Eckenrode Family

Christmas

Cousins on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Morn

December Photo Project: Day 5

December Photo Project: Day 3

Today it was too hard to choose one photo. These photos are from our town's annual Candlelight Walk.

November - A Month of Gratitude

Although I feel like I do a pretty good job of counting and noticing my blessings on a daily basis, I love that there is a holiday devoted to recognizing and voicing aloud those things and moments which make a life worth living. We hosted our first Thanksgiving and so I got the chance to try an idea I'd seen on the web where we passed around a bowl of prompts such as "I appreciate (insert name of fmaily member) especially when he/she ____." or "One of the best moments from the last year for me was when ____." It gave us a chance to recount small moments and blessing that would have otherwise gone unnoticed or forgotten. It was lovely.

Just after Thanksgiving we made our annual trip to the tree farm to get our Christmas tree and to visit Santa.

Just as we got to the front of the line my camera jammed and I missed taking pictures of the kids on his lap and of the beautiful tree farm. But, we had a great time and ended up with the most perfect tree which was tagged a "Charlie Brown Tree" but I love it and think it's perfect.

Just a few days after Thanksgiving we celebrated Miles' 7th birthday. I can't believe he's seven. He lost his first tooth a few days before his birthday, another milestone that he just seems to be bounding over these days. He decided to decorate his own cake to look like a ice hockey rink.

He has matured so much lately that I hardly recognize the toddler that I still envision. He is becoming such a kind and mature kid. He is concientious, creative, loving, attentive and when he is passionate about something that passion is intense. He wanted hockey gear and after receiving it on Sunday, he's worn it almost constantly since. He even fell asleep in it on his birthday night. The box that all of the hockey gear came in has been a constant source of entertainment for Ben. He will spend long amounts of time in it. After one long episode of complete silence from the box I opened it up to find this:
Blessings. They are everywhere.

Autumn

We are enjoying all of the beauty and activities that go along with my favorite season. At the moment I am under the weather but doing my best to enjoy the activities that are going on around me and anticipating trick or treat with the boys, some cousins and some friends tonight.

He is 5

Today he turned five and before the sun came up we began the celebration.

We all gathered around the candles in the dark and sang to him and his brother lifted him up so he could blow out the candles.
He and his brother had a picnic breakfast on a blanket on the floor with cinammon rolls as I told them about the day Ben was born. How there was a tornado that day and everyone in the hospital, patients included, had to sit in the hallways. This is how Miles and Ben met, in a crowded hallway during a tornado.

Ben got to spend a great day with some of his cousins, playing with his new remote control John Deere gator and hiking in the woods. Then we had hotdogs for dinner at his request. At Miles soccer practice I took him over to the playground and also at his request I followed him around, watching him play. He delighted in narrating his play and he even conqured climbing up a tower of tires secured to the middle of the wooden playstructure and we both decided that it must be because he's five now.

A few days ago we gathered some friends and family for a party to celebrate and the day was filled with face painting, a pinata, balloon popping and a tractor cake.



Today he is intense, today he is cuddly, today he is strong-willed, today he is curious, today he is both shy and outgoing and today he is five.

Happy 4th of July

Cousins

We went away for a few nights to a cabin with family. To see my kids with their cousins is something special so I love when they get to spend time together. With seven boys pretty close in age, they can find endless games to play and endless ways to fit the word "fart" into their sentences and songs. Ok, maybe that was my boys... and maybe they don't need their cousins for that...

The Weekend

It feels as if summer has arrived. The temperatures have been in the 90s, we've been swimming in the pool and Memorial weekend was celebrated with a parade and a picnic. The boys have been playing and swimming with all that they have and collapsing in bed at night. We went for the first time to our town's Memorial Day Parade and immediately decided to make it a yearly tradition.
Miles & Ben with their cousins, waiting for the start of the parade.

Happy Easter