Cookies for Santa

All princesses cook in tutus, an apron, ballet shoes and leotard, and a tiara on backwards.

Her name will be...

That is right! Marianne Fisher. We have not chosen a middle name yet, but we will. I just finished her letters last night...

Our Friendly Beast

Evelyn was a friendly beast, a dove, in this year's reenactment of the birth of Jesus at the church party tonight. We'll try to post some video soon - she absolutely loved being on stage and paused for quite a long time. When we took her picture afterwards she asked, "Can I go on stage again?"

Nesting

I have been nesting! This time around it has taken the form of quilting. I used mostly scraps from my "stash," although I did buy new fabric for the baby girl quilt. Here are my projects for the past few months:

Our baby girl's quilt!

Evelyn modeling the quilt...

Close up of the fabric...

Little Red Schoolhouse wall hanging

Valentine wall hanging

A quilt for Evelyn's new baby doll that she will receive when the baby arrives.

Close up of a baby boy quilt (I made this before we found out we were having a girl)


Full view of baby boy quilt

Table runner from scraps...

Oklahoma for Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving week in Oklahoma. It was great to see everyone! We will stay in California for Christmas - too close to the baby's due date to come. Evelyn had a great time with her grandparents and cousins and was sad to say goodbye to them all.

Evelyn was so proud to hang on the monkey bars "by herself" with Papa Fisher's help.


We had a great visit with Granny and Grandpa in Tulsa too.

Evelyn loves being outside, even if she does have to trade her dress for pants and sweater.

Glass Slippers and a Pony Tail

Halloween

Halloween was a busy and fun day. It marked 11 years of pumpkin carving together for us - a tradition begun on our first date. Using patterns has definitely helped the finished product - and this year Evelyn helped dictate the subjects for our carving.


Evelyn received a new tutu for her birthday from Aunt Becky, along with a book "I Wear My Tutu Everywhere." Evelyn does like to wear her tutu everywhere, and she wore it on Halloween night. She is holding the pumpkin that she helped paint. She declared the Cinderella Pumpkin to be her favorite.

Some of the on campus families had a gathering early in the evening - here is a group picture. Notice the child dressed as the "Angel of Death" giving Evelyn skeleton finger bunny ears. He is 7.


Some of Evelyn's friends from our S-pad...they were dressed as "Neon Nerds."

The new baby was dressed as a pumpkin - I confess I stole this idea from a friend in Oklahoma a few years back. Not everyone got it - one teen asked if I was "static cling" for Halloween.

Evelyn took candy to Brian's classes again this year in costume. The students really enjoyed it. Here Evelyn is "working" in her dad's office.

More Birthday Pictures

Evelyn actually got to eat her cupcake on her birthday, Sunday, the day after her party. We saved the one with Cinderella, her favorite princess, in the middle. She declared, "I'm eating Cinderella Mommy!"

Here Evelyn is modeling her new dress from her Titi Esti.

Evelyn's Birthday Party

Evelyn is 2 years old! We celebrated on Saturday afternoon in front of our house with a costume party for the neighborhood children and her friends from Bible class. All of the children came in costume and we had a costume parade! The kids were all pretty cute. Evelyn was a princess (dressed as a ballerina), and she had fun wearing her costume. Her cousin Justin was a train engineer. The guests enjoyed wagon rides in the new wagon from Granny and Grandpa, and the kids enjoyed playing with Evelyn's train table.



Justin looking cute!

The party had a subtheme of the Disney princesses, and to be festive Mom wore her princess costume too! But Evelyn was definitely the cuter of the 2 princesses!

Disneyland

Evelyn and I went on Thursday to Disneyland with Scott, Esti and Justin. Brian had to work! Going to Disneyland with two toddlers and two expectant women is a little limited, but - Justin and Evelyn had a great time. Lots of character visits, a few rides, the big parade, and the fireworks show. Evelyn remembered seeing the fireworks at Disneyland with her cousin Reagan this summer, and they were important to catch!

Here we are meeting Mickey. Evelyn was not scared of the characters this time and really enjoyed meeting them. She even tried to show Minnie Mouse her new Minnie Mouse panties that Esti gave her this week!

Evelyn and I waited over an hour in line at the princess fair. I asked Evelyn if she wanted to wait - and she said yes. There was no complaining, just occasional comments of "I'm waiting my turn." I wondered why the line was so long, but after waiting - Evelyn met 3 princesses - and each one spent at least 5 minutes chatting with her. Evelyn has only read the golden book versions...she has not seen the movies. But she has important discussion points from each story - and Cinderella, Belle and Sleeping Beauty were very accommodating to discuss them with her. Here are a few excerpts that cover the important points:

Evelyn to Belle: Gaston hurt the beast!
(Evelyn then prompts Belle to ask) Belle: Who helped the beast?
Evelyn: You did!

Evelyn to Cinderella: Your necklace is broken! The sisters broke it. Fairy godmother gave you a new necklace.

Lots of hugs for the princesses...


After we left the princess fair, there was of course a gift shop where Evelyn found a Cinderella doll. She hugged it lovingly and then slowly put it back on the shelf....she had just been given some birthday money from her Great Granny, so I asked her if she would like it for her birthday from Great Granny. She said, "Cinderella for my birthday please." She kept the doll in her arms the rest of the day...and has played with it lovingly ever since. Thank you Great Granny!

Justin is not interested in Princesses, but prefers Mickey Mouse! He caught some rides and a nap while we were at the fair.


This is waiting for the character parade, and I wonder - was this was what Scott and I looked like as children? The kids kept touching each others strollers and then not liking it when their hands were removed.

Waiting for the parade and holding our precious Cinderella doll.




Wide awake and looking forward to fireworks!

Sound asleep as we pulled into the garage...

Evelyn's Birthday Week

We are having a great week with Scott, Esti and Justin. Here are some pics from our trip to Point Dume, one of the prettiest beaches in Malibu. It was very windy...but Justin still had a good time in the sand.

Evelyn was interested in going close to the water for the first time. She has always been very cautious about going close to the ocean in the past.

And here she is wading!!! My brave girl! This lasted about 5 minutes, and then the strong winds knocked her over on her back, soaking her and covering her hair with sand. She never cried, and when Brian asked her later if she had fun playing in the ocean, she said, "Yes, but I fell in the ocean." Very matter of fact, no tears.

Justin made some great sand castles!

Evelyn has been able to share many of her joys with Justin. One of which is to ride in the "special car" at the grocery store. We were on our way there and she says, "Special cars, we are coming!"

For Granny and Grandpa

Scott, Esti and Justin are here! Evelyn and Justin had a great time playing together today. We had a fun time at Underwood farms this morning and finished the evening off on Uncle Scott's lap listening to the Mickey Mouse theme song...


Evelyn and Justin each chose a small pumpkin and had fun climbing on the big pumpkins.