anyone know a good Cobbler?

Well,...... this didn't turn out like I thought.
We have a disturbingly damp house. I had stored my favorite sandals under our bed and the shoes being partially made of cork were quite vulnerable to the dampness. So when I pulled them out and found a film of green mildew on foot bed of the sandals I decided to try and save the shoes. I wiped them down with a bleach solution and then to ensure that I killed off the mildew I placed them in our oven on low to dry them out really good.
Turns out cooking your shoes doesn't produce good results. Birkenstocks don't take to 150-200 degrees. They completely disintegrated! Now all I have are the straps, soles, and base of my favorite sandals, but they are not together as they should be. Anyone know of a good cobbler?

Spring Fever/Brain Flu

I have been stuck. You wouldn't know it by looking at me or talking to me, but I have been temporarily overwhelmed by life. I have been stuck in blogger's block as wll. I haven't been inspired to post anything and felt like I lost total control the last couple of weeks. My van exploded with toys from homevisits, and papers, and left over trash from eating lunches in the car and then it carried over into the house. We had piles of sheets and bedding from Evelyns old crib, piles of her shoes that used to be kept under the crib, papers and mountains of mail , and a spot on my kitchen counter that hadn't seen the light of day in who knows how long being covered in phone chargers, pennies, pens, scrap paper...I was feeling buried and trapped in my own house and it felt like nothing I did made a difference. And as a result, I was shutting myself off from other people too, I had a personal Brain Flu.

I made the decision when Spring Break came that what I wanted to do was reconnect with friends who I felt I had lost touch with and make some subtle but important changes in my little world inside my head. So I was talking to one of the Moms at church who has identical twin girls the same age as Evelyn about a playdate during my Spring Break and I agreed to have them come over the next day (Monday) to play at OUR house. Knowing full well that I didn't want anyone coming near my house in the state it was in. Needlesstosay, I got the kick in the pants I needed! Thank God for company and visitors, the great motivator for cleaning and getting done what needs to be done.
I got to work and completely rearranged the living room and found storage tubs for all the piles of shoes and clutter on the counter. I vacuumed, I washed down the sideboards, I dusted, I sorted out what Evelyn needed in her room and what she had grown out of in terms of baby blankets. Those baby blankets were some of the hardest things to pack away! The house feels like new and I have new-found pride in my home again.
We went to dinner over the weekend with some friends we hadn't seen in over 2 years and had a great time. I had the twins over for a play date yesterday, which was wild but fun. I am going to take Evelyn to the play group she goes to every week with Julie, but this week I get to take her. And on Friday we are going to the Zoo with my friend from childhood who I have recently reconnected with through FaceBook (maybe I'll write a post on how cool Face Book has been -see I'm feeling inspired already).
So I feel I am purging myself of my "brain flu" and finding the fun again. No work for two weeks, time to just be the best Mommy I can be and fun to be around for my hubby.

Stats 3 years

Evelyn went with Andy for her 3 year check up.

Height: 3' 4"

Weight: 33.5 Lbs

100th % for Height, 75th % for weight.

Evelyn had to have a shot and it worked out great to go with Daddy because she watches Daddy give himself shots every day so it was not a big deal. She is really getting to be a big girl.

She has also been sleeping in her really big girl bed, a twin. She does ok for part of the night. Then, lately, she has been waking up around 4:00am and turning on the lights in her bedroom and in the hall (if you can call the 3 foot span between her bedroom and ours a hall) and coming into our room. I put her back to bed and then she joins us in our bed around 6:00. I really miss sleep. So much so that I can't think of anything else to write now. My apologies.

Grandma Welander

This is how I remember my Grandma Welander. She couldn't get enough hugs and snuggles when we visited. Now she is in the last days of her life in Minnesota. Her Birthday was March 9th and she turned 94, though she would tell you she is in her 95th year. She is my Irish Grandma, born Mary Margaret Buckley she is 100% Irish. My Grandpa Oscar (who is 100% Swedish and Lutheran) converted to Catholicism to marry her. She is also a wonderful musician and played and taught piano her whole life. I didn't get to spend much time with her because we lived so far away but I always knew how much she loved me and my sister. She was able to meet and hold Evelyn when we were back visiting in 2006. Evelyn was just 3 months old and such a chunky baby Grandma could barely hold onto her. Grandma, I love you and you are in my prayers tonight.

SUNDAY UPDATE: Sadly, my Grandma passed away several hours after I wrote this post, around 2:30am in Minnesota. My uncle Jim was by her side. You are cradled in His hands now Grandma, free to be with the angels.

Good Question

Evelyn: "Dad, why do I have to watch Football all day?"



* dad was watching ESPN World Baseball Classic

Evelina Ballerina

Julie gave Evelyn a Ballerina kit for her birthday that comes with a DVD of Angelina Ballerina and her human friends giving an instructional video on Ballet 101. Evelyn was totally into it. She put on the whole ensemble and watched intently as the little girl dances and she even tried a few moves. Grace has yet to find her, but beauty comes to her naturally.

I'm Gonna Have to Cut You Off (what happens when 3 year olds have had too much Birthday)

The Ice Cream Bar is Closed. I can't serve you any more.


Sure, it's fun in the beginning....

But then it just starts getting messy

and messier.

This is going to have to be your last one.

Love and Marriage

Andy was giving me a hug and Evelyn was not happy about it. She came over and said, "Daddy! You can't hug her like dat because she's my Mommy!"
Andy's reply was, " I can hug her like this because she's my wife."
And Evelyn's response was to laugh and say, " Daddy ! She's not the farmer, the farmer's wife. She just my Mommy!"

Now, for those of you who aren't current on their nursery songs The Farmer in the Dell is a nursery song. It tells the story of a farmer in a dell who takes a wife, who takes a child, who takes a nurse, etc, until finally a rat takes the cheese, and the cheese "stands alone".

Apparently, the only WIFE Evelyn is aware of is married to the Farmer, not to her Daddy...

It's Party Time!!!

Evelyn is officially 3 years old today !!! We had a little party after church. Evelyn wore a beautiful dress that Gramma Claire bought for her several weeks after she found out she was going to be having a grand-daughter (I was only 22 or 23 weeks pregnant at the time). But who can blame her? The dress is just darling. She wore it to church and also brought along mini chocolate cupcakes to her Sunday school class. Then after church we went over to Gramma Claire's house and had a birthday party with Gramma, "M", Granny, Mommy and Daddy and Julie. Evelyn requested chocolate cupcakes and ice cream cones- so that's what we had. We were sad to have missed a special call from Papa who is in Mexico, but got to listen to a Happy Birthday voicemail- hurry home Papa!!!

Happy Birthday my Sweet Girl!

Evelyn was born on Ash Wednesday, March 1st 2006 at 5:55am. She didn't waste any time coming out and she let the world know she had arrived. She had such a loud cry we couldn't believe it!

What a wonderful 3 years it has been and how fast they have gone by. Evelyn is such a joy, she made my heart burst and then double in size. She makes us laugh everyday with her little sayings and faces she makes. Yesterday when I told her it was her Birthday tomorrow, she gasped and said, "I've been waiting for it!" Your day has arrived my sweet,

Happy Birthday Evelyn!