37.

"what do you mean we don't have enough candles?!?"



spoiled with breakfast, cupcakes, the chicken dance, yahtzee & spending my birthday with all of them. xoxo

14 years.

about this wedding picture on our dresser, the kids have each wondered out loud:
"what happened to your curly hair?" and "dad used to have hair??!!"
i imagine that it's difficult for them to envision their parents like this, but we still remember...
happy anniversary, honey. xoxo

"am i still four?"

when court woke up this morning, the first thing she asked hayden is "am i still four??"
i think she likes it.

birthday bowling.

pizza, check.
sparkly tinkerbell cake, check. (whew)
spiderman candle from uncle swede, check.
daddy's favorite bowling shirt and joel's fancy shoes, check.
muellers, pontys, eckbergs & janssons, check.

four. (oh my)

if i was asked to describe what court has added to our family in her four years,
i would be absolutely speechless.
my mind would be moving at a mile per minute, but i would never find the exact right words.
she is truly one of a kind.
(and usually does seem like she is walking on sunshine.)

happy, happy 4th birthday to you, court.
and thank you for being your sweet, happy little self.
we love you. xoxo

priceless.

don't look too closely... it's not in focus and my iso is cranked.
but it's one of those priceless images engraved in my mind forever.
oh, how we love our aunt annie.

1.

merry, merry, merry christmas. xo, t

2.

3.

4.

5.

since i worked all weekend and didn't have time to prepare any photos for this morning, i wondered what in the world i would post. then the kids got dressed.
if you could hear them now...

6.

she finds this hilarious. we agree.

7.

8.

when she returns to school after the holiday break, she'll be a four year old. oh my.

9.

full, long, fun days with hayden are a precious few. thank you, largest snowfall in recent history.

dear santa.

10.

it only took me about a thousand tries to capture this image the way i intended... finally, with my camera propped up on my knee and my left pointer finger both holding it steady and pressing the shutter release. never mind that it's not in focus... it's almost better that way.

11.

life with these three goofballs. wouldn't trade it for the world.



hint: go to my facebook page to watch these in HD... not sure why the image quality is so poor.

12.

for all the years growing up, and again this year.

13.

14.

this lesson, like so many others. baking bread and cookies and popovers...

15.

because it means i'm tucking in my sweet girl, holding her hand and saying our god blesses.
she'll say "snuggle a little longer, i promise to close my eyes." and i will.

16.

and seeing that look of pure happiness on your child's face.
it's one of the most amazing experiences of parenthood.


at almost zero degrees, summer days like that are a bit easier to enjoy than winter days like this:

17.

i had to post this one, too.
hayden finally sat NEAR santa's lap.
plastic santa's lap.

18.

facewash.

in a surprise maneuver, the first facewash of the winter goes to hayden, from court.
oh, he got her back...but it turns out she can dish it out better than she can take it.
go easy on her, buddy. she is still your little sister.

19.

dear santa,
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
and can you please put a bone in my stocking for my dog jane?
love, hayden

20.

the kids were thrilled that st.nick put them on the nice list this year... their reaction was priceless.
(court actually seemed a bit relieved)
can't wait til christmas morning.

21.