Late August 2008

Simon's Handwriting on August 11, 2008

Evie wearing her big brother's shirt and hat (in following pictures) 

so that I could prove how cute she looks in brown!

Check out those cute, pudgy hands !

please pick me up ... and the end of the photo shoot

Evie with the hairbrush she loves so much.

The other night at dinner we were all taking turns saying what we were thankful for.  When we were finished, Simon chimed in, "I know what Evie is thankful for -- her hairbrush!!"

I organized this last week!

And I finally finished our file cabinet mess.  

We were trying to downgrade from a three drawer cabinet to a single drawer cabinet.  

We have lots of papers to be shredded now!  

Matt, however, will probably burn them instead as he did last time we had a huge "to shred" basket.

Simon drew this.

It is a van or bus with "scaring things" (guns) on top.

??????

Check out those cute baby legs!

Any picture we ever take in our living room always turns out too dark!  Sad.

The first of a sequence of interesting sister-brother pictures.

This picture makes me laugh because I look so unfriendly and Scott looks so smirky.

This picture looks like Scott might be praying for me, but he wasn't.

He was trying to "focus" for that perfect picture.

Ethereal, aren't we?

And this one looks like we are gazing upon our impending doom with acceptance,

because there is nothing we can do.

Matt and his new favorite toy -- an ice-cream maker!  He has been wanting to make ice-cream all summer, so my parents bought him an icecream maker (for his birthday) that is both electric and/or manual!

We used to have one, but lost it.

We're not sure how we misplaced an appliance.

Simon and his friend Eli.  (The "new" Eli)

Just weeks apart in age.

A great neighborhood discovery.

Simon drew this and I asked him to tell me about it.

Two of the guys are putting the other guy in jail.

The jail is in the background.

Let me explain this one...

The other day it was about 5:40 p.m. and Matt would be home soon.  I thought it would create a fun and relaxing atmosphere if he came home and the Olympics were on.  So, I turned on the television, saw a Michael Phelps interview, assumed it was the Olympics, and went back into the kitchen to work on dinner.

Matt came in just a few minutes later, and the first thing I head was,

"What are you watching?"

Well, I wasn't watching it, but Simon was still in the living room.  And it was the news, not the Olympics.  And they were highlighting a local crime story (I guess this was right after the Phelps interview); hence, the inspiration for Simon's picture.

Simon outside right as it started raining ... again.

We've had a week or so of rainy, rainy weather.

So thankful.

I think it is over, though :(

Simon and his bamboo "bonnet"

The pictures on the refrigerator are 'souvenirs' of Simon's Birthday dinner at Chuck.E.Cheese!

Too cute.

Simon and I baked peanut-butter cookies on Wednesday because on Tuesday he was having a very intense cookie craving as we drove home from prayer meeting, but we didn't have any cookies!  So, I thought it would be fun to make his 'dream' come true the next day.  

If only we were so easily pleased!

If someone were to write a book of recipes from the Old Testament, here are a couple of ideas ...

Forbidden Fruit Cobbler

"Better than a Birthright" Stew

Okay, that is the end of my cleverness :)

Sweet Simon making a funny face

These are the cookies right before we put them in the oven.

And, exactly 11-13 minutes before Simon received a 1st and 2nd degree burn from the cookie sheet that had just emerged from the 375 degree oven :(

He was smelling them, and I only cautioned him to be careful, instead of asking him not to be near the pan.  He would have obeyed me, but I thought he could smell the cookies and not get burned, but he slipped or something, and has a nice, crescent-shaped 4-5 inches in length burn on his jawline that will most likely leave a scar in certain portions of it.

(sigh)

I am glad we went to the doctor yesterday.  I wasn't going to.  I called the pediatrician office the next day (Thursday) to make sure I was caring for the burn properly.  I was also seeking my friend Kellie's counsel (in Asia) which was a fun, bonding experience.

They wanted us to come in, and I was really surprised.  I thought they were just going to tell me how to care for it, but they were concerned about the details in the size and severity of the burn.

So,  I am glad I called.  We have a prescription for Silvadene (?) which is an ointment used for 2nd and 3rd degree burns that will help guard against infections from the open skin and might help with scarring.  As you can imagine, it is a bit difficult to gingerly care for a painful burn on an active 4 year old who does not want it touched!  We stocked up on gauze and tape last night at CVS!  Plus, my heart breaks whenever I see the burn!

Simon checking out the aloe-vera images on Google.

He pronounces it, "alabama gel."

I don't have an actual pic of the burn.  It's kind of appetite-turning, so you can all say "thank you" later :)

Evie Grace and Ruthie posing for a picture.

We couldn't get a good picture of them.  

Evie kept sliding or they kept politely snatching a toy from each other :)

These girls are 5 weeks apart.  Ruthie will be one at the end of September, and Evie at the end of October.  Both of them do not crawl ...

Ruthie used to crawl, but doesn't anymore as she has been walking for well over two months!

And, Evie, hasn't even crawled yet.

I can just imagine Ruthie encouraging Evie, "Now, if you would just apply yourself..."

I never realized before that Matt and Brad look like they could be brothers!

The gauze job Dr.Bill did for Simon at his appointment.

When we were leaving the doctor's office, I commented to Dr.Bill that I was thankful we lived in America and had health insurance.  He was kind and said he'd take care of us either way.  Did that mean he would come to another country to treat us?  I think he meant he'd help us out w/ the bill, which was very kind of him.  No wonder he is everybody's favorite !  (And this is before we "bribe" him with the old-school Dr.Who videos that Matt plans on giving him!)

I know Evie is only 10 months old (almost) but there is a certain air of elegance to the curvature of her neck and shoulders!

Contrary to the reality that Evie is poking the doll's eyes, she LOVES this baby doll!

I can't wait to pick out a special doll for her for her birthday!

If you think she looks excited in the above picture, you should have seen her in her first grocery-cart ride a couple of weeks ago at Cost-co!

It will be the only cart she can ride on (for a while), because they are super-clean and nice (straps work) and because they are designed for two kids to sit in them!

Thank you, Cost-co!

Seriously, I felt like we should have been PAYING someone for the cart-ride.

That is how much fun she had.

My friend Megan helped me start making my own baby wipes.  So easy.  I saved up 4 old baby wipe containers.  You cut a bounty roll (has to be bounty, from what I hear) in thirds w/ an electric knife.  Put the roll in a container after you have mixed a solution of a cup or so of water (start w/ less and add more if they seem dry.  If they are too wet then it's not much fun for you or the baby!), 1 T of baby soap, 1/2 T baby oil, flip the wipe container over for a few minutes and there will be no more water solution, the towels will have absorbed it.  Open it, remove the brown cardboard and feed the inner layer of paper towel through the top of the wipe container.  With the right wipe container, they are even pull-off wipes.  So, I figure each wipe box now costs 33 cents!!

The 4th container is for when I get down to one container, I will use the three empty ones to make another "batch."

Now, I don't feel guilty using wipes for after-meal clean up.

Only 1/3 of a paper towel sheet per face!

Brilliant.

Thank you, Megan!

This shirt is a little big for Evie.

It is 4T, but I thought I could pull it off as a dress or something.

Sigh.

It will have to wait a couple of years.

This picture was with a flash, so it doesn't turn out pretty, but you can see Evie's actual complexion better.  And maybe you can see why I like the fabric so much and tried to force it to fit a 10 month old when it is a 4T .

This picture cracks me up because it give me a glimpse into what our life would be like if we were crazy enough to have another baby at this point.

Evie is crying.

You can kind of see part of Simon's unclothed self on the red chair - neglected (it was before bedtime)

And the baby doll (which could represent the new baby) thrown haphazardly on top of a pile of laundry on the same red chair.

I discovered my new FAVORITE sandwich last week.

Peanut butter, banana, and pretzel!!!!!!!

Amazing.

And peanut butter has to be natural or it is just, well, unnatural.

I'm glad Terri left that bag of pretzels over here the other night ... :)

I look mean and kind of depressed, but I am neither (at the moment!)

We are going to a 70s-themed birthday party this weekend for a dear friend; these are my fabulous $1.10 glasses I found for Matt to wear.  I myself have a $1.19 pair (I know, a bit expensive :), maybe b/c they were new (unused) and still had the original sticker on them back from the 70s ....)  I'll have to get family pic made on Saturday night.  Evie has the cutest green terry-cloth dress/shirt with a bright yellow/white flower ($1 at same thrift store) and Simon has a Tae-kwon-do outfit that we bought at the same thrift store for $1!  I thought w/ a head band and sunglasses, he could look late 70s, early 80s!  

Matt couldn't get over these glasses.

He was ecstatic.

He said, "These are even more ridiculous than I imagined!"