Merry Christmas!

This will probably be it until after Christmas.  We start the Christmas gatherings tomorrow evening and Christmas Day is busy from start to finish!  We're hoping to get the internet going at my parents' house so hopefully I can blog because I'm going to be there until Jan 3rd. 

We had some of our good friends over Saturday night for dinner and a gift exchange between the kids.  Here are the three older kids.

At their own little dinner table!  They're getting so big.
Here's Kai, the youngest of the bunch.  You wouldn't know it since he weighs as much as my little Hunter!  He'll be running around with them before you know it.
Kaitlyn showing off some blocks.

Zach and Hunter don't see each other as often as they'd like, but they don't miss a beat when they do.  This says it all.

O Christmas Tree

I have a lot of Christmas trees.  Hunter has really enjoyed plugging in all the trees everyday. We enjoy them lit up practically all day.

This is our main tree where all the presents go.

This is our Florida State tree.  It has an FSU tree skirt, FSU garland, and football ornaments along with garnet and gold ones.

This tree is silver themed.

This has become Hunter's tree.  It's filled with ornaments that he's been given over the past 3 Christmases.  At this rate he'll have a whole box to take with him to college!

This is a tree made with ball ornaments.  I didn't make it.

I got a neat little camera accessory from my awesome neighbors for Christmas.  It's been so much fun taking pictures of all my stuff!

Hunter has really enjoyed this train.  He's been really good about not playing with it.

Merry Christmas from The Powells

Everyone should have gotten their card by now so I'll share our Christmas card for everyone else.

My Sick Boy

Out of the blue Hunter started throwing up last night around 6:30. Right after he had a bath, of course. He proceeded to throw up every 20-30 minutes until 4am. Luckily, he drank water after every episode so he always had something to get rid of the next time. Grand total was 16 times! I changed outfits and washed more sheets and towels than I can count. We got 4 hours of sleep after it was all over. He layed on the couch, watched movies, and napped all morning. Around noon he was a little more himself - ate some crackers and played with his cars. Then he took a 3 hour nap in his bed. He woke up having thrown up again, but I think it might have been spurred on by coughing. He is much better this evening. Daddy brought home Wall-E and they are watching that now. I'm hoping we're on the mend. We were supposed to go to Sea World with friends today, but that obviously wasn't happening. Our friends were nice enough to reschedule so we're shooting for Monday now.  Let's just pray Heath and I can steer clear of it!

Clutching all of his comforts - Dog, Blanket, and a train

Thieves

A couple nights ago we were playing outside and wandered to the backyard.  Hunter found a shriveled up orange underneath (neighbor) Paul's tree.  He declared it 'a ball' and carried it around.  Little Garland joined us outside and, of course, needed 'a ball'.  He decided to pick a huge lemon off of Paul's tree so he could be just like Hunter.  These two boys had the best time with these 'balls'.

At some point they traded.  Here's G showing off the orange ball.

So cute!  They're just 2 weeks apart in age.

And in black and white for good measure

Faces

I've been trying to learn a little more about Photoshop and discovered things called 'actions'. Basically someone does all the steps to process a photo and puts it all under the touch of a button.  That's right up my alley!  I know very little about Photoshop so this is awesome for me.

I taught Hunter a couple of different faces recently.  He's so cute when he does them.  This is his 'mad' face.  It's the happiest mad face I've ever seen, but he's trying!

His 'surprised' face.

I just thought this was neat with his reflection.

Felt Wreath Project

I took some projects to work on while we were in Jax last week.  It's easier to get fun things done when you don't have laundry and dishes staring you down!  A friend of mine made one of these felt wreaths and I thought it was so cute that I had to try it.  It takes some time, but it's not hard to do.

Here's what you need:
12" Styrofoam Ring
15 Felt squares cut into 1.5" x 3" pieces
Tacky Glue
Something pointy - knitting needle or bamboo skewer

Put your pointy object in the center of a felt piece

Gather up the sides and dip into Tacky Glue

Stick into styrofoam.  It was easier for me to make a little hole in the styrofoam before putting the felt piece in.

Ta-Da!

With some left over felt I made some ornaments too.  Just get some styrofoam balls and do the same thing!

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

I was asked by someone I know if I'd photograph her family of three.  I decided to go for it and give it a try, strictly as a portfolio building practice session.  That's the only way to truly learn what you need to improve on, right?  We met at Cypress Grove Park last evening and spent an hour walking around taking pictures in between letting Josh have a few minutes on the playground.  They were such good sports.  I took a boat load of pictures and thankfully came home with some usable ones.  It was a good learning experience and I'm glad I took the leap and did it.  Thanks A family!

Hugs, hugs, hugs!

Fuzz

If you've looked at my Flickr pictures you're probably wondering what the heck these are all about.  Hunter has had an obsession with fuzz for as long as I can remember.  He loves to pick up a dust ball off the ground and most of all pick fuzz off his crocheted blanket that he sleeps with.  He picks the fuzz off and drops it outside the crib.  I come in to find a pile of fuzz every time he wakes up.  He then likes to gather it up off the carpet and take it to the trash.  That blanket may not last forever if he keeps this up!

Lots of pictures to share after being away for a while...

He already wants to climb trees

Playing in the leaves at Grandma's

We had a play date with my niece and the kids she nannies.  Megan and Hunter are reading a book to Grandma.

He found a comfy spot on the floor to watch some TV.

One of my all time favorites.  If only I could get that car and the shadow on Hunter's face out of the picture.  I've got my Photoshop expert on the job!