Evan and Emma

Last night we went over to Emma's (Annie's) house to play. Evan and Emma played SO well together! They are finally old enough to really interact and enjoy each other's company. The evening was filled with lots of hugs, kisses and sharing. It was fantastic!

KISS!

HUG!

While I was holding baby Jonathan, Evan decided that Jonathan was hungry. He brought him over a bottle and "fed" him. It was so cute!

C is for Cookie

Thanks to my pal Becky, I am now addicted to the show "Jon and Kate plus 8" on TLC. Last week I saw a re-run where Sara Snow came to visit ("Get Fresh with Sara Snow" is also a show) and she made the kids these yummy looking Oatmeal Cookies. After some Internet searching I found the recipe and made them this morning. They are pretty tasty, and fairly healthy, so I thought I would share the recipe:

HEALTHY OATMEAL COOKIE SNACKS

INGREDIENTS
2 cups whole wheat flour
½ cup ground flax seed
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
½ t cardamom
½ cup (1 stick) butter - room temperature
½ cup natural cane sugar
2 eggs
½ cup honey
1 t vanilla extract
1 small apple, peeled and chopped
½ cup goji berries or raisins
½ cup chopped dates or apricots
1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds (optional)
1 ½ cups coconut
3 cups old fashioned quick oats
1/4 cup applesauce

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°.
Stir together dry ingredients (flour, flax, salt, baking soda and spices).
In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars. Add in honey, eggs and vanilla. Slowly add in dry mixture and beat together. Stir in oats, applesauce, coconut, fruit and nuts.
Drop spoonfuls onto baking sheet.
Bake 12-14 minutes at 350.
Makes 2 dozen

I used my melon-baller to make the balls of dough. I hate melon and we never eat it, but it is by far my favorite and most-used kitchen gadget. I also used both apricots and dates since I had both on hand. They turned out chewy and delicious. Yum!

Awww...cute.

I came home to a big "Hi Mommy We Love U" chalk drawing on the driveway today. Aren't my boys just the best?

This afternoon we (me, Evan and Jonas) went to the Universal Playground at Colvill Park with my friend Sarah and her pal Tina. Sarah brought Koda (her dog) along and Tina brought her two boys. Tina's youngest is about Evan's age, and Koda is a young pup like Jonas, so we all had a great time romping around and burning off some energy. Jonas followed Evan around the entire time. At home Jonas can't wait to get away from Evan, but you take him to the park and he won't leave the kid alone!

Too darn cute...

Evan decided that he wanted some naked time today. He stripped his clothes and diaper off (he can do that now) and then decided a pair of knee highs would go good with his Birthday Suit. A neighborhood dog was barking and Evan rushed over to the window to check it out. It was so cute I couldn't resist snapping a picture - and then sharing it. Yet another priceless photo to save for his teenage years.

Finger Painting Fun!

It was beautiful outside this weekend! We've spent a lot of time outside and at the park the past few days, and Sunday we settled in for some good ole' fashioned finger painting. I made the paint out of vanilla pudding and food coloring - and it was a good thing I did - because the first thing Evan did was taste it. Yum. I made the primary colors (red, yellow and blue) and we experimented making other colors by mixing them. It was a blast.

Notice the blue paint on his upper lip.

Masterpieces No. 1

Masterpiece No. 2

I am unofficially re-naming this site "Evan's Escapades."

The past week Evan has been feeling under the weather. He has been a low-energy cuddle bug - which is very unlike him. So, Tuesday I brought him to the doctor to get checked out and dicovered he has an ear infection. After two days of Amoxicillin its obvious he feels much better because this has been the afternoon from Hell. I must have my guard down, because every time I turn around he has made a new mess for me to clean up. After a week of peace I almost forgot that Evan gets into EVERYTHING in less than 10 seconds...



You will notice that Evan has the SAME OUTFIT on in all three of these videos. That is because all three videos were shot today within the last two hours...

5:30 pm The Cookie Jar

6:10 pm: Catfood-Dirt Soup

6:30 pm: Powdering the Kitchen

Evan loved Mexico, but really missed his kitties while we were gone. These two photos are from the morning after we got back - Rico is "his" kitty and never complains when Evan gives him bear hugs.

THE AVEENO INCIDENT:

This morning we were rushing around the house getting ready for a funeral when I hear Jeremy exclaim:

"Evan! Oh... My.... God.... What Did You DO!?"

In Mexico, Evan got bit by a mosquito, like, 6 times on his arm and leg. The bites have really been itchy and bothering him (he gets that from his Mother) and so we have been putting Aveeno Calamine lotion on them. I guess this morning Evan decided that Jonas and the kitties also had an itch...

"Where did you put the Aveeno Evan?"

"Where else?"

Poor animals. Augie tried to help out his brother Rico by cleaning the Aveeno off the top of his head for him. The medicine made Augie sick and he threw up on the floor. Yet another perfect example of why we are always running late for everything we do...

How funny...

I took this picture in Mexico on Friday night - who knew its twin would make the news?

AP Photo from Yahoo News The planet Venus appears immediately to the right of a thin crescent moon as seen just after sunset Friday, Feb. 27, 2009, from Tucson, Ariz. The apparent proximity, while not a rare occurrence, made for an especially dramatic view because Venus is at its brightest as seen from the Earth--20 times brighter than the brightest star in the sky. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Our trip to Mexico

We got back from Mexico yesterday - we stayed for a week at the Mayan Palace resort about halfway between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. It was beautiful and the weather was fantastic! It was about 82 degrees and sunny the entire time. When we got off the plane yesterday it was 18 degrees in Minneapolis...with 10 inches of fresh snow on the ground. Ahhh, Mexico, we miss you already.

Jeremy taking a walk along the beach.

Evan's word of the week? "Ahh-daa!" In English: "All done!" Here Evan is telling me he is "all done" burying Momma's feet in the sand.

(Papa, you like the shirt? We made sure to represent Columbia while we were in Mexico.)


Evan turning on the charm with Daddy's hat.

On Tuesday we took a trip to Chichen Itza to see the ruins. It was amazing. Our tour guide was Mayan, and had a completely different perspective than what I learned in my archaeology classes in college. I won't bore you with the details, but if your curious ask me about it sometime.

Before Chichen Itza we stopped at the Blue Cenote. It used to be a giant underground cave filled with water, but the top caved in and now it is a beautiful 180-foot deep pool of water. Jeremy jumped off the diving platform (about 20 feet up) twice. The second time water shot into his ear and he couldn't hear out of it for the rest of the trip. Fortunately, Emily got two great pictures of him jumping in with the underwater camera - unfortunately they didn't develop. Just our luck.

Evan lounging by the ocean.

Everyone knows that Evan is a charmer - on vacation he would pick out the prettiest lady wherever we went and strike up a "conversation." This one was from Venezuela.

Jeremy in a hammock on the beach at night.

Family photo op.

We saw wild iguanas everywhere we went. This little guy was hanging out by the pool.

What were you doing Friday afternoon? We were at the pool bar sipping pina coladas.

Even Evan had one! (With no rum, of course.)

Jeremy with a BIG Agave plant (what they use to make tequila.) At first we thought it was an aloe plant and cut a bit off to put on our sunburns...I'm totally kidding.

"Look Daddy!"

It was unnerving today to go to Wal-Mart and see all of these plants in their greenhouse...they looked much better in Mexico under the natural sunlight with the sound of the waves crashing on the shore behind them.

We're back! I have TON of beautiful and exciting photos from Mexico that I will post...as soon as I can get them off of my camera. No, Evan didn't take my cord again, this time it just isn't working. We're headed off to Radio Shack this afternoon to see what the problem is. I'll post them as soon as I get back - with this 18 degree weather I'm as excited to relive our trip (via photos) as the rest of you!