One Couple's Stumblings Through Parenthood and Marriage

Saturday, November 29, 2008

At the Christmas Tree Farm

The day after Thanksgiving is the day we devote to preparing for Christmas. This entails wading through the flotsam that is our garage storage to find the bins that contain the decorations that will soon festoon our house. But that's just my task.

The kids get to enjoy a trip to the Christmas tree lot, where we search for this year's victim. Here are photos I took of our visit to Silveyville Christmas Tree Farm. Here's a plug for the place: it's lots of fun. They've got a nice nativity scene, a sleigh ride with Santa Claus, plenty of help, free hot cider and popcorn. Good stuff.

Now, on to the photos.

Kate's always ready with a pose. She can drop whatever she's doing, no matter how important or menial, and strike one. She never fails. And I love it. Makes my job as photographer so much easier.


















Genna poses with little prompting as well. She usually prefers some sort of prop, though. The autumn landscape of the Christmas tree farm offered little in the way of flowers, but Genna was perfectly happy posing with a bedraggled sprig of dandelion.


















As our resident three-year-old, Julia requires a bit of finesse to catch properly on camera. She likes having photos taken of her, but she just can't sit still for long. But this didn't daunt me. I used it to my advantage and was able to get a picture which, unlike most other photos, sums up the subject in a single wink of the shutter.


















Sam didn't get much room to roam, what with Santa riding around in his diesel sleigh and terrorizing the guests. But he was content with his bear ears and stick. He even managed not to hurt himself.


















Ben was oblivious to the occasion, which was fine with us. He radiated cuteness from the double stroller (safe from Sam's reach) while we debated which tree to get. Oh, sweet oblivion.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

The Boys

Yikes the boys are growing up. We're administering growth-stunting hormones to them, but that doesn't seem to be helping at all.

Sam can't get enough of his car and has even managed to break it. I expect nothing less of him. In fact, I would be disappointed if he hadn't. But now I need to go out and find a new caster to repair it. I'll take that expense out of his future earnings.

Ben's head, unlike that of his brother, is in a normal range in terms of circumference (not in terms of raw processing power, which is off the charts). That means that he is able to hold it up for an appreciable length of time. He was able to hold it up during the entire length of his bath, despite the prodding and scrubbing his mother administered to him.

But he wouldn't look at the camera, try as I might to pry his eyes off of the fascinating wall beside him. Hopefully the girls will start teaching him some tips for how to pose, and like it.