National Pomegranate Month

Did you know that November is National Pomegranate Month (among several other things)? In the beginning of the month, we had our family pictures taken by an incredible photography team, Brumley & Wells.  They did such a great job on our photos that I know we'll use them often in the future. I updated our blog header and side bar with a few of the photos, and here are two more of my favorites:

I got a bee in my bonnet and decided the ugly colors in the house HAD TO GO. The house has 4 rooms, and I painted 3 of them, plus a wall in the kitchen. The kids' room (they're sharing) was a dusty-pinky-tan, and the play room (slash sewing room slash piano room) was "Shrek" green on three walls and bright blue on the fourth. The picture of the play room doesn't do it justice - it was hideously BRIGHT green.

 I painted those rooms a light buttery yellow. It took 3 coats to cover - which translates into 4 days of the kids not being allowed to play with their toys or get out of their beds on their own. Notice, I pushed Lily's crib against James's in the center of the room so neither of them could get out in the night. Lily loved it so much, the first night their bed's were separated, she cried because she wanted her bed to be right next to James. Mike also hung some insulated, light-blocking roman shades that I made - cute, right?

Lily turned three on the 23rd of November! She was so excited. My family came up for a quick couple of days to celebrate with us. She was a good little decorator. She helped me blow up a dozen pink balloons, another dozen orange balloons, and tape streamers all around the house. Her favorite was the "star" on the living room fan. She was VERY particular about her birthday cupcakes: strawberry cupcakes with a bunny on top. They were delicious!

Lily's big gift was a tricycle. She was so excited to ride it, but her legs are a little short. She can really only ride it down the street because there's a decline. She's too funny. Yesterday she hopped on it (in the garage) and said "Mama, I'm driving to my house in Texas".

We drove up in the mountains to chop our Christmas tree down. The kids loved playing in the snow... until it was so cold that they didn't love it any more. James was just *done* by the time we loaded the truck up. Nothing a little hot cocoa can't cure.

Maybe my camera has been dropped too many times; it seems to have gotten worse at taking pictures. They're all grainy and blurry and washed out :( Sad. So blame the camera for making my gorgeous mama look anything less than stellar.