Thursday, November 25, 2010

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...with Shutterfly!

When I first began ordering photos of photo projects for the twins, the first place I looked was Shutterfly. I had heard nothing but rave reviews from friends, and I soon knew why! The design choices for invitations and cards for all occasions are large, which makes the final choice difficult, but in the end, you can always be sure that you have made the right choice simply by choosing Shutterfly.

This year, we will be making our holiday cards through Shutterfly. I never got around to it in time last year! Shutterfly has many great choices for Christmas cards, it's going to be difficult to choose the one I want to use! I  LOVE this one:





I love being able to use multiple photos, since I usually can't choose just one! But, I love this card design also:

 I know it's only one photo, but I can't get over the beautiful poinsettia design of this one! These are some other favorites:





I love the colorful snowflake design of the first one, and of course love that all three of these designs feature more than one photo so I don't have to make such a difficult decision, and can include a nice family photo, as well as different photos of the twins.




I have also been looking through Shutterfly for baby shower invitation ideas, for baby Mason. These are my two favorites:



With the twins birthday coming up, I have been shopping through the birthday invitation choices also. This is a definite possibility, since it's a neutral design:


I can always count on Shutterfly for great prices, beautiful designs, many card or photo project choices, and quick delivery. And you should to! Hop on over to Shutterfly today and choose YOUR holiday cards for this season!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Manners

Since the twins were very young, we have used manners around them and in front of them, with the hopes that as they grew and developed and learned to talk, they would use manners themselves. One of the first phrases they picked up on was "Thank you." This is something we often said to them when they would hand us a toy or other object, or do something we requested of them, so it's no surprise they picked up on that one first.

It was adorable to hear them say it to everyone and most of the time, for no reason at all. But now, I think they are getting it down a lot better.

Last night, hubs and I decided to head to Walmart to get a few things we needed. We got what we needed, paid, and left the register. As we left I thanked the cashier, and then as we were walking away, Merasia yelled "Thank you!" so the cashier too. It. Was. So. CUTE.

After leaving the store we deicded to grab dinner at a local diner in town. After we got seated, the waitress brought over some place mats and utensils. She placed a spoon in front of each of the twins, and after she did so, Merasia said, "Thank you." It melted my heart even more!

Finally, when our food arrived and was placed in front of Merasia, she said "Thank you" to the waitress again. Such a sweet little girl.

It made me so proud for her to act so sweetly, and at the same time, it blows our mind that they are growing up so quickly and know manners and when is the appropriate time to use them. And it makes us feel so good about how we are raising our children.

Just another moment, added to the hundreds of other moments, we have to be thankful for.

Pumpkin Carving and Halloween (Photo Heavy!) :-)

This year, the twins were older for Halloween, and able to have more fun with it. Last year was fun too, since we dressed them up and took them out trick or treating as a lion and a spider, but this year was a blast, as I am sure future years will be too. :-)

For started, we got a couple of pumpkins the night before Halloween and set to work carving them. DH wanted to cook some pumpkin seeds and I wanted to get some pics of the kids digging into the pumpkin guts and exploring everything. They got into it and got their hands dirty and help get the gross-ness out while mama stayed behind the camera. :-) Here's some photos of the kids getting their hands dirty:

Checking out the pumpkins:
















 Checking out the carved pumpkin...


 Clapping for a job well done! ;-)


Trying to pick up the pumpkins! LOL


Of course, Connor thinks anything that is circular shaped...is a ball. So the entire night while carving the pumpkins...all we heard was "BA-BALL!!"

Gotta love him!

The next day we dressed the kids up and went to the local mall, where they were having "Malloween." It was PACKED, but the kids trick or treated in the stores, and we tried to get in line for the costume contest, but the judges didn't even LOOK in our direction! They looked at the few people right in front of them, despite the fact that everyone else standing in front of them were in the competition as well. But oh well. Had they seen the twins, I am sure they would have won for the "Most Cutest" category. I mean, come on! Twins. Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. They GO together. How can you pass that one up? ;-)

After we left there we grabbed some dinner and met up with my mom and friends to go trick or treating, despite the fact that it was sprinkling snow and freeeeeeezzzzzzzing outside! We got home at a good time, and the kids were EXHAUSTED! I tried to get a few pics of me with them and daddy with them, but these are the best I could get with the moods they were in:




Connor wasn't crying in this last pic...he was actually laughing, despite the look on his face LOL

And I have already decided on their costumes for next year...all THREE of them! Connor will be the tin man or the scare crow from the Wizard of Oz...not sure which quite yet. Merasia will be Dorothy, of course, and Mason will be the lion, so he'll be bundled up all warm and cuddly! :-)


Monday, November 15, 2010

Apple Picking Photos - Looooong overdue!

We took the twins apple picking a couple of months ago, but I don't think I ever shared any photos from that day! So, here are some! It was so much fun and the twins got sooo into it! :-)


 Connor was double fisting the apples!




 Enjoying a snack along the way...lol


She had just taken a big bite of an apple in this pic:


It was my first time ever going apple picking, and of course a first for the twins, but definitely a tradition we will continue in future years. :-)

Some Updates

WOW, it's been a while! I know I keep saying it, but I promise to get better at keeping this dang thing updated! I used to be so good with it! That is one of the goals at the tippy top of my list right now! :-)

So to get started...here are some random updates on us from the past month...in no specific order of significance. :-)

Connor and Merasia are growing like weeds and as always, are complete joys! They seem to really be coming into their own personalities, but...more on that in a later post. ;-)

Halloween was wonderful and oh so fun! Connor was Peter Pan and Merasia was, of course, his buddy Tinker Bell. They were too cute for words! We went to a local mall for the afternoon for a special indoor Halloween event with candy, a costume contest, and other activities, and then met up with some friends later on for big time trick or treating! It was FREEZING this year, but the kids were troopers and toughed it out to the very end, especially poor Merasia who was shivering the whole time in daddy's arms, despte the clothes under her costume, her sweatshirt and hoodie and mittens. They got tons of candy, some of which daddy and I confiscated for ourselves. Only the stuff they can't have...stuff with peanuts or that's too sour or too gummy for their little teeth to chew through. They throughly enjoyed a couple of chocolate bars for the first time on the car ride home though. :-)

Connor and Merasia experienced their first time carving a pumpkin! They got into it and kept trying to pick the pumpkinds up...but they were a little too big and heavy for their tiny arms! Connor kept calling them "ba-balls!" (balls) LOL

Baby number 3 is doing and growing well, and has a name! Mason George Ryan...and he's a little mover and a shaker!

We got some unexpected and sad news a couple of weeks ago. Frank's father passed away earlier this month...but his sister and himself only found out a couple weeks ago. Nobody bothered to get in touch with them and didn't even mention them in his obituary. That's a post for another time though...with the details on all of that. But what it really drove home for me was to hold those closest to you so very tight, and don't live with any regrets or hold any grudges because...you simply just never know.

Mason's middle name is after Frank's dad's middle name, and my great grandfather, who passed away a few years ago. ♥

Mama is feeling good at 25 weeks pregnant...but it feels like it's dragging this time around! I just want it to get here and meet Mason and start life as a family of five! :-)

Okay...I think I semi covered everything. :-)

I am off to post some photos, and seperate posts...including a review and giveaway that is LONG overdue!