..Christmas spirit that is! I have all my Christmas shopping done and have a head start on the cooking. I think it has to do with my new baby (aka camera) and how much fun it is to capture some sweet holiday moments.

I took this last night with nearly no light.

I also took some video yesterday at Parent Participation, to give me some practice on shooting and editing video footage. Yeah, my focus isn’t very accurate yet, but that will hopefully come with lots of practice.

No, I’m not pregnant! I still only have 2 kids, but I have one new baby that arrived yesterday. The Canon 5D MKII arrived at my doorstep yesterday and I felt like Christmas came one week early! I had the same feeling I had when I got my first 1MP digital point-and-shoot camera way back 8 years ago. Obviously there are some huge difference, one being that THIS baby captures HD video as well as being an awesome dslr.

I can’t claim to be a videographer by any stretch of the imagination, but my creative juices are flowing and I can’t stop playing with this thing. I’m practicing A LOT on my kids (obviously), as in this video taken yesterday. My oldest “baby” is in the bathtub in the first clip.

Who knows, one day I may be able to offer multi-media photo sessions?! It’s certainly an exciting prospect.

Holy schmoly, is it really Christmas in a week?  This year has been torture trying to get into the Christmas spirit, but as a friend pointed out recently, it’s because we have one week LESS between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which accounts for the general bah-humbugness this year.  I’ve been forcing myself to do as many holiday stuff to get myself in “the spirit”, and it’s certainly helped.  These activities have consisted of tree hunting, Santa visiting, Santa photo taking, Christmas “crack” making, and stocking making.  If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about for some of them, I’ve provided examples below.

Recipe for Christmas “Crack” (or as I tell my children, “crackles”.  No, mommy does not make real crack.)

1+ tube saltines, whole
1 jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides)
2 sticks butter (real butter, not margarine)
1 hard packed cup of brown sugar
Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 425
Line pan with foil bigger than the pan. Spray pan with cooking spray.
Melt together brown sugar and butter in a small pot until boiling. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring frequently, and pour over a tray of saltines, layed out whole, side by side, covering bottom of pan. Put in 425 oven for 5 minutes. Pull out and pour chocolate chips over the tray. Let sit for another 5 minutes (I put it back in the warm but not hot oven) then spread out to cover whole top. Put in fridge until set. Break into chunks and eat!

You can substitute mint chips for the chocolate chips to make it extra Christmas-y.
Also optional: add chopped nuts on top after spreading chocolate.

And here are some photos of tree hunting and visiting Santa.

These twin toddler girls were adorable, but had very different personalities. As a mom of a little girl myself, I can just imagine how their parents’ lives are filled with an over-abundance of joy and silliness that comes with living with precocious, happy girls.

This Paso Robles family made my job waaaay to easy. Ok, maybe easy is a strong word. I enjoyed it so much that I couldn’t stop proofing the images. I couldn’t help it! Their boys were way too cooperative, so I had more than the average number of shots at the end. Which of course means this is going to be a long post.

I just loved this airplane teeter-totter! I need to get one for my kids.