Summer Part I

Eden, Toren and I waited on the front lawn the last day of school for "The Bigs" to get home. We were all so excited for them to be home with us for a few months.

Eden took a photo of Toren and I while we waited for the girls.

Said photo. . .

We took the trax from our house all the way downtown to visit Ben at work. The drop-off was further than we thought from the new building. We walked about 2 miles in 90+ temps. It was good character building, right?

Hot pink strands for summer

Tay and Aves each took a friend to see Monte Carlo at the theatre.

AVERY

Our little Avery turned 8 and was baptized last weekend.

She truly is our Angel.

Easter

Easter is my favorite holiday. No fuss, just family and a relaxing Sunday marking (what should be) the beginning of Spring.

Toren, just happy to be here, as always.

Eden, after being nervous to come downstairs in the morning, eventually realized that

"the bunny is so fun!"

Avery won the Easter Egg Hunt, hands down.

Téa, our reluctant teenager.

In our house, if you snooze, you don't necessarily lose. . .you just eat alone. Eden slept through dinner but didn't seem to mind the one-on-one company.

Edie-tude

As you can see by the green glaze on Eden's face, Ben had brought home doughnuts for breakfast on St. Patrick's Day. And as you can see by the rice cereal on Toren's face, Eden had tried to feed him breakfast. I think one was more satisfied with their morning meal than the other.

The Chief

Some days the most quality-time I get with my baby is when the other three are fast asleep. I can honestly say he is the most amazing baby on the planet. He smiles so big that you think his face will crack; his chubby cheeks cannot be pushed any tighter.

If you pucker up, he will always lean in for a kiss. He can't stop himself. Last night he was so so tired. Every time he would lean in for a kiss, his head would get so heavy that he couldn't lift it. He would have slept right there if I let him.

I still can't believe he's mine.

INSOMNIA

It was midnight and it may as well been lunchtime. My body had no intention of falling asleep; I could tell it wasn't even considering it.

So, I came down into the office assuming I'd be back in bed within the hour. Six and a half hours later, I had gone through every old disk and every old file. I pulled out 477 photos, most of which I did not even know existed. Here are a few of the salvaged images/scans I found that night.

I have insomnia to thank and my body to pay back.

Eden and The Chapstick need to stop meeting like this.

CHRISTMAS

Toren slept through most of the day but was happy to get his first tooth for Christmas.

Tracking Santa on NORAD on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Morning

Christmas Day

This pretty much sums up our Christmas.

It was perfect.

Only 3 More Sleeps!

Finally, the Tree

We finally got our Christmas Tree! It was planned for last weekend, but Ben dislocated his shoulder. Soooo, no matter what, we were getting a tree on Saturday. The girls were sidetracked by the playground and Santa. This was Eden's second time meeting Santa. It went much better and she was able to tell him "Candy Bar" when asked what she wanted for Christmas.

"The lipstick so tasty, Mom."

When the Cat's Away. . .

Avery and Téa head off to school, and Eden heads off to their stuff.

She is all business with that horse.

She is in heaven, and so am I.

Sometimes "Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen" is a good thing.

Eden Lederhosen

Currently being buried under feet of snow, it is nice to remember how the backyard was just a few weeks ago.

I bought these lederhosen for my "future" little girls 14 years ago in Germany. They stayed safely packed away waiting for the day. . .

Well, 3 little girls later, Ben found them - still safely packaged - and put them on Eden.

I couldn't help but snap some shots of her little cute self keeping busy while we raked leaves.

Halloween 2010

We love Eden as much as the others. She was the cutest giraffe you've ever seen . . . and the fastest. She was a block away before I got out the door. Megan got a shot of her. Photo of Edie to follow. . .

Harvest

Every year we head up to Ben's family farm for Potato Harvest. Even before I met Ben and was a student up there, I loved to be around during that time of year. Now, I love it just the same ... maybe even more.

The girls got to spend the day with their dad.

And Ben got to spend the day with his dad.

I love that.

Eden was terrified of the potatoes. ("Tatoes Scary") So so funny.