Tie-Dyed Eggs and Superman

Evelyne's new funky hair...she's into braids these days.
Gilbert had superman eggs to do this year...his sister helped him with the stickers

There were a lot of stickers!

Evelyne's tie-dyed sparkle eggs...here she is putting the dye in the bag.

The finished product...sparkly and colorful!

Coloring easter eggs this year was pretty fun. No major fights or messes! Evelyne did a tie-tyed kit where you put the egg in a plastic bag, put a couple drops of dye and mush it around...(she loved the mushing part). You then put them on the stands wet (that was mom's job) and sprinkle the glitter which dries on. They turned out really good and it was super EASY. Perfect for a 4 year old who LOVES crafts.

Gilbert's eggs were standard issue for a 2 year old. Mom colored them ahead of time and it was his job to put the superman stickers on. So he did. Then he took most of them off and ripped them apart and dropped eggs on the floor and clanked them together...They turned out PERFECTLY crafted by a curious 2 year old.

Your Majesty

The crown was a craft we did...you know, one of those that the kids REALLY want to do but the kind that they can't do and you end up doing most of it? Yeah, it was that kind of craft. It turned out good and she loves it so we had to make this today's photo....

Friends from Thailand

From left to right, Dianne, Bruce, Joni, Lindsey, Ruj, Nong, Nong's cousin, Song

We had a great visit with Ruj and his new lovely wife Nong(I know I'm misspelling her name) the other night at Bruce and Joni's house. Ruj was an exchange student in the early 90's with Bruce and Joni. They were visiting just for about a week, then off to Vegas to win some big money, then back home 16hrs...to Thailand. Hope to see you guys again!

You'd thought it was the middle of summer.....

Evelyne running through the sprinkler
Yahoo!! Gilbert!

Gilbert, Brody (a friend), and Evelyne throwing buckets of water

Evelyne has her new-this-year swimsuit on...so exciting

Tired...that's what this photo says...tired of playing

We were outside most of the day today. I ended up taking Brody, Evelyne's chum from preschool, home with us today. His mom is in the hospital due to have a baby...maybe...anytime. So, we spent the day running outside, eating outside, laying down outside, at the park, at home, and yes even in the sprinkler...it was THAT warm out! Tons of fun, a bit pink, but so worth it....

The Great Easter Egg Hunt

Evelyne & Gilbert sorting their candy
Gilbert of course eating his

Lots of kids in the hunt!

Gilbert able to find a couple for himself

Evelyne gathering up her lot.

Our church had an easter egg hunt last Sunday a wow what fantastic weather for it! The kids all had a great time getting out there searching for plastic eggs filled with candy that they of course don't need and mom and dad end up eating which they don't need either....yadda yadda....tradition.

kitchen helpers

Goofy kids; my kitchen "helpers." They love to cook with mom and of course have to wear their aprons, too. I wonder if they will take over kitchen duties someday...maybe when their teens? Guess I won't hold my breath, but will remind them of these moments....

a spot of tea

Amy, Dianne & Charla

So, my college girlfriends, Amy and Charla have their birthdays within weeks of each other. We celebrated over tea at my house and got caught up on each others' lives. Seems like there's not enough time for that anymore, we are always so preoccupied with family / work / the day to day. It's nice just to simply sit for a few hours of uninterrupted time and chat, drink tea, take a walk, and listen. I was reading a book lately about friendships and something struck me. It said, " It's one of the most important lessons we learn in life: We should always take care of the things we love. If we want friendships to grow, we need to invest some time and engergy and thought into nurturing and maintaining them. it means checking in saying I'm still here, I know you are too, never forget I care about you." I myself am often negligent on many of these accounts. I all of my friends out there who I don't or haven't talked to in a while..."never forget I care about you."

marie

Evelyne is very attached to her "friend" Marie, a stuffed animal from the Disney "Aristocats" movie that we got at Disneyland. So, this morning she came down for breakfast and Evelyne was pretending to feed her. I wanted her to eat her oatmeal so I said "lets give Marie her own bowl...here is some with a little bit of milk in it for her to eat."
Evelyne looked at me quizzically and said "mama, remember that she's not really real."

painted lady & guy

gilbert's blue fingernails
evelyne's tinkerbell sparkle nails

Yes, I painted my son's fingernails. I painted evelynes and what is a mom to do...play favorites? No, I figured no big deal, some guys paint their nails...look at that nail guys on ocean's eleven, and the musician, charlie on Lost, and all the actors who get their nails manicured and buffed....I say no big deal. So, he chose a funky blue color, perfect for a growing boy. It was actually a great lesson in patience. They both were very still and let me do 2 coats plus stickers!!!

Happy 90th Grandpa and Great Grandpa John!!!
90 years young!

silly uncle alex

watching the superbowl!

blowing out candles on his apple cake!

My grandpa john just turned 90 on February 1st...Superbowl Sunday. We had an early Sunday meal at our house to celebrate, kind of a superbowl with a roasted turkey kind of dinner. We had family over and enjoyed each other's company and enjoyed watching the game...what a game! John is in great shape, so active and well for his age...I only hope to get there someday.

Silly Socks Day at Preschool

Those are some silly socks!

Today was silly socks day at Evelyne's preschool. We had fun making her stockings look silly. We used her halloween stockings from a couple of years ago and added some purple spider socks, some pink fabric tied under the knees, and some stretchy headbands around the ankles. We finished off the look by raising one side and lowering the other .... it was fun.

Uncle Gabe's Birthday

Evelyne wearing the birthday hat
Gabe so surprised...we all pitched in for a guitar!
He's so excited

We celebrated my brother Gabe's birthday at Sadie's parents house this year. It was great fun and he was so happy to get a new guitar. Gabe "requested" that we all select a recipe to cook from our Barefoot contessa cookbooks. They all turned out amazingly well....we had....oven grilled shrimp, arugula salad with lemon & parmesean cheese, mustard roasted pork loin, lentils & carrot casserole, pineapple lemon cake (the cake wasn't one of Ina's recipes).

At the end of the evening we even had SNOW!

Christmas Cookies!

As you can clearly see, we made a lot of Christmas Cookies this year. These are always a favorite as they have lots of colored frosting and fun sprinkles to shake. Evelyne and Gilbert loved doing the frosting the most, and eating the dough of course.

Christmas program prep

coming out from behind "the curtain"

practicing the "shouting" part of the program

sleep in heavenly peace

oh that's just being silly

We all enjoyed evelyne's christmas program at her school a couple of weeks ago (luckily before the snowstorm). The kids sang all kinds of cute songs, rang bells, and got to show us around their classrooms. We had grandparents over for lunch beforehand and had aunts and uncles meet us there, it was great fun to see all the kids dressed their prettiest and handsomest and on their...ummm.. best behavior.

bah humbug...

I'm really upset right now. Just went out to the garage to get the chocolate cherries I've made and finished dipping yesterday. It's a fabulous recipe from my friend Danelle. ....and....a mouse got into them! The entire pan is now in the garbage. Those of you who have made these know how labor intese they are...I'm really mad.

happy holidays!

Santa and his reindeer wish you a Merry Christmas!!!!

Arctic Blast 2008

Looking down our street...very icy!
The kids had fun sledding down hills

Our house looking very festive for december

Evelyne sledding!

Love the names the news channels give the storms...this one has been dubbed "ARCTIC BLAST 2008" oh so dramatic. Anyway, it is extremely cold, for Portland anyway, only about 25 for a high today and it's expected to last all week. We had a bit of snow all day yesterday and then quite a bit of wind last night. The snow blew off of all the trees! Of course schools are closed and the weather is expected to last so I wonder if everyone will get an extra long winter break this year????

"I fought the wall and the...wall won"

oh so sad...
poor gilbert

This is why we don't jump off of the couch onto the floor, or wall, as in this case. Just in time for photos with santa...ahhh...boys.

Ok, so I'm taking a break....

Just sitting here working, yes, well, taking a break now but really I WAS working. Drafting and have come to an impass so decided to take a break. Can't think anymore or space plan, just need to switch gears.
Had to include this moment of Gilbert getting his shoes on, ready to go pick up Evelyne at school. Yes, his diva shoes, turquois with puffs on the toes. I don't know what it is about these silly shoes but Evelyne loved them, too. Remember the photo where she was running naked in the garden with nothing on but THESE SHOES. (See the archived "Tickley Shoes" July 06) Yes, they are obviously a family favorite.
So, Gilbert, hey whatever floats your boat man...if it's the diva shoes then so be it!