Stayin' Alive

That's right, this year our tree is actually thriving and it looks like it's going to be fresh and lovely on Christmas Day. I love a live tree. But over the years it's been hit and miss in respect to keeping ours, well, alive. Last year our beautiful tree dried up after only a few days. It was depressing to look at the droopy, brittle branches all month and I definitely did not "cry the day I took the tree down." But this year we were very careful to do all the things we believe help to keep a tree perky until Christmas Day. (Pick a good one to begin with, make a fresh cut on the trunk, water very faithfully - even in the middle of the night for the first week! I'd love to know any other tips. I will have to scour Pinterest.) And, so far so good. Maybe not a very exciting post, but this is big time around here!

We also love this tree because we had such a festive and fun time picking it out at Faust Creek Farms. (The Fowles, some friends who moved from our neighborhood a few years ago, have a farm in Faust. This kids were so excited to be driving out west, close to the location of our favorite summer camping spot.)

Santa (or "that cowboy pretending to be Santa," as Gabe put it) loaded us up for a hay ride over to the little tree lot. We spotted a perfect tree almost immediately, but stuck around for delicious pulled-pork and cole slaw sandwiches and hot chocolate. We also checked out the chickens, goats, and extra fat pigs. We plan on making this trip a tradition. And hopefully successfully keeping the tree alive will be one too...

Songs for E

It is about time I document Evy's songs. Her lullaby has been around since she was a month old or so. And a few weeks ago a playtime song came about while I was bathing her. She loves to hear her songs. Her lullaby calms her at night and she giggles and kicks when anyone starts singing "Everything about Evy."

I cannot describe how much I adore my angel baby. She is a complete delight. She is a joy in my life from the moment she wakes up to when I sing to her and rock her at night*. And I love to know a sweet little baby girl is soundly sleeping right next door to my room. Oh Evy, how I love, love, love you.

Evelyn's Lullaby

Evelyn, my darling baby girl

It's time to say "Goodnight" to the world.

Close your eyes now, and rest your head

So warm and cozy in your bed.

Evelyn, my darling baby girl

It's time to say "Goodnight" to the world.

Let the day go, another will come.

Dream now, my sleepy little one.

Everything about Evy

Everything about Evy

Everything about Evy

Everything about Evy

is cute, cute, cute.

Your eyes are cute, your nose is cute

Your hands are cute, your toes are cute

Your arms are cute, your legs are cute

Your little dimples are cute, cute, cute.

Repeat Chorus

Your laugh is cute, your cry is cute

Your yawn is cute, your sigh is cute

Your goo goo's cute, your ga ga's cute

Your little giggle is cute, cute, cute.

Repeat Chorus and make up as many verses as come to mind!

*Yes, Evy is a sweetheart. But that doesn't mean she sits around and smiles all day and night. Just almost all day. Really, she is a happy little thing. But she is a baby and has her occasional fussy times (which are further and farther between than my other two babies - she is definitely my most mellow), is not yet sleeping through the night, and we have been battling the "45 Minute Intruder" at nap times for months. Ugh. But those small things certainly don't keep me from thinking she is the most wonderful thing in the world. Just look at that face! (And be sure to notice her luscious lashes in the second picture.) She is my little dolly and I love playing house with her.

Oh, and here are the links to see Julia's and Gabe's songs.

a pumpkin comparison

Because all three of my babies have been 5-6 old months in October, they have all donned this simple pumpkin costume for their first Halloween. (Yes, they were all born within the same month. I love a Spring baby.) So of course this calls for a picture comparison! Here they are in birth order. I would have you guess but it is just so obvious. Julia looks exactly like her current self and Gabe is so chubby that you couldn't mistake him for one of my girls. I think Evy has her own look, but if I had to choose, most days I'd say she resembles her brother over her sister.

 

Okay, since most of you will look at the above pictures and say, "No way, Evy is Julia all over again!" here is a smiling picture of baby Gabe. I am telling you, take away some (or maybe a lot) of his chub and you can see little E.

 

P.S. What if my three were all born together and I had three baby pumpkins at the same time!? That would be wild. I can't even imagine it. But maybe you can, Emily...

Princess, Pirate, Pumpkin

I have recently gained a new appreciation for the Twix bar. It is awesome. Of course when approached with a bag of mixed candy bars I still reach for a Reese's first. But if that Reese's is gone I am just about as happy to have a Twix. Needless to say, the kids don't have any more of those left in their stash from last night. (Yes, same goes for the peanut butter cups.)

But this post is about pictures, not candy. So here they are. The kids had a blast and loved every minute of Halloween. Well, I take that back. Gabe didn't really like this little photo shoot - as you will see.

Cinderella

Julia was so excited when I surprised her with this costume. She was dreaming of dressing up as her favorite princess and my sister Amber found this darling costume at a close out sale for $5. That's what I'm talkin' about.

 A Pirate. 

Happy Halloween to you too, my boy!

 Two smiles! That is really something.

 I love sibling kisses.

 And the traditional baby Pumpkin:

 Two Pumpkins Evys.

So there it is. We passed out 200+ candies. That is a lot of kids. And that is a lot of Twix bars that I parted with. It is probably for the best. Probably. 

(Technically, we didn't give out 200 Twix bars. We had a variety of treats. But I saved the bag of Twix for last.)

Life Underground

It has been over a year since our work on finishing the basement was completed. I haven't been blogging as much in the past year, and I never apologize or feel bad for that. (Sometimes I am in the mood, others I am not. And that is that!) But this is one thing I think I'd just better document. It was a huge, nine-month-long project that kept Jonny busy whenever he could spare a few minutes. And now we are one big family room, three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a few closets the better for it. Heavenly!

At this moment I feel I have license to brag a little and thank Jonny for all his research and hard work down there. The built-in shelves I designed are exactly as I pictured - no - better. And it is amazing to think of all the work Jonny put in behind those walls. We hired out the drywall and carpet installation. But other than that Jonny did it all  - with some help with the electric, plumbing, tile, and baseboards from some awesome neighbors and a brother-in-law. (And I guess I did help down there too: water/Gatorade/sunflower seed girl, main spackler, paint assistant, head of design, general consultant, and decider of shelf-height measurements. That was no easy task. Several sheets of graph paper were used in the process!)

And of course I am responsible for the green walls. (You can't get a very good idea of the color from the pictures, but the sample name was "Celery Sprig." Sounds refreshing, right?) At first I thought they were horrid. I was nervous to tell Jonny that we'd better just paint them tan and have it done with. But after a few months, the green really grew on me. It is a little more creamy than I had envisioned, but it is cheerful and bright and not dungeon-like at all. And that is exactly what I was going for.

So here is a photo tour. You'd think by now I would have gotten around to wall decor, but, well, I haven't. It's all in my plan though to have some cool photo ledges and mirrors and a big magnet board and whatnot. Maybe one of these days I will get around to those, and covering up the big utility hole above the piano with a neat poster print. (That one my have to be attended to pronto. I have put it off too long. IKEA, here I come!)

Toy Shelves

 Totally need some fun framed art hanging here - maybe some original Julia and Gabe masterpieces...

 Who doesn't want an under-stairs playhouse?

 I call this the "drive-up window"

 Sometimes I wonder why I even put the toys in baskets. The kids often dump everything out to play with the baskets themselves! Maybe Santa will bring just them a stack of assorted laundry baskets for Christmas. They probably wouldn't be disappointed.

 I love my shelves. I only wish they were overflowing with books. I love books. I am slowly working on my collection. My new Kindle may have slowed me down a bit though...

 Here we have Julia and friend Naomi playing with play-dough in the preschool classroom.

 I usually leave the classroom locked when preschool is not in session. Gabe was excited to see it open and have free reign.

 The bathroom, with the beloved hanging tapestry made by my creative Grandma Julie. It has been a main fixture somewhere in every home/apartment we have lived in.

 I can't really remember why Gabe was crying here. But man, does he look sad!

 Hallways:

 This is what the toy shelf corner looks like on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I teach my little class.

 Looks like Gabe cheered up and began playing with his favorite toys. He is crazy about dinosaurs. Last week he gave me a birthday card with lots of colorful scribbles. He explained, "This is a green-o-saurus, this is a red-o-saurus..."

 And there you have it. There are still a few things to do when we feel like getting around to it (bathroom hardware is still in boxes, closet shelves need to be built, bedroom blinds yet to be installed), but for the most part the basement is done and done. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jonny! We love our green basement.