A Marine, A Smart-icle and Holiday Photo Shoot

DS #1 is now, proudly, a United States Marine. Congrats Pvt Cannon. We have enjoyed 10 days of 'boot leave' with our new Marine. Fun times. Check out this handsome fella

We cheered, cried and laughed and talked and had a wonderful time. Of course, in the true tradition of our family we had a little car trouble up on Parris Island. Nothing we couldn't resolve, but it did mean a little more time on the Island than we originally anticipated. Still, the entire experience was incredible. Ooo Rah! The Marines are amazing and my heart swells with pride just thinking about all of the boys and their amazing families. These young men are strong, confident and determined. Their families are proud and honored to have them serve. It is like nothing else.

Not to be out done, DS #3 had an honor roll assembly this week as well, where he was honored for having straight A's. He is our smart-icle boy. We are equally proud of his accomplishments. Check out this little cute-y.

We had fun with him, and of course all of his friends and their parents. We've come to really enjoy time with these kids and their Moms and Dads.

But that's not all. This weekend, because it will be quite some time before we see DS #1 again, we decided to take some family pictures. Well, I decided to take some family pictures and everyone went along. Everyone DID NOT go along happily. There were angry words, tears and one storming off episode. That would be the slightly imperfect part. But in the end we have some nice pictures to use for Christmas.


We have some very nice parks near our home. We tried a couple of them and made one trip home to change shirts. One of the really great things about living in sunny South Florida is that you will almost always have good weather for outdoor events like photo shoots. Although I'm not much of a photographer, the kids made up for it with their adorable smiles and beautiful faces. Even though the whole thing was slightly imperfect, looking at this picture makes me smile.





I managed to get a little paper crafting in this morning, too. I haven't made a scrapbook page in ages, so it took a long time. I wasn't comfortable at all with the color combination or the other elements of the page, but it was very gratifying to make a page. I'm hoping it will help me ' get going' and make more. I've got lots of plans for Christmas that include paper, and plenty of pictures that need my attention so I was glad to get something done.

As you can see, I work in a very small space and I'm not particularly tidy. I don't care. I love to have all of my little bits of paper. I love that my stuff sits out waiting for me in a happy little corner of my bedroom. I love that if I want to work on something it's all right there. I used to have to put everything away. No more. Now, I'm off to get ready for an early Thanksgiving with the family. We'll be celebrating on Sunday because DS #1 leaves Monday morning.

Here's hoping that your weekend is filled with laughter and fun and the love of family. Even if it includes some yelling, tears and one stomping off episode. In the end, you'll only remember the important parts and everything that was slightly imperfect will be forgotten.