www.Bellyville.net

Eva's Big Break

Last Friday, Eva and I spent the morning in our local Great Harvest bakery. We were there because Mike needed a kid to pose for a last minute photo for the magazine he works for. Apparently, at Great Harvest kids can color a picture and turn it in at the counter (once a month) for a free cookie. And that's what Eva was there to demonstrate. Not a bad job, eh? Especially when you get to eat all the free cookies your mama will let you have.

Here's the winning shot—it can be seen (in a tiny black and white sidebar picture) in the current issue of Volume One Magazine.

But this photo is my favorite. It captures my goofy girl perfectly. Mike says it looks like she's belching, but I know better. When I look at this, I can hear her funny little laugh and her on-going report of every single thing she sees and does.

(Photos courtesy of Drew Kaiser. Thanks Drew!)

PS: Since Mike and I have been traveling so much (we've been gone the past three weekends) he decided to take Friday off, and we're going to enjoy a three day weekend at home. So. I'm taking Friday "off" too. Sorry, you'll have to wait until Monday to get your next Eva fix. Have a good one, everybody!

Bathing Beauty

Guess who got to have bubbles in her bath last night?

Yep. It's Eva. Look how happy she is.

My Little Bookworm

Home Again, Home Again

We're back! We had a quick weekend visit with my parents—mostly to celebrate my dad's birthday. Dad wanted to go out to brunch for his birthday, so we went to a place called Granite City. And, if there's one near you and you've never been there for brunch, you should go. Like tomorrow. Or I guess Sunday. Because on Sundays they have a brunch buffet (that's what we had.) And I have not stopped talking about it since we left the place.

I get the feeling from Mike that listening to me go on and on about the (oh-my-gosh-SO-GOOD) caramel rolls they bring to every table (and LET YOU TAKE HOME if you don't eat them all!) is an exceedingly mind-numbing way to spend 5 minutes, so I'll spare you. But I want you to promise me that if you ever have the chance to eat brunch at Granite City, you will not even think about turning it down. Ok?

Good. We're straight, then.

So yeah. We had a great brunch weekend. And you?

Leaving Town...Again!

We're once again heading to my parents' house for the weekend. This makes three weekends in a row that we've left town. Whew!

Eva's pretty excited. When I ask her if she remembers where we're going this weekend she takes a deep breath and exclaims, in one big rush, "Grammyshouse!" Then she runs away, laughing maniacally.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Book Babies

Yesterday, Eva and I attended a story hour for toddlers at the library. We listened to stories, sang songs (complete with hand motions), and did some dancing.

And then Ms. Chrissy brought out the bubble machine.

As soon as bubbles were mentioned, my little Evie was the first one out on the floor, and she stood there in wonder, trying to catch them while they swirled all around her. And then, as the nice bubble lady walked out of the room to wheel in the toys for the "social hour" that came next, Eva followed her right out the door, without even a glance back at me.

I'm thinking that if bubbles are what it takes to get that kind of devotion from my kid, I may just have to invest in a couple bubble machines of my own.

(Sorry for the blurry photo. Just imagine you're watching Eva—in the purple shirt—through my teary mama eyes. She's growing up so fast.)

Two Things.

Yesterday, Mike ran into the grocery store while Eva and I waited in the car. We had this conversation:

Eva: Daddy go in the grocery store.
Mama: He sure did.
Eva: Get ice cream.
Mama: Yep, yummy ice cream. What else is he buying?
Eva: Milk!
Mama: That's right, baby.
Eva: What a nice daddy.

Also, yesterday:
Eva walked into the kitchen and let out a giant burp. Then she yelled "SHOES!" and walked back out again. It took me a while, but I finally realized that when I ask her to say "excuse me," she kind of little-kid-lisps and it sounds a lot like "Shoes Me." So...I think she's got the right idea, just needs a little pronunciation work? I hope? Because I'd hate to think that all this time she's been puzzling over why Mama asks her to say "shoes" every time she burps.

 

Our toes are still thawing out.

So like I told you yesterday, we spent this past weekend up in Webster, WI with Eva's Grandma and Grandpa. And Webster has a lot of very frozen lakes just begging for an ice fishing party, so on Saturday, we all bundled up and headed out onto one of those lakes to do just that. And while none of us (Mike, Eva, and I) actually touched a fishing pole that day, we did have a ton of fun. Here's a bunch of pictures to prove it:

The temperature was in the thirties, so it wasn't all that cold outside. BUT. When you're in the middle of a frozen  lake, there aren't exactly many wind breaks, so it felt much, much colder that day. Despite the two scarves we wrapped around Eva, she had trouble with the concept of covering her face to keep it warm. She kept doing a little shimmy to get her nose uncovered.

Mike's cousin and her family were out on the lake with us that day; in all, there were ten people in our group. And I think a whopping three people actually fished that day.

Eva's "cousin" (still not sure: second cousin?) Andrea was quite the little fisherwoman. She and her daddy were out on the ice well before the rest of us, and she had a (HUGE!) four pound walleye to show us when we finally got there. She was so proud and excited, and she told us all about how her daddy was going to send her picture into the paper.

Here's Eva, taking credit for Andrea's fish.

 

Mike's dad brought his four-wheeler out with us. A four-wheeler plus a sled, plus four little girls, multiplied by a wide open lake with tons of snow drifts, equals So. Much. Fun.

Let's see. What else? Food! There was food! Namely brats and hotdogs, fresh off the grill. Next time we'll remember the tongs to turn them with...my fingers are still a bit tender.

Eva's Grandma was kind enough to give up freezing her nose off with the rest of us in order to spend some quality time with Eva in the oh-so-warm truck, where Eva gave her in-depth instructions on how to crank the radio volume up and down, and which knob turns on the wipers. If you ask Eva what we did on the lake, the first thing she says is "Ate a hot dog and Cheetos with Grandma!"

Yeah. We had a really, really fun weekend.

PS: Mike and I are endlessly entertained by imaging what John (Mike's cousin's husband) is doing in the background up there in the last picture. Now you can be too! You're welcome.

Weekend Up North

We spent a cozy weekend up in Webster, WI with Mike's parents. We had lots of fun, including an ice fishing/brat grilling party in the middle of a frozen lake on Saturday. Of course, we took lots of pictures...and I'll show you a bunch of them. Tomorrow. I promise.

Eva and Her Feathers