Happy (Belated) Father's Day

We had an awesome Father's day weekend at the cabin.  We got spend time together as a family, hang out with Grandpa and see the Walker family.  I got to hold Charlie, A LOT.  I was very happy :).  He is so adorable, and looks just like his big sister :)

Here was Connor, Evalyn and my gift to Chris for father's day. 

Our "DAD" letters.  I loved doing this.  It was really fun!!

Finally Spring!

We had such a gorgeous day today.  Nearly 70 and sunny.  Evalyn and I spent most of the afternoon outside blowing bubbles.  She loves bubbles :)

After we had dinner Chris, Connor, Evalyn and I headed downtown to the Stone Arch Bridge.  It was so pretty down there.  The river is really high, so it's flowing fast and there is a ton of water moving through there.  We had lots of fun throwing rocks into the river and walking around.

Here are some awesome pics we got:

Easter

We actually had a beautiful day to celebrate Easter.  The service at Open Door was amazing, I could listen to the music all day, and hearing David speak was wonderful too.

We got home and had 20 people at our house for Easter dinner.  I feel so blessed that we are able to have that many people in our home.  I truly enjoy having people here.  I love having family and friends here.  Watching the kids run around and make TONS of noise.  That is to be expected with 9 girls, 1-9 years old.  It fills my heart with such joy!

We had wonderful food, conversation, and then an awesome egg hunt in our front yard.  The girls all had such a great time!

Here are some shots from the day:

Lamp Re-Do

I started working a couple days a week at Chris' office.  I am not a fan of fluorescent lighting....not at all!  So I wanted to bring in a large table lamp so that I could just use that for light at my desk.  I decided to go thrifting for one as I didn't want to spend much money on a lamp for work.  

Instead of getting one for work, I got one form home that I upgraded!!  I spray painted it and embellished the shade.  It is so pretty, I love turning it on!!  The lamp was $7 and the shade was $6.  We already had the paint.  

Here she is!!

Before:

After:

I forgot to mention in my previous post that one frame was $3 (11x14) and the other was $5 (16x20).  Pretty good deal :)  I will post a picture of the wall of photos when I am done.  

Frames - redone

My house is arranged, but not "decorated".  I look at these beautiful photos in Pottery Barn or ones that are linked up on the blogs I read and swoon.  Such beautifully decorated rooms.  I would like to attempt to start decorating my house, but of course, we are not on a Pottery Barn budget :)

I follow several blogs that have great tutorials for making ugly or junky things beautiful, and to your taste.  One thing I love is framed photos of my family.  So on a long wall in our family room I am planning to hang a large collage frame and then some other single frames with it.  All of them black, but not all the same type of frame.  So I have been hunting thrift stores and goodwill for frames with awesome details, even if they are ugly, to transform!!

Here are my first two that I have done:

Growing So Fast

Evalyn is now 25 months old and is growing so fast!  She is talking more and more.  She is now using sentences.  I can’t grasp how big she is getting.  I look at pictures from just this past summer, when she still looked a little like a baby.  Now she is a little girl, a toddler.  She is such a sweet and caring child.  We love her so much, and she is such an amazing blessing in our family. 

Sometimes I wish I could keep her small, keep her this age.  She is so happy, funny, playful and sweet.  She loves her mommy, daddy and big brother, always wanting to show us her new thing that she can do.  She is very vocal, loves to sing, talk, yell, laugh! 

Someday we willl add another little one to this family, and they will be a very lucky baby to have Connor and Evalyn as siblings. 

Blog Luv

I am a little obsessed with blogs lately.  I read them whenever I have a minute to sit at my computer.  They give such great ideas!!

One of the blogs that I follow, Love Stitched, is giving away an awesome cowl!  You should go check it out!  It's so awfully cold her in MN during the winter, it's always nice to have a warm and SUPER CUTE cowl to keep you warm!  I may just buy one if I don't win it... it's that cute!!

A blog that touched me today.

I read this posting on TaDa! Creations today, and it touched my heart.  I thought I would share it. 


TaDa! Creations - Choosing A Different Path


Philipians 4:8:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Love this quote:

I am just a regular girl. 

A wife who loves her husband, but doesn’t always show it.

A mom who adores her babies, but runs out of patience.

A friend who cherishes her girls, but forgets to return calls.

A person so energized by being creative, but not without dry spells.

I am a homemaker who would rather rearrange furniture than dust it, repaint a bathroom than clean it, eat out than sit down and plan meals. 

{Written by Emily}

When I read it, I thought,

"she could have been writing about me".

And I bet I'm not the only one...

Inside BruCrew Life: Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecake

This looks so good!!

Inside BruCrew Life: Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecake

Beautiful Fall

This weather is amazing.  I love fall.  All the colors, smells, the warm sun.  It makes me want to be outside all day long!  Gotta love upper 70 weather in October, added bonus.  Evalyn is so happy outside, she just becomes more alive and animated.  I love living in MN.  To be able to see all the seasons and see life running it's course.  Reminds you how amazing God is.  Who else could have made such beauty?!?

Here are some photos from the cabin this last weekend.  

 Eating dinner at The Warf.  Decent food, great view!

 Evalyn walking in the leaves.  It was so beautiful. 

 One second too slow... she had been smiling.  Wanted to sit in Mommy's chair ;)

 Breath taking...

This one makes me feel God's presence in the world.  His warmth always around us.  

Cousins - September 2010

I love it when we can get a picture of all of the kids together!

Back Row: Ellie (3), Sophie (6) and Elizabeth (4)

Front Row: Madeline (6), Evalyn (20 months), Connor (14), Cora (9) and Nora (8 months)

Gotta do the silly face!  They are so good at it!

Fall!

Some fun pictures from this fall.

Mommy and Evalyn on the haystack!

We found a tricycle to ride at the pumpkin patch!  Still trying to figure out pedals.  

Yep, Daddy threw straw on my head.  Yucky!

Daddy and Evalyn on the hay ride!

Project 365 - Day 2 & 3

I love to take pictures, but it's really hard to remember to bring my camera with!!

Evalyn got a "new" car from cousin Ellie, she loves it!  We were getting ready to go have lunch with Daddy and she got in her car... she did NOT want to get out.

We have these weird things growing in our backyard... anyone seen one of these before??  I need to get rid of them... worried they may be poisonous or something.  Yuck!

Project 365 - Day 1

I have decided to do the "Project 365".  I started today with taking some pictures of Evalyn @ Nurenberg Gardens in Minnetonka.  It will be fun to see what pictures I end up taking over the next 365 days.  It may make me blog more, may not, who knows :)

Cute one from today, it was too sunny... but fun anyway. 

Evalyn is 18 months!

Evalyn is 18 months old!  It is amazing how much she is growing!  She has more to say everyday.  She brings us so much joy!  I took some fun pictures of her today, love the dress and pigtails!

Recent Pictures

Here are some recent pictures of the kiddos!

Connor, Chris and Evalyn. Evalyn is helping Daddy drive the boat.

Bear is hoping she will drop some food!

So sweet!!

Connor with is "white boy" 'fro!

Summer going by too fast!

I can't believe that it is mid July already! Summer has been lots of fun... heading to the cabin, playing in the water, going to see my sisters and their girls. We have started going to the library... Evalyn likes it, but right now she really likes to see all the people and touch as many books as possible!

Evalyn is getting so big! She is not a baby anymore... she is a full blown toddler with the personality to suit! She has definitely figured out how to throw diva size tantrums... mommy just ignores her. She is still very vocal, more words are mixing in to the babble every day!

Evalyn's words:
Mommy
Daddy
Gran Pa
Gran Ma
Outside
Shoe
Juice
Milk
No
Please
Hi
Bye bye
Chalk
Ta Da!
So Big

I am amazed at what she understands. I can ask her to do things and she knows what I am asking... so great! She loves to dance, so grooves every time music comes on. I will have to post a video of that. It's awesome! She continues to be very loving and sweet. She really loves mommy a lot, and explodes with joy when daddy comes home from work. Often standing at the top of the stairs waiting for Chris to walk in the door just so she can say "Hi" or "DADDY"!

Connor has been busy helping Uncle Jim build their new garage. Earning money to buy a car... because he turns 15!!!! this fall. A little scary that we are going to have a driving teenager in November. He's been hanging out with friends, playing his guitar and doing Par Kor (spell). You will need to ask him about the last part.

Evalyn Walking

I sure hope this works!! Evalyn walking by herself for the first time... so cute!!!

Video Games

Connor and his "friend" Emily were playing video games one afternoon.  Evalyn thought she should try it too!

She actually did pretty good... for a 13 month old!  She could get the car to move forward, very very slowly!