When the Dad's away, the GIRLS will play....

Brian just left this morning for a quick trip to New York City. So, its official- GIRLS weekend! By girls, I'm referring to myself, Kate, Taylor, and the little girl bean in my tummy. That makes 4 of us, and thats quite a crowd!

So, we just got back from the grocery store and I bought for us all candy, chocolate milk, sugary Christmas cereal, E.L. Fudges (per Kate's request), Frosted Shortbread cookies (thanks to Taylor), and stuff to make peanut blossom cookies- you know, the stuff I never indulge in unless I'm completely without adult supervision. :) Ask me if I will feel guilty about the absolute gluttony I will indulge in for the next two days. Nope...after all, I am 8 months pregnant, without a husband, taking care of two toddlers solo for two days, and its the weekend of my birthday.

By the way, I'm being induced on January 12th- I thought I would mark this day as the one month mark. 4 1/2 weeks until I can breathe better, eat healthier, have an excuse to NOT wear jammies all day long, bend down far enough to put my shoes on, not worry about the people who stare at pregnant people everywhere I go, and hopefully being able to look at my backside in the mirror without shaking my head.

Santa is here ...

Our neighborhood had a Christmas Party today and guess who was in attendance? SANTA!!

Taylor was too scared to sit on his lap- but hey, 1 out of 2 ain't bad. I'm glad Kate got to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas- we wouldn't want him delivering the wrong presents! :) Kate and Taylor also got to ride in an antique fire-truck around our neighborhood while listening to some festive tunes. It was such a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun celebrating this time of year...I love Christmas!

On a funnier note...I took the girls Christmas shopping this week and wanted them to buy the other one a Christmas gift. We ended up at Target and I had Kate help me pick out a scooter for Taylor. So, I briefed Kate on the importance of keeping this a secret so it will be a surprise on Christmas morning. So, what does she do? She marches right over to Taylor (who was keeping busy with the dolls a few aisles away) and blurted out, "Guess what Taylor? We got you a Dora scooter for Christmas!" The next morning Taylor came into the kitchen and was telling me all about her Dora scooter- I guess Kate went into further detail that night after they were put to bed.

Then, I took Taylor to pick out some crocs for Kate. That afternoon, Kate was talking about the pink crocs that she really wanted for Christmas and Taylor says, "No Kate, they aren't pink, we got you the green ones". Oh well, better luck next year!


Thanksgiving Break

We ate Thanksgiving dinner at Nana and Papa's house this year.  The meal was delicious...Kate and Taylor helped me make a pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, and rolls (that was a fun one- they thought it was play-doh).  But, before all of the gluttony, we indulged in some 4-wheeling and leaf-throwing.  The four-wheeling, while it was fun, came at a cost- at least for Taylor.  She put her poor, little hand on the hot engine after hopping off and walked away with a pretty yucky burn.  Thank goodness for first-aid kits...we had her all bandaged up in no time.  You can see how precarious she is with her injury...girls!  There is certainly no shortage of drama in our house!

the Angels ...

Kate's last soccer game- it had all of us about freezing to death (our first sign of winter then and since). I guess the girls wanted to stay close together too- to keep warm...or is this some new strategy for scoring a goal? I guess positioning went out the door with the decent weather!

'Tis the Season ...


For the next few weekends, Brian will be scheduling a limited number of relaxed, informal family sessions for those who want a fresh, fun image to send out to their friends and family this holiday season!

So here are the available times on Saturdays for the next month or so ... it will be a first come, first served basis.  So, if you're interested, please let us know a date and time as soon as possible!  :)  

Saturdays Nov. 15th and 29th, and Saturday December 6th

  • Sessions will last about 30-45 minutes in the Highland Park area (inquire for more details about location or to suggest a location)
  • We will capture your family doing something fun together or being cute together, in a pretty/cool/cute area to get some great images
  • All images will be posted online
  • You may choose one full resolution, retouched file for your holiday card which will be emailed to you (additional files are $75 each)
  • You may order additional loose prints for gifts or framing

Cost: $175

Email me if interested recrofts@mac.com

Can I have another one?

On Fridays, Daddy will sometimes bring home leftover donuts from his seminary class and give them to his girls. Taylor loves donuts and she dug right in...literally.

She "ate" (nibbled) all FIVE of these donuts and then asked if there was another one... seriously. I had to get a picture because the way that she ate these was too funny.