Evie the label maker, and other interesting tales

I'm sorry to say that the following stories don't include pictures, so if you are here only for new photos of the kids you'll have to wait another day.  But I encourage you to keep reading because while pictures are worth a thousand words, the mental image of these stories might be enough to get you through. 

Story #1: Evie the label maker
A week ago I was having a slow Saturday morning.  When Evie asked if she could use some post-it notes, I said sure.  As long as she was occupied and I got to sit in my pajamas a little longer, I was happy.  A while later, I noticed the house was covered in lime green and aqua sticky notes, each with handwritten notes by Evie.  For example, she labeled the dining room wall "Pictr Woll" because it has pictures of our family on it.  She labeled her brothers' beds "Zs sid" and "Gus sid" to indicate which bed (side) belong to which twin.  The closet door in the hallway was labeled "Secrt Door" for reasons I still don't know.  My favorite note by far was the one she delivered to me that said, "you are the best. Love Evie!"  Though, I felt a little slighted when she gave Will the note "you are the best ever."  She said it was because she had to make his note different that my note.  I'll try not to take it personally.  I continued to find notes throughout the house the rest of the day.  As I was tucking Zevon into bed that night, I noticed a note above his head the read "Slep". 

Story #2:  What is up your shirt, Zevon?
The boys were never good self-soothers.  But the only thing that has come close has been Zevon and his lovey, his little blanket (now he calls it 'waa-ee') I made for the boys a while back.  He will suck his tongue and rub waa-ee to calm down.  Waa-ee has to join him while he plays and at every meal.  (I'm not sure what it is about my cooking that he needs to be soothed during mealtime.)  Because you need your hands to eat and play, Zevon has found a handy way to 'hold' his waa-ee: stuff it up his shirt.  You'll see him walking around the house with a big poofy stomach.  I have to say, it is a brilliant idea.  But yesterday, I noticed him pulling a treat from Sunday School out of his shirt and I'm wondering what else he will try stuffing up his shirt.  Perhaps it is time to teach him about pockets.

Story #3:  Disappearing raisins and Guthries
The boys love raisins and at the moment I'm not sure if it is bananas or raisins that are their favorite snack.  Last week I was trying to find some tax documents at the computer while the boys were snacking in the next room.  Suddenly, Guthrie starts to say "Owwie!" and cries.  He informs me there is a raisin up his nose.  He did this a few days earlier and Will was able to pull it out with tweezers, but this time it was way up there.  He had a cold and kept on sniffing it up farther every time I asked him to blow it out.  After more extraction attempts and finally calling the nurse, we were on our way to the clinic.  We waited for 45 minutes for the doctor and I kept on looking at Guthrie hoping the raisin would come out each time he sneezed.  No luck.  We finally got in and the minute Gus sees the doctor he starts to cry.  I get him calmed down enough so that the doctor can look in his ears and listen to his chest (since he had a cold we might as well cover everything).  When we finally get to his nose, Guthrie starts wailing again and the raisin starts to shoot out his nose.  Why didn't he do that 2 hours earlier!

Just yesterday, Guthrie did a disappearing act of his own and went missing after church.  I had asked the kids to wash their hands before getting a treat downstairs and noticed Guthrie didn't follow me into the women's restroom.  After taking care of Evie and Zevon, I went looking for him, sure he would turn up.  A little while later, Gus still hadn't shown up and I had several women looking for him.  Several panicked minutes later, I finally found him in the MENS restroom washing his hands (or, mostly just getting his jacket soaked).  He could push the door open to get in, but couldn't reach the handle to get out.  The only reason I found him was because he was yelling 'mommy!' (not in a scared way but in a wow, I've got myself in a mess sort of way). 

Never a dull moment here.

Mardi Gras

Who are these masked children?

The church held a Mardi Gras pancake feed with live music a month ago.  They had activities for the kids including making masks.  Evie, Zevon, and Guthrie had fun making their own masks, but I think they had even more fun wearing them.  Zevon even slept with his!  Guthrie's was a little big for his face, so he has a goofy look no matter what picture we took of him.  Evie loves to dream up elaborate settings and dramas for her brothers to participate in, and the masks just added to that.

Superheroes!

I am Thor!  Look at my hammer!  And that isn't my evil brother Loki behind me.  That is the great Captain America and his unbreakable shield!

It's no secret that Will loves comic book heroes.   I think he has seen every superhero movie, he still owns his childhood comic books, and at one time had a Batman toothbrush holder.  It seems like he has passed this love onto his sons.  For Christmas from Evie, Zevon and Guthrie got little stuffed action figures of several Marvel characters.  I think they are the favorite toys of the moment.  They also got a couple of Marvel character themed Golden Books, so now they also know the back story of their superheroes.  "Nion Nan" (Iron Man) and "Gulk" (Hulk) frequently join them in every day activities, from naps, to potty training, to snack time.  I'm not sure if the picture above was them actually playing the parts of Thor and Captain America.  But Guthrie with his toy wooden hammer sure strikes a Thor-like pose.  He even tried throwing his hammer just like Thor (it was confiscated shortly after).  And Zevon certainly looks like he is holding Captain America's shield.  Though, considering it is a plastic hamper lid, I'm pretty sure it isn't unbreakable.

Evie's birthday brunch with friends

 Older and wiser!

In a moment of weakness, Will and I decided to throw a kid party for Evie.  We planned a low key party with a few friends and an easy brunch of waffles and fruit.  Add in a few fun games and activities and a couple of party favors and we thought we had a laid back kid party planned.  We even put up a few streamers and balloons and a banner.  They played pin the tail on the donkey, made marshmallow towers (a hit! who knew...), and played up a storm in Evie's room.  They had such a good time!  In fact, one girl cried when she had to go home.  Success!?  What we didn't plan for was the chaos that is 6 little girls and their 4 brothers.  Oof da.  Even my extrovert husband was overloaded on noise and joyful exuberance.  Seeing how much fun they had and how happy Evie was to show her friends her room and house made it worth it. 

 Coloring tails for pin the tail on the donkey

 Evie and her friends fill up the secret closet in her room.  If you turn up the radio and TV really loud while looking at this picture, you'll get an idea of what hosting this party was like.

Who knew that toothpicks and marshmallows could keep kids entertained!

 

 Happy birthday to our smart, happy, headstrong girl!  I can't believe how tall and strong you are, with long fingers and long hair.  You love to run circles around us, color masterpieces, and sing to your CDs.  You play with your brothers so well and I am so proud of how you have handled being the big sister of twins.  Your legos and books have become your latest joys, which speaks to your love of puzzles.  Keep up the good work, Evie!  You keep us on our toes (which is a good thing because your brothers aren't far behind!)

Minnesota holiday, part 1

 Evie and her new best friend, Noah.

In an attempt to reduce whining and crankiness during the drive, Will and I decided an overnight trek to Minnesota was the best way.  We packed up the van and kids when Will was done with services and headed out.  The weather was not the best and roads and visibility were pretty awful through much of Montana.  The kids slept fitfully through the drive but were very good.  We made it to the farm by Christmas morning greeted by two very thankful grandparents.  After a shower and a short rest, we headed out to my aunt and uncle's farm to see a houseful of aunts and uncles and cousins I haven't seen in a long time (or, in the case of one of my cousins' kids, meeting for the first time).  As a kid growing up, Christmas Eve was often spent with my dad's side of the family where I have many cousins ranging from my age to many years younger.  I can remember when my younger cousins were born.  Now, many of us are married with kids, in college, working full time, getting close to high school graduation, or in many other stages of growing up.  Now, it is our kids running wild in the house!  Evie became reacquainted with her second cousin Noah, who is only about a year younger.  They were inseparable the whole day.  It was a lot of fun catching up.  However, the long drive wore on us and we were TIRED by the end of the day.  Our first day in Minnesota was probably the busiest of the trip.

Cousins playing catch-phrase

Evie putting together a new puzzle with my cousin Kyle and Aunt Kaitlin

Minnesota holiday, part 2

 These presents are mine.  You can get your own.

Sometimes I think we celebrate a sort of Hanukkah: instead of one day of presents we get several crazy nights.  We celebrated our Christmas with my family after everyone was in town.  Kaitlin got in the same day we did; Megan and Chris a day later.  Great-grandma joined us and we enjoyed a Christmas brunch and gift opening.  That gave the whole day to play with new toys, read new books, and generally just hang out.

Evie picks out her first present

 Zevon posing

 Guthrie opens his tractor/flashlight.  Comes in handy for bedtime play!

 Evie shows off her new book from Great-grandma.  We have started reading it and she loves it!

 The boys got new Tonka trucks from Grandma and Grandpa.  They are not ride-on toys, but the boys thought otherwise.  Here Guthrie is proving that it works...

 ...or not.

 Evie snuggles up with Aunt Kaitlin in their new fleece blankets

 Evie and Guthrie play Elephun (sp?) with Uncle Chris.  

 One of the favorite gifts the boys got was homemade quilts from Great-Grandma.  She selected fabric with trucks, sports, dogs, tools, and other 'boy' fabric.  Zevon and Guthrie liked pointing and naming all the parts of their new quilts.  

Zevon and Guthrie with Great-grandma and their quilts.

 Evie listens to a bedtime story from Great-grandma.  I think she is just upset about bedtime, not the story itself.

Minnesota holiday, part 3

Guthrie, Zevon, and Evie go for a sled ride on the lake

This past summer my parents bought a lake cabin.  One of the selling points was that it was heated and could be used year round.  We decided to try it out and spend a night.  It was co-old, but still lovely.  Evie had fun skiing and skating with her Aunt Kaitlin.  I don't think she understood that this was the same lake that she swam in last summer, and now she was skiing on top of it.  The boys loved wandering around in the snow and exploring the frozen lake shore.  I enjoyed a morning cross-country ski, as well as a moonlit walk with Will on the lake. 

 Evie's smile is about as wide as the lake itself

 Clearing off the shore to make an ice rink for skating.  Zevon is doing his best to help (using his belly as a shovel)

Who needs skates?!  Uncle Chris leads the charge onto the rink.

Guthrie looks back to see how far he's walked.

Grandma Bev pulls a heavy load full of grandchildren.

Happy kids!

 

Zevon's cheeks tell you how cold it was.  They are the same color as his scarf!

Evie Lu loves the lake!

There was plenty to do indoors, too.  Coloring, card games, reading books, knitting and crocheting, and cooking and eating good food all kept us warm inside.  A few crazy adults tried out the sauna, complete with a roll on the snow covered deck (I'm not posting those pictures).  It was a time of wonderful family togetherness, followed (predictably) by shared viruses.  I think we can count this trip as the start of most everyone getting the dreaded cold/flu/whatever-itis that plagued the last part of our trip.  But at least we had fun to start!

 Evie coloring

 Grandpa Wayne reads to his grandsons

Minnesota holiday, part 4

 Evie is 6 years old!

  

Evie's birthday was a low key affair.  So many of our family was under the weather and our recent trip to the cabin had sucked a lot of energy out of us.  But we did  manage to get the important parts put together.  I made a chocolate cake, as Evie requested, and Grandpa picked up a few pizzas on his last minute end-of-the-year farm errands.  Evie opened her gifts and had time just to enjoy playing with her new toys and snuggling with family (those that weren't running a fever and coughing!)

Opening up her gifts

 

Blowing out the candles

We rang in the new year with hopes of health.  New years day was spent either relaxing or packing, and we headed out on the 2nd for our long drive.  The kids were troopers, and as usual I was probably the one who complained the most.  

Christmas pictures

 Our three beautiful children

Evie

Zevon

 Guthrie

Just the girls

A rare photo of Will and I taken by our photographer, Evie.

"Christmas morning"

When there is a pastor in the family, you need to be creative about how you plan the more secular parts of the holidays.  For example, when and where does Santa come when you are traveling early Christmas morning?  And how do you get together with family to open gifts and share a meal when Christmas evening is full of services and packing for later travel? 

This year, we enjoyed a Little Christmas with our family in town on the 23rd.  Then, we got ready for Santa as we arranged for Santa to have an early delivery.   The kids found their stockings Christmas Eve morning.  The nice thing about spacing things out was that we could let each event be special on its own.  The kids didn't get overwhelmed with gifts and had time to play with and enjoy each present.  The downside is that you kind of get your days mixed up.  The kids got confused at Christmas Eve services when everyone was asking if they were excited for Santa to show up.  Evie looked at them like, "Duh! Santa showed up this morning?  What's up with you?"

Zevon and Guthrie got a sports set for Christmas.  Guthrie looks like he is planning to use his basketball for something else (notice his brother's head/target behind him).

 Evie's Barbie test drives her new car.

 Power hitter Zevon sizes up his new bat.

 Evie, Zevon and Guthrie find what Santa left for them.  Sugar and toys, what could be better!

 Chocolate goldfish!

 Mmm, sugar cereal!

 Evie finds a note from Santa.  He loved her cookies, hand decorated with sprinkles to spare.  The difference this Christmas was that she could READ the letter.  She is so smart!