there's a baby on the table

I can't believe how happy Luke looks in this picture, considering his sister's location.

Leah is a climber.

She's not our first climber - we remember Daniel climbing on the kitchen table a handful of times- but Leah has practically taken up residence there.

She dumps drinks. She sticks her hands in cereal bowls while her siblings try to eat. She spills entire boxes of crackers. Nothing is safe.

In related news, Leah's popularity with her siblings has taken a bit of a nosedive this Christmas vacation. ;)

Leah is also our first toddler (that we can recall...maybe we just have selective memory?) that likes to play in the toilet.

Team Fulkerson, buckle up! This may be a bumpy ride. :)

Christmas 2010

Leah and her "Beeebeee"

Amy's Grandpa Krou with five Fulkersons and a Dillow (Team Fulkerson's nephew/cousin).

Can you tell that our children love their cousin baby Max? The poor kid gets no peace!

Noah and Max

Leah insists on being thisclose to him all the time. :) Thankfully he's very mellow.

Yes, our tree looks exactly like you'd expect...lopsided angel, lower third completely empty, ornaments on the floor, and obviously decorated by the children.

I go to other people's homes to see pretty trees...we refer to this as our happy tree.

Noah, dressed as Joseph in the Sunday School Christmas program

Daniel and Leah, just because.

We have more thank-you notes to write and a whole lot of cleaning up to do...but it was a Christmas full of blessings. Team Fulkerson hopes you are enjoying the Christmas season as much as we are!

smile

Our near-annual trek to JCPenney's photo studio yielded these shots this fall. We were happy (thrilled) to get some usable images, because as we all know the more people you add into the photo the more opportunity for disaster.

Time never stands still; in the month and a half since these were taken Emma's started wearing contact lenses, Noah lost a tooth, Luke gave himself a haircut and Leah has grown a little more hair.

self-expression

These are some of Emma's projects from art class at school and Monart (her Saturday morning class).

Nice! :)

Here is Luke's latest handiwork....

a trim (look closely toward the back and you'll see a spot that's kind of bald). I know...it could have been much worse! We're assuming this isn't going to be his only attempt. All of the scissors are hidden.

The next picture was taken the same day. He was on a roll. These were taken after multiple attempts at scrubbing it off, including a full-blown bath.

Why do the non-washable markers always always always get mixed in with the washable ones?

At least he chose a good color.

Here's Luke's preschool photo. We love how innocent he looks in it. Hahahahaha~

fall catchup 2010

This is going to be one of those posts where Team Fulkerson catches up. Random, yes, but it will make me feel less behind. I need that some days.

First, preschool. Luke has started preschool and he is loving it! It took a little while for him to decide he loved it, though. This is his photo before his first day.

And this is the after.

hmmm. not quite sure about that.

He's enjoying drawing these days, which is great!

You can see if you look closely that he decided to draw this on the back of a note I'd written to one of the other kids' teachers. I hope it made her smile when she got it...it's much fancier than the notes I normally send to school!

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Leah has decided to start walking. The day we carved our pumpkins was the day...she'd fall down and immediately get back up and keep going. Don't you love when babies start walking that they don't even have anywhere to go, they just walk randomly around the house for the sake of walking? Sometimes she's looking one direction and her legs take her the other direction, almost like she's going against her will. It was really odd to see her upright for a few days, and now, like every other childhood milestone, it's become normal in the blink of an eye. I'm thankful she's healthy and reaching milestones, but it also makes me want to cry.

Slow down, baby Leah.

Mommy's not ready.

Emma, Leah, and a book. :) Perfect

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pumpkin carving and Halloween

Clone Trooper, 10 yr old boy who handed out candy with Dad, princess, football player, bat

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finally, here are Daniel and Noah meeting cousin Max :)

So sweet!

We hope you're all enjoying a fanastic fall!

Love, Team Fulkerson

san francisco

Dan had a work conference in San Francisco a few weeks ago. My mom was an absolute angel and kept all five kids for five nights so I could go with him. It was our first truly kid-free getaway since Emma's birth nearly 13 years ago.

It was awesome!

Dan went to class sessions and I wandered around. I love touring cities on foot. I walked around with my camera and had a fantastic time. We also took a bus tour to wine country for a day. It was so beautiful there!

These images are of Artesa and Silverado wineries, Napa

Look closely...olive trees! Hoosiers aren't used to that. In my experience they come in a jar or in a salad bowl at Olive Garden.

Below is Old St. Mary's Church, Chinatown

The streets of Chinatown made me feel like I was back in Japan. I know that isn't *right* but a general 'Asia' vibe was close enough to make me giddy!

We had a fab-u-lous dinner with Dan's coworkers here! Thanks, Shapiros! I went back the next morning so I could take a good picture in the daylight.

I took the bus (!) to the Haight-Ashbury area to see all of the hippie lore. This chess set was probably my favorite find...on the box it said, "Dude, whose turn is it again?"

Loved the hilly streets and houses thisclosetogether!

Dan in a park near our hotel

One of Dan's research papers was chosen to be a featured 'poster' at this meeting.

Silly me, I thought that meant there would be an actual poster with the abstract printed on it or something.

Turns out the attendees have to stand at computers and look at the posters digitally. Here's Dan with his 'poster.' :)

Our first night there Dan and I found a sushi place and darn near ordered everything on the menu! We always get outvoted when we want sushi for dinner at home. Yum-o!

streetcars running through the downtown - how cool is that?

Thanks to our brave Nana for our getaway!

noah's 8

Noah's 2nd grade photo

Cookie cake

Noah and his friends throwing the pinata after the hook broke off (three times).

Dan's a master at Simon Says (who knew?) and Jodi (Dan's sister) knows how to fold dollar bills into origami shapes for prizes. Impressive!

Happy Birthday Noah! We love you!