Our girls

Maddie colored her hair. I think it's a really good color for her.










Callie is modeling one of the headbands I made for her here.

Christmas is on its way

Matching jammies

I couldn't resist, I had to get the kids matching PJs. Too bad I couldn't get them in Maddie's size too.

Halloween 2008 so far...

Reese had to put his costume on within minutes of waking up this morning. Callie is wearing a Halloween outfit today too.

Freaky photos

John's dad gave him some fun lights. The kids love them (yes, even Maddie - ESPECIALLY Maddie). I got some pretty weird photos of them playing with them in Reese's little Ikea "Igloo" tent.

That crazy Reese

What a goofball.

Hummingbird

We had some brave hummingbirds hanging around here this fall. They were drinking from my hanging plant right up against our living room window, and Maddie got pretty close after only a few patient moments. If you look very close, you can see the hummingbird sitting on the feeder by Maddie's left hand.

Daddy Ben

A couple photos of the kids with their Daddy.

Callie is growing so fast!

Here are a few photos of Callie. She has that third child syndrom (not many photos of her). I'm trying to avoid that, but the kids keep us very busy!

Dinner with my brothers

The kids and I had dinner with my brothers the end of September. This was the night before John left.







Reese had them trying the "cheese" face.

Maddie and Jessica run amuck

I took Maddie and her friend Jessica to the Mall of America a few weeks ago. They were cutting up in the shoe store.



















At some point it turned into a contest to find the ugliest shoe in the store. Those crazy teenagers!

Photographing the large family - a documentary of true chaos

I have put together a short visual journey documenting the chaos that is orchestrating a family photo for a family of seventeen. Keep in mind, this is a silent documentary. One cannot fully appreciate the humor of the situation without the deafening soundtrack. It truly was a spectacle to behold, all the hollering, whining, tantrums, and overall deafening chaos.

The finished product is not completely perfect (everyone smiling, everyone looking at the camera, everyone with their eyes open, etc.), but it's as close as one can get with a family of this size.

Enjoy!






The scene starts out eerily quiet...









A lot of directors, but not a whole lot of action at this point. Wait, shouldn't there be seventeen people here?














It just can't happen without Ben and Dan working their magic.








Tantrums ensue, furniture must be scaled, attention must be directed towards the lens...can we pull it together?











And we did it!

Labor Day Laughs

Spencer and Ian, lookin' to impress the ladies.













Umm...this one is funny enough without a caption. I really caught a moment there, didn't I?











"We are Flintstone Kids, 10 million strong and growing!"













You know, you really have to know Kelly to get this photo.









Awwww...aren't they sweet?

Odds and ends

Various photos, no real theme.






Our pretty girls.
















Maddie and Reese are bestest buddies.











Calista, looking extra pretty in her flower pj's.














All the photos I have of Ben are like this, so...














What is my thought bubble for this photo?

Reese is two now!

Here are some photos of Reese enjoying his birthday presents and celebrations.





"Smells like a good present!"











Eric and Reese











Breaking in the new Thomas bedding.

The kids lately

Here are all the grandchildren together. This picture was taken Saturday evening.

Reese enjoying a carrot from the garden this morning. He has this thing lately where he gets uber-cheesy when you get the camera out.

I couldn't resist capturing this moment. Calista's little baby feet sticking out while she napped this morning were irresistible.

One of the Ben's co-workers gave us this adorable hand-made hat for Calista. Reese looked like such a goober with it on that I had to grab the camera - yep, there's the uber-cheese again!

Riley bonding with her smallest cousin. Looks like Calista is pretty keen on her already!

Calista, hanging out and looking adorable. She's grown so much already! I can't believe she's a month old!