So much to learn

I found a new website that is helpful in the attempt to learn this hard but thrilling task of actually understanding photography. I really really want to comprehend all of the confusion of f-stops and shutter speeds but it's a challenge to remember it all in between diapers, teaching times, laundry and oh... sleeping. This is an attempt at playing with photo shop in a serious way. Now off to bed.

Christmas take two

Nella at the Conservatory Christmas Eve

Wonderfully Cheerful Conductor

WOW mom!

Creation Museum

John Patrick wanted to stand here longer than the rest of us. He kept saying, "not yet mom."

Christmas take one

We are blessed to have about 5 Christmas celebrations so I will be bringing them in installments. :-)

First was my immediate family at my parent's house last Sunday. My mom and dad are the most wonderful host's ever and Christmas is their specialty. Picture lots of love, laughter and TONS of gifts for grand babies!

(all my pictures loaded backwards... is anyone else having a problem moving pictures around on the page lately?)

Dora and Anella both received these wonderful antique rocking chairs from my mom and dad. They both LOVE little people seats. (If anyone has been to play at Libby T. house with us hopefully you haven't noticed how Dora hogs the little person seat! We're working on it...)

Donnie and Lauren had my two oldest last Saturday for a day of Christmas fun. It's supposed to be their gift but I'm positive it's more of a gift for me. All my last minute shopping can be finished with only one babe in arms. Anyway, they took them out and also made these beautiful ornaments with each child's had print. Along with a wonderful poem. Aren't they the cutest thing you've ever seen?!?! (bonus: the bulb is plastic! whew!)

Adorable Annie girl and me chatting on her cousins cell.

I'm going to tell you what was in this eloquently wrapped gift with my name on it but you have to promise not to become holly-green with envy... Kate and Joe had John and my names in the gift exchange and each of these boxes held different gift cards for a full fledged date night extravaganza to one of my favorite restaurants AND Starbucks AND borders- babysitting and ALL!! (plus the cutest wrapped boxes that I can give out now and pretend I'm that crafty.)

Precious mom and little sister,

I think the following picture is the most hysterical thing. especially Anella. I won't even bother showing you the real family posed one that turned out so cute because let's be honest, this is the way that moment really felt. :-) Why we try these things when the kids just want to get to Grammy's house as fast as possible is beyond me. "We are all dressed up darn it, now SMILE!"

practicing

Well, maybe I should practice on subjects that aren't precious in whatever light they're in. :-)

We're guinea pig sitting, maybe I'll ask him to strike a pose.

Tangent: If you're ever guinea pig sitting, don't start hyperventilating if it is laying like a lifeless blob with eyes doing a funny twitchy thing and unresponsive to shaking the cage. No need to panic, it's just sleeping... guinea pigs apparently have no eye lids. Seems like information one would tell a girl huh? no? i think so.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Chocolate Raspberry Torte

This was a fun and easy recipe to make with the kids. Since the egg whites get whipped before they are added, the end result is something like a bowl full of chocolaty clouds. You try just using one finger to lick a bowl full of that!(Word to the wise: if you don't believe as Julia Child and I do, that all germs die in a 350 degree oven, don't eat what we Livingston's bring to the pot-luck!) It's a good thing the kids were napping for the glaze topping. It was a little messy.
The finished product was very yummy. Served with raspberry whipping cream, this one is definitely added to my keepers list of desserts!

Quote of that afternoon comes from Dora, sitting dangerously close to the finished cake while we wait for our small group bible study to arrive for the party she ALMOST sticks her finger in it because she couldn't take it for one more second. I yelled, "NO! Dora!" Her suggestion, "mommy, maybe I should sit somewhere where there's no chocolate."
:-)

Elly Beth this one's for you!!!

No peeking until Sunday!

You are my sunshine, my little sunshine

I'm baaaa-aaaaaaaack!

John picked out and bought a camera for me last weekend!! It's WONDERFUL. I have a lot to
learn (not many automatic settings on this puppy) but it's so much fun!!
I'm so much more inspired to blog when I have a picture to go along.
Isn't this little guy adorable. I don't know what kind he is but he's my favorite. Often the Cardinals and Blue Jay's come flapping in and scaring this tiny pudge away but he always returns.

This wonderful book John bought me is about the size of Grudem's Theology but it's so well written. If you ever want a guide to digital photography I definitely recommend this man's books, David D. Busch. He is thorough without being over the top and adds his own comments and jokes along the way. It's been awhile since I've wanted to sit down at 10pm to start reading something that challenges my brain. :-)




John and I enjoying the fire while we take turns with the camera and interrupt each others reading with new shots.

The kids and I love watching the birds on our feeder at breakfast.

Goosey Gander

There was a branch rubbing up against the house making a huge racket outside John Patrick window that sounded strangely like a goose honking. I told John Patrick to just pretend it was a goose living on the roof all snuggled up in it's nest and I called it "Goosey Gander". Today I thought it would be a good idea to cut the annoying branch off. When I told John Patrick I cut the branch he said, "you mean Goosey Gander?" He looked so hurt. I can just see him up there dreaming away about an adventurous goose on our roof and I just murdered it. At least I didn't cut it too far back to so I could tell him it will probably be back. :-)

Too much fun

We are having so much fun this Christmas. School happens in between talking about the gift of Jesus and baking, shopping, celebrating and cleaning up from all of the above. John Patrick read, "mad at me" today. This is a blessing considering about every third day he forgets what sound half of the letters say. :-) I've been assured by an old home schooling pro that this is just boys and the key word right now is RELAX. If he can't read a word until he's 8 but loves to learn he'll get it. "Encourge him in the love of learning" she said. If she hadn't home schooled 3 boys herself (very successfully I might add, they're brilliant) I would think she was crazy. The child she said is her most brilliant didn't read much of anything at all until he was 8. encouraging.

Character building is ramped up for mommy as I remember my high calling in life. Mary said it best, "let it be unto me as you have said." It's so easy to stress over things being hectic during the holidays but I'm working hard at patience and taking advantage of what life brings each day instead of planning it all out to perfection. That never worked anyway.

Anella has a new "stand your ground" motto for life. Only one short month after my post about her sweet and angelic personality. :-) I can't blame her though, a girl can only stand to be picked up and drug around the house as the pretend puppy so many times.

This is the first year we have had to take a stand on Santa. I'm not opening a debate here, we're not calling the shots for anyone other than our family. We found a great book about St. Nicholas that I love. It helps me show John Patrick who St. Nick was when he asks questions and it shows how he gave gifts out of his love for Jesus. Then I tell him that Santa Claus is another nic name. We just try to use Santa to point to the one who really does see you when your sleeping and know when you're awake. Tonight we delivered a meal to a family and then John Patrick said, "mom, we're glorifying God just like St. Nicholas." :-) Now if only we could get this to apply to sharing toys with your sisters...

The Senate is voting as early as today on an amendment to the health care bill being offered by Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) which will ensure that abortion is not funded by government dollars.
Please call the U.S. Capitol switchboard NOW at 202-224-3121 and ask your state's two U.S. Senators (McConnell and Bunning) to vote for the Nelson Amendment on abortion funding.

Tis The Season

...for trying to find a good picture for the Christmas card. :-) Always eventful.

Girls Night Out

We had a wonderful time at White Christmas Sunday evening. It was very good, even though I did have to get past the differences. Nothing is like the original. If there was a book it would probably be best, you know how that is?
Thank you mom for a WONDERFUL evening. I had to check my ridiculous smile every now and then during the performance. It would have been embarrassing if most of the others in the room didn't also have the same silly grin. :-)

From Mommies Point of View

This is what I'm finding at my feet quite a bit these days. The poor thing is having a hard time shaking the runny nose from the flu we all shared and an even harder time getting back to normal life where she isn't plopped on my hip all day long. A Cardinal enjoying our Thanksgiving craft from Monday. Dora loves all animals so she will stand at the window with our bird book trying to identify the birds as they land. (cut an orange in half, enjoy the insides yourself and then fill the cavity with bird seed. string it and hang a few together.)Where did the kids go you ask?

The perfect spot for all things secretive. (That is, once you've thrown all the toys out and all over the living room floor. )

A regular lumber jack these days

Mommy has been asking for a lot of forgiveness lately. From my kids but more often from my Savior. Who, by the way, is beautiful from the vantage point of my knees. :-)
I don't know what (besides sin) has reared it head in me but I am stopped often lately with, "yes, Lord, I see it, forgive me." And he does. Then we do it again in the not to distant future.

SO, with that said, I brought in a broken toothpick and a log this morning to explain Matthew 7 "take the log out of your own eye before examining the speck in your brothers" to my kids.
It went over well and I thought, "my won't that be a good tool for me to show them how to quit picking on each other"
Then I got it out for my own log removal.... then myself again... then myself again.
I'll be leaving that in the office now for easier access. :-)
(it did help the kids listen better when we got to the speck part though, just in case you wondered)

precious times

Life is just flying by here in the Livingston house. We are trying to soak up every last minute of this precious weather in between swine flu and other snotty yuckiness that goes around right now.

My favorite fall quote comes from Buggy who said to no one in particular as we were driving through an absolutely surreal forest of Autumn colors 2 weeks ago, " Thank you God for making all these beautiful trees." The birthday girl on her actual birthday with her gift from Aunt Jessica and Uncle Jay.
Dory, helping mommy in the kitchen. I let her cut bananas and chop eggs last night for dinner and she did so well! I was so proud and had all these wonderful thoughts of the fun times we'll spend in the kitchen together and what a blessing it is to have such a... particular child as my oldest daughter. She's extremely thorough. :-) She is having a hard time with writing her name because if the letter aren't just so, she erases it and starts over!

This little guy was stuck to our back door a few weeks ago. I love most amphibians. Isn't he cool?

Anella on the floor of the combine, "Are you gonna eat these leftovers down here?"

If you've never been in a combine before, it's a little hypnotising watching the corn coming in and the whirring sound...the sun..... makes me want to sleep just thinking of it.

wonderful fall finds

I'm pretty sure when she's twelve I'm going to look back and wish for just one more kiss on these two year old cheeks and to play with the dress-up bows in her braids.

Anella Kay

Does anyone else feel it's only been a few months since I posted with this title to introduce our Nella? And now, here she is a big one year old. sigh. so fast.

So, here are a five shots of Anella's first year and five of John and my favorite things about this little precious girl:

1: She is such a sweetheart, peaceful and pleasant 2: She is very funny and always entertaining us with her funny faces. Her eyebrows can tell a thousand stories. Keeps the dinner table entertaining.3: She loves to smile and enjoy anyone who looks her way. We like to give an extra minute to the kind great-grandma's at Kroger who enjoy a chubby, toothy grin. Nella is always good to them. :-) 4:She LOVES her daddy and will lay her head on his shoulder as long as he wants to stand by her bed singing her bedtime songs5: She is our little gift from above. To her sibling and to us. We love you Anella Kay. Happy Birthday!