Banana Claus

We took the kids to a cute Christmas event at the Mint Museum today. "Banana Claus" is Santa and Mrs Claus' son and he is hilarious. All three boys loved it -- laughing out loud throughout. The Williams were there, too, and Ella was recognized for her prize-winning drawing. Go Ella!

PS Dad -- I could totally see you as a SC Banana Claus!

Another Big Boy

Griffin is such a little cutie. He's laid back, he's a little comedian, he's super affectionate, and he adores his brothers. He frequently says, "mommy, take a picture of me!" and then proceeds to pose. Its hilarious. He does things just to get a laugh and is quick to laugh when someone does something funny. He loves to chase his brothers around the house and pretty much loves doing anything they are doing. He still carries around his favorite dog and has added two others to make a posse (he's given them the names of "doggy", "peppers", and "snipper").

Griffin turned 2 1/2 on November 23rd. Two days later he started using the potty. Like clockwork. He's not 100% there yet, but I'm hoping to have him fully potty trained (during the day) by the end of the year. I forgot how cute little buns look in undies. I bought him tons of character underwear, but his favorites are the boxers. They came in a 3-pack, so all three boys broke them in one night before baths. :)

A few days later Griffin said, "I'm a big boy. No more passy." He proceeded to throw his passy away. Seriously. Can it get any easier? Mike, are you sure we can't have a 4th? :)

Dana's Shower

Lindsey and I (and several other girls) co-hosted a bridal shower for Dana. It was a fun afternoon and I loved seeing all of the out-of-town guests: my mom, Lindsey, Brad's mom Rachel, and her 2 sisters. Isn't this a great picture of Dana and her new mother-in-law (on Dana's right) and aunt-in-laws (on Dana's left)? Brad is a lucky man!

Our sweet mom came to town to help Dana celebrate.

Lindsey took a bunch of pictures with her new camera. Doesn't she look super cute behind it?


Check me out! Don't I look super tall? haha :)


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Here are a few of the engagement pictures I took of Dana and Brad. I took hundreds and narrowed my favorites down to around 150 (how do professional photographers do it?). A few more of them are on my flikr page.

Miles' Holiday Program

Miles holiday program was a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e. He'd mentioned a couple of times before the night of the program that he was "feeling a little nervous" about standing up in front of so many people --- which made it even cuter when he lit up and was incredibly animated during the program. He and some of his buddies ran around before the concert. When it was time to report to their classrooms, they marched ahead -- clearly a pack of boys that didn't need any adult supervision on their 1st grade hallway/turf. 

The program included: Winter Makes Me Sing, Shalom, Jingle Jive, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Blitzen's Boggie (clearly a secular school :).   

Dana joined us, which was awesome. Noah sat on her lap while Griffin sat on mine. Thanks for coming, Dana B!

James Island Festival of Lights

One of my favorite holiday traditions is the James Island Festival of Lights. It is an amazing display of lights (you drive through for about 30 minutes in your car) and also includes 'Santa's Village' which includes Santa (you can take your own pictures!), open fires to roast marshmallows, a carousel, a train ride, enormous sand sculptures, and so much more. It is top notch. The boys LOVED it. As we were driving through the light display, Miles screamed out, 'this is almost as fun as playing Wii!' All three boys were yelling and pointing out their favorite displays.

Lindsey, Dana, Jason and my mom were in the car in front of us. They said that they could hear the boys SCREAMING all the way from our car.

The boys asked for nerf guns. Parents have different opinions on guns. We've decided that since everything turns into a gun anyway (finger, stick, toilet paper roll) that "nerf" is the lesser of the gun toy evils. At least no one can shoot an eye out. :)

Me and my sisters. So lucky to have them as best friends, too.

Colonial Dorchester State Park

On Friday while Dana and my mom were wedding planning, the rest of us hit up Colonial Dorchester State Park, which is a few miles from my parents' house. Its an historic site that dates back to the 1700s.  Intact remains include a brick bell tower of a church, a fort used in the revolutionary war (in the begining by the Americans and in the end by the British), and a cemetery.   I loved the history -- the dogs and the boys loved the open space to run around.

Miles had fun playing photographer.  Was glad that my dad was there to capture it!

As always, Uncle Jason provided serious entertainment.  From shooting cannons (with tennis balls) to sword fighting (with sticks) to creating his own Swamp Monster, they boys were delighted.  Noah even let Jason deck him out (photo of Noah by my dad).

It was a fun spot -- look forward to running around there again!