~Christmas Dreams Come True~

Other than watching the excitement of our kiddos on Christmas morning, there is nothing much more fun than watching a puppy at her first Christmas.



Santa was very good to Willow and brought her everything she had asked for:  a chewing bone, a chewing toy, a chewing bone, a chewing bone…and (just to spice things up a bit!) another chewing bone.

Believe it or not, she spent the day…chewing!

~The King of Hilarious Outtakes~

Every family has one of these little hams, right? 

I’m admit that all of my kids have their moments, but Weston really takes the cake when it comes to “Hilarious Outtakes” during photo sessions.

My evidence?  This whole slew of photos I took literally within two minutes of each other…


Proof #1:



Proof #2:




Proof #3:




Proof #4:




Proof #5:




Proof #6:  (The “I’m-Only-Smiling-Because-Mom-Is-Making-Me-Smile” Smile)




And, of course, we can’t forget this one…

Proof #7:




Throughout all of that though, I do end up with shots like this one as well…



Since I know the boy so well though…I have to say that I definitely prefer the first seven photos over the last one.

They are just true blue, through and through Weston.

And I love that.

~The Story Of My Life… “Hilarious Outtakes!”~

This week’s theme for I Heart Faces is “Hilarious Outtakes.”  Well, let me tell you…with four ornery kiddos, hilarious outtakes are the name of the game around here.

I found all of my photo entries (we’re allowed five photos in our post this week!) in one folder on my computer from a session I tried to do with all of the kiddos on my side of the family (ten of them in all.)  Oh my word, on that day that session seemed like a nightmare (I blogged about it here.)  Looking back at it now though had me laughing hysterically at all of the antics those kids were pulling off during the entire shoot.


Entry #1 – The Whole Crew
Did those hooligans ever get a case of the giggles while we were trying to capture a shot of the whole crew.  It probably didn’t help that Uncle Mark was trying to get them to smile…but instead turned them into a bunch of crazies!  And yes…that’s my 11-year-old son acting like such a nut in the background.



Entry #2 – The Riley’s
I think I had totally forgotten just how difficult it is to capture a good shot of a toddler until my sister (Andrea) had her kids sit down for their “session.”  I now have even more respect for her photography skills than ever before.

They sure are cute though!  Even when they have their face screwed up in a “Stop-Taking-My-Picture-Right-Now” kind of expression.



Entry #3 – My Little Guy If you looked up “Hilarious Outtakes” in a dictionary…I’m pretty sure you would find this little guy’s face right there being shown as an example.  During every shoot I have with him you will invariably hear me mutter “That kid sure is lucky he’s so darn cute!”

(To see further proof of his amazingly endless supply of expressions...just click here.)



Entry #4 – My Clan
See what I mean?!



Entry #5 – Brothers!
You would think that adult sessions would be a lot easier to handle, right??  They usually are...unless there is a “brother” involved.  This one included my brother, Jeff, and his wife, Danielle.  While looking at this photo I couldn’t decide.  Do you think he tickled her?  Goosed her?  Pushed her over?  I’m positive he was somehow involved…and he looks pretty proud of himself, doesn’t he?



We have a whole slew of “Guest Fan Judges” who are giving me and Amy a break this week and they are going through the entries for us (love those ladies!!)  Whichever entries make them laugh the most will be put onto their Top Three list to be displayed on our website later this week.  Everyone has “Hilarious Outtakes!”  Have some fun and enter yours today!

Our “Guest Fan Judges”:
Brooke from Dinkypops No More
Melinda from Bloggin' It From The Burbs
Rebeckah from Life With Kaishon
Dawn from My Home Sweet Home
Lolli from Better In Bulk

As a co-founder of I Heart Faces, I can’t win the photo challenges but I sure do love the challenge of entering them each week.  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit with me!

~Merry Christmas!~

Luke 2   ⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (NKJV)

After a whole lot of prayer and consideration, last summer Bill and I both strongly felt that we were being led to find a new church for our family to attend.  It was an extremely difficult decision for us to make…we loved the people at our former church and didn’t have any huge, doctrinal issues that were leading us away.  And yet we knew that moving on to find somewhere that better fit the needs of our family was something we needed to do.

Since then we have visited quite a few new churches…and I have to tell you, I was absolutely dreading the whole "visiting a new church" experience.  To my surprise I have found that I actually enjoy visiting new churches.  I love seeing how they run their worship service, children and teen programs and hearing different pastors speak on different topics.

As we got closer to Christmas though, I became a bit sad because we still aren’t sure which new church we’ll be calling “home” yet and that meant that our kiddos wouldn’t be in a children’s Christmas Program for the first time in their entire lives.

We made up for that by attending my sister, Janine’s, church which put on an incredibly beautiful and poignant Christmas Cantata.  (During the nativity scene pictured above, the angel performed sign language throughout the entire song.  I had chills!)

Being there in that church, celebrating the birth of Christ while in the midst of (mainly) strangers was an immediate reminder to me that even though we haven’t yet found our new church home, we can find fellowship with other believers in any church that honors and worships Him.

Our entire clan wishes all of you – friends and family both near and far – a wonderful, blessed Christmas today!

~“My Story In Photos: Holiday Traditions”~

This week over at I Heart Faces we are celebrating holiday traditions in a special non-judged week of sharing photos.

Here are some of The Arthur Clan’s Christmas traditions:


1|  Decorating the Christmas tree

All of the photos I am sharing were taken while we were decorating our tree yesterday.  Yes…I was a bad mom and couldn’t seem to find enough time to tackle that task until the Sunday before Christmas.  I have a sneaky suspicion that the kids will make me keep the tree up until February 1st to make up for my transgressions.


2|  I have a lovely tradition of always opening up the Christmas decorations box, going through the Christmas lights and then realizing that at least 2-3 strands of lights aren’t working. 

Even though I just purchased them last year.



3|  That leads to the tradition of me (in my head) silently shouting a few choice words at the tree lights for the next hour.



4|  Which leads to the tradition of daddy having to head out to 10+ stores to try to find the one box of clear Christmas lights that somehow escaped being purchased by everyone who thinks ahead to this issue in early December.



5|  Which leads to daddy (not-so-silently) saying a few choice words about the whole decorating-the-tree experience each year.



6|  We have a tradition of trying to take an annual “We’ve-Been-Decorating-Our-Tree!!” family photo.



7|  Which is (of course!) a highly successful endeavor.



At which time I wipe off my sweating brow and thank the good Lord above that one Christmas tradition is finished for the year.

What are your holiday traditions?  Share them this week over at I Heart Faces…

~Constructive Feedback – Angie’s Edits~

Probably like every other mom in America, I have so much to do today.

I need to run errands, pick up a few more treats for the kid’s parties, finish a bit of Christmas shopping, attend four school parties…we still don’t even have our Christmas tree set up yet.  {I know...bad mom!!}

In the midst of that though, I Heart Faces is featuring Constructive Feedback Friday today.  A time when our participants can link in one of their “problem photos” and ask for help on how they should fix it up.

Throughout the day I am going to keep adding the photos that I work on.  So far, I’ve just finished one…but hopefully by this evening I will have completed quite a few more than that.  :)

To find more information on the steps I took to fix up each photo, just go to that person’s blog and read the comments under their post.

1|   Constructive Feedback Entry #1 by Farmgirl
(This young man has such beautiful eyes!)

2| Constructive Feedback Entry #38 - Michelle

(what a sweet smile!)

3| Constructive Feedback #37 - Jenna's Jargon

4|   Constructive Feedback Entry #31 -  pics 'n giggles

I will keep trying to add more edited photos as I am able to work on them today...

~Throwing Around The Pigskin~

"If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead."
Erma Bombeck 

 (Sorry - I just had to throw that quote in there.)



Way back in the fall, a friend asked me to photograph her son during his football game.

This is the son.  Also known as Jacob.  And also known as Mr. #66…




Yes, my friend from high school now has a son who is literally almost twice as tall as me.




We both decided that night that we are officially old ladies.


I was really leery about trying this shoot for several reasons:

• I do not have a very good zoom lens
• I photograph a lot of soccer games and never seem to capture shots that are very great
• It was going to start to get dark about 30 minutes into the game
• I’ve never shot a football game before

There are reasons why sports photographers make the money they do…



1) They have to spend approximately eight bazillion dollars on a zoom lens to get really great shots.




2) They have to somehow keep track of numbers inside of the big pile of bodies you usually find out on the field during a football game (which is not as easy as you'd think.)




3) And….they have to be really good at shooting action shots.




I am not a sports photographer so I chose a lot of the quieter moments in which to capture shots of Jacob.  I’m one smart cookie alright!

I also asked my friend, Chrissy, approximately 198 times… “Now where is he?  Where did Jacob go?  I can’t see him?  Is he still out there?”

I’m so grateful for the friends in my life (like Chrissy) who have been blessed with an enormous amount of patience. 

She definitely needed it that night.

~I Heart Faces Photo Challenge: “Pets-Only”~

This is my daughter, Weslea, and her puppy (before we even knew for sure that we were going to get a puppy) giving me twin puppy-dog-eye-looks.  Please, please, please, please, please, pleeeeeeezzzzzzeeee will you get me a puppy mommy????



And now the whole world knows why I gave in and gave the girl a puppy.

I’m telling you.  There is no denying those eyes…

Join in the “Pets Only” fun over at I ♥ Faces this week!

**As co-founder of I Heart Faces I can’t win any of the photo challenges.  I’m just joining in because I love the fun of it!**

~The Dancing Dog~

If I’ve told Weslea once, I’ve told her a million times… “If we had to get a dog, you chose the best dog we could ever possibly have gotten.”

And she always says… “Willow is not just a dog now mom, she’s a member of our family.”

I’m still trying to remember why I bought that girl the “Raising a Lab” book that she is continually finding facts from to spout at me.



Willow…

• is calm
• and relaxed
• very rarely barks
• has never cried (not even once) when we put her in her cage
• goes into her cage willingly every time
  
• is loving
• doesn’t lick too much (a pet peeve I have about animals)
• and is calm (that fact is so awesome that I had to list it twice)

She and I have a little routine now.

1) Act a little crazy while the kids are getting ready for school
2) Bring me every sock and shoe she can find for approximately 30 minutes
3) Curl up under my chair and sleep for the next seven hours

It’s a nice routine we have.




Outside of the obsessive need to chew on socks and shoes, she’s been pretty much a perfect puppy for us.

Until Monday night.

Monday night Bill and I were standing in the kitchen talking about something, listening to the sounds of the kids laughter in the next room, enjoying a moment together until… we heard the following:

“Mom and Dad!!  Come look!  Willow is dancing with me!”

After sharing a puzzled look, I called out “She's doing what?!”

“She’s dancing…on my leg!”

It took us a moment, but then realization hit hard and we practically knocked each other down to get into the living room where we could make Willow stop….ummm…. “dancing”… on our kiddo’s leg.



Yep!  Outside of the chewing and her new-found “dancing” skills, she’s the perfect dog!

~Photo Challenge: “Sweet Dreams”~

This week at I Heart Faces, our theme is “Sweet Dreams.”

I wasn’t sure what photo I would enter until I remembered the newborn shoot I did awhile back.



That precious little girl was so perfect during the shoot…snoozing away without a care in the world! 

Be sure to stop by to check out all the other sleepy-head photos at I Heart Faces this week.  I'm sure they will be causing us to "ooh" and "aah" all week long.  :)

**As co-founder of I Heart Faces, I am not entering to win the challenges. I am just joining in for the fun of it.**

~The Things Parents Do~

Yesterday, Amy and I announced a fun contest that we are going to feature on I ♥ Faces in early January.  Our first birthday is coming up soon and we thought this contest would be a cool way to start the celebration out with a bang.

Basically, each person who enters has to use the I ♥ Faces logo somewhere in their photo.  Either naturally (like writing I ♥ Faces in the sand) or by adding it to the photo with an editing program.

We began thinking about this idea several months ago.  We knew that we needed samples to give everyone an idea of what we were looking for.  And what do I do?  I wait until the night before to start working on my photo samples.

It’s like I’m still back in high school or something.


One idea I had come up with was to have the kids all around a stop sign (that I would put “I ♥ Faces” onto) and have them jumping around it like they were all excited.


Too bad I forgot to have them do that ahead of time!

While putting the kids to bed on Tuesday night I asked them if they would mind getting up a little bit early so that we could head out for the photo shoot.  They said “sure!” so the next morning we waited for the school bus to pass by our house and then took off for our shoot.

We waited for the school bus to pass because there was no way on this earth that any of us wanted to be jumping like crazy fools around a stop sign while there was the possibility that every single person on the bus might see us.

This gave us a very short 15-minute window to try to get the shot we needed.  Unfortunately for me, it was still pretty dark outside which made it almost impossible to get a non-blurry photo.



Here was the plan… 

Everyone crouches down. 

Mom says “Ready?…Set?….JUMP!!” 

And everyone jumps when they hear the word “JUMP!!!”



Here we go.  Ready?….Set?…
(They were all so serious about the “Ready…Set…” part of it.)




JUMP!!!




We must have done this at least 30 times.  The problem was that while the two older kids were fine waiting for the word “jump” to be yelled, the two younger boys just got way too excited about the whole business and took off like a shot before we were even close to the “jump” word.



So, we usually ended up with one kid all the way back on the ground, one almost to the ground and two up in the air where they were supposed to be.

But we also ended up with some good ones!




It was so stinkin’ funny…all of busting a gut watching everyone else fly through the air in their own unique way. Even while, at the same time, we prayed that no cars would pass us (they didn’t!) and that Mr. Geiss (the only neighbor in sight) wouldn’t start peeking through his curtains (we’re pretty sure he didn’t!)




I’m now thinking several things:

I’m seriously thinking that my kids might need to go into acting.  They sure put their all into each and every jump!




I’m thinking that on my list of “Things I Never Thought I’d Make My Kids Do” this photo shoot would have to rank pretty high.


And I’m thinking that I have four pretty awesome kids.  :)