My New Table

No, I wasn't doing anything.

Last week we took Evie Lu's grandma Bev on her first trip to IKEA. We were looking for a bookshelf/organization system for Evangeline's room, but instead we came home with something completely different. (That is the way it goes at IKEA.) Grandma Bev picked out a table and chairs for Evie Lu which you see in the pictures.

Do you want to play too?


Evie Lu loves sitting. You should have seen her in the kid's furniture area trying out every chair and getting a little upset that we would not let her go for round two. So, thanks to grandma and grandpa Evie Lu has her own workspace for coloring and cooking and sitting. Being a toddler is very hard work.

Everybody is invited!

Evie Lu - Folk Singer

There are no captions for these pictures because I think the images say it all. Evie Lu's love of music is really cool to see and it is even cooler when she feels like she can participate in music. Evangeline's Uncle Jody gave me this ukulele as a Christmas present and Evie Lu recently discovered it. She loves playing, but on her terms. We now welcome to the stage the tempermental artist!

Birthday Month Kicks Off

Don't bother me. I'm eating cake.

What a week it has been. Grandma Bev has been in town for a week and we've just seen the arrival of Grandpa Wayne! Evie Lu has been having a ball. The big celebration was Saturday July 19 for the kick-off of my birthday month. There was plenty of food and Evangeline tried quite a bit of it. Our little lady really loved the carrot cake Kaia baked for the day. (Is anyone surprised?)

Hey grandma, I'll be your best friend if you give me cake.

Weekend Fun

Hey there neighbor, I'm just mowing my lawn.

Our little Evie Lu is a large child. We think she is adorable as all get out, but the fact is Evangeline is not pint sized. We've noticed in daycare Evie Lu sometimes gets overlooked and we think it is because she's so compliant and because she looks like a two or three year old and not the 18 month old that she is.

We're having a great time with Grandma Bev and soon we'll have Grandpa Wayne out here too! How lucky is our little girl?

Helmet law? Shirt law? How about no laws!

Beauty sleep

For a few of Evie Lu's features, it is obvious which parent she takes after. Her eyes are certainly from her dad. And I'm afraid she inherited crazy hair from her mom. And her love of sleep? Probably from both of us. In the picture above, Evie had just woke up from a nap. It is humorous to see what state she will be in after a nap. In this case, she took off her two socks, a barrette, and two hair ties at some point during her nap. Because she inherited my crazy "velcro" hair, it is still sticking straight out from the pig tails. We thought she was pretty cute.

Five Days Till Grandma!

Hmm, which of my tricks should I show Grandma?

Evie Lu's Minnesota Grandma flies in Thursday night and we couldn't be more excited. Kaia and I've been prepping Evie Lu in hopes of her being able to say "grandma" by the weekend. There have been several new words in the last few days and none funnier than "apple" which Evangeline pronounces as "bapoooooool." I taught her "baseball" while we watched the Twins and Tigers on Saturday and that sounds pretty close to the real word. Go words!

Goin' Fishin'

Hey, grab the cooler I'm ready to go!

Summer has finally arrived and our little family has been enjoying it greatly. We've been yard saleing to replenish Evie Lu's loose summer clothes wardrobe, we've been yard working to make the things clear and fun for Evie Lu, and now we are grandparent preparing as next week Minnesota Grandma and Grandpa are coming to visit! Evie Lu loves the summer.

Oh no! Extreme close-up!

Evie Lu's Tricks

I think the video will work finally! It is a little dark, but worth the watch. To explain the finger thing, Evie Lu thinks my finger is a microphone.

Feel The Burn

Watch me. This is how to stay in shape.


I am constantly amazed at what fascinates Evie Lu. Recently she has found the pilates mat we usually have in the music room. I don't know that Evangeline has ever seen Kaia or I use the pilates mat, but she seems to know what to do. If I had been just a couple seconds earlier with the camera, I could have shown you the whole workout. I try not to laugh out loud when Evie Lu is doing these sorts of things.