Just because...

Cooper was trying on one of her sister's bows!

Cooper can wave!

Cooper has a new trick, she can wave! She loves waving at everyone in the house, and is trying so hard to say "hi!" She also says "dada" every time she sees her Daddy!

Emme & Papa are here!

Emme & Papa got here on Wednesday, and the kids were really excited! They had fun opening their gifts and were really wound up...The fun continued on Thursday when we all went to Bar Louie for lunch. The kids ate more than they had the their whole lives. Annabelle led the pack with by eating a full order of chicken tenders and fries. The food was great for us too, if you haven't been, check it out (plug plug).

Merry Christmas Everyone!

On Christmas Eve, we spent the day with "Nana" Evans, and Grandma & Grandpa Evans. The kids were still recovering from a variety of illnesses, but they still had a great time opening gift, playing with the snow village, and running around!

























Then, Aunt Ginger met us at our house and we had a great time getting ready for Santa to come. Aunt Ginger helped us do some "elf stuff" which was a HUGE project requiring tools...it was 3 hours of Christmas fun, thank goodness Ginger was here, we would had been up for a lot longer.





On Christmas Morning, the chaos ensued! The kids were crazy and we loved seeing them opening all their gifts from Santa. It was so fun for us to watch, even Cooper got into the action!

Montessori Sing Along Night!

Tonight was Carter's first Holiday Sing Along! It was at the high school, and the whole family got to go. Carter was the only one however to perform. Anyhow, it's your standard holiday singing program, but it was our first, so we were excited. The girls loved watching Carter on stage (when you could actually see him), and one of the highlights was Carter having to excuse himself to the "potty" during the program. Needless to say it was comical running down the hallway with Carter yelling "I am missing my holiday singing along!!!!" He made it back and finished with his normal amount of gusto (there will be some video eventually to follow!)

Lots of snow and a visit from an old friend!

Uncle Steve came over to plow the driveway after the big snow and he brought our favorite dog Jax to visit! Carter and Annabelle loved running around with Jax and playing in the snow! They had a great time, and it was only 7 a.m.!!! Of course Olivia, Cooper and I were in the house, you can tell who the cold weather fans are in this house!!!!

Back from vacation!

As you may know, Ginger and I went to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico last week for some "R & R"! And of course, we couldn't of had a better time! What's better than sun, fun, food, and friends? It was nice to get a break from "reality", but of course I missed the kids and Jason like crazy. Cabo is a beautiful place, and Ginger has an AWESOME timeshare there.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Olivia will be moving south. On Saturday, we had "our" (we were gone when there was the official first snow) first snow! The kids were so excited to get all dressed in their gear and head outdoors. This task takes a little over 20 minutes, give or take someone needing a last minute diaper change (as Belle did of course). Well, it took Olivia about 6 minutes to realize that she didn't like the cold and wanted to come in. Needless to say, the others had a great time. Although, there was some explaining on Sunday when it was 54 degrees exactly where the snow went!

The North Hole

Annabelle is a bit confused, she is under the impression that Santa lives in the "North Hole". Which I think is something like the North Pole or a black hole, but I am not sure.

Additionally, she says she doesn't want any presents this Christmas. I truly believe it's because she knows that Santa has to come our house to deliver the gifts, and it scares her to death to think about a stranger in the house! She is over thinking things too much at such a young age!!!!!

Cooper missed the memo...

that she is only 7 months old! She is trying to stand up against the ottoman, she is trying to get up the stairs, she's shaking her head back at us when we tell her no, she is under the impression that she is much older than 7 months!

She now weighs in at 19 pounds 12 ounces, she is one meal away from being out of the carrier!






Here is a picture of Annabelle dressed as Cinderella! And yes, that is makeup you see, Nanny Kara is the official makeup artist of the Evans family!

A turkey, a birthday, and a NASCAR...

Happy Thanksgiving (belated)! We made our way to Charlotte, NC via my parents house last Tuesday! We stayed with "Emme" and "Papa" for two nights and then headed to Charlotte for Thanksgiving and to celebrate my Grandmother's (Nana) 90th birthday!







Emme & Papa had a great feast for us and of course the kids were SO excited to have cake and watch Nana blow out her candles. We also had a chance to visit my other Grandmother (we call her "Cooke") on Thanksgiving and again on Friday. The kids had fun riding the elevators at the Embassy Suites and running around with their Emme.




























Finally, Carter got to see a REAL LIVE NASCAR, in person!!! He was so excited, I think prior to that he thought all cars were matchbox size (that's what they look like on tv too!)

Tree Trimming!

Luckily, no one was hurt in the decorating of this tree (although it was close!)...Where is Annabelle you ask????? She didn't really feel like participating in the festivities, she put her one Dora ornament on the tree and was outta there!!!!

True Story!

Yesterday, Carter and Annabelle were at school. Sometimes, on Fridays, they all stay until 1:30 (which they call "lunch days"). Well, Olivia was home again (she has a double ear infection) so it was just the two of them at school. So, we get in the car to come home and Carter announces, "Aidan scared MY sister!" So, I asked what Aidan did, which consisted of just some growling and some hand gestures, and I asked Carter what did he do after he scared her, he said, "I told him NOT to scare MY sister, and you are making me very angry!"

So, I am happy to report that while they aren't always nice to each other here, at least I know that they have each others backs at school. I actually thought about how lucky all 3 girls are to have a big brother like Carter. We will see what happens when they want to starting dating his friends...

No offense....

To anyone, especially Annabelle and Carter. BUT, Olivia stayed home from school today with a slight fever, and usually it's complete chaos here, and I can't even sit down. However, having one 2 year old and one baby here is like a VACATION. Now, Olivia is almost 3, and she's a very low maintenance girl, but I have actually taken a shower (she entertained Cooper), did some laundry, gave them both a bath, and was able to sit down at the computer for what is now going on 20 minutes!

The only downfall was Cooper lets me watch Oprah, I asked Olivia if she wanted to watch Oprah and of course said "No, I want to watch Diego!" But, I'll take that all day long!

Digital Scrapbooking!

Here is a sample of my newest hobby! This is my first attempt at this using Photoshop, it's fun and I hope to be able to make some albums for the kids! This one isn't real complicated, but it's a start!!!

A turkey dinner...

Saturday we went to "Grandma & Grandpa's" house for a "turkey dinner" (as Carter called it). The kids had a great time playing in the leaves and riding to the park in their Grandpa's trailer, although by the picture you can tell that Carter was less than pleased that they had to come back!



Annabelle asked if she could have some "Jack-o-lantern" pie (which is pumpkin pie). Olivia also performed her best "Twinkle Twinkle" which ended with her famous "booty booty" dance...

We all had a nice time and the kids were completely "pooped" when we got home!!!!

Baby in a cage!

This is what happens when you turn your back for a second around here! The funny thing is (I thought about this later), is that my answer to Carter asking if Cooper can stay in there, was "Sure, as long as she isn't crying!" Only a mother of 4 would answer the question that way...

A nice peaceful weekend...and a revelation!

Jason and I had the opportunity to get away to Milwaukee this past weekend. We went up there to snoop around the Bar Louie while getting a couple good nights of sleep. Anyway, we had a FANTASTIC time! Milwaukee is fun, there's so much to do and the weather was perfect. We checked out the Bar Louie, visited the BW3 and "stole" some ideas from a great Irish Pub!

We also checked out the Milwaukee Public Market which was really cool, and had some pretty good lobster bisque. Then, on Saturday night we went to Mader's a great German restaurant where we had some German beers (mine served in a boot) and some pretty good German food. It was a really fun evening!




























Then, we actually really started to miss the gang, so we got home Sunday and were greeted with tons of squealing and happy children, who had a pretty fun weekend themselves.

The big revelation came when on Saturday Carter was having his morning constitutional (if you get what I mean) and yelled out to Kara, "Hey Kara, you are our BABYSITTER!" I truly believe that it just hit him at the moment that Kara was actually working here and not just coming here every week for her health! Carter is such a smart boy though, it's so fun to watch his brain figure stuff like that out!

Halloween 2007

Happy Halloween!

We had a nice Halloween! The kids had parties at school and were WOUND UP all day long. The kids enjoyed seeing their Grandma & Grandpa who came over for some chili and "trick or treating". The girls loved being cats and Carter didn't seem to mind too much that he was a conducter...again. He was very impressed by all the superheroes that he saw, so I am sure that is in our future.

All in all it was a fun day!!!!

Just when you think...

You have it all figured out, they throw you for a loop. It was a good "loop" but a surprise none-the-less. Today we all went for our flu shots. The 3 big kids and Cooper. I thought FOR SURE it was going to be a disaster. But, apparently I too can be wrong. The big kids all lined up and took their turns getting checked out (Olivia and Annabelle both had ear infections) and having their temperature taken, ears checked, and opened up and said AHHH. Then it was Cooper's turn, she too had an ear infection, still. Anyway, about an hour after all that, they all got their flu shots. Carter went first, without so much as a wimper, followed by Olivia the same way and then Annabelle. All without a fuss! It was AMAZING! Poor Cooper didn't do as well, she need 4 shots and screamed bloody murder, and that I totally was right about! Anyway, it just goes to show that I never know what to expect with these guys!

Oh, and here is Cooper in her new hat!

All dressed up...

On Friday night, we all got dressed up for the trick or treating downtown! The kids loved wearing their costumes. The weather was a little rainy, so we didn't acutally trick or treat, but they enjoyed being in their costumes anyway!

We of course then had to have dinner at "Daddy's Buffalo restaurant"!

Cooper even enjoyed herself, she was literally trying to grab food off our plates!

And....

THERE SHE GOES!!! I am not sure I am ready for Cooper to be crawling at 6 months!

Olivia the Puppy!

It's never a dull moment here, Olivia wanted to be a puppy, so a puppy she was!!!

The Weekend

We had a nice weekend playing outside in the yard and having fun on one of the last nice weekends of the fall! Then Dave and Kamie came over with Brooke & Avery (which Olivia called Brooke & Andrea) and we had pizza, played outside, and did a little ring around the rosy!

All dressed up...

Annabelle was all dressed up with no where to go! She went in my closet and pulled out this outfit and wanted to wear it for the day! The funny thing is, she walks in those shoes almost better than I do!

Take it like a man....or a baby!

So today Carter woke up with a horrible cough and a fever. He now joins Cooper in the "Montessori Funk" as we like to call it. So, Cooper already had an appointment for her 6 month check-up, so naturally Carter came along for a look-see. Needless to say, Cooper had a double ear infection (not that you would really know it) and Carter was well on his way. The funny part was that Carter, who is NOTORIOUS for throwing a fit when having to take medicine, took one look at how his baby sister took it without crying and slammed it down like a shot of tequila! I think he figured, if that little baby can do it without crying, why should I cry?

Additionally, Cooper is weighing in at 17 pounds 10 ounces and 26 3/4 inches, all in the 75 to 90th percentile.

Carter, weighed in at 48 POUNDS!!!!!! I am not sure how someone with very little fat on them can weigh that much, it's amazing. He weighs more than most 1st graders!!!!

Pumpkin patch & pizza!

We had an awesome Sunday! We started off at the pumpkin patch to celebrate Aubrey's birthday! The kids had a great time, there was a petting zoo, a train ride, horses, and of course a hayride to the pumpkin patch. Annabelle HATED the horse ride (she comes by this genetically) but Olivia being the animal lover enjoyed it! Carter hung out with his buddy Jacob on the train ride, and he loved the pony ride, wanting Jason to let him do it all by himself!

Cooper was of course an angel and slept the entire time, what a good girl she is!!! The only bad thing that happened the entire day was when Carter went to put his face into something that made him look like a farmer (you know those wooden things you stand behind and have your picture taken in) he decided to put his entire head through the hole! Well, of course, his gigantic head got stuck and it had to be pulled out ever so gently!!! It was really funny, despite his wailing and red ears from being stuck!



Then, after the party we headed out for pizza with the Kutckas! We actually were able to have a meal (the first time we've been out to dinner since Cooper was born) without incident. And we actually ate, AND had nice conversation. It truly goes down in the Evans history books as the best dinner out to date!






One last note, Cooper is on the MOVE!!!! She is not yet 6 months old and can army crawl across the room! She is up on her back legs, and has her chest off the floor! All she needs is some coordination and she will be fully crawling! But, for now, she is pulling herself across the floor, trying to put anything and everything in her mouth!