Right now, the kids are about to walk out the door to school (note, I wrote this yesterday). If I was a nice mom, I would have reminded them to bring me their lunch boxes so I could make home lunch. But they’re busy playing, so they forgot. I’m using my 10 quiet minutes to blog, because I’m not foolish enough to wreck it with packed-lunch demands. School lunch it is!

Sunday:

Are these two the cutest or what?

Who new professional lacrosse games were really fun?

Finn couldn’t hang though, he slept right through the very exciting overtime

Monday:

I finally started making my bed, like I’m a grown up or something

All our linens, sorted and vacuum bagged for storage

More couch naps

Tuesday:

My favorite baby time

Or maybe this is my favorite baby time

I made it to the final rounds of the Shoot & Share contest! That bottom right one is mine.

Wednesday:

Lincoln does not love the craft store like I do

Being 2 (and everything being 2 entails) is exhausting

Super excited to read El Deafo, her new graphic novel

Thursday:

I got exactly zero of these numbers on either of my lottery tickets

Eating his feet

I am also tempted to chew on his feet

Friday:

Linc has started getting really sad when the big kids go to school

CHUBBY

Late night ladies trips to Home Depot

Saturday:

Making progress towards the guest/play room

New fox sox

I love this photo

Is anyone in the market for a 2-year-old? I’m about ready to sell mine. His favorite hobbies are giving me heart attacks and dumping out bins of toys. But he’s really cute when he sleeps and can be super funny. Maybe I can just send him off to circus camp or something for a few weeks until he gets it out of his system. Otherwise I might have to invest in deadbolts, padded walls, and $10,000 worth of granola bars.

Still a week behind, trying to organize my photos, my thoughts and my time enough to catch up. I’m on a mission to make this the year my house stops being embarrassingly cluttered in the background of all my photos. It’s going to take a LOT of trips to Goodwill.

Sunday:

Santa did good

Kitchen-obsessed

NO WAY BABY, that’s my hot chocolate with schnapps

Monday:

That’s his poop face

New kitchen towels

He asked for a “super cool” sweatshirt for Christmas

Tuesday:

Who is this teenager?!

Hand and foot

My infant’s photo shoot wardrobe cost more than any pair of pants I own

Wednesday:

Bonus Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa

Outfoxed (it’s pretty fun)

I looooooove magnatiles

Thursday:

Cookie thief

My OB-GYN has the coziest waiting room

EYEBROW

Friday;

Eighteen pounds of love

Goodbye Christmas tree

Hero Toddler

Saturday:

Snowing inside the Seaport

Oddly enthralled with The Tempest

New Year’s Eve fun

Now I’m only one week behind. But I also got my kitchen counters cleaner than they have been in YEARS and put several piles of stuff away where it actually belongs instead of in piles around the house. Unfortunately my meal delivery box hasn’t come yet today…so it looks like dinner is going to be popcorn and yogurt tubes. My children will be thrilled.

I realized that although I managed to blog for real last week I forgot my iPhone post. This is the week before Christmas.

Sunday:

The American Girl Store: where tiny pianos are a necessity

Caroline + Kit

Then Kit came to Target and insisted on a nutcracker

Monday:

Good morning, Kylo.

Big boy haircut makes him look SO BIG

I might have a matching jams problem

Tuesday:

Dad pro

Frozen puddles

More shopping with Caroline + Kit

Wednesday:

3 am Christmas tree makes getting up with the baby not so bad

She’ll read to anyone who will hold still

The kids REALLY REALLY love filters

Thursday:

Who doesn’t want to go to Target 3 days before Christmas?

That explains why that drawer is broken (and also why our furniture is bolted to the wall)

Bumpa is Linc’s hero

Friday:

BabyGuy Box swag!

Watching our favorite Christmas movie

BITING THINGS

Saturday:

Mormor needed a photo in the shirts she bought

Wrapper’s delight

Christmas angel

Surprise! I’m catching up on my blog so you get two of these in a row.

Sunday:

Caroline took 2 dozen Nutcracker selfies

The Garde Arts Center in New London

I’ve taken this same picture almost every day this week

Monday:

SO MONDAY

Totally normal way to drink water.

He really loves his baby oranges

Tuesday:

This Tuesday is also very Monday

First try! I totally forgot how to do it but he liked being up there.

MATCHING

Wednesday:

Parking lot nursing sesh

Daddy doing an Elsa braid

MORE MATCHING

Thursday:

Red velvet cheesecake thumbprints

Beautiful toddler cookies

Superman helps make dinner

Friday:

More of me NOT walking the kids to the bus stop

Static hairs

Skeptical baby is always skeptical

Saturday:

Winter wonderland

Super cool superman

Caroline and her new best friend Kit at her birthday dinner

This was my first attempt at twinkle light bokeh photos, almost exactly 5 years ago. 

Here is the best one. It was a total accident because I had no idea how to use my camera.

I took some more for our Christmas card in 2014, but for some reason I never blogged them?! That seems very unlike 2014 Suzanne. She blogged everything. Not like this lazy cow 2016 Suzanne who can’t even do once a week. But I’ve looked through every post from the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015 and can’t find them.

For posterity, here’s the best one from that set:

And this year, I attempted them with all FOUR of my children. Finnegan is still super skeptical of group shots and being held by his siblings. He is pretty sure that’s neglect, and I should rethink my life choices for allowing it.

But capturing matching jams and twinkly lights is my favorite and I’m going to take this photos every year for as long as I have even one child who will cooperate.

This year’s jams were a gift from my friends at Gymboree, who are the best. Finding jams that fit ages infant to big kid isn’t always easy, but we’ll be able to match for years in gymmies.

(Also, I’m actually sort of horrified by how much bigger my children are. This is not ok. Why do they grow so fast?!)

Here’s my quick 30-second list of tips if you want to take twinkle light photos yourself.

1. White lights on white cord on a white background.
2. The further away from the lights you can place the kids, the blurrier the lights will be.
3. Set your DSLR camera on A or AP (so you control the aperture) and use the smallest number your lens allows.
4. Use natural light (besides the Christmas lights) if possible, otherwise your photos will be really yellow.
5. Don’t be afraid to crop after the fact – if the edge of your backdrop shows, just cut it out when you’re editing/looking at your pictures on the computer.

Let me know if you try, I LOVE this kind of pictures!