monday, monday.

monday, I have such low expectations for you.

yet, you never cease to amaze me.

thank you aunt carolyn & uncle drew.

your rocked our monday.

she.

is a doll.

claps and cheers when her brother wakes up.

loves bubble baths and blueberries.

regularly puts herself in timeout.

and hollers. that perfectly pitched little girl scream.

has her daddys eyes.

and her mommy so completely in love with her little silly self.

lilabelle, I do love you so.

he.

is my favorite.

prays every night for God to make Dinosaurs again.

and wanted to add God to his valentine recipient list.

builds towers for his sister to knock over.

has me completely wrapped up in his star war. 

book reading. snack loving world.

love him.

love. love. love him.

home.

4:10 lila.

while you were out.

dear dad, while you were away...

we missed you. all nine of us.

we got new kicks. and tried them out in the backyard.

note: sneakers look cool dirty.

we played nice. 

except for the pecking. and the knocking over of block towers.

we made big messes. 

"making a mess is lots of fun, but you must clean when you are done"

love, mom

 and we made a clubhouse. 

and told mom it was kids only.

and then mom saw why.

we really were good kids.

while you were out.

welcome home dad. we missed you.

ps. mom missed you the most.

bedtime.

bedtime in burket house.

trents dress rehearsal for his first alphabet show and tell.

he introduced himself, and then began about showers.

(translation: star wars)

he's bringing Anakin...for letter A.

then lila and I to the couch to nurse.

she pulled my shirt back down.

and crawled onto toms lap.

I guess she's weaned.

I told her she needed to go to bed.

she climbed down.

waddled in her room.

and hollered when she couldn't get in her crib.

prayers. kisses. goodnight.

a sweet reality.

proud mama.

between preschool. sunday school. and playing school.

trent is building quite the collection.

I wanted to create an art wall.

we used ikea dignitet.

a bit cooler than the fridge.

hello 2011.

it's been a great year.

all four days of it.

we celebrated the new year as a family.

we had balloons.

streamers.

noise makers. 

as if we needed devices to make more noise.

confetti.

 and ice cream sundaes.

we played games.

and drank sparkling juice.

at 8:15 we rang in the new year with confetti cannons.

and then put the kids to bed.

I stayed up for midnight.

when the ball dropped I woke up tom to kiss,

with tears in my eyes I told him how happy I was 

to be with him another year and so excited about the blessings in 2011.

and then I tiptoed in to kiss my two sleeping babes.

hello 2011. I like you already.

christmas past.

twas the night before christmas.

and all through the nest,

the children were laughing and feeling their best.

modeling and entertaining their heroes and greats.

too excited for bed, he stayed up quite late.

the cookies were eaten. he left glitter and a crumb.

and a few other things so we knew he had come.

some "shar wars" guys for him.

and a cradle for her babies to rest.

a magical first christmas in our newly built nest.