Our second family Christmas celebration was with the Schmitts this past weekend. The house was buzzing with all five grandchildren running around and it was great.

Lucy's first Barbie: "Doe Wipe Barbie"


Grandma and Grandpa had a fun game for the older boys to play: they hid jingle bells all over the upstairs of the house and asked the boys to find as many as they could. The Christmas presents for the boys included electronic banks. After we opened up gifts Grandpa told them that each jingle bell had a number written on it (5, 10, 25) and they would be given a coin for each. He handed out the money to the boys and they put them into their new banks. It was all very exciting for the little guys!


Albert kept busy by hanging the little bells on the branches of the tree.


As per Grandma's request we attempted to get a photo of the entire family. However, wiggly toddlers, unhappy older children/adults and the lack of a space big enough to accommodate all fifteen of us all made it very difficult. This is the result: (poor little Albert is just a blur)

Benjamin's class at school put on a memorable night of performances by "Famous People" last week. Each child picked a famous person to portray at an event called "Writer's Cafe." Benjamin went with someone who shares his name, Benjamin Franklin. Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunt, Cousin and Godfather all made it out to watch him do a very excellent job. We also saw performances from such notables as Pope John Paul II, Barack Obama, Marco Polo, Helen Keller, Marie Antoinette and others.

Of note - I used my oft neglected theatre degree to help build his costume and wig. It was so fun to throw everything together with him.

Last weekend we celebrated our nephew AJ's 7th birthday. They had everyone over to their house for a Mad Scientist show and a rocket launch.

Benjamin had a big day at school on Monday. All of the kids in his class were asked to give a presentation so they could work on their public speaking skills before they have their big performances at the Writer's Cafe (which is next week). They were able to choose whatever topic they wanted, so Benjamin decided to give his presentation on theatre. We spent a little time at my office a while ago putting together an outline of his presentation and the PowerPoint slides. He was very excited, but as you can see in the video below, when it came time to get up in front of everyone he was also very nervous. The child who usually is the loudest one in the room didn't speak much above a whisper. But he did an awesome job!


My photography class has been going well. I only wish I had more time to spend reading all of the lessons. I had been considering upgrading the lens that I use the most (50mm) and when I asked my instructor about it, she suggested renting the better lens to try it out. Well, the 50mm 1.4 came in the mail yesterday and I took it for a spin in the house and then at the park. It.is.awesome. I've already listed my old one on Craigslist, hoping to be able to buy the new lens soon!

This guy got himself baptized yesterday. It was a lovely day.

Week Fourteen? How could that be true??

The special guest star in the photo is Lucy and Benjamin's new baby cousin Albert. It is amazing to think that someday Albert will be the same size as Lucy or will likely be even bigger than her. AJ and Benjamin are the same amount of time apart in age as Lucy and Albert. I only hope that these two newbies will have as much fun as the old guys!

We took Benjamin and Lucy to a portrait studio today to get their first sibling photos done. Of course, Benjamin was a big ham and even threw out some Zoolander-esqe poses. The photos we received are great. I used my camera to capture them so I could share them here. Click on the small version to see the full-sized photos.

Andy and Jennifer's little guy came into the world on the 1/6/11, which is neat because he weighed in at 6 lbs, 11 oz. We stopped by to visit them at their home today after they were discharged from the hospital. All is well. Mom and Dad are settling into their new adventure and Baby Albert is so adorable.