Another Stop Motion
Brooke really wanted to make a second video today. She insists on the Pony music.
December 2013
Brooke’s First Stop Motion
Today I showed Brooke how stop motion animations work. I set her up with the camera and computer and helped her make this video and she set to work. I only lasted about 120 frames of hitting the record button before I let Brooke take over the rest for the total of 345 frames. She was at it for about 1 1/2 – 2 hours before she was ready to end the story and she wasn’t even done filming because she now wants to make another one. She’s very proud of her creation. You can see at the end that she is getting the hang of how it works.
Share this:
Animated Gif Time!
May animated gifs never die as long as we find it as entertaining as this. Note: It’s a large file so give it a moment.
Share this:
Very Merry
After ten years of marriage, we finally decided to get into the Christmas spirit and actually buy a full-sized tree. 
Dallas worked some magic:
And before long we had our first (sparsely-ornamented) Christmas tree!
We went to our ward party and saw Santa. Brooke actually sat on Santa’s lap this time and asked for seven pillows (???) and ponies.
Caroline asked for a doll:
Spencer was a total ham for the camera. He asked for cars:
Family picture time:
We made some salt-dough ornaments:
We went to Brittany’s studio for our annual Stadelbauer get-together:
On Christmas Eve we went to Dallas’s mom’s house. The kids found their favorite toys:
We can’t escape Oma’s house without taking lots of pictures. Here’s Dallas with his siblings (minus Stratton – we missed you!):
And one with Dallas’s mom:
A family picture that Brooke wasn’t too thrilled to be in:
The little boys had fun playing with Oma’s mail slot. One boy was outside and he’d stick his hand through the slot making the boys on the inside shriek and scream in terror and delight:
We fulfilled tradition by ending the evening at Dallas’s grandparents’ grave, lighting luminaries, and singing “Silent Night.”
That brings us to Christmas morning! Santa brought a fairy treehouse for Caroline:
A pony set for Brooke:
And a car racetrack for Spencer:
Brooke noticed I didn’t have any presents under the tree so she made me one. She was very excited to have me open it. Adorable:
Grandma and Grandpa Thomas may not realize this, but they gave Spencer blocks:
And they got Caroline a baby:
And Brooke got more ponies, of course:
Brooke’s Primary teachers gave her a Christmas book that has stencils in it. So nice of them:
Dallas got Batman Begins:
Here are the kids trying out the block sorter.
Brooke: “Wow. This is more fun than I ever could have imagined!”
The aftermath:
I think this was our first time staying home on Christmas day and not visiting family. The kids had a wonderful time trying out all their new toys and were happy and occupied all day. We had a great holiday as a family!
Share this:
1 2