Through the Monkin'-Glass...

Well, as is usual for this Evans family, lots of changes are afoot with the holiday season! Jay has moved on from Archangel Tattoo, to better and brighter things; Mini has decided to become mobile, albeit only with army crawling thus far; and Monk is finally sprouting the 4th front/bottom tooth that has made her smile so adorably scraggly for the past 8 months.



It's nice to know that even with all these big things a-brewin', you can enjoy the constant things in your life. Perfectly illustrated above, of course, with lots of chocolate cake eating. Be mindful that I wasn't innocent in this indulgence either! (Just off camera!)



Mini has deemed herself the honorary Reindeer of the season as well, going at her first Christmas with unmatched zeal. I don't think Monkey was ever that willing to wear those antlers so proudly! Now I just need to solve the delimma of what will decorate Mini's stocking?



Yep, that's right... Those are some big girls sitting at Grandma and Grandad's kitchen table, eating breakfast.



And of course, Daddy HAD to teach Monkey to drink the milk from her cereal bowl when she finishes. Oh, did I mention how much I loooooove those piggy-tails?

Suiting the end of this entry ideally, here is the Monk pretending to go to work. She will grab all the necessities for a grueling day at the grind, kiss everyone around goodbye, and yell "Bye!" as she is walking to the door. Pretty much the second cutest thing of all time. The first cutest is when she puts on a pair of Momma's shoes during the ritual.

Well, as Monkey's 2nd birthday is approaching, we are just loving life more and more. How lucky we are! Just tonight, Jay traded a tattoo for a Wii for Lilly's big day. Or should I say "for" Lilly. I suspect some ulterior motives here...

P.S. Any suggestions as to what should go on Mini's stocking would be much appreciated! If ya'll recall last year- I spent quite a few hours crafting Lilly's. It was a labor of love, and I had Grandmother on my mind for much of it. I still prize mine that she made for me so many years ago and I only hope to provide the same for my kids.

A quiet life, when Monks sleep through the night!

This is just a small Autum pictorial!

I've also added a video snippet for our out-of-town Monkie-lovers! One sweepy-monk coming right up!

In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle, the Monkies sleep TONIIIIGHT!

Ahh yes. The morning tribunal. Notice how parents aren't invited?



And this one here! She is the worst mutineer of all, stealing other people's sippies and eating sugar cookies for breakfast. Then again, I believe firmly Jay had something to do with that. (Even if he denies it!)



More evidence of the sugar cookie leak. I wonder how they are smuggling them in?





And of course, I'll cut to the chase. The day we've ALL been waiting for... Halloween!!!





Our dry runs with costumes really did us good. No one protested by melting into the floor this time. Although this feeeerocious lion did have a big appetite for cuties.






While the Lillyphant, a herbivore by nature, prefers to graze upon Tootsie Pops and Swedish Fishies.






It was the perfect, perfect, perfect day for trick or treating! Partly cloudy and a brisk 58 degrees. Who could ask for anything more? Noy me! What you can't see is the lovely (if I do say so myself) greek goddess at the camera helm. Probably the most stunning goddess out there tonight.

Ahh yes, the cutie-feasting feline herself, on the hunt.

And the Lillyphant in her natural habitat, rooting out some delicious Twizzlers.

Just a beautiful exhibit of the evening, and Betty Rubble's butt. :) No one tell Sarah I posted a picture of her butt, okay? I was just trying to show off the sunset!

'Round these parts, we like to call getting sleepy "Dropping your hot dog." You can kinda see some of that verbage in Monkey's eyes.

Heheh! Need I say it? I think so. Mini definitely DROPPED HER HOT DOG!

Thus ends the perfect Halloween! Out at 5, in by 7- and some extremely happy and exhausted babies (and Mommas!) As far as first real Halloweens go, this was the best. The neighborhood we went to was just like one you would see in the movies: goblins, ninjas, princesses, and ghouls up to you neck! Orange, yellow, and red trees shedding their leaves on wide sidewalks, Jack-o-Lanterns abound, and lots and lots of candy!

-Insert contented maternal sign here-

I monkstache you a question...

Boy oh boy, what a month it has been! These girls of mine are taking leaps and bounds!



You know, despite her loathing of pants, I think Lilly is going to be famous some day. She just has that quality to her.




Lilly has learned to accept and enjoy piggy tails, as shown above. It's just about enough to make your teeth fall out of your head with the cute. This was taken after our expedition to Germantown for Oktoberfest. We actually boycotted the festival about 20 minutes in, because the only food of German origin they had was bratwurst. Luckily for us, there is another Deutscher restaurant very close by, the Gerst Haus. The girls, Sarah, and I got our fix on Sauerbraten, Goulash, Kessler, Spaetzle, Sauerkraut, and Red Cabbage after all... Sans oompa band though. Monk was so good while we were dining, the chef treated her to some ice cream after we finished our meal. :)




This was a dress-rehersal for Halloween. Actually, Mini is not going to be a zebra, this is just her everyday zebra suit. Her formal Serengeti-wear is a Lion outfit (thanks Chels and Chris!) But to be sure, Monk is going to be an elephant! Said Lillyphant, however, kinda just shuts down when you put the costume on her. Wilt is may be a more appropriate word, but it is really cute wilting.





Mini has unfortunately developed some unwittingly painful piggy-tail envy, and has taken to wearing falsies. She thinks no one can tell they aren't real piggy-tails, so I would appreciate if no one would burst her bubble.





Oh yeah, then we all grew moustaches.





Actually, Lilly grew a goatee, but decided it was too much to handle to be caught on film, even with a paparazzi moustachioed momma.




Nice little moment here! As unconventional our life can be, we have our family time before noon. After breakfast it is romping time at the Evans' House!




You'd never be able to tell that Lilly has a fever of 102! She has rapidly recovered, but I will say I am going to miss all the sicky-monk snuggles.

Mrs. Goofball Mini is going to miss not having a pesky big sister stealing her teethy biscuits

And Daddy will probably miss the Sicky-Monk bedhead hair.

Also, I would like to request that everyone have their minds on my Dad tomorrow, he is having knee surgery. Nothing too terrible, and it will be laparoscopic with a quick recovery time, but still!

Happy Birthday to my Grandaddy Long Legs as well, on his 88th!

We love you all! As the holidays draw nearer, we look forward to visiting our nearest and dearest!

Owner of the Monkies' Hearts!

My first note is one of congratulations! Jess got her first really really really REALLY big cover. You can see her all over newsstands now!

Second bit is for Jay. We miss you Daddy! He is on his third gig as a guest spot tattooer and international man of mystery in beautiful Athens, Ga! Third piece for Chelsea, Happy Birthday!!!

You know, this is less smoke and mirrors than it was before, Mini sitting up, that is. She is really getting those abs and obliques going! I think she may be the next little Hercules.

Of course this picture is a testament to my profound intelligence. Give a toddler watercolor pencils and don't keep track of all of them. You know what is worse than crayon on your walls? Watercolor pencils. They are made to not wash off. My fridge is pink too!

And of course we have to angelically vamp to establish innocence.

I feel this shot more accurately depicts Monk's dark side. Wouldn't want to meet her in a dim alley. No sir. She'll shake you down for milk money, she don't care.

And then there is Cherub-Baby Mini. A real bottle-holdin', almost sittin' up, entirely cutie piece of work!

Back to the dark side! (....) with Sausage Face! We kinda just had breakfast sausage for breakfast this morning. I figure it is okay to take the name literally. I mean, it's just like breakfast cereal, right? Maybe a little tastier...

We all (courtesy of, and including our friend Courtney) had a photoshoot today. Mini and she were practicing their 'surprised but elated' faces. The opposite of blue steel, maybe red copper?

And... back to Monk Life. Crib siiiiide!

But seriously folks, we were celebrating Chelsea's 29th at a Vietnamese restaurant, and Monk was so over it she put on her big girl glasses and dozed off. At least until the Pho and Lemonade came.

Lastly, a little treat-y nugget since we are spending all our time missing our Daddy. I like to call this "Pack Monk". or perhaps, "Monk-mule"

Fin.

Bridge to Monkabithia

I chose the name for this entry very deliberately, so ya'll know. We have spent the better part of the past two weeks on the road fetching and returning Miss Emma. Thank Heaves Monk has finally gotten over her car-hating phase. We decided it is because she has finally adjusted to being mobile. The theory is that when walking was new, anything that held her back was the enemy. Since she is old hat at bi-ped status now, she doesn't mind being pinned down. I am sure it is infintely more fun with Mini and Emma in the back seat with her too!

So.. Back to this week! By no small favor, Jay's mom has helped with the Georgia side of the trip both weeks! So thanks! I would also request that ya'll have her in your thoughts today, as she is having Gallbladder surgery as we speak. It isn't near as urgent as Jessica's was, but very important to get done none the less.

(And yes, Mini is eating steak in this photo. We went to Olive Garden and I had gotten Balsamic Glazed Steak Tips with Gnocchi in a Gorgonzola and Spinach Cream Sauce. I wasn't the only one that thought it was out of this world!)

This Monday, as we were en route to Chattaboogie to return Big Monk, we stopped at Nickajack and had a wonderful picnic. I flagged down a family to take a picture of us all together, because it is so rare that we have such an opportunity. Not only was the weather perfect, but the food was really tasty too. We had left over ribs made into pulled pork sammiches, potato salad, and collards. I am pretty sure we will remember that day forever. What you can't see in the picture is the BBQ residue smeared over all parties!

The above picture is simply to document the cutie development of Mini. We are in tripod stage with learning to sit, and are completely fascinated with solid food. I am not talking apple sauce, people! This morning she annihilated half a piece of toast by her self! Obviously she is as resourceful as Monk was when she hadn't any teeth. What a fiend.

Another leg to our travelling is driving to Franklin to see M & D. This is the highlight of our week mostly all the time. A symbiotic relationship to be sure, I cook and clean while the grandparents bask in Monka-rie. Good stuff..... even if Dad sometimes has to share his Cheez-Its.

It does get a bit messy being Monk you know. Here it seemed like a good idea to strip her down and hose her off after a particularly good session with some ravioli. However, we ended up making a bigger mess with the water!

And.. I'm spent! It has been a really long week!