What a Difference a Few Years Makes...

I LOVE getting new family pictures.  First of all, it is my own little secret torture device for the boys in my life.  They HATE to get their picture's taken-- even more than that, they hate that I make them "match" for pictures.  It isn't matching really...well sometimes it is, but mostly it is just about coordinating for the picture.  This year's family pictures were especially torturous because I made them take them not once but twice -- in the same week!  We had regular studio portraits done one day and the next day we meet with a local photographer to do an outside portrait shoot. 
Getting the pictures taken are fun but so is updating the family picture frame.  That is the time that I get to pull out all of the old family picture and reminisce. How fun it is to remember when they were so little.  For me I think about it in school years -- that one was taken before Coltin started kindergarten, this one was taken my first year of teaching.  Strange, I know.  But really, would you expect any less from me?
This year's pictures are especially poignant with Ben being 18 and headed out on his own.  Who knows in the upcoming years if he will be in town on family picture day?  And sometime in the (very distant) future he will be adding a daughter-in-law and grandchildren to our family picture. 
I have not yet received the proofs from our outside photo shoot, but I am posting some from our indoor shoot, as well as some previous year's pictures for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy!

March 2006

December 2008

June 2009

November 2010

November 2010

No Ordinary Family...Our Secret Super Powers

Our family has recently started watching a new weekly television show called "No Ordinary Family".  It is about a family who is involved in a plane crash and then develops super powers.  So...I decided to blog about what super powers we would each pick if we got the chance.

Chad:  Wants to be able to control other people's minds...especially those of his three boys.
Ben:  Wants super strength .. all the better to pick up on the girls.
Dakota: Wants to be able to go back in time and "fix all of the stupid mistakes I made" 
Coltin:  Wants to be able to control metal so he can create himself a motorcycle.  I think that we might be in trouble when he gets old enough to drive. 

And for me, I just want to be able to be super fast .. because it seems like I never have enough time to accomplish all that I need and want to do. 

But alas, we do not have any super powers and we are just a plain-old ordinary family. We do have some incredible skills though. 
Chad:  can polish off a package of cookie dough without actually baking a cookie and has an award winning smirk.
Ben:  can empty a full fridge in under an hour and still be hungry
Dakota: can find a sarcastic comment for every occasion and is not afraid to say it
Coltin:  can hear and correct the grammar mistakes of anyone and everyone -- parents and teachers included

and me...well I can just bore you with blogs about nothing.  Gives me something to do since I have so much free time on my hands....  Thanks for stopping by!