Guest Blogger: Evelyn

I'm Evelyn. This is my first blog post. I got a camera for Christmas, and used it for these pictures. The first one you see at the top is a picture at my Grandmother's house on Christmas Day. The child in the picture is my older cousin, named Anna. The person in the middle is my Grandma, and the third person with the scarf is my Auntie Barbara.

My camera that I got for Christmas lets me put special frames on the pictures that I'm taking. This is a picture of me, and my sister is taking it.

This is at my Grandmother's house in the dining room after the game, White Elephant. I won a bear! It is a picture of my cousins, my aunts, my uncles, my grandparents, my parents, me, and my sister.

This is a picture of my younger sister in our room on the floor with a bag next to her. She is making a funny face.

This is a picture in my room of some of my My Little Ponies. The blue-skinned one is Rainbow Dash. The purple-skinned one is Daisy Dreams. The yellow-skinned one is Apple Bloom. Sometimes I use the names they come with and sometimes I make up a new name. (By the way, those tan things are my knees, not my bottom!!)

This is a picture of my breakable dolls. The one in the white dress that is tall is the oldest, Beth. That stands for Elizabeth. The one with the gold dress that is tall is Jo. That stands for Josephine. The one in the pink and red dress is Amy. Also, the one with the bell on her neck that has short hair is Meg. That stands for Margaret (my younger sister's middle name.) I got the names from "Little Women," if you've heard of it. My mom is reading that book to me and my sister.

My camera is pink.

These are some words that explain my pictures from my camera. I very much enjoyed my first, very first blog post!

See ya later! Bye!

By: Evelyn Grace Blackman

"They're better than having a mansion!"

Amelia's answer to the question, "How do you like your new crutches?"

Slam dunk, Daddy. Alan totally turned this thing around, and Amelia is loving "pretending" to have a hurt ankle at home using her crutches and walking normally everywhere else.

The only down side? Sore armpits. :)

Amelia's Latest Phase

No pictures yet, but Amelia is in a crutches phase. Her friend at school recently twisted her ankle and had to be on crutches. We had a play date with that friend while she was on crutches. Amelia was fascinated.

Since then, she's "hurt" her toes/feet/ankles numerous times and has hopped around  using sticks and Alan's crutches (she puts her armpits on the hand rests.) All day today we ran errands with Amelia hobbling around behind us with a walking stick, refusing to bend her knee because her ankle hurt. :)

I admit this sort of irritates me. I kind of just want her to snap out of it. (In her defense, she HAS twisted her ankle before, but we never went to the doctor and just rode it out resting her foot.)

But here is where it is so awesome when one's spouse can offer a totally different perspective.

Tonight I took Evelyn to a birthday party, and Amelia had some Daddy Time. Alan took her to a local medical supply store and bought her REAL crutches--kid-sized crutches. He said he'd get them for her as an early birthday present and that she'd be able to use them at home when she is pretending to be hurt.

Alan's simple words to me: "She's in a phase. She wants attention and wants to be taken care of. Besides, there's always the chance one of the two of them will actually need them in the next year or two." Right.

She was asleep by the time Evelyn and I got home, and the crutches are still a "surprise" that she will show us in the morning. I can't wait to see her face tomorrow.

So I get a change of attitude, and Amelia gets what she's been totally dying for: her own pair of crutches.

My Current Favorite Book

Evelyn made this last week when the girls were off school for the virtual snowstorm. And yeah, I totally love the title. :)

Adore those bedtime kisses! (I smooch the girl in the bottom bunk, too. :)

Well, at least we're all honest around here. I do get "argery" sometimes. 

I admit I kind of cringed at that page initially. But if there are any people who know I'm not perfect, it's the people in this house, and I'm glad to have had the experience of asking their forgiveness...and receiving it. :)

Yeah--all those stinky "dippers!" I particularly like the drawing on this page--the baby toys and mama's big, country-singer hairdo.

 Total, utter, fantastical FAVORITE page. Heart-bursting. And look, we're wearing matching, mother-daughter outfits.

So--here's your charge, reader! Step up the love! :)

Winter View

One of the reasons I do not mind living across the street from a parking lot is the unobstructed view. This is looking out our library window. :)

What's Been Going On?

Hiking in the woods to vistas and having a picnic.

Heading to a local bakery for treats after the hike/picnic.

 Eating cupcakes with purple icing (go Ravens!!)

Making stuff. Evelyn made this "scissor place" for Amelia. It is currently holding--whaddaya know--Amelia's scissors. :)

Amelia made her version of a "Star Case." I found a VHS tape of the first movie I ever saw in a theater: Disney's "Escape to Witch Mountain." I admit more than a little jubilation that the girls seemed to be almost obsessed with it as I was. The main characters are Tony and Tia, an orphaned brother and sister with secret powers. Tia goes nowhere without her star case. 

Building tenement housing.

They aren't earthquake-proof, but the residents are.

Wearing new outfits from Aunt Lisa (and reluctance to have one's photo taken)

Rearranging the girls' bedroom, with furniture placed to create the wildly popular "Secret Hideout" in one corner of the room. It's the girls' weekend getaway (they are sleeping there as I blog.)

Recycling the first mattress of our marriage (with help from Aunt Becky, who passed down to us a very attractive replacement bed.) Since the city's bulk trash pickup isn't until March 18th, the mattress has found a very happy home on our library floor.

The girls tell people they have an indoor trampoline.

I don't think any of their visiting friends have thought otherwise.

So that's what's been going on around here!