxing in front of the Patriots game.

Meghan and I taking some selfies of our own.

Fun on the swings.

During our fall photo shoot I snapped a few pics with my phone. These are proof of how wonderful the resultant pictures from our Mason Dee session really are.

Meghan scouring the closet for some accessories when she should have been looking for clothes!

Meghan decided to join her big sister reading a Magic Tree House book, curled up under a blanket on the couch.

Jack exhibits trike riding skills successfully completing a lap around the dining room table, no small feat.

Meghan wanted her turn on top of the climbing rock at Isabella Canon park.

I still can't resist the occasional nap time picture, especially knowing that our days at this point are numbered.

One brisk morning Meghan helped me transplant our Japanese maple from a spot where it got lost in the shuffle to a place where it takes center stage. I love its new home!

Fall Photo Shoot

On the sixth of November we met Katie Hyman Rittershaus of the fabulous Mason Dee Photography at Fred Fletcher Park for what can only be described as a marathon of Fall photography. It was awesome; she is awesome. Katie hunkered down, led us to her favorite spots, and engaged the kids right away. Out of hundreds of photos we even got a few with all three kids looking and/or smiling at the camera. A Festivus miracle indeed! ;)

First stop - the park bench.

Meghan's mullet is shining bright in the afternoon sunlight, and Clara gets a little crazy with her pigtails.

Spot number two - the front porch.

Peeking around the columns was a stroke of genius.

I love this one of Meghan so much I ordered a canvas print of it.

There's my Tron-trick-a-doo smile.

Sisters!

I smell Christmas card material.

Meghan turns a little shy.

The pressure is on - all three in one shot!

Jackpot.

Like the longways version too.

Brother and sister.

Spot number 3 - the grassy knoll. Luckily there was no second gunman, but things got a little dicey.

Jack seems to forget how to smile.

And Meghan all the sudden decides she doesn't like having her picture taken anymore.

Meghan rallies, but Jack continues to look like he's straining (or something...)

Next up, the stone wall.

Now Mommy joins the fray!

Love the beautiful fall colors in the background. 

Don't let Meghan fool you, she decided she didn't like the chair and was crying five seconds before this  picture was taken. A little tickling, however, does the trick. Jack is pondering whether or not he should smile.

Tickle monster strikes again.

The girls move on to the other side of the wall leaving Jack and me for a sweet series of shots.

Beautiful colors and little girl.

My favorite of Jack, a great candid of him finding something very funny.

The last hurrah in front of the gorgeous purple flower bushes. 

I love these two picture of Clara.

You talkin' to me?

Unintentional perchy faces.

Chaos ensues.

Me and my babies. Facebook profile picture for the win!

You wouldn't know it, but they are totally eating smarties.

Clara's look is classic.

Once we called it a day, the kids ran off to climb the nearby tree. Luckily Katie kept her camera handy and was busy snapping more pictures.

Thank goodness she did because the very last one is my favorite of Clara. It is just what I was hoping for when I scheduled this photography session - to capture Clara's fleeting baby face as her front teeth are not long for this world. And Katie did it in spades.

I cannot say thank you enough to our fabulous photographer for such beautiful pictures!