A Photo Session with the Grandkids

Once or twice a year we gather up K, E and their cousin, The Princess, throw them in some matching outfits, and plop them all on my Mom's lap for a photo. Usually from the combined 50 or so photos taken, we *might* get one with all three girls looking in the same direction; not necessarily all smiling but at least all acknowledging the same camera. My sister-in-law affectionately coined the name Nana and the Blurs for these pictures because usually one or more kid is trying to escape this "horrible" torture and ends up looking like a blur in the photo. When we do get a good one it's always a super cute picture but I find the outtakes to be way too amusing to delete.

Princess to E: "Hey kid, since you're new here, I'll help you out. Here's what we'll
do. I'll create a diversion and you can crawl away."

E to Princess: "Won't Nana and K notice I'm gone?"
P to E: "Nah. They're too busy smiling to notice anything."

E to P: "Sounds good."
P to E: "Ok. Let's shake on it then."

Nana to The Princess: "Is something going on here between you girls?"
Princess to Nana: "Who, us? Of course not!"

P to E: "Sorry kid. We'll have to try again next year."

A Picture Dilemma

Hi All!  I have a bit of a dilemma and I'm hoping you can help me out. A few weeks ago we had some family pictures taken for our Christmas cards. While we were there the photographer also took a few pictures of each of the girls.  As you may recall, I just had K's 4 year photos taken so I knew I wasn't going to buy any more of her. However, the photographer captured a couple of really cute ones of E and I'm trying to decide if I should buy any of them. Keep in mind that in two months I'll be having her 1 year photos taken. Since we had these photos done at JcPenney, they are only $4 per sheet (4x6, 5x7, 8x10, or 10x13) so it's not like they are super expensive to order. I just don't know which of the three poses to chose from and if I should have them with the black vignettes or just straight as they were taken.

Choice #1

A                                                                     B

Choice #2

A                                                                  B

Choice #3

A                                                                    B

Ha! I just realized I'm asking for you to vote for a picture on election day. How appropriate :)

Halloween Fun and Deals

Hi! Things are rockin' right along here at JAKES Place. We had a great Halloween and hope you and your family did as well.

A & K carved the pumpkin that K picked out from her preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch. She colored all over it and then she and Daddy drew a face on it together. A helped her by making pilot holes and with a little bit of guidance, K carved the pumpkin mostly all on her own. Previous to that, she decorated another pumpkin with a Hello Kitty kit where she painted it black and then used foam sticker pieces for the face. I think she enjoyed both pumpkins and was proud of her creations.

E really liked her pumpkins too.

K was also in a Halloween parade at her preschool and it was adorable watching her waving to everyone and smiling at every parent who was taking pictures or videos.

I loved seeing all of the kids dressed up together. Poor Mr. Incredible wasn't too happy though.

Like last year, I hit a few stores for After Halloween Deals. I didn't get nearly as much but I did score a few cute things at 50-75% off.

The dragon costume is for E and K decided next year she wants
to be a princess. Not surprisingly, she chose a blue dress.

The cat pajamas and the Happy Halloween shirt are for E for
next year, and the monster vinyl wall decals and monster eggs
are for her third birthday party. Trust me, when I see a deal that
fits into one of my birthday themes, I snatch it up no matter how
far away that birthday is!

Lastly, E is standing constantly. My mom thinks she'll be walking by next month. I'm not so sure but if she keeps this up, she might be right!

Well that's all for now. From our home to yours, we hope you are all doing well and enjoying this hectic but awesome time of year.