Tripp Fenderson

Anitra, the girls, and I drove to Fredericksburg, VA on Sunday to visit my sister and her family. While the girls played, I spent some time talking about camera gear with my brother-in-law, as he had recently purchased a new telephoto lens for his Nikon D70, the same camera I use.

Ayn wanted to play the piano tonight. Here she is serenading us before dinner.

With the downturn in the economy, we’ve made some changes to how we’ll pay for Halloween this year.

Unfortunately, my daughter isn’t old enough to explain how she kept the squirrels still while she painted them. Every time I try to do it, they run away.

A conversation on Facebook early this morning with an old friend (from my days in T.A.G. at Maybeury Elementary School) prompted a run to Krispy Kreme—a nice end to one hell of a morning.

Ayn finds her way around an ear of corn. After a few tries, she finally gets the hang of it.

Weeding the garden is always easier with a pair of helping hands—and all the more so when those hands are only 1 foot off the ground. This afternoon, Ayn helped me weed the bed of garlic we planted last October. She dug right in, pulling up only the weeds.

All 60 plants look great and have us wishing for warmer days ahead (and homemade pasta sauce).

I finally found a chocolate bar for ME (I’m the only guy in a house of 4 girls)—Nestle’s Yorkie.

I teased Teagan mercilessly over the entire weekend about it too. She was convinced that the tagline was a joke and she should be allowed to eat some too.

Hell no. It’s not for girls. It says so right on the label. That’s daddy chocolate. Man chocolate. And it’s all mine.

(You can read the Yorkie backstory on Wikipedia)

Ayn recently caught on to the meaning of the word “kiss”. Last night, she was enthusiastically practicing her technique with Anitra.

The wonder on her face as the snow fell for the first time in her life made my morning. She cooed, she pointed, she even stuck out her tongue to taste them. Funny. For her, the entire world is something to taste, to experience. May she never forget that.

[Teagan - I know you’re only 6 but you can read and you know how to use the internet. If you’re reading this blog post before Christmas of 2007, if you don’t stop right now, you’re going to get into trouble.]

I’ve been so slack about posting photos lately so I got up early this morning to get a bunch done before the holidays arrive.

Here’s a photo set from our recent trip to see Santa at Willow Lawn Mall (which has the best Santa - so there). This is the first year Teagan has actually talked to Santa. Ayn did well too - she seemed fascinated by his beard and didn’t lose it until the very end.