Church Christmas Program!

Where have we been?  Life has been a circus for our family over the last couple of months.  I can't believe we are nearly to Christmas, but all the evidence points to that being the case.  

Evie was in two Christmas programs this last week.  She had one for her school and one for the church.  We'll get the school program pictures up next, but here is our angel Evie Lu in the church program.

I think I see my mom!

Along with being an angel, Evie was the champion triangle player.  She played more of a jazz triangle with some interesting syncopation.

You have to keep an eye on your director.

Remarkably the boys sat quietly in the front row for the entire performance.  I think they like seeing their sister on stage.

Happy Halloween!

Howdy, partners!

Evie wanted to be a cowgirl for Halloween this year, and she was very clear she was to be a cowGIRL and not a cowboy. We left that for her brothers. I decided to pull out the sewing machine for costume making this year, since these were easy enough to put together. Jean skirt and vest for Evie with a little suede fringe and faux suede vests for the boys. Add a couple of hats and some boots and we have some pretty cute cowboys (and cowGIRL).

Evie, the sweetest and the meanest cowgirl in these parts

Introducing, Cowboy Zevon! Don't let his smile fool you. He'll steal your toys in no time.

Cowboy Guthrie, the littlest and most vicious of them all!

One of these twins is excited to be here. Here's a hint: it's the guy who looks like he should be dressed up like a hockey player instead of a cowboy.

We joined some friends the night before Halloween for a celebration at their church. Evie loved looking for candy with her friend Olivia. The boys were a little scared of all the activity and costumes. But after a bit they toddled around like they owned the place.

Cowgirl Evie and Bumblebee Princess Olivia

Evie had a Halloween full of fun yesterday. She went to preschool in her costume and they had a party there (complete with jack-o-lantern pizzas). In the afternoon, we went back out to trick or treat in the neighborhood. It is our first Halloween here, and we didn't know what to expect for handing out candy. You can count on 1 hand how many trick or treaters we had. Oh, well. More candy for Will and I! Will took Evie around and she came back with a lot of candy.

We also made a few pumpkins for our doorstep. Evie designed hers with pointy teeth and oval eyes (she said those were the scariest kind). I kept the boys out of the carving this year, only because I couldn't handle the mess as it was and I wanted it to be a special thing for Evie and I. Next year, we'll let the pumpkin fly with all three!

My three little pumpkins with 2 not so little pumpkins

Gus picking the one he wants

I'm pretty sure Gus is trying to bite the pumpkin here. He should have been a vampire.

Sweet Evie

The Minnesota grandmas come to visit

The grandmas!

Almost 2 weeks ago, my mom and Grandma came out to visit for the long MEA weekend. It was a long drive for them, and I'm sure our kids didn't provide any rest and recovery once they got here, but we sure had a lot of fun. Great-grandma slept in Evie's room, so Will and I added a roommate. Even though Evie was kicked out of her room, she got a pretty good deal with a new sleeping bag and an indoor tent (so that Will and I wouldn't wake her when we got ready for bed later). Then, Evie would sneak into her Grandma Bev's room every morning to snuggle. The boys were up to their usual antics, climbing and crawling and running all over the place. It took them a little bit of time to warm up to Grandma Bev and Great-grandma, but they were snuggling with them in no time. The highlight was our day shopping and having lunch in Red Lodge. We loved the opportunity to show off our house, especially since we had shown Great-grandma pictures of the house when we were deciding if we wanted to buy it. We feel very blessed that they were able to make the trip and can't wait until we can see them again.

Grandma Bev has her hands full

I know we are reading books, but I'm wearing a football shirt. Touchdown!

Zevon looking for some cuddle time

Rocking out

Such sweet children...now what did they do with my kids?

My grandparents gave all of their grandchildren rocking chairs for their 1st birthdays and my parents have kept up the tradition with their grandkids. It is a lovely idea and these chairs are to become treasured pieces of their childhoods. But in actual practice, they have become toddler launching devices. Evie will now sit and calmly read a book in hers, but the boys are much more squirrely. Guthrie, with his great climbing ability, has figured out how to get in and out of the rocking chairs. Unfortunately, he also has figured out how to stand in them. Zevon isn't as graceful and needs a little help into his chair. More often, Zevon just tries to prevent Gus from getting into his chair and this causes a toddler fight. One day, Evie lined all the chairs up so that "all the kids could rock" and she showed them the proper use of their rocking chairs. Perhaps there is hope for peace in our household yet! They look so angelic. If only it lasted.

Evie, chair of this rock band

Zevon, second in command

Guthrie, who thinks he is the real rocker

First day at Pre-K

So excited for the first day of school!

Evie started pre-K a few weeks ago and she loves it. It was hard at first. New teachers, new classmates, new building, everything new. But each day she branches out a little more and now has all kinds of stories to tell. Her favorite thing at preschool is read books, nothing new for this budding bookworm. She also likes playing at the bean table, which is a cleaner version of a sandbox, I guess. To add to her excitement at school, our friend Terry is the secretary at the church where the preschool is held. She loves to visit the office and 'help' Terry type.

New home

Checking out their new backyard

I wish we had taken more pictures of the chaos surrounding the move to Montana. But it was just that: chaos. Our arms were always filled with boxes, paint supplies, babies, cleaning products, etc, and there were very few pictures taken. So a short commentary will have to do.

When we left Bellevue, Will stuck around to help the movers while Grandma Bev and I took the kids in the van and Grandpa Wayne drove behind. It was an epic drive. Beautiful weather and scenery matched with winding roads and squirrely kids and van funkiness. Thankfully we arrived in Missoula for the night and everyone (yeah!) slept. The second part of the drive to Billings was less eventful. We were a little worse for wear. Poor Grandma Bev had been doing constant yoga poses in the back of the van keeping kids happy and Will and I were exhausted from driving. But we arrived at our new house that we had just closed on that day. It was a little overwhelming.

The next few days were filled with painting the laundry room (white) and Evie's room (sky blue, and will soon have clouds and stars to fill in), completing fix-it projects around the house, shopping for up-to-date appliances, and finding where all our stuff went. Taking care of 3 kids is a full time job. Cooking and cleaning makes it a more than full time job. Add to that unpacking a house, and it just gets to be too much. Thankfully we had Grandma Bev and Grandpa Wayne to keep us on task with projects, juggling kids, and providing us with much needed breaks. I seriously don't know how we could have done this move without them! I have a really cute photo of Evie painting her bookshelf with her Grandma Bev, but I can't find the cord that goes to that camera (oh, the joys of moving), so it'll be saved for another time.

There are some side benefits to moving if you are a kid. Before the boxes came, the house was wide open for the boys to crawl around to their hearts' content. Evie had the chance to explore all the cubbies in her room, as well as make herself a box house outdoors.

Evie shows off her newly decorated home. Kitchen is to the right, Buttercup's bedroom is to the left, and Evie is standing in her room (which for some reason, she also called the basement).

The kids really took to their new home. We still have sleep battles with the boys, but they amazingly fell into a nap and bedtime routine. Evie loves her new room, complete with Tinkerbell curtains and surrounded with all her toys and books. It has been a challenge to get her to sleep at night because there is so much to do in her room.

Evie's room

After the initial rush to get as much done in the house as possible, we are now moving at a slower pace. We are picking our projects and knocking them off one by one. Home ownership is not for the faint of heart. I now look at home improvement shows like they are horror films. (Tree roots! Outdated wiring! What is in the basement?!) But we are enjoying making this house our own. Here are a few shots from inside the house:

Living room

Kitchen

Our house

Saying goodbye

Is this really all our stuff??

As some of you already know by this point, we have moved east to Montana (seems weird to say we are moving east to the Wild West). Will has accepted a call to a church where we are very excited about the possibilities and new adventures. But we are sad to say good bye to our friends and family we have in the Pacific NW. The last few weeks of our time in Washington was spent packing, doing some sightseeing, packing, spending time with family, packing, going to the beach, packing, and more packing. (If you are looking at moving with twins and a 4 year old, don't. But if you do, you will survive. I know this now since I have survived. Barely.) Here are some highlights of our last days in Washington.

Evie playing music with the multi-talented, visiting Aunt Megan

Making sand castles with Aunt Kaitlin on the one decent beach day we had this summer.

Eating spaghetti. Heaven help us.

Despite loosing a front tooth to a tumble, Zevon can still eat (throw) spaghetti just as well

'Helping' mommy with the packing

"Here mom. I'll close this box for you. Do you think my brother will fit?"

Reading books with Cheri

One last time petting the starfish at the aquarium

Saying good bye to the salmon

We moved out of the only home our boys have known and from the state of our childrens' births. We said good bye to a loving church family where Evie was baptized. We said good bye to way too many people and places that we love in Washington. But it also meant new beginnings and opportunities were ahead.

Fun at the park swings

Evie loves the park and loves the swings. But I think I have found something she loves more than the swings: pushing her brothers in the swings. They really crack me up! Zevon giggles and kicks his little feet the whole time. Guthrie, in a very uncharacteristic manner, is more wary of the swings. Or maybe his is just wary of his sister pushing him in the swings. See the video at the bottom of the page. Maybe you'll see what I mean.

Zevon loves to fly in the swing

Gus holding on for dear life

Evie giving Zevon a push

Guthrie starting to enjoy the swings

Evie showing that she is always on top of everything

Zevon and Guthrie's first birthday party

We had a small party and lots of cake to celebrate the boys' birthday. I decided on a baseball theme for the cake and I'm pretty proud of my design.

Obviously, it isn't to scale. But it was delicious!

Cupcakes for the boys

After singing them happy birthday (which brings a problem with twin birthdays: do you sing 'Happy Birthday' twice or do you sing, somewhat awkwardly, 'Happy birthday, Zevon and Guthrie'?) we gave each boy a cupcake to try out. Despite some last minute efforts on my part to get them to blow out their own candle, they didn't even attempt making a wish. Will and Evie had to help them out. These guys have had very little for sweets in their short lives. So a whole cupcake to themselves was rather humorous to watch. Zevon did not enjoy the frosting and it made him shudder. But Guthrie would only eat the frosting and smoosh the cake. Not identical, indeed. Looking back on these pictures, I see that the boys look less than enthused for the festivities. I think they must have celebrated the day with an early morning and no nap. I'm sure the no sleep mixed well with the sugar by 7pm that evening.

Excitement for cake? Fear of fire? Either way, this appears to be a big thing for Z.

Zevon tries the bottoms first approach.

Evie helps Guthrie blow out his candle

Gus licked the cupcake clean. His hands and face, not so much.

One whole year!

Will and his two big one-year-olds on their birthday

Actually, one whole year times two! On the day the boys turned one, I could hardly believe we had survived a whole year with twins. We went from two tiny babes who we struggled just to get eating and who slept all the time (if only that continued!) to two big little boys who have no trouble eating but sleep still is a struggle.

Oh, how peaceful they seemed! (Guthrie in print onesie, Zevon in blue)

They were individuals from the start and it amazes me how their personalities have stayed roughly the same. Zevon continues to be more laid back, but he has added a sensitive, dramatic side to his personality. He is still the more verbal of the two and he has won us over with his smile.

Zevon

Guthrie was, and will always be, the more fussy of the two. I am already starting to see signs of temper-tantrums. He is still the more active of the two as well. In the words of my mom, "He is just so busy!"

Guthrie

Guthrie tries and experiments. Zevon observes and studies. In the mind of this science nerd mom, I think I have some excellent scientists on my hands. At a year, both were crawling all over and making movements towards walking. Both are saying dadaa, mamama, and will call to each other in the next room ('aaaaaaa-aaaaaaa!' Translation: 'Bro! I'm over here!').

Along with seeing the obvious growth in my boys, I am also seeing a more mature big sister. I was so worried about Evie and how she would handle two new brothers. She has amazed me with her loving manner toward them and how she has adapted to the new situation. Yes, we still have our fights and her brothers still get into her stuff. But she has become the best big sister I could ever imagine for Zevon and Guthrie.

Evie

There are more wrinkles on my face and more gray hairs on Will's head, and our ideal day still revolves around sleep. We wondered how we would manage it all, and most days I still wonder how we do it. But somehow the kids are growing, perhaps even thriving, and I am still the lucky woman to be married to the most handsome guy and best dad ever. A huge thank you is sent to our wonderful family, neighbors, church members, and friends who have helped us in the last year. Your prayers, hot meals, loving arms, hard work, and long telephone chats have been our saving grace.

The next question is, can we make it to year two? Two terrible twos? I shudder to think...