Sunday, January 3, 2010

JJ hits the single digits, Santa was very good to us & Homemade Xmas...

My Homemade Jasper Bday Invite
Our little chicken has officially hit the single digits! Jasper turned ONE this past December 21st. I was so excited for him, I think I sang "Happy Birthday" at least a week prior to the big day. Unfortunately, the sky was pretty excited about it too. We received about 24 inches of snow the night before his party! It was a beautiful thing to wake up to...but not such a beautiful thing for birthday parties. Unfortunately, we had to cancel Jasper's shindig...I was very bitter about the whole thing, thus the lack of documenting snow pictures. In a way, I guess it is suiting that Snow Miser visited us this year...given Heat Miser made us a visit in 2008! (Click on the hotlinks below for friendly reminders.)

Snow Miser (from my favorite xmas special, The Year Without A Santa Clause.)

Jasper's first moments...a total replica of Heat Miser below...



A view from our window. (This picture is 2 days after the initial drop...you can only imagine what it looked like. We seriously were held hostage on our street. Good thing I had a boatload of soup and cookies to hold us over!)


Jasper's First Bday Cupcake



He actually was more into the Ginger Cookies I had made the day prior. What the heck...its his bday.

"Ugh, I don't feel so hot."

GrandMary & JJ opening some of his gifts. Mom and Dad ventured out the next day for their sweet grandbaby.

The night before...
Jasper opening his FIRST gift, (it was originally a Santa gift, thus the xmas paper, but PJ couldn't wait any longer.)

He immediately threw his blocks in the back...We had not even taken it out of the box yet!


"Vroom, Vroom"

This dumptruck is NO joke. It rumbles and shakes (thus the fuzzy image), the front lights come on, the back auto dumps, and there is actually a button for the radio!


On to the....Happy Holidays! I say in denial to overcome the terrible downward spiral that comes after so much excitement. Is it spring yet? Anyhoo - we had a great xmas this year. No traveling, (perks of living close to everyone again), wonderful family gatherings & awesome gifts. We headed to my sister's house, Tracey very EARLY for the festivities. As you can imagine, her children had already opened up their Santa gifts and were ready for a nap! (um, that includes the teenagers as well.)

Santa checking his list...we certainly made the "NICE" list this year!

Check out the bounty and that robust tree!


Pj & his new acoustic-base...Watch yo back, Gene Simmons.

Long lost friend.
I couldn't resist this plastic sword at the store and instantly thought of my little brother, Matthew. He had about a trillion of these destroyed by Mom for his many infractions of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Rose crunchin' numbers with her new laptop.

Nothing like a teen and their very first cellphone.
Ryan was on that thing ALL DAY, not lying. The sad part, he had no numbers yet, so he was texting his older sister who was sitting right next to him. I think they actually started arguing via text. Gotta love technology. (At least no one else had to hear it!)

Life's Many Conundrums.
Brade received a full blown Cowboys uniform from Santa...and then got this from us. Poor thing was totally torn all day, rotating each jersey out every 15 minutes!


Requisite football pic pose.
(Brade did this all on his own. Hilarious.)


Brade's xmas present to his Mama.
He was soooo excited for Tracey to open it. I can't wait to receive gifts like this!


Hit the DECK!
OMG, did Uncle Matt REALLY just give Ryan a poison dart blow gun? We all were struck with the fear of god when this one was unwrapped.


Parker with his new skateboard thingie.
It has only 2 wheels and twists & turns. Seems impossible, I am sure this little agile athlete will figure it out!


Me totally crushin' it on the skateboard thingie.
(Notice the very tight grip on the door knob! Ha.)


Jasper totally hamming it up for GrandMary.


Tracey helping JJ out with his stir-fry skillz.
This gift is adorable, and Jasper LOVES it. He has been stirring it up for the past 2 weeks! ...never gets old.


JJ & Rose flirting a little.


JJ & Rose playing a little.

Matt and his first turkey.
(NOTE* he insisted on having Thanksgiving dinner again, complete with the works. He was informed he would have to prepare...which he surprisingly did!)
(DOUBLE NOTE** Notice the chalkboard in the background, that was a Kitty Kat original. for our budding chef, Molly. I still love it so much.)

This Christmas my creative sparks were flying! I couldn't control myself. I decided to pick up a paint brush again, (after at least 7 years.) I have to admit, it was a bit intimidating, but I was prepared to attack. I am so happy I did. There are many more paintings in my future...so many ideas are built up and don't even know where to start! Anyhoo - here are the creations/presents I whipped up for my sister and Marie...
A Modern Take on Classic Silhouettes
(The pink is meant for Molly, I didn't have a profile pic at the time. I am going to paint her facing the opposite direction.)


Brade. I love his crazy hair.


Parker.


Ryan.
(The stylish swooped bangs hairstyle resembles a unicorn. Something we can kid him on in later life.)


My most ambitious...a portrait of Baby Rose for Marie.
This picture doesn't really do it justice, but you get the idea.
Hopefully, I will have more creative goodies to share in the future. If I can get Jasper to sleep past 4:15am in the morning, I will be able to keep my eyes open at night to bring my ideas to life! I am thinking a profile of me and Pj facing each other as a headboard...Love it! In the meantime, I hope everyone had happy holidays! Btw - I am leaving some of my white xmas lights up year-round...is that tacky?
Later - Kat
Oh btw - Jasper had his 12 month check-up. He is 31 1/2 inches long and 27 lbs! In Dr. Gearing's amazed words, "He is S-o-l-i-d, Katherine." Our little man is awesome!

4 comments:

jen mowrer said...

wow, i had no idea you could paint so well - i love everything you did. i mean - WOW!

ps - i wish i could upload more than 5 photos at one time on blogger. it drives me nuts and makes it take way longer than it should. poo.

Patterson said...

The paintings are great Kat; the one of Rose especially. I wish I had a little of that artistic flair! Oh, and Cass was 17.2 lbs and 27.25 in at his 9 month, so he's making headway on the J-man. Well, at least on the height...they're still in different weight classes I think.

Katherine said...

Thanks ladies! The Rose painting needs a little tweeking...BUT all-in-all I am pretty proud of it!

Steph said...

I so much enjoyed reading your blog - LOVE your paintings... keep up the good work :)