Summer for the Knights

All the girls together at Gabe & Sadie's new appartment

Patrick and Gilbert; Gil's new favorite playmate!

Uncle Alex the chef

Grandpa Larry and Grandma Gigi at dinner

Gilbert longing to play that guitar!

Here are some recent family photos taken at Gabe and Sadie's new appartment in NW Portland. The Knights have been doing well, enjoying the summer and trying to get outside as much as possible.
Gilbert is now 20 months old and is starting to talk quite a bit. Especially to his big sister. The cutest thing he's saying is "thank you mama." It is so unexpected to hear such a complete "sentence" and such manners from a baby. It makes me laugh. He is totally into construction vehicles and can spot one anywhere. One of his first words was "digger" and to this day he still cries out "digger, digger, digger..." until you recognize that Yes there is one somewhere in the vicinity!
Evelyne is 4 and is still so into crafts, we do at least one per day, sometimes more and she's getting pretty good at understanding mixing colors, counting, and recognizing all the letters in the alphabet. She knows how to spell her name, but can't quite write it yet. She has trouble with the "y's". She's been doing summer camps at her school which is fun for her to see all of her school chums, and gives mom time to spend with just Gilbert.
We've booked a Disneyland vacation for the fall, so no trips this summer, just hanging out at home which has been nice.

Fairy Evelyne turns 4!

Fairy Evelyne before her party
Lovely fairy and bugs cake!
Lots of yummy fairy nibbles
Make a wish!
After-party dress-up

We all had lots of fun at Evelyne's fairy party. Lots of people came in the spirit dressed as fairies, sprites, bugs and everything in between! We had a story time with prizes and the weather was gorgeous so we were able to have most of it outside in the courtyard and on the front lawn.

Mom helped me prepare on Saturday, we cooked virtually all day long! Making tons of things to nibble on. We did a brunch with two kinds of quiches, little sausages, mini bagels with cream cheeses, deviled eggs berry muffins, a fruit display, biscotti, coffee, mimosas, bloody marys, and juice...whew!

It was a combination friends from school, old friends, new friends, family, and new neighbors.

Thank you to all that helped and for the wonderful gifts of clothes, crafts, and activities...we've been enjoying them!

...and another project begins

we're finally putting in our yard

gilbert is helping out; loving to dig in the dirt

my dad and his trusty tractor

So, we're in for it again, another yard from scratch, though this will be a bit smaller and hopefully easier than our Portland house. My dad came with his tractor to till in loads of topsoil Nathan got last weekend. Bruce came the next day to dig out the area where our shed will eventually go. Thanks to dads or we'd be hurting! I didn't get to help much this year, just had child watch duty but anticipate getting my hands dirty during planting time! Next weekend, memorial weekend, we'll be putting in sprinklers and after that sod. Yahoo a back yard is in sight!

the kids

Brother and sister

So sweet

Gilbert LOVES playing in Evelyne's "fairy bedroom"

Wow...I'm IN

I've been having trouble lately signing into my blog; don't exactly know why but yes it has caused a large delay in me posting. mostly because i don't have time to sit here and figure out what the problem is. tonight i just clicked a bunch of times, used the back button on the internet and for some reason it let me in....so, here goes....what's happend in our lives as of late.

Evelyne: she is almost done with preschool, has had a couple of friends from preschool over lately and had so much fun. it's weird, a different kind of protocol with school friends. you don't know the parents etc. just something to get used to. she is really growing up all of a sudden and is actually a help to me. she can pick up her toys, watch gilbert if i ask her and just at a general fun inquisitive age.

Gilbert: he is into EVERYTHING and is starting to say quite a few words. he is of course wanting to do everything evelyne and her friends do, but thankfully, and i don't know if it is because they are girls, they are so nice to him. the friends are nicer to him than evelyne. they hug him and 'baby' him and he's lapping it up. he loves the attention and loves visiting new people.

here's a photo of evelyne with her hair in rags...you know, depression era curlers, and the result the next day...i'm telling you you can't beat those cheap-ass rags!

ever wondered exactly why you don't like someone?

Boy, kids have it down. You know sometimes when you meet someone and you just don't jive. You don't get the feeling they're someone you want to ever see again but you can't explain why? Evelyne does.
We've been church hunting trying to find one to call home here in wilsonville. One particular church she didn't like and I asked her why. She didn't like the sunday school teacher. "Why," I said, "she seems so nice." "Well," said Evelyne, "I don't like her hair or her voice, but I like her eyes and her feet."
That's it, the girl knows what she likes and doesn't like.

Girls get-away-weekend

Of course we brought a camera, but forgot to take photos until the very end but hey at least we did! These are my good friends from college, Charla and Amy. The last time we took a weekend away was pre kid and even pre marriage for Amy so needless to say, too long ago. We had a great time in Lincoln City shopping, eating and just hanging out. The weather was perfect on Saturday and Amy treated us to Breakfast at Tiffany's playing on her DVD in her new car on the way down to the beach; what a treat! So much has changed for us all since college days, seems like a lifetime ago. But time away with friends is so refreshing, it makes you look at yourself in a different way, check in, and most of all miss the family you so wanted a break from.

Gilly is Silly!...and the winner is...

"gilly" is the name evelyne has coined for her brotherwe often say "gilly is silly"

here's evelyne sporting her "academy awards dress and eye mole"

evelyne and her new kitchen cooking an academy awards dinner

brother Alex having a heart to heart with James Dean...he's so aloof!

We had a fun time at our academy awards dinner with my family. We had champagne cocktails, caviar and shrimp and all kinds of decadent things. Gilbert and Evelyne had a lot of fun dressing up; gilbert as the paparazzi and evelyne as a movie star...

Open House and Neighborhood Updates

This lake is where the old Damasch Hospital used to be

This is the street where retail is on the right below condos above. To the left is supposed to be an open plaza.

Evelyne and I are walking into the area where the plaza is going to be; retail and condos are in front of us.

First of all, a big thank you to all of you who came to our open house; we had a great time seeing and visiting with everyone and now that you all know where we live and realize it's not THAT far away, please stop by anytime!
Now that the weather has been nicer, we've ventured out a bit to see how the commercial center is shaping up in our neighborhood and all of the parks etc. It was a nice walk, felt like we were really out in the country. There are tons of frogs here, and we hear them nightly, it's kind of cool.

Kelly Peppmeier Sighting!

Evelyne & Luke playing Lucky Ducks!

Kelly, Dina & Jonah

We had a Kelly Peppmeier quick visit last Friday; so good to see her! She was in town for a quick visit; looks fabulous as always, baby is doing great. We also had a visit with Dina and her boys, Luke and Jonah who are also looking great and growing up so fast. Evelyne and Luke played games together and they all of course played with toys and ran around. Hope to see you all soon!

Pajama Day

Evelyne had pajama day at school and she was very excited to wear her pajamas and take a "friend" (this is what she calls her stuffed animals) with her. She got to pick the type of pajamas to wear and she picked her blue and white ones. She wanted these pajamas because they're blue, her favorite color, and have the words "brr it's cold outside" on the front. She says "today is cold so we have to wear these ones."

They had to take their pillow to school, too.She decided to take her friend "heart piggy"

Absent Blogger playing catch-up

In the true spirit of the new year I've made a vow to be more up to date with my blogging entries. As you can plainly see, it is now january 29th. So, obviously this is one goal I'm struggling to contend with. However, as this blog site is merely for entertainment purposes and a way for me to document the lives of my children for future amusement I shouldn't be wrought with anxiety over a mere 29 day delinquincy. So, happy new year and enjoy these... ehhmm...Christmas photos.

Tea with Grandpa and Nana
Visit with Cathy and Sol Roogow; my childhood chum from Florida
Making Christmas Cookies with mom
Christmas Eve at our house..Sadie and Gabe, Grandpa John and Nonna Doris in this photo
And of course...Christmas morning..Santa was very good to us this year.

Ode to Gilbert

gilbert feeding the babies and singingso happy in the cradle

So, now that we have so much SPACE I'm unpacking things I've had packed since I literally left my parent's house...I know I'm kind of a pack-rat. This is one of them, a doll cradle I had as a kid now is in Evelyne's room. Gilbert has really taken a fancy to it though. He loves getting in it and feeding the dolls their bottles and rocking himself back and forth. He even sings, loves to sing, loves music, doesn't say words we understand but definitely has melodious sounds coming from is mouth it's so fun. One of his favorite songs is "rock a bye baby" which we sing many times during the day.

Thanksgiving Back-Tracking

Evelyne's Thanksgiving Feast at school...as she is one of the smallest "turkeys" she is front and center

sitting next to her friends Katelyn and Avery

gilbert desperate to join in!!

Of course a group of 3 year old turkeys is too cute for words! Gilbert and I watched the Thanksgiving program at Evelyne's school, Valley Christian, here in Wilsonville. Everyone had to sign up to bring something for the Feast at the end. The teachers did such a great job. They had the tables all set for the children, and each table even had their own real live candle...LIT! There are about 30 or so 3 year olds in her am classes (3 classes of 10 - 12) so I was really impressed! The kids sang a couple of songs and then enjoyed turkey rolls, apple juice, cranberry sauce, cheese cubes, dinner rolls, pumpkin cupcakes, popcorn, and fruit. They were so excited most didn't eat much, just had a couple of bites and talked to friends and mom & dad. Gilbert loved watching the whole thing, just kept trying to be a part of it all!

Some house photos

Kitchen and Family Room

Family Room

Dining Room

Stairwell

Breakfast with Santa

Evelyne 3 1/2 Gilbert 13 months

We took a break from unpacking and had breakfast with Santa at the YMCA in Sherwood. It was a great time. The kids ate pancakes and sausage while Santa made his appearance. They had crafts for them to do afterwards. Evelyne made a bracelet which she calls a "wrist" of course it's blue. Gilbert was a bit afraid of Santa but once big sister joined in on the other knee he was alright, not sure about it though. Evelyne asked wanted to ask Santa for swimming goggles but she said she forgot and just said yes to a doll which later she told me she didn't really want. I think she got nervous. So, Grandma Gigi and her wrote a letter asking for the goggles and now all is well.

...and now we OWN it!

So, we've neared the end of our jouney. We're planning on moving to our new house this weekend. The painter is finishing up inside and there are a few things outside to finish. We closed on it last monday, the 26, to the exact day they'd said...crazy huh?



more later....