walkin' in a leafy wonderland

merry christmas everyone! i know that there's unprecedented snow and cold all over the country right now, but in our neck of the woods, it's leaves, leaves and more leaves! hope y'all are having a joyous day.

warm holiday wishes

we're talking literally warm. it's 70 degrees today and should equal if not exceed that tomorrow. gotta love living in the south!

we are having a wonderful and relaxed holiday so far, with a forecast of more of the same. lee-lee, papa rick and nana are showering us all (especially the boys) with lots of love, great food and fun presents. we're on our fourth night of hannukah punctuated with christmas eve and day, followed with more hannukah. what could be better?!? the boys think every present is a "choo-choo!?" and have adeptly learned the words "anna-ka," "norah" and "dee-dee tee, ights, pretty!" thanks to hannukah presents, their new favorite things are "pay-doh!" and "paint!" just wait until they see those gleaming red new trikes papa mickey and family got for them - oi vay!

we truly hope that no matter what you choose (or choose not) to celebrate this season, it is a time abundant with love, content, friends and family.

sending our love,

tracey, jordan, abel, oskar, matilda, ally and romeo

p.s. just a few random photos from the past few weeks

enjoying the warmth of december at the park - oz man has become the ultimate bouncer

pre-holiday prep at costco

just because - the boys love wearing headbands and have this bizarre obsession with lifting their legs in the bath. water aerobics 80s style, anyone?

our first night of hannukah - trains, trains and more trains.

abie gives nana a big hug of gratitude

oz decorates the tree with freshly fallen leaves

oz demonstrates his multitasking abilities. getting more leaves while trying to figure out what uncle mark and aunt laura sent him.

cell phone magic

i think cell phone cameras are this era's polaroid. it's fast, easy and instant. requires no manipulation, no light meter, no focus. sure, it has its limitations, but there's something about how it captures a moment, the frayed light, the graniness, the contrast, that makes it all the more appealing.

j recently bluetoothed a bunch of pictures to our computer that had been collecting on this phone. it was amazing to relive these simple moments captured. either moments i had forgotten about, or forgotten that we had captured.

this first one was taken a month back and i think is my new all-time favorite picture of oskar. it's an early rite of initiation, in a way. oskar joins the ranks of millions of men who read victoria's secret, while getting his diaper changed in the back of the car, no less. the face says it all.

the boys experience their very first push-up pop at chuy's (abie first). we paid for it the next few days in the quantity of "pop" heard around these halls:

we took the boys to dinoland at zilker botanical gardens. they LOVED it. they also loved finding rocks to sit on, take a rest and have their favorite snack - apples!

and reaching way, way back to what feels like an eternity ago, what a delight to find this pic from j's b-day when the boys were a mere 7 months old. i think this may have been the first time we put them in the front of the shopping cart, which at the time was a BIG deal. so liberating for everyone! the boys interaction with costco has evolved in such tremendous ways. they now walk from the car into the store and head straight for the toy aisle. the only time they so much as touch the cart is when they each take a side, wrap their fingers around the top grating, mount the bottom frame and catch a free ride to the check-out.

facelift

you may have noticed things look a little different here. after watching my fellow blogger friends revamp their sites, and seeing how beautiful and eye-catching and easy-to-read they turned out, i decided to explore what i could do over here at silverbabies. well, actually that's the first thing that was glaring me at the face when i hit "edit template." silverbabies? these kids are a far cry from babies. so i changed the blog title to silverboys, much more appropriate, and with a longer life-span i might add. other than that, i just futzed a little with some of the new design options, added a photo, rearranged some of the sidebar goodies, and...whalaa!

much improved, at least to my tired eyes!

i wish i had time to be more creative and really try to redesign things, but for now, this facelift is more than adequate. now if giving myself a full-body facelift were just as easy...sigh.

gigglepuss abel

abel has always loved to rough-house and be tickled, but it's ramped up to new proportions now. the new routine is on our bed. i lay down and he stands by me, staring me down with a huge smile of anticipation. then he runs and jumps into me, belly first, and i tickle him until he cries mercy (actually, he cries mommy). we roll around on the bed, tickling, both of us laughing until we are panting and our eyes are tearing. and then it starts all over again. this boy is relentless. he can do this for up to 30 minutes, which when all is said and done, is a pretty good work out! my friend anne was able to capture a bit of the rompage on thanksgiving day.