Pumpkin Carving

We carved a family pumpkin the other night and it was Evan's first year to actually carve one.  Last year we went with pumpkin decorations, no carving, and his first year, if I remember right we didn't do anything to our pumpkins.

Evan was really excited for the process although he REALLY wanted to do the cutting.  Once Tony got the top off of the pumpkin I started scooping out the "guts" and showing Evan how to do it.  He was not a fan of touching the gooey mess but after a while he did get in there with a spoon.

To distract him from my cutting I gave him some sharpies and a small pumpkin to color (of course I got no pictures of the process or the finished product)



Daddy and his boy--Love my boys!



Digging out the guts

Having FUN!

Finished product -- Dora the Explorer

Love my husband, love my son....feel so blessed!

Pumpkin Patch

Today we took Evan to the Thomasson Family Farm to play and pick out some pumpkins.

This farm will become our tradition.  We took Evan and our buddy Cannon last year.  We measured Evan on the pumpkin growth chart both years and it will be neat to see how much he grows on that chart every year.

This year is was just Tony, Evan and I and we had a blast! We got there right after they opened and spent time playing with the tractors in the "Redneck Sandbox", taking a ride on the tractor train ride, climbing on hat bails and petting the animals.  We took a hay ride around the pumpkin patch and then picked out our favorite 3 pumpkins.

I love family traditions and will look forward to this one every year.

"Redneck Sandbox"

Tractor train ride...fun!

Evan didn't want his picture taken...stinker!

But when we gave him a pumpkin, his mood changed!

Hay ride

So tired after a morning of fun

October 2010 - about 2 1/2 feet tall

October 2011 - almost 3 feet tall

We are a blessed family, we have an amazing little boy and we love him more than life itself!

A fun day with mommy

Last week I took Evan to South Center mall to a Family Fun Days event.  They had story time, a snack and a craft project.  Evan was shy and unsure at first, but ended up really enjoying it.

Since we were there, I decided to treat him to lunch at the Rainforest Cafe....he thought it was SO cool to eat with the fish, elephants, monkey's and lizards (of course only the fish were real :-) ) It was a priceless experience to take him there and he had a blast!

To back up a day, I told Evan we were going to go to the Mall and see the fishy's before he went to bed.  When he woke up the next day he woke me up and said "Wake up time mama?"  I said yes and he said "YAY! Mall today to see fishy's! YAY!"  The memory on this kid!

Story Time

Watching intently

Art time

We got to sit right next to the fish tank

He was a little freaked out by the gorillas that were swinging behind him

Pooped out after a fun day

I hope Evan and I will always have mommy/son days, and that he will always enjoy them.  We are so blessed.

Gymnastics

Evan LOVES gymnastics.  He asks to go all the time, and on the days we go he wakes up remembering that it is the day we go to gymnastics.

Peak gymnastics has an indoor play park where kids can play on all of the equipment (trampoline, balance beams, bars, floor, etc.) as well as a giant inflatable slide.  It is not a structured class, but he enjoys it so much and tries EVERYTHING!  Recently he learned to climb the inflatable slide and slide on his own, he does it over and over again.  The trampoline is another favorite and he loves when I get on and bounce him high.

My little gymnast.

On the trampoline he does more running than jumping

He learned to "climb the mountain"

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

I love this little boy so very much!  I am so lucky that he is mine!

You Amaze Me!

Evan amazes me every single day.

Every day he says something new or something hilarious.  Today it was "love you too mom" and "Daddy look, penis is stickin' out" (of his pull-up).  While I was paying bills I pulled up the Sears website, without missing a beat Evan says "Sears mom?"  A flyer for JC Penny came in the mail and he says "here Penny mail"  When we drive anywhere, he can pick out any pizza place from a mile away weather we have eaten there or not.  He hears airplanes before we do, knows exactly where every train that he is going to see is and can look at construction vehicles and tell me if it is a backhoe or a tractor.

Yes, Evan amazes me.  His attention to detail and his memory of what we do and where we go is impeccable. 

While painting one day Evan painted an arch and said "rainbow mama"  "Wow!" I said, truly amazed and asked him to do it again to make sure it wasn't a fluke....sure enough he really is drawing the shape of a rainbow. 

All I can say when I look at my son every day is "You amaze me and I love you more than you will ever know"

Cousin Fun

We just had a nice 4 day weekend in Idaho visiting Stefanie for her Tattoo shops grand re-opening.  It was the first time all 3 of the cousins (Evan, Naomee and new addition Madison) got to be together.  We had a a blast and both of the older cousins LOVE their new baby cousin.

The weekend was filled with swimming, a party, some frozen yogurt and of course a few tantrums.

 Evan got brave and kind of jumped into the water when swimming.  Naomee is a fish and as long as her water wings are on she is in swimming heaven!

The grand re-opening of Untamed Art was a huge success and I am so proud of Stefanie and what she has accomplished.  The kids had a great time at the party.  Evan of course found pleasure in the simple things.....the water cooler!  I couldn't keep him away from it.

Evan and I shared a room with Matt and Randi and baby Madison.  She is just 2 months old and sleeps through the night AND Evans night terror that I am sure the rest of the hotel didn't sleep through.  She is such a good baby, always happy and smiling....rarely did I hear her cry.

We tried a late dinner at Applebees with 2 tired kids, a mom and a Nana and Papa who were low on patience and it was a disaster!  Needless to say we ordered our food to go, Nana and I scooped up a 2 and 4 year old screaming and crying and made our way to the car while Papa waited for our food and took some deep breaths!  It will definitely be a night we will never forget :-)

We took the 2 older kids to the county fair and they had a blast!  They rode rides together, checked out the animals with Papa and Stefanie and went on a fast ride with Nana.  They even got to play some carnival games where they win a prize every time so they were really excited when they won.

Some pictures from our weekend:

Beautiful baby Madison

My sister Stefanie in her element

Cousins

Hula hooping at the farmers market

Naomee-Jean

Of all the toys and tumbling mats, Evan stacks cones! :-)

So proud

Obstacle course

At the tattoo shop Naomee has her own play area

Evan loved it

The water cooler

"Tasty mom!"

First ride riding alone

Smile says it all, hes having fun!

They loved the roller coaster

Tilt-a-Whirl with Nana

Silly kids, best friends!

Highlights From the Week (and a half)

I have been really bad at keeping up on this blog, one of the things I said I was going to keep up on once I stopped watching kids for the summer......well I guess it's never too late to get started to keep up!

Some highlights from the last week and a half are:

Preschool Trial and Error 

I decided to try to put Evan in an early preschool program for 2 year olds.  My thinking was that since I am going to enroll him next year as a 3 year old, this is a good way for him to become acclimated to a school setting and gets him used to structure with other kids his age.  His very fist day he was so excited and loved seeing all the new toys, activities and kids to play with, he even said goodbye to me when I left, but I received a phone call 40 minutes later Evan just wouldn't calm down.  His teachers suggested we try one more week and then maybe wait a few months to try again.  We tried again today and again it was a no go right from the get go.  He really wanted to be there but he wanted me to be there too, so when given the option to stay and play by himself or leave with mommy, he chose to leave :-(  He is just having some separation anxiety right now and hopefully in a few months we can try again successfully.

Carrying his backpack to school

He took right to the kitchen area

"Ok bye Mom!"

"I DO IT!"

Evans new favorite saying is "I DO IT!" He has become so independent which is a great thing when he is getting himself in and out of the tub, or picking out his own PJs, or putting on his rain boots...heck he can even let the dog in or outside!  But when it comes to getting dressed, pouring juice, getting food, etc. it is a long, tedious and sometimes messy task!  I am trying to get him to understand without hindering his sense of independence, that there are some things that mommy HAS to do for him or help him with....most of the time he doesn't like it, but eventually accepts it! 
Getting dressed is one thing I am trying to let go of and letting him experiment more with.  We have started out with PJs because we don't have time constraints at night and they are generally a little easier to get on.  Here is one episode of "I DO IT!" and it ONLY took him 20 minutes to get this far!

Forgot the arm holes



Somethings not right here



This works for me!

Mt. Peak

I have lived in Enumclaw for about 7 years now and have never climbed Mt. Peak (blushing).  So Evan and I decided to give it a try.  It is a wonderful, steep and peaceful hike in the woods.  Evan did a great job considering how far we went. I felt like we went a long way before Evan said "hold you" and I knew he was done walking, but I asked a passer bye how far we had made it and he told us we were only about a quarter of the way!  Oh well I will have to try it on my own next time :-)  But it was a great workout for me and fun for us both.

Collecting sticks

And cool leaves

Our hike

"Ok mommy lets go!"

Puyallup Fair

This year the Puyallup Fair was a lot of fun for Evan, and us.  He is old enough to enjoy the rides and lights and people now.  This year we didn't have to pack a diaper bag, just a diaper and wipes in my purse, and he was able to eat what we ate at the fair.  It was very enjoyable.  Evan loved the rides.  He jumped out of his stroller when he saw the Extreme Scream and yelled "Oh My Gosh!....Mama, up...down!!"  We bought him tickets to ride rides but did not trust him to ride alone for fear that he would jump out when he was "all done" so I took him on the rides we could ride together.  He absolutely LOVED the kiddie roller coaster, we went on that one twice, the train ride once and a ride that spins around really fast once.  He was not a huge fan of that one!  We went to the petting farm, ate Krusty Pup corn dogs and bought new rain boot for Evan.  It was perfect weather and a perfect family outing!

Kiddie roller coaster was a favorite

Family train ride

This one was a little too scary....no tears, but no fun either!

Fair food

Evan loved the goats

A long blog post, but it was a few posts in one!!  Time to get a grip and keep up :-)