So my sister-in-law got married last Friday. And I know that there are some family members that are just dying to see a few pictures. I took so many and it is going to take me FOR EVAH (as Lance says it) to process all of them. So I randomly choose a few for a little sneak peek.
The Ring Bearer
The Flower Girl
The bouquet
I do
The dancing machine
You know Santa did good when your son can’t even finish pulling his pants up before checking out his new bike. More to come soon. We still have one more Christmas to go and I need a few days to recover!
(Click to make larger)
And here is our annual slide show:
Heimann Family Slideshow 2008 from Amanda Heimann on Vimeo.
To see it full screen click the blue X symbol.
Slide show of my recent scrapbook layouts:
Scrapbook Layouts from Amanda Heimann on Vimeo.
We wish you a wonderful Christmas and a joyful New Year!
A new mini kit just in time for Christmas!
Includes (not all items shown in preview):
6 papers
3 buttons
1 frame
2 sprigs of holly
1 journal label
3 strings
4 ribbons
And it is 20% off!
Yesterday was Lance’s Christmas party at school and today is Garrett’s party. And then they are home until January 6. ACK! I have some crafts and baking lined up the next 4 days to keep them busy. Lance and I are cleaning today. He is thrilled. Seriously, Lance likes to clean.
I’ll be back (sometime) with pictures of our gingerbread house and cookies!
Here are a few letters to Santa written by moms:
By Veronica
Dear Santa,
I know I’m not supposed to complain. This whole gift-giving thing is great, really. It teaches my children generosity and gratitude, it’s magical, spirit of Christmas, blah, blah, blah. I get it. I really do.
But could I just have a moment to discuss a gift that is becoming a problem? I realize that not all our gifts come from you. I know that. But as CEO of the entire Christmas-gift-giving operation, could you circulate a memo for me?
The Mitchells have enough chairs.
In fact, we’re full to brimming. Every time a doting relative passes a garage sale or toy store or possibly Big Lots, they are drawn to those cute little child-sized chairs. Their minds fill with visions of our sweet bairns nestled into a tiny rocker or easy chair, quietly reading a book. It’s a sweet picture, I admit. I’ve seen paintings like that. I have not actually seen my children do it for more than two milliseconds, but I understand the charm of the picture.
The thing is, at this point my children have received child-sized furniture from two grandmothers, four aunts and an uncle. Bean bag chairs, lawn chairs, wooden benches, rocking chairs and even one picnic table. I currently have pint-sized seating for fifteen. I only have four kids.
And they never sit down.
Santa, our house is that big. It’s getting hard to find space for all these chairs. They get shuffled around a lot, and I’m always tripping over one or another. So if you think of it this year, I would really appreciate it if you could find a gift a little more suited to my children’s habits and energy level.
Like maybe a child-sized hamster wheel. And if you could hook it up to a generator, our heating bills would be a lot smaller this winter.
Sincerely,Veronica Mitchell
We also have the too many chairs problem. But if I took away the chairs what would the boys be able to blast off of?
Dear Santa:
I’ve been a good Mom all year. I’ve fed, cleaned, and cuddled my two children on demand, visited the doctor’s office more than the doctor has, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my daughter’s girl scout sash with staples and a glue gun.
I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son’s red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I’ll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.
Here are my Christmas wishes:
I’d like a pair of legs that don’t ache after a day of chasing kids (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don’t flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to carry a screaming toddler out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I’d also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.If you’re hauling big ticket items this year I’d like a car with fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn’t broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone. On the practical side, I could use a talking daughter doll that says,”yes, Mommy” to boost my parental confidence, along with one potty-trained toddler, two kids who don’t fight, and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.
I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting, “don’t eat in the living room” and “take your hands off your brother,” because my voice seems to be just out of my children’s hearing range and can only be heard by the dog. And please don’t forget the PlayDoh Travel Pack, the hottest stocking stuffer this year for mothers of preschoolers. It comes in three fluorescent colors and is guaranteed to crumble on any carpet making the in-laws’ house seem just like mine. If it’s too late to find any of these products, I’d settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.
If you don’t mind I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family; or if my toddler didn’t look so cute sneaking downstairs to eat contraband ice cream in his pajamas at midnight.
Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the chimney and come in and dry off by the fire so you don’t catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table, but don’t eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.
Yours Always…Mom
P.S. One more thing…you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.
This is an excerpt from nationally syndicated columnist Debbie Farmer’s book LIFE IN THE FAST FOOD LANE.
I need that fridge. And the Tibetan monks.
Scrap Orchard is celebrating 12 days of Christmas and today is my day!
50% my store and a FREE quickpage sampler for TODAY ONLY!
I also have another little freebie for you here:
Sorry! Time is up! This is no longer available.
FYI- postings will be even more sparse than ususal. I am taking some time to enjoy the holidays with my family!
We had snow yesterday! Actual snow! It started with sleet around 2:30 and then as Lance and I were waiting for Garrett to get out of school it started to snow. The kids were ecstatic as they were leaving the school. All the kindergartners were jumping up and down and shouting.
It kept snowing all afternoon so the boys had to go outside to play in it.
They have hit the I must pose like a super hero when the camera comes out phase. I hope it passes soon.
The ground was not cold enough for it to stick but we enjoyed watching and playing in the falling flakes. And I was able to scratch off one more item on the boy’s list! They asked for snow this year and I told them Santa brought it a little early.
(if these images are too large for your screen please let me know)
The littlest member of our family is here. The one that arrives after Thanksgiving and stays for just about 25 days. The one that keeps the boys in line, that plays tricks and brings little gifts.
Zoobie Fred Heimann
This is Zoobie’s 2nd year with us. Santa sent him to us last year. We are thankful that he could spare an elf. Garrett was very concerned that Santa would be missing that extra toy builder. The boys were very excited to see him on our shelf the other day. And they have already told Zoobie ALL the items on their lists. Each morning they race to see where Zoobie is and think it is hilarious when he is somewhere silly.
If you want your own family elf check this out: http://www.elfontheshelf.com/
I think Santa also distributes the elves at Hallmark and Amazon.
And since Zoobie’s favorite hiding spot is the Christmas trees I had to put it up and decorate. I actually decorated before Thanksgiving but just now got around to taking pictures.
I am the proud owner of a new flash! My family is quite annoyed with the bright light so I practiced on the tree and decorations. I am still learning but I love it!
(These were all taken at about 9:00 PM with a tripod. The first and last photo with the starburst were f/22, 6s.)
without flash:
with flash:
with flash:
without flash:
Ok- 2 more quick things. According to Lance, Jesus was born in a staple and people that throw things on the ground are glitter bugs. 
I know this is a little late…
It is hard to believe that he is now a boy. He looks like a boy, walks like a boys and smells like a boy. There is not a trace of little boy left in him. He is a kid now.
It is a whole new ball game now. Toys have changed, the cartoons he watches are different and the books he wants to read are more mature. And then there is the height. All the size 6 jeans I bought in October are too short now. He is growing too fast.
Even though this makes me sad it also makes me proud. I am proud of how kind and sweet Garrett is. He has his bratty moments but they are few. He is very polite and is beginning to understand patience. Now I want to bottle this age up and keep him 6 forever.
I don’t have any of his baby photos or scrapbook pages on this computer. I do have some layouts of Garrett throughout the past 6 years and pictures from this year:
I have always wanted to do a kit like this! Not only is this kit great for a tropical holiday but also for summer and beach photos. (and I have plenty of those!) I was so excited to get to work with Shauna again. And she knew exactly what to add to the kit since she has lived in Hawaii.
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii’s way to say “Merry Christmas to you.
Today my oldest turns 6. Where has the time gone? I planned on having a blog post today about Garrett but decided to wait until after his party so I could have birthday pictures.
Happy Birthday Garrett!