Friday, April 5, 2013

our little man

Our little Evan.  

Evan, the middle child, who loves affection {specifically, holding his hand to fall asleep and cuddles} and LOVES pets and candy, can be so stubborn at times.  He has a lot of strong-will in him and if he doesn't want to do something then no one can make him.

That is why today was so out of the ordinary.  It all began with last night when we were at Avery's soccer practice.  You could tell Evan really wanted to get out there and play with those 6 year-olds.  Now, I have already asked Evan COUNTLESS times if he wanted to play soccer or t-ball this year.  His answer was always NO!  I even tried to tell him that he could play with friends and they would give you snacks after the game {this boy lives for snacks}.  Nothing worked. 

So this morning when I asked him again if he wanted to play I thought for sure he would say no again. I again talked about friends who were playing and the snacks he could have. It didn't seem to be working.  Then I talked about going to get his own soccer ball and soccer SOCKS {I don't know why I didn't think of it before}.  That did it!  You see, this boy also has a HUGE love of socks...yes, socks.  He NEVER, EVER wears white socks.  He wears Christmas, Easter, Halloween and St. Pat's socks all year long.  Evan doesn't care that the holiday has already passed.  He also enjoys socks with any characters on them and has even been known to wear two unmatched socks when he has lost the matching pair to the other.  He has been wanting some TALL socks lately and is even intrigued by Ellie's tights because they are like the tallest socks ever ;).  Therefore, of course he wanted the TALL soccer socks, which meant joining a soccer team!

After the idea of joining soccer became okay in his little mind.  Then he started getting really excited about it all morning.  He is very excited to be on a team with friends and I can tell he is already contemplating the snacks he will have.  

To play off his excitement we immediately go to Wal-Mart this morning to get his soccer gear.  He was very excited about getting a blue soccer ball too, his new favorite color {replacing the long time purple and pink as his favorites...Evan beats to his own drum}.  He looks very cute in his little outfit!

Now there's a second part of the story.  Since Avery has been learning to ride without training wheels we have been trying to talk Evan into getting a "big boy" bike and retire his long, beloved Diego bike.  

Like I said before, this boy is stubborn, and he kept telling us no way.  So when we left from getting our soccer gear and looked at bikes I thought he would, of course, say he didn't want one or wouldn't ride it.  Well, again he proved me wrong.  He picked out a bike he liked, said he would ride it, and even proved it to me by riding around the store.  It isn't Evan's birthday or Christmas {the only time we usually buy big items for the kiddos}, but he was so happy about the bike and proving that he is a big boy now we had to get it.  He couldn't wait to ride it as soon as we got home.  He did so good too!  And he even rode it all the way to the "little" park and back by himself!



{Evan gave his Diego bike to Ellie.  A very sweet move from this boy!...Isn't Ellie cute in her helmet too?}

Today just proves that our little man may be stubborn, but once he decides to do something there is no stopping him!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

our weeping willow

Our weeping willow...
what can I say...

He {I am pretty sure it is a he ;)} is mighty...for only being 10 years old...

{And this is not him in all his leafy glory...I will have to take a picture of him when he is in full bloom.}

This was him almost 10 years ago right after being planted.

{Shortly after moving here our other tree in the front yard died so we needed a replacement ASAP because the sun coming through the front window in the summer was HOT, HOT...we went with the quickest growing tree we could find...which I think we succeeded!  Notice the house also changed colors in that time too.}

He is also a lot of work...
he loses a TON of branches all year long,
he doesn't lose his leaves until late, late fall when it is already really cold and when he does lose them, be prepared, because it will fill trash can loads,
since he is a weeping willow he does like to weep his branches all the way to the ground so all spring and summer I have to give him a constant {like every other week} trimming to keep him off the ground...

Our weeping willow, he's a burden!

BUT if you look past all his work you will also find many, many memories being created within his branches...

Like jumping in his leaf piles...


playing around him in the snow...


taking first steps beneath his shade...


hunting for bugs on his trunk...


making stick creations from the many sticks he leaves behind in the yard...


hanging around on...


and of course he is a perfect climbing tree with a nice spot in the middle to sit in!

{Evan still doesn't quite enjoy it as much as the other two.}




That weeping willow of ours will forever be in the superheroes and princess memories, not as a burden to deal with, but as a treasured spot they enjoy daily.

He is also not bad to look at ;).

{From the snow storm this year}

Welcome back to life Mr. Willow!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Easter weekend fun!

We had a great weekend.  I know this because I had over 200 pictures to import {ugh I hate when I have that many pictures to sort through, but I at least I have the memories!}. The weekend was full of our little family and sunshine!  Love!  Here's a snapshot:

Friday:  
Ryan actually had Friday off of work to spend with us {thank you to Garmin for taking Good Friday off!}!  Ryan and Avery actually began the day with Donuts with Dad {no pics from Ryan}.  Avery loved it!
Then we all headed to the gym.  I wanted to prove to Ryan how hard my tread class is...I think he believes me now :).  When picking up the kiddos from childcare they were doing an Easter egg hunt at the gym...this is egg hunt number 2 of 4 for them {they already had one at Grandmommy and Granddaddy's house last weekend}.


Then we walked over to the "castle" park to enjoy that elusive sunshine!  We had a little picnic, got a little muddy, and played a little.

While E & E and I headed back home, Ryan went with Avery to be a Watch D.O.G. dad that afternoon at school {if you don't know about this program it's great one that gets the dads involved...read more about it here}.  Avery loves having his dad there!

After school we go to pick them up and head over to our church to do a prayer walk to better teach the superheroes how Jesus died.  I think they learned a lot and Evan was full of questions.  Finally, we head home to spend more time outside!  Spring finally here!?


Saturday:
The kiddos started the day with egg hunt 3 of 4!  Ryan's work holds an Easter egg hunt every year for the kiddos!  Since the rain and the mud they had it inside this year at hotel.  Pretty much the kiddos walked into a room, grabbed 20 eggs just laying on the room, and left.  They really didn't care the ease of it...because hey they still got candy! 
 Evan was also a big winner of a grand prize Easter basket...2nd year in a row for that boy!


After lunches and naps.  We go to our friend Warren's big 3 year old birthday!  The superheroes ended up with batman mask face paint and the princess got a butterfly.  They had fun playing superheroes!


We go home and decorate some eggs.  The superheroes did a great job decorating all the eggs themselves!  Ellie didn't really participate because we think she has an egg allergy because every time she gets around them she develops a rash...poor girl!




Sunday:
The Easter Bunny came!!!  This year the Easter bunny hid the kiddos baskets so it took them sometime to find their goodies.




He also had an Easter egg hunt for the kiddos with jelly beans and money inside {yes, that is 4 of 4}!

What!?  The Easter bunny left some "pooh" in the toilet...yuck!  But, luckily the Easter Bunny's "pooh" is only jelly beans...man someone needs to teach the leprechaun and the Easter bunny how to flush after themselves!

We play with some bubbles and enjoy a yummy breakfast!

We then head off to church to enjoy the reason for the season!  The superheroes came into service with us and they were both so well behaved and Evan didn't fall asleep this time {he tends to fall asleep when he has come to services in the past}!




We come back home and it is BEAUTIFUL weather outside!  So Avery works a little on riding his bike WITHOUT training wheels.  And for the first time he does it!  He goes up and down our road by himself!  Now to just work on starting and stopping by himself.

We eat a quick lunch and we all head out for my 10 mile run {part of my training for my half marathon}.  The kiddos and Ryan take the bike, tag along bike, and bike trailer {yes all hooked up to each other} to follow me.  They spend some time following me and then head off to the "pirate ship" park until I catch up {a 10 mile run takes me some time}.  While at the park, the kiddos fly their new kites from the Easter bunny.  A perfect day for it!

They also find some bugs and play a little more.  


After some rest time at home we head to the "little" park by our house to fly Avery's big kite from his birthday and to build sand castles!




Finally, back home to eat and rest!

A great weekend!!!