Monkey

Meghan is quite the climber now.  This weekend she was able to climb the trim pretty high, I think.  (Sorry for the shadow.  I had to use the flash.)

If you didn't peek at the videos I posted yet, just scroll down.

Videos!

I haven't uploaded any videos in a long time because I can no longer do it through Blogger, and I didn't want to fuss with YouTube.  That changed today though!

I wanted to document Evan singing Twinkle, Twinkle or the ABC's.  That didn't happen.  Neither is perfect, but he does really well!  Sorry, you won't get to see it.

This first video is the best I got tonight of Evan.  He asks, "What's this?" repeatedly to Meghan.

This next video is really cute...and then shows the reality of sibling life.

And here is another reality of sibling fun.

Meghan found hair ties today to wear as bracelets.

Both of the children were wearing their Christmas outfits.  Meghan loves to wear her Christmas dress, but Evan's pants fall down somewhat easily, so he doesn't wear them as often.  I jut thought I should explain why they were so nicely dressed after church today.

Five Words!

I know that Evan is a bit behind in his speech.  This month he has been making rapid progress though.  His articulation is not so great, but he is constantly mimicking what the rest of us say.  Not only that, but he is using more phrases now instead of single words-unprompted.

This morning I told Evan it was time to get dressed.  He responded by telling me a unique, five-word sentence.  (Or maybe it is two sentences.)  It is great to hear him using lots of words together to communicate, especially a unique phrase.  

No, Mom.  I want hammer.

He wanted to play with his little tool bench!  

(In August of 2009 when Meghan was nearly 3 years old she said her first five word sentence with much effort.  It was quite amusing and amazing.  It made us so, so proud. (It's times like this that I am SO thankful that I have this blog.)    You can read that here and see the accompanying picture.)

Applesauce

Tuesday, after beginning the day with a two hour delay for school, Evan and I went to the Amish store where I buy my apples.  We were down to one quart of applesauce.  I am now a bit of an applesauce snob and don't like to eat store-bought any more.

Upon arrival home, Evan and I got to work chopping apples to get them on the stove before going to pick up Meghan.  I chopped; Evan ate.

This was the day Meghan skipped her nap.  However, she was happy to help me make applesauce.  First I chop and cook the apples.  Next I put them through the Kitchen Aid strainer.  This makes a great applesauce.  However, back before we had the Kitchen Aid attachment, I used a regular food mill.  The food mill does make the applesauce a bit finer.  So I put Meghan to work putting the already made applesauce through the food mill.

Of course, it was a real treat to eat applesauce from a giant bowl, too. 

More than ten hours of labor made 21 quarts of applesauce.  I really hope this applesauce lasts until August or so when we can get fresh apples again.  I slept well that night!  

Different story.

Poor Derek.  On Tuesday he called in to his weather number to see if there was a delay due to the four inches or so of snow.  He called before he got in the shower-at 4:30 a.m.  Nope.  No delay.  Upon arrival at work at 6 a.m. he learned he didn't need to be there until NOON!  They hadn't made the announcement until 5 o'clock so he had no idea!  Poor guy worked an extra six hours!  (For those of you who don't know, he works long days so he can have every other Friday off.  It works out to be 80 hours in a two week period.  He loves having long weekends, and we love having him home!)

Mud Days

Last week when we had the incredibly warm temperatures, Meghan asked if we could play in the mud again.

Little did I know that the kids would dig in with their hands, and not the gardening tools.

 The funny thing is that the mud was really cold, and they lost interest quickly.

For the couple of minutes we spent outside, they got good and muddy.

Then, they got me good and muddy.

Then, we washed our clothes and coats and took naps.

For a couple of minutes, that mud was fun though!

(Apparently, I haven't been taking too many pictures recently.  Sorry, Grandparents, who visit daily looking for these sweet faces!  And sorry to all of our family and friends.  May those cute little hands put a smile on your face!)

Evan's New Obsession

Evan brushes his teeth just about every time we go upstairs.

 I may have been slightly obsessed with teeth brushing at one time.

Derek gave this to me for our first Christmas after we were married.  

Yes, I took a very crooked photo.

The saleswoman asked if he was married to a dentist.  No.

But our dentist has the same print in his office.

(Derek and I went camping with a group of people before we were dating.  I was quite impressed that he flossed while camping.  That was the same trip where I learned that he also like black and white milkshakes.  Yep, that trip left a couple of good impressions!  Within a month we were dating.) 

We were able to get outside the other day before the winds (30+ mph) picked up.  

First we went for a short walk.  

Then we returned to play.  

 Someone should check my brain.

 I had no idea how enticing the mud would be.

 They used gardening tools to play in the mud and snow.

The snow was also (somewhat) effective in cleaning the snow from the tools.

 Even walking through the snow didn't remove all of this mud though!

(Meghan was holding up her pant leg.)

Next time we'll use the rain boots!!

Messy, Messy!

Evan has been in his twin bed for quite some time now.  He likes to bring in a lot of toys and diapers, especially at nap time.

See the bit of bed left for him to sleep?

 This scene made me take some time to clean his room.

His bookcase looked like that for more than 24 hours!

 To help prevent 30,000 toys and diapers on his bed, I moved his bed away from the wall.

When the kids go upstairs at night, they go to Evan's room and hide under the comforter.

I'm happy to report that he likes his bed away from the wall...and the toys just can't stay on the bed without the wall to hold them.  Now it's just a few toys!  Much better!

The Dentist

The kids were supposed to have separate dentist appointments.  Both kids' appointments had to be rescheduled due to ice and electrical failure (upon arrival).  

The children went together, and Meghan had to miss school.

Meghan was the perfect patient and no cavities!

 This was Evan's first appointment.  He didn't like it.

He screamed.  A lot.  

However, his teeth seem healthy.

This was one of Evan's cooperative moments (and the only picture I was able to take since he was mostly in my arms).

Haulin' Hearts

Do you wear your heart on your sleeve or haul it in a truck?

Sweet Children

Evan wasn't so keen on the little photo shoot, but tolerated several pictures.

I am amazed at how incredibly short Meghan's hair looks when it is braided.

Simple Requests

Earlier this week we watched a Strawberry Shortcake video.  Evan immediately recognized it (though we rarely watch SS), and called it "Cupcake."  He was asking for more "Cupcake" into the next day.

Derek wasn't too impressed.  That's okay though.  Our children share (or are supposed to share) just about everything.

A couple of times this week when I was using the computer Evan asked for Jesus.  I couldn't think of a song or game that included Jesus in it that he would know from the computer.  Silly me.

When I asked Meghan if she knew, she immediately remembered that back in December we watched a video of a song called, "Happy Birthday, Jesus" on YouTube in preparation for Meghan singing for our church's Christmas program.  They both loved watching the video.  We watched it again, of course.  I was impressed that Evan remembered the video from about a month ago!

Christmas Eve 2010

I'm Sorry to Say...

...he takes after me.

Evan, 2 months old

 Not in all the good ways either.

Evan, 2 years old

When Evan laughs, he SNORTS!

I'd heard Meghan snort just a couple of times, but Evan has been snorting A LOT this past week. 

This morning alone I've head him snort several times!  That is also good news though...that means the children are getting along and having fun on yet another snow day.  (Meghan has not had school since last Tuesday!  I know she only attends three mornings a week, but it's still tough!)

(In my defense I don't snort often, and it's likely that he has never even heard me snort.)