Year in Pictures 2011

Click on image to go to slideshow.

Merry Christmas!

Hope everybody gets what they asked for : )

A video from Santa

I love that Kayla still believes in Santa, and that technology has enabled him to send emails to her.



Kristin is kind of on the fence about Santa, and just this morning asked me if Santa was real.



My answer, "Of course he is real. Who gives Daddy all his camera equipment?"

PS, if you want to make a video for your child, or adult, go here: http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/home

You Turkey Head!......

was taken a bit too literally.

It's that time of year again. Giving Thanks. Here are some of the things Kayla is thankful for:

Me, I am thankful for these two:

Compressed

Kayla: "Dad, I ate all my lunch today. Are you compressed? Are you?"



Daylight savings has got us all screwed up. Kayla is waking up at 6 AM and sleeping at 8 PM. She's the type that will wake up if she hears a pin drop, and needs to toss and turn and make excuses to not sleep. Kristin is the complete opposite. M-F, we need to drag her out of bed. Tell her to sleep, and you turn around and she's already snoring.

Even though they are complete opposites, they still manage to get along.

Happy Halloween!

Can't believe it's Halloween already. That means Thanksgiving and Christmas is just around the corner.

We took the kids to pick out some pumpkins at the pumpkin patch, and ended spending 10x more on rides and the jumpy house than we did on pumpkins : (

All worth it for the smiles though.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

9 years

Today, Selina and I celebrate our 9 year wedding anniversary. After 9 years of marriage, what do we have to show for it? These 2 rambunctious rugrats.

Thanks for the wonderful 9 years, and looking forward to many more to come. This was us 9 years ago, and somewhat more recently.

Image on left © gary ferber. Thanks to Jenny for the image on the right.

Swing for the fences

Big K turns 8 today. I don't know how to best put into words how amazing it is to see her grow up right before my eyes. I still remember the very first time seeing her amazing little face, and how we had to spend almost everyday going back to the hospital due to jaundice. So much has changed in the past 8 years and through it all, I can still count on Kristin to:

- be an amazing big sister

- love her family

- snore at night

- play with reckless abandon

- being open to trying new things

- having smelly feet

- smile that goofy smile

Happy Birthday Kristin!

I had to dig through the archives to find these, as I don't have any of her baby photos online. Can't believe how much she has changed, yet still looks the same.

It's like a...

.....hurricane went through our house. This is a typical scenario at the Lee household. Toys, games, and other miscellaneous items flung all over the place. Don't get me started on their clothes that they just randomly plop down where they see fit.

I wonder where they learn this stuff. Sheesh.

Shedding

me: "Hey Kayla, can I have a kiss?"

She turns and gives me the back of head and pushes it onto my face.

me: "I want to kiss your cheek Kayla, not the back of your head!"

Kayla: "But you are pokey!" (referring to my morning stubble)

me: "I'm not pokey, come on, give me your cheek to kiss."

Kayla: "Why are you not pokey? Did you shed? I'll let you kiss me if you shedded."

When push comes to shove

Sharing. Lending. Trading. Giving. Whatever you want to call it, they're all the same in this household. A few months ago, Kayla gave this stuffed tiger to Selina and says "This is for you to sleep with! You can have it OK?" Then, the other week it mysteriously disappears from our bed. Last night, after putting them to bed, we hear Kayla crying and Kristin screaming about something so we go investigate. Well apparently Kristin ended up with the tiger, and apparently they 'traded' it with each other. Now trading to me means transfer of goods, a permanent transfer right? Apparently Kayla doesn't think so. To her it means you can take back what you gave/traded at any given time. Selina had to bring up the whole "But you gave it me though!?!?", which further confused things for Kayla. In the end, she won out and got her stuffed tiger, only to wake up this morning looking for another stuffed animal that she probably shared, lent out, traded, or gave to someone. Oy.

If I had one wish, I would wish for....

Bangs. Bangs?

Kayla brought home an assignment for school which I guess will be used for a presentation of sorts. I didn't have photos handy of an architect so I had to improvise.

Class of 2024

Sounds weird right? That's what the principal told us when talking about the kindergarten class of 2012. Can't believe Kayla is in 'real' school now. Only 12 more years to go after this year. She actually was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. Woke her up at 7 am, she rolled around a little bit.

Picked out her outfit for the day.

"Pink goes with pink right?"

Brushed her pearly whites.

Ate a breakfast of cereal bar and boxed milk. We didn't have time to grocery shop after returning from our trip, and our shelves/refrigerator were bare to the bone.

Walked big sis to her 3rd grade class.

Walked back home since her class didn't start until 9 AM, which was actually 10 AM. We didn't get the memo.

Went with mom and dad to get some coffee.

Waited patiently in the car, singing and dancing to Last Friday Night

Went back to school.

Enjoyed a bit of sun before class.

Big kid now.

Teacher spelled her name wrong, had to cross out the 'e' and turn it into an 'a'.

They had a bunch of activities for the kids, kind of like a scavenger hunt of sorts.

Getting her mug shot. This is what happens when you tell her to say CHEEEEEESE.

Oh NO! Looks like she has got the wandering eyes at an early age.

Spelled it right on her cubby.

After spending 45 minutes with her in class, it was time to say bye. She said bye with no drama. Like a boss.