Animal Hands

A few days ago at the grocery store, as we were passing through the "fresh meat" section (which really never smells "fresh" to me), John ran up ahead of me a little ways. I called out to him-- "John, come back please." He turned around and came running back, and when he was almost by my side, he said, "My firetruck shoes make me run!"

Seriously! How's a mom supposed to keep her composure? I burst into laughter, and could barely stop!

It's good to know what makes John do the things he does sometimes. Now I'll know that the shoes just start running, and John has no choice but to tag along, since his feet are inside!

Another thing that's good to know: John has animal hands. I didn't realize this until tonight(because they look like normal, 2-year-old boy hands). But Brad asked him to finish his dinner. Again. He seems to need constant reminding that meal time is when we put food in our mouths, chew, and swallow.

So anyway. Brad asked him to eat his food. And he said. "I can't. I have animal hands."

Haaaah!!! Oh, man, we're in trouble. If only there was a warning that something hilarious was about to come from his mouth. But even then, I probably wouldn't be able to keep a straight face!

Brad worked with John and his "animal hands", to teach him how to hold the fork. It's really quite simple. Instead of using fingers (since most animals don't have them), you simply use your two hands, working stiffly together, to hold the fork in place between them. Then bring the food-laden fork to your mouth, bite the food off, and repeat. Amazingly, John finished his meal in record time (for him), using this method. If only we had known that this has been his problem all along! We could have helped him ages ago!

First Week of Pre-School

We have successfully completed Evelyn's first week of Pre-School, and she has absolutely loved it! The night before her first big day, she asked me to put foam rollers in her hair. Poor girl, her hair is as stick-straight as mine and Brad's! No hope for curls. Ever. But here's our little cutie, getting ready for bed. She was so excited!!!



So the rollers worked for a little while. Here's the special "first-day" hairstyle:




She was so excited, she could hardly stay still long enough for me to take the pictures I wanted!

Look at that sweet face, all ready to go to school. I can't believe she was just born.

And those sweet dimples remind me of the first time I saw her. In the hospital, in our arms, she was just hours old when I first realized that she had dimples. Two of them! How sweet is that?? A newborn with dimples! And I'm so glad that her pretty, dimpled face is still just as sweet and kissable now as it was then!

This week has been such an exciting week for her. She is so social, that I'm glad she has this opportunity to be around other kids. She's only going three half-days a week, but it's a great start!

Speaking of great starts, on Tuesday she started reading! She read through 3 books all within a few minutes of each other. The simple kind, of course. "Pam has a hat. The hat is red." That sort of thing. I'm so proud of her! She's been working on sounding out words for a while. She even likes to guess how words are spelled. One of my favorites was "I know how to spell 'mall'. It's m-o-l." Good guess, chica!

Congratulations, Evelyn, on a wonderful week. I'm so proud of you!

Lightning McQueen and Cowboy Collide

Evelyn had been looking forward to this night for 2 weeks. And to be completely honest, so had I. We were going to see a kids play (Frog & Toad) at our local Theatricks. We talked about it, planned for it, and anticipated our "Mommy-Daughter Time" with the daily countdown! During that time, we also had ideas of what the guys could do in our absence (not that they needed ideas for our 2-hour absence). If, for example, during a mealtime, one of the guys burped or pounded the table with utensils or yelled too loudly, we would tell them that they could do that to their hearts' content while we were at the play. But while we were in their presence, they should NOT behave in such a way!

Here we are, just about to take off for the play:


And here is Evelyn with one of her dear babysitters, Amber. Amber played several roles in Frog & Toad (which was a big reason why Evelyn was so excited to go see it!):

The world of boys and dress-up is just beginning to dawn for our family. Evelyn has been into dress-up since she was only 1. But this is the first time that John selected and actually wore (for hours!) anything that could be considered "dress-up". I love it! Lightning McQueen and Cowboy collide!

Right after taking this picture, John began to kick the side of the swimming pool. Over and over and over. Perhaps he was noticing the ripple effect, but he was certainly entertained as he laughed and watched with a sharp eye!

And speaking of sharp objects, look who has learned to use a fork! (If you happen to notice that Truman is holding a Disney Princess fork, please choose to ignore that fact.)

At 14 months, I don't remember if he is "early" or "late" in acquiring this skill. (You'd think I'd have all those sorts of facts memorized by now. But I don't have room to store that kind of information in my brain, since it is apparently too full of other useful information like: how many bowel movements each child has had, where someone's favorite toy was last seen, discerning different sounding cries to determine whethere there is a legitimate problem or just a dispute, wondering if I can get the old banana and molded milk stains out of a kid's shirt with yet one more treatment with OxiClean, etc.)


Last week we drove to Kansas for a quick whirlwind trip (not resulting in a tornado, thankfully!) to Wichita State University for Brad to participate in a conference. Then we went to visit some of his nearby family members. His Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Howard hosted us all for lunch, and we're so thankful that they're always so hospitable! Here are a few pictures of our time with family:

Aunt Joyce, Uncle Edward, Brad and John:

Lucas pulls Evelyn, Emma, John and Duane (Brad's cousin) on the sled with wheels:

The best shot I could get of all the little kiddos! Macy, Cody, Truman, Lucas, John, Emma, Evelyn. The "big" kids got to hold the "little" kids, which in reality aren't that much smaller than them. The big ones are sure happy troopers!!

Macy droveJohn around on the trike! She's a friendly little gal, and eager to help!

And here, Brad enjoyed a visit with his Grandma Voran. Unfortunately in this picture, Evie and John are both looking at her instead of the camera, but it was the best picture of her that I had, so I wanted to put it on the blog. What a special visit, for Brad in particular!

Well, as I'm sure you're all wondering, my birthday is Wednesday! I'll be 31. Somehow doesn't quite seem right. How can I so vividly remember things from my younger days? Feelings and thoughts from Junior High shouldn't be this clear at this age! I remember when I was younger, thinking there was no way my parents could remember what it was like to be my age. But now I know that it was indeed possible and probable!

Brad is gone (hiking and camping) with our friend Jeff. Whenever he's gone, I make myself stay up really late until I know I'll just crash to sleep when I get in bed, instead of laying there with my mind racing. So I'm just about at that point (and it's not even midnight yet-- my friends Holly and Noelle would just laugh at my "really late night"!).

The next time I write, I'll have more journeys and adventures to tell about. But now I am all done, and ready to go to bed. So goodnight!