Thanks Giving at the Graves

This year we had Thanks Giving at David's sister, Karen's, house. We had a great time. There was some Settlers of Catan, football, trampoline jumping, video games, blocks, trains, good conversation and of course good food.

Bye! Bye! Rat Tail

Evelyn recently had her first haircut. We just couldn't handle the rat tail any longer.

I had to distract her with the camera cause she didn't like the feeling of the scissors on her neck.

We didn't take much off but it made a huge difference.

The Big Girl Bed

My dad bought Evelyn a Toddler bed a few weeks ago so that I could start transitioning her before her little brother comes and before potty training starts. I have been gradually getting her to spend some time in her new bed and a few days ago she fell asleep in the car and took the opportunity to have her first nap in the bed. she slept for two hours then simply came out and got me when she woke up.

Evelyn Napping

But, last night I took the real leap and laid her down in her big girl bed still awake. She whimpered for a few minutes but didn't get up and she slept through the night. This morning she woke up about 20 minutes earlier than usual and simply knocked on her door to let us know she was ready to get up. She is currently taking her morning nap in her bed, so I think the transition is going pretty dang good. We will try again tonight but hopefully this is the end of the crib for Evelyn.

She is growing up so fast!

The Fresno Met

This weekend was the grand reopenning of the Fresno Metropolitan Museum and addmission was free. So My mom, AJ, Evelyn, and I decided to check it out today.

This picture was not supposed to be taken, apperently the evolution of flight room was supposed to be top secret or something. Honestly, I was unimpressed by the exibits in general but none the less it was a fun outing.

On the first floor they had a hands on science meets art exibit and Evelyn seemed to enjoy that room. She especially enjoyed the mirror display.

She really wore herself out and on the way home she fell asleep in her new big girl carseat. yes, that is a phone up to her ear. She was playing with it one minute and asleep the next.

Apt # 4

Weight: 129 lbs

Blood pressure: 122/70

Leonard's Heart Rate: 150-160 BPM

(He kept kicking and rolling all over so we couldn't get a good count)

Random Cuteness

Bath time Fun! Everytime aunt AJ comes over Evelyn knows she is going to get a bath and she loves it.

At the Civil War reinactment with Grandma.

Feeding the fish with daddy.

Learning the basics early.

Odd sleeping habits.

Giving Gary some LOVE.

Chillin' with friends.

Playing Lumberjack

First off, I don't know why Shalee put the title "Playing Lumberjack." If we were "playing" there would still be a stump in the ground. We don't "play" when it comes to manly stuff like chopping stuff down and kicking trees' butts. Try telling that stump that we were just playing. How about I come over there, punch you in the face, elbow you in the kidney, then write in your scrapbook with a permanent marker, and than suplex your dog.... Playing.... Please!!

Well, I guess that is all David has to say about that so I will fill in the blanks.

We have four eucalyptus trees in our back yard and David has been trying to kill them since we bought the house 5 years ago. They finally bit the dust but now he has to dig the stumps out and that is no simple job. These stumps are HUGE and the wood is HARD. David started working on this one yesterday and he was out there all day. When he got enough of it dug out Preston came over and they decided to loosen the dirt with water. So, they stuck a PVC Pipe thing on the hose and jammed it under the stump and filled the pit with water.

The water did its magic over night and Dave began working on it again today. When Nick came over and saw the glory of the stump he had to jump right in and help "play lumberjack". Boys are so funny when they get the opportunity to play with big, powerful, or sharp objects.

At first they thought there were only a few more roots to get through before the stump would simply give up and fall over. But, after all those roots were severed and the stump still wouldn't budge they realized there was a bit more work to be done...

...then they found the Tap Root! It ginormous and strong! So, it took a bit of work to get through it.


When the did get through it all it took was a couple of good pushes and the stump surrendered.

They ended up using a couple of different shovels, a hand saw, an ax, a car jack, and a hose. Good work guys!! One down, three to go.

an early attempt.

Success!!

Dinner Time

This is a little worse than usual but dinner does tend to be a messy affair these days.

Daddy decided to help her out a little bit by giving her a sour cream Mohawk.

Yummm!