The Dictator, The Lab Puppy and Smokey Bug

These three titles all refer to the 3 foot 2.5 yr old that lives in this home. Let me explain:

The Dictator: Yes, he thinks he is in charge all the time. For example he will tell you where to sit, when to clap and what you can't eat off your own plate because he is going to eat it. We are working on forming these commands into questions with pleases and surviving when the answer must be no. Another example is if he is doing something he knows he isn't supposed to be doing and you walk in the room - we are most likely going to hear, "I don't want Mommy to talk." In his mind then he doesn't have to stop - this doesn't work either. Many times this phrase is said amist tears as he is not getting to do what he wants. He even did this to the Director of his school - yes our little Dictator.

The Lab Puppy: Our Evan is a lot like a Lab puppy. Sweet, playful, fun, creative, happy go lucky, plays until he crashes, loyal, cuddly, smart, always moving, always talking or singing, etc. However he also chews and destroys everything in sight! He is a destroyer. He wants one car, he dumps the whole basket, he wants one book, he takes them all down, he likes to take every letter magnet off of the fridge and put them on the kitchen floor (have I mentioned we have a tiny kitchen and this is hazardess?). As for the chewing...he has always been a kid with the need to taste things (I like to think this is because he is smart and learning with all 5 senses, what it really means is that Poison Control is programed in my phone and they probably have a file on me). I loved when he started walking because the tasting became less, although now it's things that smell like they might taste good. Since he's been two a few examples are: vasoline, candles, shampoo, deoderant, tums.......

Smokey Bug: This is my favorite. We have called him "Bug" for awhile, not sure where it orginated, but it stuck. One day at Target I said "Okie Dokie Smokey?" He thought this was hilarious and wanted me to say it over and over much to his delight and laughter. Then he said he was Smokey and that turned into Smokey Bug. Ahhh, the creativity and imagination that has already begun - I love it!

This wonder of a little boy keeps us on our toes at all times and amazes us at every turn. He is full throttle most of the time but can pull up just enough to snuggle in for a book or a chat. I love it!

Branson

We met Jeff's family in Branson for a long weekend after Christmas. We stayed in a hotel with an indoor waterpark - smart idea when there are 6 kids from 2 1/2 - 12 yrs old! We all arrived Friday evening with plenty of time to hit the waterpark before dinner. Evan loved the "Toddler Area" as he could slide and run, jump, climb and play.

Playing in the "Basketball Pool"


Having so much fun!

Jeff, Evan and cousins Mary, Collin and Annie

Jeff, Evan and Annie in the "Tree House" with all sorts of water shooting out and 2 large slides going down. Even at a tall 37" Evan was 5" short of being able to go on the big slides - this caused a few tears each day but in a place like this - distractions were easy to come by.

The large water bucket that dumped ever 10 or so minutes. A bell would ring just before and kids would come running from all areas to get drenched - Evan loved it!

Evan and Mary

Amy and Evan in the hot tub for kids and adults. There was another one just for adults.

Floating the Lazy River

This is what happens when your girl cousins get pink nail polish...and Evan's current favorite color is pink. As are his toenails still today.

The product...

Bubbles with Collin and Annie

All the kids (Christopher got a Nike shirt because he is a Hawkeye Fan) got Iowa State shirts for Christmas. Here is the attempt at getting a picture of all of them before we go into the Dixie Stampede Show.

On the way home we decided to go through Arkansas and visit Hot Springs - why not, who knows when we'll travel this way again. Hot Springs turned out to be really interesting. On the main street are all the former bath houses that were open and used from about 1912-1965ish. One has been preserved and turned into a museum you can walk through. Beyond that one is a hotspring coming straight from the ground with temps that stay at 137 degrees. It was amazing. The history of the bath houses was quite interesting as you could see where medicine and wealth collided. Although it appeared that they remained quite affordable. Many traveled for the baths and steams and for rehabilitation from diseases.

Going through Arkansas made a 7.5hr trip a 12 hr trip (we did stay in Hot Springs for about an hour). Evan was a trooper and even got to watch a little "Max and Ruby" before dinner.

Microphones

This boy loves music, and microphones and stages. He has become very creative in how he makes this happen. The other night it was a Turkey Baster with him standing on a box. The next day it was standing on the box that houses our hose using the sprayer as his microphone. He is not an "on demand" performer. He performs his music, his way in his time - sometimes he takes requests, sometimes he let's us join in. Most of the time in the car I am told, "Please don't sing Mama" as I must taint the voices of Evan's favorite singers Mr. Travis, Ms. Julie and Ms. Brin. (An amazing night of worship happened a few months ago and it was recorded - Evan loves the CD that came from that night). I love to watch this little boy so full of life and joy.

Christmas Cookies

The weather in Texas can spin you in circles. It can be 70 and sunny one day and with in 24 hours it's snowy and 21. Give it another day or two and it's 70 and sunny again. Inbetween these days come the rainy, cold days where going out just isn't fun. On one such day last week we had our friends Sarah and Grant come over to play and make sugar cookies. Why not? Two 2yr old boys making cookies - how bad can it be? I made the dough ahead of time since it had to sit in the fridge for 2 hours.

Helping me roll the dough. I had aprons on them both but Grant wanted nothing to do with his so off it came. They are doing great so far....

Making their cookies, sharing cookie cutters and dough space - wow!

After cooking and some decorating...some eating. Evan eating off the icing and sprinkles, Grant only wanting Mom to hold his cookie. So far so good...

What I don't have a picture of is that after this there was some playing, some fighting over a few toy cars, some sharing, and some pushing...ummm yea, the pushing. So Grant was back up on the chair - the one Evan is in in the picture above - and Evan decided he wanted up on that chair. I do not have pictures of what ensued...within seconds Evan says "Move Grant" and shoves him, Grant goes flying off the chair onto the floor, thankfully his knees hit before his head hits the cabinet, Grant in tears, Evan successfully on the chair. The next minutes are filled with Evan in timeout, lots of Evan tears. Evan returns and apologizes and the boys are back to playing, laughing and sharing again. Ummmm...so I actually think the cookie making was a success and am thankful for great friends. I love watching a friendship develop between two little boys as they begin to understand what a friend is.

It was a good day.

Last night we went to a "Walk Through Christmas" story night at a local church. They took us in groups through various scenes set up around the church telling the story of the birth of Christ. We went with some other friends and their 2-3 yr olds which means never a dull moment. While we were waiting for our group's turn they sang Christmas music in their Sanctuary. Although we only waited about 20 minutes Evan had a few adventures: first I noticed that he was going down all the pews and collecting pencils. He later rushed for the front once but then all the kids were invited down front to help out with a song. Evan got quite upset that "down front" did not mean on the stage but just "down front." Although he did get his hands on a mike - another favorite. Hopefully soon I'll get the pictures of Evan with his microphones downloaded - a turkey baster and a garden hose nozle. There are very few dull moments these days.

This Boy Loves Christmas

Evan is a huge fan of everything Christmas. He loves the lights, the music, the Santa hats...

He also really seems to be beginning to understand why we celebrate Christmas. He is pointing out the "Baby Jesus" everytime we see one somewhere and loves to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. He knows Christmas is about Jesus and his birth and seems excited about that. Something he has started saying lately if we are in the car after dark is that "sometimes there are monsters in the dark." I have no idea where he's picked this up. We talk about it some and he usually tells me, "Jesus will take care of me." It's so awesome to see this little boy take small steps on an incredible journey to knowing Jesus himself.

2 1/2 Years Old

I haven't done an update in awhile - mostly because when Evan turned 2 I decided I didn't want to count in months anymore. Evan was born 2 1/2 years ago today. What an amazing 2 1/2 years it's been!

Evan's birth

1st Birthday

2 1/2 and what a ham he is!

Evan has grown and changed so much in the last few months. He talks all the time - literally. He speaks in full sentences and even a few paragraphs. He is very curious and his favorite question is "What is..." For example, here is how the conversation went last night on the way back to Dallas.

Mom: The sign says Dallas is 38 miles away

Evan: What is 38 miles away

Mom: Miles are a way that we measure distance

Evan: What is measure distance

Mom: ummmm (in my head - d=rt (is that even right?) how do I explain distance to a 2 1/2 year old???)

I continued to try to help him understand and each comment was met with "what is..." So then I just distracted him with city lights. :-)

These conversations are repeated many times a day, every day.

Evan is a true ham and loves to be silly and "perform" - but never on command. He saw himself on a security camera TV at Walmart and proceeded to sing and jump and spin and wave for 10 mintues. Repeatedly telling me that he was on TV. He continues to be the boy of many faces and can always make us laugh.

He loves to sing and dance. His two favorite songs are "Here I am to Worship" and "Happy Birthday" as well as many songs he and his Daddy make up on a regular basis - those are hilarious. He likes to go play the piano and sing at the same time and will drum on anything. He continues to love books and learning.

Evan loves going to school and is starting to make friends. On the way home he tells me all about what they did that day and who he played with. Potty training is going great. He hasn't had an accident in weeks and is becoming more and more independent.

We think Evan may live outside if we let him as he could be out there for hours every day - and many days we are.

The last 2 1/2 years have been such a blessing and a joy for us. There are so many other things and little sayings that make us laugh or are so endearing but I can't list them all. We are excited for what the future holds for us in raising this wonderful boy.

Thanksgiving in Mason, TX

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Mason, TX with Amy's family. We had a great time just relaxing far from a city and enjoying family and my mom's continued great health. What a difference a year makes.

A view of the back porch of Amy's parent's house

Evan and Dad taking a break from one of their many adventures

On an adventure to collect things in the wagon

With cousin Samantha

Hangin' with Mom

Driving the Ranger with Grandaddy, Brayden and Wendi

"Catching Stars"

Aunt Bobbie helping with sparklers

The Sparkler King

Playing in the Treehouse with Dad

Here are some pictures of Evan visiting the cows, looking at the fish, swinging and helping Grandaddy clean the truck.

From Drop Box

A Thanksgiving Trip Treat

On our way to visit family for Thanksgiving we had the wonderful treat of having dinner with some great friends who live in Milwaukee as they were in Austin visiting their family. The only unfortunate thing is that with the traffic we were 1.5 hrs late meeting up with them.

Evan ready for the trip

The reunion. These two have been "betrothed" pretty much since birth. I love the little smile on Evan's face. There were lots of hugs and kisses as they played, it was too cute.

The three kids playing and usually running to "Dinoland."

An interruped (yet partially prompted) "proposal." Evan was climbing up to where Belle and Jackson were and it looked like he was on his knee. Someone jokingly asked Evan if he was going to ask Belle to "marry me." He actually looked up and did. When asked what she would say, she actually said "yes." It was a funny moment.

More than anything, we hope to partner again with these friends ministry someday as we continue to partner in life. What a blessing they continue to be to our family - even far away.

Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween! This year we decided Evan was old enough to choose his own costume. I took him to the store and we looked at what they had and as you can see, Evan chose the UPS Man. The UPS man comes to our street every day and usually we are outside. He is so nice to Evan and Evan gets excited to see him. As soon as we got home with the costume Evan told me he needed a box - too cute!

Before we left for our church's Fall Fun Fest

In the first bounce house. Evan loves bounce houses and would have stayed here all night - but there was so much more to do and see.

On the Big Slide with Dad

With his box after the second bounce house

Inside the church there are all sorts of games and activities set up. We went by the Crazy Maze to see what it was and Evan just took off. I wasn't sure how he would do as it's all dark except for some glow sticks hanging up along the way. Here he is coming out the first time so excited. He went through 2 more times.

Dancing with Ms. Linda and the band. "Brown" as the band called him was a hit as a dancer. This boy loves music!

Going down the big slide - again another thing we did over and over again

Sno Cones!

The post "sno cone and it's 8:45pm" sugar high!