and all is done! the stockings are hung, the gifts are wrapped and the children are nestled in their beds…. just waiting for them to find those sugarplums dancing in their heads! they are so hyped-up, it’s making it difficult for them to fall asleep tonight. understandable! i can still totally remember that feeling of excitement on christmas eve.

when i  logged on earlier, i checked the "norad tracks santa" website and it says that the jolly guy is in madison, wisconsin right now! hi jenny! hope he leaves you everything you wished for!

merry christmas to you all!

wishing you peace, joy, health and happiness!

a few images from our home tonight.

and just to show how tall our tree is. i’m 5′4”.

tonight the kids decorated the gingerbread house train. i have to tell you, it was somewhat difficult for me to just let them do it themselves and not offer any ‘advice’ on how to do it and where to put every piece of candy. what can i say….. it’s the perfectionist in me. but, i let them go to it, and it was so much fun watching them create this wonderful masterpiece, licking the icing off their fingers and eating the left-over candies.

we never built gingerbread houses or trains when i was a kid so i hope that continue this new tradition in their own families one day. they enjoy it so much! and the BEST part was that they actually got along and didn’t fight or argue even once! i sure hope santa took notice of that!

{yes, i bought a kit…. you didn’t think i actually had time to bake it myself did you?}

{35mm lens f/4.0  ss 1/40  iso200  flash fired with gel}

but i’m taking a break from it all! i worked over the weekend so i didn’t get much done. we did manage to get the tree up!

{sigh} the tree! oh, you just wait until i show you the tree. not tonight though. maybe tomorrow. or the next day.

tonight, as i take a break from the christmas decorating, i thought i would get caught up on some personal photo editing. i have a TON of it to do. remember when we lost our power back in november? the night i had the turkey in the over. well, i found this image from that night. i absolutley love it. i can’t believe that my kids sat so still while the camera took this shot.

please don’t look at the mess in my kitchen. but do notice the peanut butter and jam sitting on the counter. that’s what we had for dinner that night instead of turkey!

tech info:  used my tripod.  ss 1 sec, f/4.0, iso 200. 17mm. i love the lighting here.

i really do love it when the power goes out…. for a short period of time only. like maybe 2 to 3 hours. and when i don’t have a half-cooked turkey in the oven!

tonight, we "decked the halls"….. finally! tomorrow we put up the tree!

i can’t believe how far behind i am this year. but i am starting to catch up…. i think!

about two months ago, emily started going through her "treasures" and began purging some of it. i can’t tell you how happy this made me. she’s a HUGE pack-rat! if anyone is looking to buy some gentle-used, well loved polly pockets or barbies and accessories for a really good deal, shoot me an email!

this is her room tonight! take a good look…. it probably won’t look like this for long! 

(p.s. i used my flash with gel attached for the last shot! no colour correction made at all!)

this picture was taken by my fabulous and incredibly talented good friend elizabeth while we were in arizona for a flash photography workshop, back in october. we learned tons and had so much fun!

(i’m too busy to actually take any new pictures right now!…. so this is what you get!)