Evalynisms

I've had these quotes on my desktop Stickies for awhile and had to share them.


(from late August, a groggy morning for me and a typical chipper one for Evalyn)

Can I watch you put your contact in Mommy?

Sure.

Do you put them in in the winter Mommy?
Uhuh.
When it's cold?
Uhhuh.
And even when it's Halloween?
Uhuh.
And even when the flowers grow?
Uhuh.

Of course I went from grumpy to smiling by the end of this exchange.




(from mid-October)

Evalyn, wait til I've cleaned that sticky counter off before you empty the dishwasher...... (crash clatter as stacks of cups fall everywhere)

"Don't worry Mom, I'm an expert at cleaning"



(And here's my favorite, also from October, but it requires a picture for clarification...)

I'd given Evalyn something to do during naptime and was in the other room on my computer when I hear her loudly proclaim:

E: "Mom, look! I put her vagina on!"

(Playful Patterns Girl Picture)

M: "Umh, let's call that her pelvis instead."

Creative Play

Why the TV has stayed off most of the day.





It may look like a bunch of junk thrown in a pile next to the tree (which it is) but to these guys it it is the coolest homemade tree house ever. The kid in me (with memories of many a tree fort) suggested the pulley bucket. (Makes me want to go out and buy a couple of real pulleys and some rope at the hardware store.) Between outside play, homemade playdough with small toys that were rediscovered during a recent toy purge/reorganization, and some new-to-us box of books found at the bottom of the toyshelves, it's been a very creative day. One of those, "I didn't rely on the TV to get me through" feel good mommy days.

Which was good since Linnea didn't really sleep soundly until 6:30 this morning (molars breaking through) right when Evalyn woke up. (?!?!) It was a very off and on sleepless night for the majority of our household.

An Early Snow and Marking One Year

(post-dated)

Here's some quick pics of a little early November surprise (the 5th). And a belated One Year Anniversary of relocating to California from Maryland (the 9th). We were supposed to get rain that day with temps in the high 40s. Instead almost an inch of very wet snow! It was a fun surprise. And thankfully melted the next day or two. I'm not ready for the backyard glacier yet.








I LOVE this snowsuit. Partly because I got it at REI's 75% off clearance sale when E was a baby and all my kids have worn it now. And partly because it's so good at keeping toddlers warm and dry and easy to get them in and out. Except the boots. There are no good warm, waterproof, traction, flexible soled, easy to get on and off toddler boots (size 5-7 WIDE) that I've found yet. Fill me in if you know of some. Plastic bags over socks in whatever their normal play shoes are is my stand-in.


Hard to believe that a year ago we'd left our first home in the early morning and flew across the country. It was a rough first few months. It seems like it wasn't until this summer that things started to feel more homey. Friendships growing, establishing ties, just time really. I still have bouts of homesickness for our Maryland home and friends and family there, probably always will. But change is constant and even if we were transported back, it wouldn't be the same. That sounds kinda lame. What I mean is: you remember parts of high school or college or whenever fondly and have this hankering to be back there and live in that feeling. But its more the feeling of that place and time and it wouldn't be the same to relive it. Something like that.

I remember one winter afternoon especially as a point along this journey to Here. I was driving home from an escape to Ashland (the fabulous Inner Child Cafe before it closed) and shopping in Medford (when I still needed a Target fix. I'm mostly past that now.) The kids had fallen asleep and I'd turned on my playlist of music. I'd just crested Siskiyou Summit. It was an overcast day but the clouds were high and the mountains were covered in snow. The song Landslide came on, performed by Peter Breinholt and Nancy Hanson. I'd been feeling especially homesick and lonely that day, wanting that "bosom friend" to hang out with and have play dates and all that. Add to that the exhaustion of hauling around three young kids. So this song came on as I was decending the grade and I started sobbing. All the words spoke to my heart and the message was one that I so needed to feel. You'll do okay. Change is okay. Even now I get choked up listening to it.

Well, I didn't mean to write so much about this but I'm glad I did. And I'm glad we're here.

We're off to see the Wizard....

Halloween this year was a bit more elaborate than in years past. My younger sister April and her family hadn't been down to see us in our new place yet. Rather than come any random fall weekend, why not do Halloween together? Not long after these plans were made, my older sister Heather realized that would be a boring Halloween if all the cousins were 4 hours away. So they decided to tag along as well.

The next question was costumes. The older kids had their own ideas of what they wanted to be (robot, dinosaur, princess, lion), but then we had a brainstorm of doing The Wizard of Oz.

*We morphed Ben's Robot into the Tin Man,
*Evalyn's Princess to Glinda the Good Witch, and
*Troy's Dinosaur into a Flying Monkey.
*Katy's Lion needed no altering.
*Henry made a cute Scarecrow since he loved the one Daddy made earlier this year.
*Lillie loves shoes of any kind, so Dorothy was a perfect fit. (ha ha, that pun was an accident, really)
*The babies were cute little Munchkins wearing zany outfits

*April was a tall formidable Wicked Witch of the West (sans green, we ran out of time)
*Carlin made a fabulous Wizard of Oz
*Heather and Oswaldo were Auntie Em and Uncle Henry, with a farm apron, buttoned shoes, and overalls.
*Matt's costume was the best, I think. I'll let you guess it from the group shot.
*I was the Wicked Witch of the East (the one who gets smashed, I went for the smashed hat look and wore shoes under my striped stockings so it looked like my shoes were missing) In hindsight, a citizen of Oz might've been better. Or the Yellow Brick Road or something. We were getting a little short on characters at this point.



The week leading up to Halloween was filled with phone calls and measurements for the fleece hats and booties I was making, the dresses Heather was making, and coordinating everyone's costumes (we had a last minute change of Scarecrow, Toto and Flying Monkey). Needless to say things were a little chaotic when Halloween day descended and the appointed time for getting dressed for pictures was running behind schedule. We didn't get to the church Halloween carnival until it was almost over, but we did make it for the Trunk-or-Treat. Although I must say that it was the craziest one I've participated in: crazy kids running around, returning several times to the same cars instead of meandering between cars and parents chatting and everyone admiring each others costumes, etc.

We went back to the house for a group picture, then Trick or Treating in the neighborhood and finally home again. The dads stayed home with the Munchkins (well, all except Carlin who tagged along for the first 3 houses). Henry really got the hang of saying Trick or Treat. He got so into it he even tried opening the door himself before someone came to answer it! The weather was perfect, windless, not too cold and plenty of stars to glance up at. I'm especially grateful for this as I listen to the rain pouring outside now.



After getting the sugar-wired kiddies to bed, we were too tired for board games, but it was too early to call it a night. So we opted for hot cocoa and watching The Illusionist. It was a lot of fun with a little less insanity than the previous group-coordinating effort of matching homemade pajamas last Christmas. Oh my. When will we learn our lesson?!?



Saturday was very laid back. The dads took the older kids up to the fish hatchery on the Klamath River to see the spawning salmon. We sisters chatted while the babies napped. It was lovely. Later that day Heather and Oswaldo left for home. April and I analyzed my closets and brainstormed some storage solutions (she's a whiz at that kind of thing). Sunday afternoon April and Carlin made their exit. It was a lot of crazy fun.


All six cousins lined up with Uncle Oswaldo


Running along the hatchery pools


Stomping in the leaves alongside Bogus Creek