Jokes by Evelyn

we had a  funny  ammusing  intersting night of joke telling with the kids this evening.  Here were two of the "jokes" that Evy told.

E:  how do you get a sign and a tree out of a tree that's not metal, it's glass?
me: (verifying that I understand the question) how do you get a glass sign out of a tree?
E: yah.  but no.  it's not glass it's metal
me:  it's metal?
E: yah.  with glass around the edges
me: so, how do you get a metal and glass sign out of a tree?
E: yah.
me: um..shake it out?
E: no
me: you climb up and get it?
E: no
me:  I don't know. I give up.
E: you climb up in the tree and get it down. 


E: Why did all the fish in the world that aren't whales or sharks or jellyfish or anything that eat other fish cross the road?
me: Why?
E: because they couldn't eat anything so they died.


and one by Gideon (which is what prompted the previous one by Evy):
Why did the starfish cross the road without looking both ways?
me: because he couldn't turn his head?
G: no
me: because there weren't any cars coming?
G: no
me: why?
G: because he was at a crosswalk and the light turned green.


GROAN! 
sometimes i laugh really hard at my kids jokes just because they are so *not* funny

Science vs. Fairy Tale

Today's science lesson began with an introduction to the animals of Australia & its surrounding islands.   I read to the children, "Unlike other mammals, monotremes do not have any teats.  Instead, baby monotremes lick up milk that seeps out of glands in the mother's skin."  This very interesting fact was followed up with a question from Evelyn, "What's a teat?"  I answered matter-of-factly, using simple words that she would understand easily, "It's like a mamma's boobie, where the baby gets it's milk from."  The light turned on in her mind, and she exclaimed knowingly, "Oh!  Like Boobie and the Beast!" 

Shortly after, we learned about the birds of New Guinea.  Our book described the way male birds of paradise fluff up their feathers & show off their good looks in order to attract a female.  It went on to tell about bowerbirds, who atract their females by building elaborate "bowers", decorated with flowers and berries.  The female selects the male whose bower impresses her the most.  (as a sidenote a bower is defined as, "A large nest made of grass and bright objects, used by the bower bird during courtship displays; A shady, leafy shelter or recess in a garden or woods; A woman's bedroom or private apartments, especially in a medieval castle; A picturesque country cottage, especially one that is used as a retreat" --isn't that romantic!?)   Check out this picture of the beautiful bower that was built for one lucky chick. (found on Nick Triantafillou' flickr site--a great photograph don't you think?)

This lesson on how birds pick their mates seemed like a great opportunity for me to teach my children the importance of picking a good mate for themselves.  I explained how, just like birds, different people are attracted to different things in a husband or wife.  Some people are attracted to a good looking person.  Some are attracted to someone with lots of money, or a nice home.  Some people want someone with similar aspirations, etc.  Then I said (especially to the boys), "Do you think that if you choose a wife just because she's pretty, that you will be happy for the rest of your life with her?  People's appearances change as they get older, and they won't look the same as they did when they were young.  So if that's the only thing you look at when you pick someone, you might be disappointed when you get older."  Zachary thought about this for a minute, while I went on to talk about other things you can look for in a spouse.  And then he said, "Then you should pick someone because you like their hair, because your hair stays the same when you get old."    Guess that's what the handsome prince was thinking  when he rescued Rapunzel. 

Quote of the day

Today's quote is from sweet Evy:

"Don't shoot me while i'm praying!!"

My Crazy Kids

Thought you might enjoy the latest photo of my kids. :)

poor evy

So our family has started a sunday evening tradition of going up to a cliff over the ocean & watching the sunset. It's always beautiful & peaceful. But every day at the end, when the very last little drop of sun disappears behind the mountains, Evy busts into tears because she can't see the sun anymore. it's just so dang cute! :)

pictures

Zachy & Evy asked to pose for some pictures the other night. so fun! :)

Right Here in River City!

Trouble! With a capital "T" And that rhymes with "E" and that stands for Evy!

Siiiiiiigh!

The Problem With Namesakes -or- The Psychology of a Name

we, in America tend to reserve The Middle Name as a place of honor. If there's someone you admire, but don't really care for their name, you just stick it in after your child's first name, and whenever your child asks, you can tell them all about the great person that they share names with. In theory, this is a great idea.

But here's the problem:

All you moms out there know that the only time you really use a middle name is to give you some more syllables to say when you're child is in trouble & you're trying to get their attention. So the only time your child hears this name of honor is in a negative context. This certainly doesn't go very far to nurture feelings of admiration for The Distinguished Person.

And the other problem, which I'm facing now: We gave Evelyn the middle name of Jan, after my mom. Not only does she have a place of honor in my life, but she's my MOM. --you know, like the person you never talk back to, no matter how mad you are. So there's Evelyn, getting into trouble, and I'm snapping, "Evelyn Jan! you stop that this second!" (or something to that effect) And every time i use that tone of voice with the name, *JAN*, something just grates on me. And instead of feeling strong and authoritative, i feel like *I* should be getting in trouble for talking to my mom like that. It's very disturbing. It even bothers Chris.

So I have a new idea. Instead of naming our children after the people we love & admire, we should name them after someone bad... I think if I said, "Evelyn Jezebel!" it would add a little extra umph to my "mean mommy voice". And every time she heard, "Jezebel," she'd think "man, I don't want to be like that!"

OR, we could only say their middle name at positive times, "oh, Evelyn Jan! it was so thoughtful of you to give all of your candy to your brother." and then when they get in trouble, and we need a lot of syllables, we can just throw in as many middle names as we need to, to make an impact. like: "Evelyn John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt don't you ever throw scissors at the cat again!"

My little Angel

Doesn't she look precious?

A week or two ago, I had to call poison control, because I found Evelyn eating from a bottle of anti fungal ointment. About an hour later, I decided not to call poison control again (because it would be too embarrassing to call twice in a row), after finding that she drank a bottle of sulfur (which had been prescribed to me for my acne). Shortly after that (and many times since) I caught her playing in my make up.

That all happened in one day. It was just the beginning. No matter how I try to keep my eye on her, and keep things out of her reach, she's always getting into stuff! Aside from her regular activities of playing in the toilet that the boys forgot to flush, getting into the flour & sprinkles in my baking drawer, and playing with my make-up; in a matter of just a couple weeks, I caught her walking around in Chris's socks:

using the Desitin as a facial ointment:
Can you see it in her hair? (!)

playing with the Q-tips:

and sitting in the sink, playing with toothpaste:

I didn't take a picture of the half-tub of hair product she put in her hair, or the dish soap that she ate, because you wouldn't have been able to see anything. I also didn't photograph the time she ate a bunch of my antibiotics, because I found the spilled bottle of half-eaten pills after she had run off to get into something else. And these things all happened in the last two weeks or so. Yesterday, it was Chloe's fingernail polish. that was a colorful sight. *sigh*

~~~

Update: oops! almost forgot the time she climbed onto Chris' motorcycle, ready to ride!

girls' room

i told you awhile back about the new bunk bed that chris put together for the girls. finally... here's a picture. :)

Evelyn

Every time i put Evelyn in her car seat, she grabs her little pink blankie and rubs it with her fingertips as she pops her thumb in her mouth.

notice the floral print car seat? That's because Chris *insisted* that we get something girly for our baby girl. We looked in *many* different stores, for a pink one, but we had to settle on this. (which *I* think is just darling) :)

Another of Evy, sitting naked (except for the crown) on the table, eating leftovers. :)

As a side-note, i thought i should point out that we pronounce her name "eh-vee" (with a short "e") not "ee-vee" (with a long "e")

Evy's Apple

Dinner with Evy

The other night, after dinner, we all went into another room to do something. When I walked back to the dining room, i found Evy sitting on top of the table, helping herself to the leftovers. As is usual for her now, she struck a pose as soon as she saw the camera. :)

Evy and the Hat

Here are some cute pictures of Evy trying to put on Chloe's princess hat. :)

And this is me, pretending to be a photographer

Here are some more pictures I took last Monday while Chloe was in ballet.

Window Shopping

Pouty Face

Deep in thought

I like this one.

Going for a walk.

Peek-a-boo

Getting ready to play




Zachary likes to go behind these bars and ask, "Mommy, why you put me in jail?"

I don't know why like this one wo much, but I think it's neat.

Evy Sleeps

Evelyn's First Word

When Chloe was born, I had all sorts of ideas of what kind of parent I wanted to be, and what my kids would be like. One thing I swore was that the word "mine" wouldn't even be in my kids' vocabulary. I just hate it when kids fight over toys and scream, "MIIINNE!!!". Not my kids...No Way. My kids will be be generous, kind, loving, selfless...


Evelyn just said her very first word the other day. Clear as day. And she hasn't stopped using it since. Can you geuss what it was?? *sigh*

Cute

A few more pics from the party: Evelyn was feeding bread to Julie, but she kept dropping it down Julie's shirt. So she'd reach in & feed it to her again. :)

Gideon & Evy

Here's a cute picture i took of Gidoen & Evy. He was helping her jump on the trampoline. :)

Evy Dances

Evelyn still isn't talking yet, but she can carry a tune. We have a ledge in front of our fireplace that the children have adopted as their stage. Evy loves to stand up there and lead everyone in a song and dance.