We went to visit Grandpa last weekend and K determined not to waste a trip to Grandpa’s well-appointed workshop.

K has been developing an extended arm for weeks. Today we built it.

C had a vision for our Christmas card this year.  The children would hold foot-high wooden letters that spelled “JOY!” and everyone could see our newest addition and it would be warm and Christmassy.   It was my job to execute the photography, but as my readers with children have anticipated, things did not go as planned.  In the end, we had to fall back on plan B, individual head shots.  On to designing the card….well, C was having trouble putting the plan B card together, since it was not her vision.  Furthermore, it was getting late at night.  So I told her to go to bed and I should have ten card options for her by morning.  If you got our card in the mail, the card you saw was her first choice and my second.  It has the same caption as this card — my first choice and her second — but that caption has a truly ironic punch on this card.  C said that if it were not M’s first Christmas, we would have chosen it, just to stick a finger in the eye of the Christmas Card tradition.  I agreed.  Anyway, you get to see it here.

Merry Christmas!

It was finally warm enough and B had not fired his new air rifle since he got it, so he had an itchy trigger finger.  All three boys got to shoot and yes, they can all shoot quite straight.  I guess B is demonstrating here how you shoot from the seated position when the ground is wet.

3 boys shooting

“When I was your age we didn’t have a fancy water park in every small town.  You put your swing set slide into the cow tank, and you liked it!”

Slide into the cow tank