We stayed up long past our regular bedtimes last night, watching the spectacular events of opening night in Vancouver, after enjoying mini sliders and baked potato wedges in the company of great friends. The 2010 Winter Olympics have officially commenced and the entirety of the T-burg home is excited to watch the events!

Needless to say, we slept late this morning, and are having a quiet morning at home. I love being at home, so this is a good thing, indeed. My darling husband is cleaning the remnants of a fun dinner gathering with old friends and I took out the Lincoln Logs for the little J boys to play. Well, Lincoln Logs are great fun, so of course the enjoyment wasn’t reserved for the littlest J boys. They were soon shared with mom and big brother too.

Jared couldn’t be bothered with Lincoln Logs this morning. When he noticed my iPhone just laying there alone, he took advantage of the situation. *grin*

I love how the littlest J boy moves about from place to place, playing in every position possible. Too funny. These were all taken within 10-15 minutes!

And lest you think we have a perfect, storybook life….this all transpired before one, certain, very cute J boy dropped “howdy partner” and his horse into the toilet…while he was still seated, and after he had done his bizness. I’ll just leave it at that!

He’s the sweetest (and I think) most sensitive J boy and after I got everything washed up, he sheepishly asked, “Are you mad at me, mommy?”

“Nope!”

“Then are you happy at me, Mommy?”

“Yep!”

(And with that, J boy purses lips for a soft kiss.) Mommy’s heart flutters and tries hard to implant this moment deeply into her heart with the rest of the many, sweet, J boy moments.

I just LOVE being a mom to boys and feel SO blessed! Thank you, Lord!

Sometimes I get the feeling that some people feel sorry for me when they learn I have four sons. I still hear the question quite often… “So…are you going to keep trying for a girl?!” The fact is that I’m quite happy and in love with all my boys and if I wouldn’t mind having a few more! (Not that it’s in the plans, hubby will be quick to assure you!)

I mean, what am I missing besides dresses and pink and bows and DRAMA!? ::snerk:: I’m certainly not trying to lessen the blessings of those of you with girls, but I …well, I digress. What I mean to say is that I don’t feel like I am missing out by having boys and I love that my boys often join me in the kitchen. ::grin::

Valentines Day is just around the corner and although I am not the best mom (in my opinion) when it comes to celebrating holidays and birthdays, I am trying to improve. One of our favorite ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day is to decorate (and eat!) sugar cookies.

When our plans changed last minute yesterday, Fishmama invited us to come over for a playdate yesterday. My first thought was to whip up a batch of sugar cookie dough to take along. I was sure that flour would be flying and that it would be pure chaos at her house between my J-team and her 6 children! But we’d never let a little chaos keep us from a good time!

It was a surprisingly relaxing visit! Jessica and I got to chat over artichoke dip and crackers. The big boys played outside together (I really should have snapped a few pictures!) while we rolled, cut, and baked heart shaped treats with the help of a few little people, just one at a time. I will remember that final detail for next time! I think letting the kids help just one or two at a time helps keep this mommy from getting her “cookie dough in a wad!” Pardon the intended pun! ::grin::

All the kids came in from outside (okay, so the big boys didn’t stay long!) and the icing and embellishing of heart cookies ensued. Fishmama was well equipped with rock candy, red hots, and festive sprinkles. Isn’t fish chick the cutest thing?!

It made my heart happy to see my boys’ delight.

How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? I’d love to hear from you!

I’d love to say more to introduce this sweet little man to you, but I’m going to keep it short in hopes of making time to blog more recent newborn sessions I’ve been meaning to share!

I think the images say it all! Isn’t he precious?!

Well, this post is just for my sweet niece who just turned four years old! We had such a great time at her garden party today. We celebrated her birthday eating breakfast, painting, planting flowers, opening presents, and eating cake.

After cleaning up the party area we had fun exploring. The boys especially had a wonderful time getting wet and dirty at the pond where we saw fish, tad poles, and frogs! What a great day!

Here are a few pictures from Maria’s special “derpday.” Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Well, yesterday I posted about a tradition we have at “Casa de Thornburg.” I bake ginger cookies to eat while we decorate the Christmas tree. We love these cookies! They are moist and chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Mmmm…

I baked these when we decorated our tree about four years ago, and it became an instant tradition…lol. The boys make sure I don’t forget each year! We all love them so today I thought I’d share the recipe with you. Be sure to come back and tell me if you liked them!

Ginger Crackle Cookies

1 c. brown sugar
¾ c. butter
¼ c. molasses
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ¼ c. flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. salt
**sugar to coat

Cream room temperature butter together with brown sugar in a mixing bowl. Add in molasses, egg, and vanilla and mix until incorporated. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients including spices. Add dry mixture to the wet ingredients. Chill dough 30 minutes. Form dough into 1 inch balls and roll in white sugar. Place 1 inch apart on baking sheet and place in preheated 350 degree oven for 9-12 minutes or until tops are cracked and lightly browned on the bottom.

I know this post is worthless without pictures, but I’ll have to come back and post one after I’ve baked these!

Ciao!

The boys had great fun checking out all the Christmas trees at our “favorite home improvement store” this afternoon. It’s a favorite tradition. Tomorrow, I’ll mix up a batch of chewy ginger crackle cookies to eat while we decorate the tree with ornaments and lights!

It is super fun to have older boys who are strong and willing to help out. They are part of things in a whole new way as they grow up.

I just love these little boys!

As it turned out we all had different ideas about just which tree we should take home! Which one do you like better?

I hope that you are all having a blessed holiday season with loved ones!

As many of you already know…these canvas wraps are awesome! Your favorite image(s) come(s) printed right on an artist canvas and is wrapped around a 1 1/2 inch wooden frame. Your new work of art comes complete with hanging hardware already assembled and is ready for hanging!

Take advantage of this limited time special! Happy Holidays!

I had the pleasure of photographing this terrific family just a few weeks ago. Zachary is now 4 months and has changed so much since his newborn session at just 6 days old! (I was super busy when we did his session so he’s not on the blog–sniff–I’ll have to share those one of these days because he was a cutie!)

Enjoy!

Dad has been away for a few months and it was so great to see their new family so happy to be together!

I was in the Denver area last month for a photography workshop, which I’ll write more about later, and had the added treat of a visit with my little niece. Spencer’s sister and her husband were kind enough to host me for a few nights while I was in Littleton, Colorado.

Here are just a few snaps of Claire with her Mama.

I also got to stay a few nights with some dear friends Lee and Sheri (and their five fun kiddos) from WAY back when…special friends of ours from before we were married with children! It was so special to see them; I can’t wait till we can get our families together again.

I enjoyed doing a session with the kids and then a mini family session before I left Colorado. I’ll definitely be posting some pics of them here soon.

Ciao!