And The Star Goes On Top

No, lift me up higher dad!


We have a pitiful little star for our Christmas tree, but the good part of having such a small star is that Evie Lu was able to cap off the tree for us this year. She is very proud of the tree and wants to be the official tree lighter every day. I can't believe the difference between last Christmas when she was a whirling dervish with very little direction to this year where Evangeline is a whirling dervish with an agenda all her own. Kaia and I are in serious trouble.

Right there. Perfect.

Carol of the Dancing Evies

Unfortunately for Evie Lu, neither one of her parents are what you'd call a great dancer. Thankfully this fact has not stopped our daughter from expressing herself in motion. For your viewing pleasure is a Christmas interpretation of The Carol of the Bells. (You may be able to see the heavily decorated Evie section of our tree as well.)

Trimming The Tree

You know there is a proper way to do this.


The first Friday in December meant that IKEA was offering their amazing rent a tree deal and that I was off to go get one of those trees. It has been unusually cold for Seattle, but that meant it felt like winter should. Evie Lu is thrilled with the new 7 foot addition to our home. She sort of helped decorate last year, but this year she has appointed herself the caretaker of the tree. I'll get a full picture for you later in the week where you'll see the lower levels that Evangeline has made sure are well decorated.
Oscar also loves the tree and his love forced us to buy a cat deterrent. Beneath the tree there is now a motion sensor forced air device. We really shouldn't get as much enjoyment out of watching Oscar try to sneak up to the tree and then get a puff of air in his direction, but we do.

Sign Language

I'm ready for the show!


A week ago I looked in the rear view mirror to see Evangeline giving me the "rock on" hand signal. We don't know where she picked this up, but it is awesome. Now anytime you need an affirmation from Evie Lu you can just ask her to show you how much you rock.

These are my love glasses.


Kaia, being the wiser parent, thought some actual sign language would be cool and now Evie knows how to say "I love you" in sign. I was less helpful and taught my daughter "hang loose" and "peace." I've spent the last couple of days trying to teach her the dialogue from the old Freedom Rock commercial along with her peace sign. "Is that Freedom Rock?" "Yeah, man!" "Well, turn it up man!"

I love you, rock on!

So Much For The "Father of the Year" Award

Dad, I'm smiling because I'll remind you of this whenever I do something wrong.


Evangeline and I are on vacation together this week while Kaia has a short week due to Thanksgiving. I was looking forward to some quality father - daughter time after being gone most of last week. Little did I know that we wouldn't even make it through a full day without an injury. Evie Lu decided to take a header off her chair as I was finishing lunch preparations. I turned just in time to see my little girl dive onto the wood floor from about four feet up.

The only injury is a fat lip, but I'm definitely more indulgent of Evie's requests today. She's fine, but I may not be. Ugh. (If anyone had been around, the comedic highpoint would have been me trying to check Evangeline for a concussion. She can't really count yet and there I was asking her how many fingers I'm holding up.)

Cheering On Her Team

I think our quarterback is cute!

Even though Evie Lu doesn't get to watch much football (or any), she somehow knows that her team is among the best. Or it could be that she just likes the pink jersey. Either way she looks good.

Little Miss Helper

And I haven't broken one dish!


Evangeline now insists on trying to do everything herself before she'll let you help her. Our morning routine consists of Evie putting on her own clothes (except for socks which give her fits), making her own breakfast (a layer of Cheerios before a sprinkle of Chex with fruit and milk), and picking out her hair accessories. This can be awesome or awesomely frustrating depending on how much of a hurry you are in that day.
For the next week Evie's aunt Kaitlin takes over morning duties as I'll be on the east coast. I'll miss Evie and Kaia dearly, but I know that Kaia's got a great helper while I'm gone.

Back to work dad.

When I Paint My Masterpiece

Hey look at me, no the other me!


Several months ago a member of the church asked if she could paint a picture of Kaia and Evangeline for an art show. We were flattered and agreed. Louise is a wonderful woman in her eighties who does beautiful work.
What you see in the picture above is from the art show. The biggest surprise was Louise gave the painting to Kaia! We now proudly hang the portrait in our home.

Hark The Evie Angel Sings

So what is my motivation for this role?


There are many drawbacks to Evangeline's status as a pastor's kid. Has she had to sit through council meetings? Yep. What are the odds we decide to skip church on a Sunday morning? Slim. But there are many advantages. She has a host of church great-grandmothers who constantly check in on her, she gets to play the drums before youth band rehearsals, and she gets to see her youth director Aunt Kaitlin all the time. Evie Lu also tends to be around when cool new stuff shows up at the church. Such was the case when the Christmas Eve costumes arrived this week.

I think I shine without the costume.


Karen, our children's ministry director, asked Evie if she wanted to try on some fancy outfits and my little girl had a ball. She was a star, a cow, a camel, a donkey, Mary, a king, and lastly an angel. Evangeline was clearly the most excited about being an angel. Consider this your invitation to come out to church at 5pm Christmas Eve to see if Evie is brave enough to go up for a costume. (No matter what she'll definitely do better than I did as a kid angel, since I got kicked out of the choir for turning my halo into a mohawk.)

Oh yes, I want to be an angel!

A Sick Mom And A Fairy Princess

Dad, you brought me to a mall to trick or treat? Ridiculous!


Kaia has been the driving force behind Halloween celebrations at our house, but this year I had to take the lead. Kaia was fighting the flu and it was up to Evie and I to carve the pumpkin and head out for free candy. The pumpkin wasn't a complete disaster (although my idea of carving a bear holding a shark got vetoed by both of the women in my life), but what was really fun was trick or treating.

A Fairy Princess doesn't like to stay in the frame.


I know my daughter is only two, but I have no desire to see her dressed as a "sexy genie" or any of the other too skimpy costumes that girls have to choose from. (Every boy costume has head to toe coverage, but girls pay just as much for not even half the material. End of rant.) What Evie really wanted was a set of wings and so she was sporting the coolest pink wings we could find. We met up with Erik, Cam, and Baby Reece who dressed up as the best looking family you'll ever see. Evangeline was a hit as we walked around the mall and did fairly well for herself on the candy front. (She even shared with her sick mom.)

Yup, I'm adorable.

A Sad Day

Evangeline's teacher Mrs. Ana is leaving today to move closer to family to support her husband who is fighting cancer. Without Mrs. Ana potty training would have been a much bigger struggle and Kaia and I have received more daily updates from Mrs. Ana than from any other teacher. We will miss her.

Western Washington Sunshine (aka rain)

My rain boots are looking at you!


Evangeline welcomed the rainy season by convincing us to buy her new rain boots. (How can you turn down a kid who just wants to jump in puddles?) After a brilliant summer of warmer than expected temperatures we are settling in for what looks to be a long wet fall/winter/spring. Thankfully this suits Evangeline just fine. As long as she can get dirty and play outside in her new rain boots, Evie Lu has a smile on her face. Doesn't it make you want to jump in a puddle too?

Parenting Is Hard Work

Okay, you need more blankets.


Kaia used to make fun of me for letting Evie Lu put blankets on me and pretend to sleep. What better way to keep my daughter occupied and get a nap at the same time? As you can see, Kaia has come to see how much fun this is. Evangeline clearly is proud. Ah, the hard work of parenting.

I put mommy to bed. Aren't I special?

Scissors and Boyfriends

Evie decides who gets cut next.


How do you keep an Evangeline occupied these days? Scissors. We picked up two pairs of plastic safety scissors (the first pair died after trying to give a doll a makeover) and Evie loves them. She will spend long stretches shredding whatever you put in front of her. All sensitive financial documents now get put on Evie Lu's desk.

Press play


Evie Lu's boyfriend at daycare continues to be Zeke. They've been in the same class since May of 2008 and the first question Evie asks every morning is if Zeke is at class yet. Miss Ana tells me that they act like an old married couple during the day. Evangeline tells Zeke how to do things and he responds about as you would expect. If anyone besides Zeke is dancing with Evie, he gets upset and says, "my Evie!" I watched them for about ten minutes one morning this week and it was a crack up. Although I will be worried if any boy Evie brings home in the future spends as much time in a pink play dress as Zeke does.

Dance Party

I'm sure it has been mentioned previously, but to catch you up Grandma Bev instituted morning dance party time when Kaia and Evangeline were in Minnesota this summer and it has continued now into the fall. If I get Evie ready quickly enough we have a little time in the mornings to jump around. Although niether side of the family has a lot of grace (why do you think we've learned to play instruments?) I love seeing Evie Lu figure out where the beat is in a song. Of course you don't really need the beat if you are just jumping and spinning.

Dogsitting

Everyone knows you color better with a dog at your feet.


Lots of kids ask for a dog, but Evie Lu got a dog in the best way, Mabel the dog is just staying for the weekend. Erik, Cam, and baby Reece needed someone to watch their beautiful pup and Evie has been having a great time. When she went to school the first thing she said to Ms. Ana was, "I got a dog!"

Evangeline has been a little skittish around dogs, but she's really warmed up to Mabel. I think having a dog on her home turf has helped. It is a riot to see Evie tell "Mabel Dog" to sit or to follow. Oscar the cat always keeps one eye on Mabel. They are coexisting, but I'm sure Oscar is hoping this is a temporary situation.

Not every member of the household is as excited about Mabel as Evie.

Say Goodbye!

It's been fun, but I'm saying goodbye to diapers.


From the information only close family will care about department, we can proudly tell everyone that Evie has been completely dry for three days! It was just last week that Kaia and I were wondering if she was really ready for this whole potty training thing, but she has proved us wrong. It is a real kick to see how proud she is of herself. We are very proud of her as well.

Talking About School

Every six months Evangeline has changed classrooms at her school. All of her teachers have been nice, but her new teacher Miss Ana is her favorite. Evie likes to bring gifts to Miss Ana (usually something ridiculous like a car air freshener) and tells us all about the great things Miss Ana teaches her. As you'll hear in the video there are subjects that are Miss Ana topics.

Fast Friends

Evie Lu and Olivia modeling for you!

Trevor, Alyssa, Olivia, and Dylan came out to visit and to get a taste of the rainy northwest. Olivia and Evie Lu have hit it off like a pair of two year olds do. For the most part they are the best of friends and then the toddler mood swings kick in we need to have them take a break. It has been a blast.

This picture will be used against them someday.

Off To School!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the school year for Kaia and a new routine for Evie Lu and me. The burning questions for the fall are whether I'm up to doing ponytails every morning, how many cartoons will it take us to get out the door, and will Oscar do anything but sleep all day?

The good news is that it appears potty training has taken!