Pumpkin Carving & Halloween Party

Once again the kids had an absolute blast on Halloween! Kami dressed up as Minnie Mouse, Rian was a princess and Drew was a lion. The evening was filled with screams, howls and giggles in an ear drum shattering volume as our girls were joined by Snow White (aka Reese), a Witch (aka Lauryn) and a Fairy (aka Kate). The kids even got to spend some time with Papa Evans, Nana Evans, Maima (O'Brien) and Papa O'Brien (aka the Captain). The trick-or-treating started around 6:30 as we ventured across the street to the neighborhood houses. It was cold and windy but the kids didn't seem to notice -go figure! As the goody bags got heavier and the parents got colder we knew it was time to call it a night. We were all pretty worn out after this party - thank goodness for the time change! Too bad Drew didn't understand what it meant to "gain an hour".
Enjoy the pics!

Skeletons in the closet

Looking for a quick last minute Halloween decoration? How about a homemade skeleton. The girls and I put these together during Drew's nap the other day - don't they look cute!

To create one yourself you will need the following:

1 piece black paper
1 small piece of white paper cut into a "skull" shape

10-11 q-tips

scissors

glue

First cut out the skull shape from the white paper and glue it to the top of your black piece of paper. Then cut the cotton ends off of 4 of the q-tips. Glue these horizontally below the skull head to form the "ribs". Next cut off one end of the cotton on 6 of the q-tips. Glue two protruding out from the rib cage to look like arms. The remaining 4 will be for the legs. The legs have two q-tips glued side by side below the rib cage. Once you finish the legs take the cut-off cotton ends and glue them on as hands and feet. Decorate the skull face and add any other embellishments you want to get your skeleton ready for Halloween. The girls had a blast with glitter glue and markers.

Kindergarten

Kami started Kindergarten this year! She goes to Zinser Elementary School and gets to ride the school bus. The school is only a few blocks from our house so she has had plenty of opportunities throughout the summer to play on the playground. On her first day she came home super excited because the whole school has a "Disassembly"! She is struggling with a little separation anxiety in the mornings but after she gets to school she seems to really enjoy it and comes home excited to tell us about her day. Fortunately she goes part time (2 full days and 1 half day) per week so she is able to ease into this new experience.

Look Who is 4 Months Old!

Boy does time sure fly! Drew (a.k.a. "Drool") turned 4 months old the end of August. He is holding his head up fairly well when he is on his tummy and as you can see in the picture he continues to live up to his current nickname "Drool"! He has rolled over 3 times from tummy to back which I'm sure we will be seeing more of in the near future. At his 4 month doctor appointment the little guy weighted in at 16 1/2 lbs!

Cute little flower girls

Thought you might enjoy a special picture taken of the girls at Katie & Eric's wedding.

Praline French Toast

Need a good recipe for an upcoming brunch? Here is one that is sure to knock the socks off of your guests - plus it is really easy and can be made ahead of time!

Praline French Toast:
8 eggs
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. half and half
8 - 3/4 inch thick slices of french bread (cut on the diagonal)
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. maple syrup
1 c. coarsely chopped pecans

Preparation: in bowl, mix eggs, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, vanilla and half and half. Pour half of egg mixture into 9 x 13 inch pan. Place bread slices into mixture. Pour remaining egg mixture over bread. Cover with foil and chill in refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

When preparing to serve, melt butter in another 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Stir in 3/4 cup brown sugar and syrup. Add nuts and spread evenly. Place soaked bread on top of nut mixture. Pour any remaining egg mixture over bread. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Serve hot. ENJOY. (garnish with fresh fruit)

Let me know how you liked this recipe as well as any suggestions or "modifications" you find appealing.

Catching Up

Wow - I have to apologize to you my faithful followers of this little ole blog...it has been quite some time since I've posted anything. Well ever since our computer LCD screen broke it hasn't been quite the same for me. I'm borrowing my sister's extra laptop for a bit until we decide what to do with our semi broken machine. My father in law tested the computer via the diagnostics and discovered that the LCD is the only thing broken and we can actually still use the computer if we hook it up to an external monitor. I think our laptop will become a modified desktop here very soon. I'm glad about that - I am not real good about saving stuff to an external drive very often so there is a lot of "stuff" on the laptop that I'd really like to save.

In the meantime here is the latest - drew is 3months old, kami turned 5!! I turned 35! my mom turned 60!! and this weekend my cousin Katie will married to prince Eric (the girls think he is the prince from the Little Mermaid since he is the only Eric they know, they must be right!) The girls are both flower girls for the wedding and are super excited! I hope to be able to post some pics soon so you can see these fun events!

Hope you are enjoying summer!

Skittles

After having their first Lunchables lunch yesterday the girls enjoyed the little single serve "dessert" which happened to be skittles (you know the candy). Well apparently this was a new candy they hadn't tried before but now has become a fast favorite! Kami, sitting across the table from Rian said "Hey Rian, do you know why they call these candies Skittles?" She then threw a handful of candy across the table at Rian and said "because they "skittle" on the table when you throw them". Duh...

...by the way we will be using this word as a regular part of our vocabulary going forward. How does this sound: "Kami can you please skittle on over here and pick up your toys", or "Rian, don't skittle across the wet floor, you might fall!". I'd love to hear your ideas on how to incorporate this great word into your daily vocab!

website of interest...

Occasionally I post a website that I find interesting here on my blog. I found one recently that has captured my interest and works with my short attention span issues, plus it is both crafty and creative. When you get a few minutes check it out! http://www.oneprettything.com. The best part about this site is the variety and links to many other blogs/sites of those who created the featured creations/ideas. Enjoy!

Drew Daniel Evans

We are so proud to announce the arrival of our son Drew Daniel Evans. Drew was born on April 30 at 1:02am. He weighed 7lbs 10oz and was 20 inches long. Here are a few pictures showing off our little guy!

Big sis Kami & Drew

Big sis Rian & Drew

Kami, Rian & Drew