News layout

No, I don't have any big news, other than "tomorrow is 2010!"

This week's Digidare challenge is to make a page about where we get our news. I don't go for traditional sources....I get most of my news from Josh, Drudge Report and Twitter! :)
(linked to my gallery)

Christmas 2009 in pictures

This is going to be very photo-heavy. Sorry in advance!

Last week we went to Niagara Falls to see the lights on the Canadian side. These trees are coated in ice from the mist from the falls. I don't know how they survive that all winter, every year, but somehow they do!

The girls, with the help of Josh and his dad, tried their hands at ice skating for the first time.
Jasmine said she didn't have fun, but they've been pretending in the kitchen since then, so I guess they really did!

Christmas Eve at my family's house:

Meeting his cousin Elena for the first time :) My kids finally have a cousin! (just one, but at least they finally have one!)

Jasmine "flying," courtesy of Uncle Jacob Airlines

Yeah, this is how we spell "Love Joy Peace" every year. And no, it never gets old.

Elena knew Christmas Eve service would be special!

So did Jasmine :)


My family!

Bekah with her Raggedy Andy from my mom!

We spent too much money on Hudson's Christmas presents!


Jasmine loves her new "floofy" skirt!

Fisher-Price: All products are available!!

I'm so excited!! All four products are on the website now! Of course that means we have to start looking at the stores....

For anyone who missed (or forgets) the back story, Fisher-Price's offices are nearby, so we sent pictures of each of the kids to them. Hudson was chosen 4 times (actually 5 but the 5th was a day that we were already doing things), and all four products are now available on FP's website. I'm not sure how much longer before they're available in stores, but at least I can show these off!

First there's the mobile. It's really hard to tell (even for me!) if that baby on the website is me, but that's the color onesie he's wearing. I'm thinking it will be at Target since they currently carry Precious Planet mobile and they (and Wal-Mart) tend to stay consistent in what "lines" they carry. But the one at the stores now (the Projection mobile) isn't him. Nor is the one with leaves on it.

Secondly, there's the open-top swing. That's definitely not him. He was wearing a green onesie, I think. I don't remember much about that shoot, other than how hard it was to keep the swing still when he kicked!! He was happy for it, but that's about all I remember.

Then there's the bouncy chair. This was the first shoot, and they wanted a sleeping baby. He didn't sleep very soundly, and they only got one shot of him asleep, so I'm not sure if they could use it. He's wearing a blue onesie in this one.

And the final picture: the Space-Saver high chair. The picture of the woman in green feeding him a bottle (ptooy) is him!!! I was pretty sure he'd be on this one, since they commented that he gave them the best pictures they got of that shot!

So if you happen to go to Target, WalMart, KMart, Babys R Us or anywhere else that carries Fisher-Price baby things, I'd love it if you wanted to see if he's on the packaging there! I can't wait to see him in the store

New Layout

We went to the park a few weeks ago to try to get some cool silhouette shots. Unfortunately, I had my ISO set to auto and the camera thought I wanted to get some color in her instead of getting a silhouette, so most of the pictures were too noisy to use. But using some noise-reduction software I saved this one!



(linked to my TDC gallery). This adorable kit comes out tomorrow :)

Christmas I

(Fisher-Price update: Mom found him at her Target, and she says the baby on the website is him, it's just not a very good picture so it's not very clear. The box at Target is much more obviously him. I don't know if he is pictured on all the boxes in all the Targets, so I'd love it if you wanted to check your local Target whenever you're there next :) )

Saturday we celebrated Christmas with Josh's family because Charity (his sister) and her husband decided it was fun to go on cruises over Christmas. It's nice to have a break between the celebrations, so we're okay with that.

"Welcome to the Virkler Family Restaurant. Can I take your order?"

Hudson wasn't sure what all the fuss was about; just give him a piece of wrapping paper to bang and eat, and he's set! He did think the toys were cool later on, though.
Jasmine and Bekah painted these ornaments with Charity and Leo a few weeks ago, but I think they'd basically forgotten about them. So it was exciting to see them fired and beautiful!



The girls now have real ballet slippers (Capezio, even!) and leotards, tights and skirts. I'm hoping to get them into classes next fall!

Fisher-Price update

The first product is now on the market!!

I'm not sure if he'll be on any of the packaging, since he didn't really smile much. When the high chair comes out I'd be pretty surprised if he's not on it, but this one I'm much less confident about.

But if you'd like to look for it in your nearest store..that would be wonderful! Target and WalMart have a different one on their site (a "projection" one instead of the new one). The photographer told me they each have their own line of FP products, so it will likely be at ONLY Target or WalMart or everywhere else, if I understood her correctly! If you know of anywhere local that sells Fisher-Price toys, I'd be thrilled if you wanted to check for Hudson while you're doing your Christmas shopping!

And, if I could be so bold, can you take a picture if you do see him??

Oh, right. A link. ;)
Precious Planet 2-in-1 Musical Mobile

He's wearing an orange onesie and lying in the crib, like the first picture on FP's site. But he's blonder than that baby! That's not my son ;)

I Heart Faces: Another first for me!

I'm stretching myself even further today...I'm going to contribute a picture to a challenge that blows me away every week! :D
This week's challenge at I *heart* Faces is "sweet dreams." I knew right away that I needed to play with this picture of Bekah, fallen asleep in her Pooh costume. I call it "honey dreams" :D