The Switch

After just over three years at this website, I have filled it to capacity and am moving to a new one.

Bits and Pieces

This site will still be accessible but I will no longer post here. Be sure to bookmark our new page once you click the link!

Little Monkeys

There is a lot of monkey-see monkey-do around here between siblings. Evan and Chloe love to imitate each other and laugh hysterically. Chloe watches everything Evan does and tries her very best to be just the same. The other day, Evan was being Wall-E compacting trash and Chloe joined right in.




Having a "shadow" can really bother some kids, so I feel relieved that this is one less thing they have to fight about. It's entertaining for all of us. Now if I could just get them to do their turkey strut on video....

Headbands

Part of our deal with Evan when he wanted to grow his hair l-o-n-g was that he's have to keep it out of his eyes on a regular basis. Without the headbands it is usually impossible to see his face.

It's almost long enough to tuck behind his ears but he doesn't like that feeling anyway, so he may be using headbands for another six months.



It's really starting to get past the latest in-between stage and looking really great again. (Anyone with curly hair knows this cycle....) Doesn't it look nice??

Her Corner

Evan and Chloe share a small room. With a twin bed on each side (for now) there is less than four feet between beds. There isn't much space in the house that is really just their own, so on the wall by their bed we allowed the kids a bit of decorating freedom. They each have a calendar hung up on which they methodically track each passing day with a highlighter.




Each of them has framed art from Uncle Chris, some horse paint-by-numbers I did years ago, a kitten poster from Granny and a handful of photos and always a changing array of random personal drawings. Right now, Evan has just one tracing of WallE displayed. Chloe has the snowflakes she's been cutting out, but it is usually her favorite tracing paper pictures of horses. They just grab the tape and decorate whenever they want to.

I love that Chloe has her two enlarged photos of Trip right by her pillow.


Each night at bedtime Chloe arranges her "stuffies" -- usually a snake or two, a pile of puppies and her white tiger. And always Moonlight. Sometimes the beanie babies join her too -- turtles, the rat, a robin, a blue-jay. There is barely room for her once all the pillows are in place! Her bed has a really pretty rainbow stripe quilt and polka dot sheet that she refuses to use. She likes covering up with her big yellow blanket which keeps her plenty warm.

It's her corner and this is just how she likes it.

A Morning with Chloe

We played with playmobil horses in her bedroom.

We shared a big bowl of popcorn and some apples and pears.

We decorated and braided hair on her big horses.

We read the next chapter in her horse book, Barbaro.

We enjoyed each other's company and chatted
about her favorite things -- mostly horses.

******************

I've resorted to just snapping random pictures of Chloe all the time now, since she has adopted Evan's run-away technique. Some of them (when not too blurry) are actually kind of cute :-)

Deck Project

Our deck feels like a cage.

Maybe when we built it we thought we needed a cage since Evan was not yet two years old and we knew we'd be having another baby around soon, but we are tired of the cage. It's time to open things up.


Todd started dismantling the handrail spindles last night and the kids helped.




He showed both of them how to use the drill to get the screws out. Chloe wasn't such a fan of it and preferred to just haul away the loose spindles to the garage. Evan was a pro.




The boy likes power tools. Just like his dad.




Todd left a spindle here and there for stability until the next phase of construction. You can see Chloe at work (also trying to dodge the camera).




I love the Superman cape hanging down out of Evan's coat. He still dresses up all the time.




Since Todd has quite a few house projects going right now (swings to hang from the backyard tree, front yard landscaping and grass, sidewalk cement pouring, building a bed with drawer storage underneath for us, building a loft-type bed for the kids), the deck getting opened up to the yard might not get done immediately but we will chip away at it.

The plan is to put in a large staircase and support posts for the overhead pergola so there will be no more cage!

No Front Teeth

Evan is always trying to hide the empty space in his mouth if anyone draws attention to it.





Not because he's shy, but because he can, and you can't make him show you.

So he won't.






But, if you happen to just be hanging out together.....

talking about his favorite things...






he forgets how fascinating that big space is and just shows it off freely...








and I make sure to pay attention to his words


and not stare at his mouth


or imagine what his grown-up teeth will look like...






and he just chatters on and smiles freely without realizing.....



This 'toothless' phase doesn't last long, so I am savoring it.






because I am going to miss that cute smile!

Outside Time

We had two really warm days in a row this week so there were quite a few hours of outside time logged for us. The sun was beautiful and the wind was warm :-)

The front yard is still a mess and it is the kids' favorite place to play. Chloe had brought out two small horses and ended up losing track of one in the mud. We did find him but she was pretty upset. I think she might go back to just playing trucks.
There was a lot of rain that came with the warmer air here so we ended up on the deck quite often. The wind, which was sort of annoying, actually helped me get pictures of Evan's face.

The horses go with Chloe everywhere. They are so real to her.


One night we were out back as a family and Evan wanted to practice some baseball.

This guy is a slugger. Let me tell ya -- you do NOT want to be the pitcher unless you have fast reflexes. Thank goodness the ball is made of plastic.

He, obviously, thinks all pitcher injuries are hilarious.



It was warm enough here one day that we had the hose out. Evan could play with the hose all day every day (you know, if we didn't have winter...).


Chloe was so excited to get wet that she changed into her bathing suit, but she got too cold and had to go snuggle up. (We've been skipping naps on purpose lately to get her to be done with them and I think her tiredness contributed to her coldness this day.)


She has been so cooperative for photos lately. I think it's a manipulative little sister thing though, to do the opposite of Evan so that she will appear better in my eyes.... either way, I like it.


She and Evan set up a very elaborate horse washing area for most of a day. I think she and Evan had used thirteen different containers and passed in and out of the door refilling cups about 300 times.


Ajay even joined us for a bit. He cleaned up some of the containers. Ha!!


Warmer weather means way less fighting. Such a monumental difference in behavior.

It seems the winter blahs have finally lifted!

Since Sunday

We've been visiting with the kids' Gramma and enjoying family time outside (since it is finally warm!!) so I haven't been online much.


Here are a few pics from Easter.






We hid a small Easter basket with a few candies and some surprises for the kids to hunt for after breakfast that morning. We gave Evan some new Legos


and we gave Chloe this pretty sparkly Pegasus (that she swiftly put a saddle and rider on :-)


Then Chloe ate about 40 of her jellybeans (oops.) and we went to church.

After that there was HAM for Todd -- which we were able to find at a local organic farm -- yay!!

Like Calvin

Evan read a Calvin & Hobbes comic strip recently that showed Calvin's mom trying to take pictures of him. Every time she snapped a picture, he changed his face to a goofy one and then laughed while she got madder and madder....



So quite often he likes to practice being like Calvin:







I don't get mad though.



I laugh (which only makes it worse) but my laughing makes him laugh so between every funny face I snap again and get a smile.



He doesn't know my secret.

Cuddly Girl

Chloe likes to be cozy and cuddly and snuggle up in nests she builds herself.




Aunt Bryce totally gets that and helps her make perfect little beds. They have collaborated for years now.




Even Ajay wanted Chloe to be tucked in just right. He shared his kitty with her for awhile :-)




She really didn't want her picture taken, so even though she looks cranky, she was actually in her element and beaming with smiles (until I pointed the camera at her).


She is such a cuddly girl.

Stolen

I try to sneak in and steal a picture when these two are being so completely perfect (these are rare moments indeed). But aside from that, my heart was so full just looking at them and seeing the bond growing between them as Evan read a story to his little sister.




He reads, she laughs, he lets her turn the page, he points out funny things, she giggles, he smiles.... for a moment they love each other.





But, as luck would have it, I did not steal a picture, I stole the moment. It was over after that. Oh well.

Moonlight

All dressed up for church on Sunday, Chloe was searching for toys to bring along. She popped around the corner with Moonlight the lizard, her most favorite stuffed animal.

Maybe you can't see him there since he's wearing his blanket ... and he's upside down. He gets cold quite often and Chloe thinks that the sparkling moon and stars printed on his purple back might wear off if they aren't protected.

He has slept on her bed every night since her birthday (when he first popped out of a little purse from Granny and made her laugh out loud!)

She loves him!