Fall Family Photos

Halloween 2009

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Since Andrew has to work through the holidays, he took Halloween off. We had a great week in Dallas staying with Erik and Monica. Our parents and Nick and Julie came in. Then the kids and I stayed an extra week with Shelly & Ryan and Laura & Brent. The whole family (minus Summer and Adam and their kids whom we missed!) got together for Halloween. Here they are: Sequoia (the robot--best costume ever!), Vega (Coraline), Emma (the bumblebee), Storm (Batgirl), Fox (the bat), Annabeth (Pebbles), Erin (the ladybug), and Eden as Max from Where the Wild Things Are...

Before we left town we went to a Halloween party at the Church. Eden and Fox had a blast...

...and Bela was the hit of the night. All the kids crowded around our room during the trick or treating to see the lion. Bela won honorable mention for best costume.

The "flying fox" from behind...
Halloween day: Eden was anxious to get dressed up. She is obsessed with Where the Wild Things Are (has it memorized, recites it verbatim daily).

Before going trick-or-treating around Shelly's neighborhood we hit up the local strip mall for extra candy.

Max-Eden and Grandma Burton

Bat-Fox checking out his treats.

Bat-Fox feeding Daddy.

Aunt Julie escorting the girls.

Erik and Grandpa Burton guiding Robot-Sequoia (her costume was a bit tricky to walk in)

Grandma Pam with Max-Eden.

Ladybug-Erin

Batgirl and "Batboy"

Batgirl and Max getting ready to go.

"Hello Coraline (Vega) and Coraline...doll"

Eden and Fox enjoy their spoils

The next morning, Eden had her Max costume on in time for breakfast.

Out on the town...

Eden riding the pirate ship with no hands!

It takes Fox a while to warm up to anyone who isn't Mom or Dad, but Grandma was able to win him over eventually.

Vega and Eden had a blast being silly at home and out in public.

Enjoying the great outdoors of D.C.

Backyrad Art

Here are a couple of pics of the kids making art outside- the best place to do it in my opinion. Although, you have no idea how long it took to get all of that blue off of Fox and everything he touched. Eden said that the picture she was drawing was for Grandma Burton's birthday. Andrew tried explaining that it would be difficult to send her this kind of picture. I have such a hard time getting her to color or draw for me so we took a picture of this one. Happy Birthday Grandma Burton from Eden (sorry we didn't post this a month ago)! Fox just ate the chalk, but it's better when it's wet anyways (not so with crayons as it turns out).

Visit from Grandma and Papaw

In September mom and dad came for their first visit to D.C. They had a great time seeing the sights and playing with the kiddos. We went to see the monuements on the mall, arlington cemetery, and spent a lot of time at home just spending time with the kids and playing games. We loved having them stay. Unfortunately, we only have a few pictures since mom was the one taking pictures (send us your pictures mom!). Here are the few that we took though. The weather was gorgeous for the trip and everyone had a great time. We miss you mom and dad!

Eden's Dance Class

Over the summer Eden took a little dance class at the community center here. She really liked jumping around and playing with the other kids. Her teacher told me that she was very "independent," which is just a nice way of saying she didn't listen to her. Oh well, she sure looked cute and had a great time. Fox enjoyed watching through the window (although this was a little distracting for Eden).

The Story of Aurora...according to Eden

Eden is fascinated with princesses now. She has never seen a movie about a princess or even read a book about a princess and yet her thoughts are filled of princesses. Andrew and I have told her a few of the stories (Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel) and she is always asking to hear more. Actually, this is how we've gotten her to eat her dinner lately ("take one more bite and I'll tell you what happens next..."). Occasionally, Eden will tell us stories. This is usually a mixture of several of the stories combined. She tells one that goes like this: "Once upon a time there was a little girl named Cinderella (she uses different princesses to fill this role) and she lived in a house with her two stepmothers and her two mean stepsisters and they locked her in a closet."
Tonight I asked her to tell me a story. She decided to tell the story of Aurora.
Eden: Once upon a time there was a little girl named Aurora. Her hair was very long and she lived in a very tall tower. One day a prince came to the tower and said "Aurora, Aurora, throw down your hair."
Me: And what happened? Did he climb up her hair?
Eden: Yes.
Me: And what did he say to her.
Eden: He said, "Aurora! It's over!"