Some of these pic are old, but I'm at my mom's house and taking some pictures from her computer.
My family this past Easter
Easter in the early 80s
I am in need of some dire lady-like coaching.
Another Easter sometime in the 80s
Scott looks so cute - I wish mom had kept this suit!
Simon with his cousins Blaize and Alex.
Evie is the only of 5 cousins WITHOUT red hair.
Here's my mom in a recent picture.
This is the oldest item in her closet.
I think it's over 25 years old.
She noticed recenty that it looked style-appropriate again.
Here's my mom's 5th grade class in 1964.
(I'm on my mom's computer and am raiding a few pictures).
Here is a quote from an interview with Billy Graham that I found really interesting.
The interviewer asked him, "Dr.Graham, you are now 92 years old and if you could go back and do it all over, what would you change?"
He replied, "I would preach less, study and pray more and spend moretime with my family."
I found this really refreshing and perspective-giving.
Here's Evie wearing Matt's "Old Man" mask
What?
You don't have one of those.
What a shame.
This is how our living room has looked for quite some time.
We are so blessed - they get along so well together!
There are moments, of course, but Simon is really gracious towards Evie most of the time, and Evie thinks Simon is her best friend and relishes attention from him.
Evie made her own sandwich and set her up a spot to eat on the porch.
Then she proceeded to eat two or three bites of it.
That's a look that says everything is right in her world!
I'm blogging at my parent's house this weekend.
Evie and I drove here yesterday afternoon, and we spent the night.
Today, Saturday, Matt and Simon are doing a couple of house projects and then they'll take a train up to this part of the metroplex. Then, Simon and Evie will both stay here tonight, and Matt and I will drive back to Carrollton together and go out either tonight or after church tomorrow.
Mom really wanted the kids to attend the children's Valentine's Party at their church tomorrow.
I have been wanting a more useful piece of furniture on this wall by my pantry.
I was looking for something below 35 inches in width , and this was 33 inches!
It was very solid, and in good shape ... and just $50 ... but wait, there's more
PLUS I had a 50% off any one item coupon, so I only paid $25!
Yep, I take coupons almost always with me to the Resale or to Goodwill
So, I have my little kitchen-command center!
And my counters and kitchen table can now be paper-free!
I've caught Simon being super sweet and patient with Evie lately.
Last night he offered to teach her how to brush her teeth.
He showed her how he rinses his mouth with "blue stuff" (it colors all of his teeth so we can see what areas he is ignoring ... since they will still be blue afterwards).
Then he showed her how to time the electric toothbrush for two minutes.
So cute.
She was participating fully in the lesson, with her new toothbrush we bought her.
It's a kid's electric toothbrush that came with Evie's favorite thing ... stickers to personalize!
So, I meant to buy Evie a shopping cart for Christmas to use with her kitchen set-up.
But I never did.
But why buy one now? Evie was proud of one she made by turning her ironing board upside down. And why would I want to hamper her imagination and resourcefulness?
Si doing his math homework.
We are very thankful that Simon can read so well; I know it is a hard struggle for children and parents when reading fluency doesn't come easily.
He also has great number sense and surprises me with his measurement and computation abilities. And he does well with his spelling words ... when I remember to have him study the night before!
I asked him if there was anything at school he wasn't good at.
He thought about it.
"Yup, being good."
He has a good rapport with his teachers, though, and they say he is really respectful. Just impulsive, especially in non-academic situations like water/bathroom breaks, lunch, etc.
We're working on it! But we're glad he is friendly, respectful, and honest! He doesn't hide mischief - it's right there for anyone to see!
Afternoon snack.
He asked if he could lay down on the counter if he took his shoes off.
I didn't see a problem with it.
Evie's new haircut!
Evie has always been very cuddly and affectionate.
Lately she seems to crave it even more.
She is so sweet - sometimes it is hard to disentangle ourselves from her bed.
Evie also has a cute habit of narrating pretty much everything.
I've asked Matt to videotape her soon to capture her sweet speech, voice, and choice phrases.
For example, if she is sitting in the hall with her giraffe, this is what you might hear:
"I'm sitting in the hall with giraffey. Mama, am I sitting in the hall with giraffey? Yes. That's right. I AM siting in the hall with giraffey. I love him. I just gave giraffey a hug, Mama. Are we two people sitting in the hall? One girl and one giraffey? Yes. We are. And we are both happy. Are we home, Mama? Is this our house? Yes, it is our house.
And then, a very satisfied smile and sigh (as everything was said in super fast and she is catching her breath for the next narration)
Evie's speech (articulation) is improving with speech therapy through the school district. We take her twice a week to work with a speech pathologist for 30 minutes.
Another catch phrase of Evie's is:
"You bought that to me?"
Pretty much everything she is very thankful for and happy that someone "bought it to her" at the "storey" (store)
I wish I had gotten a better picture the morning they were dressed similarly for school.
Evie goes to a preschool-type program Tues/Thur from 9-2.
That interaction with other children her age is helping her speech as well.
Unfortunately, Evie has had horrible allergies lately as seen
above with what the allergist calls "allergy shiners."
Poor thing.
And, if you haven't seen us much lately it is because this little girl has had a horrible cough and fever INTERMITTENTLY FOR WHAT SEEMS LIKE MONTHS!
There's not much to say about that but that I am really tired of it, and sometimes I want to give her a cough suppressant and tylenol and let her go to school or church. But I haven't. Promise.
It's just sad to hear her racking coughs at bedtime, to see her allergy shiners, and her eyelids that bleed from so much rubbing. And to tell her on a day when she was hoping to see "friends" that she is sick and can't go. (when she has a fever) She insists, "But I'm not sick, I better."
We really need to get her tested again so we can figure out what the allergies are. Her tests last fall showed up with no allergies, but the allergist said it was probably b/c she was too young for them to show through the skin prick test.
