A little blue eyed* blonde with shoes on wrong cause she likes to dress herself.

The thing is, when the 1 year old wants to put her own shoes on-she just can. Because has anyone out there ever tried to argue with their kid about what they are determined to do themselves? Me neither. And because it's one less thing I have to do. So they never match. Church, farmer's market, Target...we go everywhere with wrong shoes. If only I could document every one-but here's a sampling, so I don't forget. :)

She'll be signing autographs later. Right after she gets her gold shoes on the right feet.


*Her eyes are really hazel...but it's a cute song.

I used to be the teacher to meet...

So it was kind of weird being on the other side. For 7 years people came and I tried to make them feel welcome and loved. Frankly, it was kind of nice being the customer! :)

Ava and Grandma before we headed off to meet Ava's teacher.

Ava and her friend, Paige...clearly Paige is thrilled about the hug she is receiving. :)
I love how carefree Ava looks-poor sweet baby doesn't really know what school means. :)
Yep, I was totally the nerdy parent taking pictures instead of helping my child get her nametag on.
The girls had a grand old time playing grocery store.
Paige and Allison...
Me and Av.
And just because she looked really cute that day but didn't get to go anywhere.
First day of school, Tuesday. Stay tuned! :)

See ya next Summer, Summer.

Just doing a little catch up from summer weekends I haven't gotten to yet.

Reese started eating real food. Or at least we started trying to feed it to her. I have come to the conclusion after three kids that I don't believe in rice cereal. I didn't even try it with Kaiya, and Reese wasn't six months yet so I thought I'd do the right thing. Whatever. Just do oatmeal.

No Rice! No Rice!
Just because I felt like this cuteness needed to be permanently documented.
Reese ALSO took a bottle for the first time! Those who know anything about my life know this had been causing me great stress. Of course she will only take the bottle from the specialty store that is not available anywhere else and also not mine. (Thanks, Kim!!) Oh well. It's a start.
We made this uh-may-zing pizza. Mmmm.
When I say "we", I mean Christina and Ava. I did nothing except say-"shouldn't it have eggplant on it?" I feel like that was a valid contribution though, because the eggplant made it fabulous.
I don't even know what to say about this. Fairy School?
Playing in the river with our AWESOME Daddy.
Awesome because he does cool stuff like this.
Wheeee!
I didn't get enough pictures, but sister Laurel came in town for sister Melinda's birthday. Fun Celebration!
Over the weekend we went to close down the cottage. Cuddling with my cuddlies.
Family lunch! Excited to be getting more girls around that table. I've been outnumbered for awhile now.
Sand and water is such an awesome combo.
This is for the DeKorne's out there...oh netting. We hate you. We love to hate you.
Lucy is the next bride in the family-we were just practicing some different veil options. I think this one is stellar! And no deer would eat her face or dress. An added bonus!
The fabulous patri/matriarch of the DeKorne family. There are not any sweeter people than our Grandma and Grandpa DeKorne. So special to have them in our lives!!!
See ya next summer, summer. It's been fun!

dkdk 2010...in no particular order

Mark's cousin, Dan got married last weekend. Mom and Dad DeKorne came to town, Ava was the flower girl, Mark was the d.j., and we had a fabulous time. It was the most perfect weekend and weather ever! So wonderful that it's taking me three posts and four days to get some pictures posted. :)

This was the first time Opa met Reese. They got along great.

The swarm.





We got up north in time for Mark and I to go play with the bride and groom separately. We had such a fun night. I went with Karyn and her crew to a wine tasting, fabulous dinner, and to hang out. It was the first time I had left Reese for any length of time and we both were happy as clams. :)
Finding grapes. :)
So pretty!
Got home to find this. So cute!

in no particular order...2

The night before the wedding Uncle Dave and Aunt Barb hosted a fabulous picnic at the cottage. It was, like the whole weekend, a BEAUTIFUL night. We loved being outside and the girls loved the ratio of supervision to candy consumption. :)

I think this was actually earlier in the day. But a cute pic of Ava ringing the dinner bell.
How the sun is hitting Mark's hair it looks kind of gray. Which is cool because I think he will look really cute even when he is old and gray!
My three pretty party girls.


Ava and Kaiya somehow took to wrestling for the evening's entertainment.

Ava making her fish face by the fish bowl.
See a little someone sneaking m&m's over there? Busted.
Kaiya just found herself a nice gentleman who took pity on her and gave her the whole dish of them on the ground.
A beautiful family photo minus one kid and the ability to open our eyes.
Such a pretty sunset.
Mark and I with the gorgeous bride and groom.