it's been a little while...

I have been terrible about posting for a while now- and not for lack of things going on- quite the opposite.

In October I finished up my job, we found out we could move into a 4-bedroom house, we found out we could move immediately, Lu turned 5 and we celebrated in a fancy way, and we celebrated Halloween. Then a week later, in November, Z turned 7 and had a kikkin karate party, we packed up our student apartment and moved into the house! And it was all within just a couple of weeks!

Needless to say, it's taken me a while to recover- and I am still unpacking... and probably will be for another month. The process is slow, but we are loving the space!

I've neglected taking pictures of my family, because I have been taking pictures of other people:) Looking back through my photos, I have thousands taken in the past month- bridals, newborns, a couple of families, a wedding and Nutcracker dancers! I've really enjoyed all the great opportunities to photograph friends- and all that I've learned with it! I've been having a lot of fun, but am going to try to pull out my camera for more family moments this holiday season!

Here is a bit of what I missed sharing:

Lu had a Fancy Nancy Princess party- the guests all came dressed in their finest, and we enjoyed fingernail painting, jewelry making, and some other fancy games!

We decorated our flatware with rhinestones and I made fancy purses for the party favors.

We had fancy pom pom decor

and a crown for the birthday girl!

It turned out wonderfully- and we all enjoyed a super fancy day!

Best of all, Lu was so very happy and had a wonderful day!

For Halloween we had two Luigi's. I made Gibb's his costume since I couldn't find Luigi in a mini size. He wore his hat for weeks afterward. He does make an adorable Luigi!

Then our Z man had a karate party!

Matt has a classmate who is also a Karate Instructor! She was so kind, and came to teach a little lesson to our party guests.

They learned basic stances, the rules of Karate, some basic punches, kicks

and even some jumps!

The guests made their own headbands, and earned a white belt at the conclusion of the class!

It was so very fun!!

Since all of that we've had a wonderful Thanksgiving and our Christmas Dance Recital! Now we are looking forward to the conclusion of the semester and some time off, family visits, and the holidays!