Evan is FOUR!!!

Evan turned four a little over a week ago. I can't believe it. He's still my little guy, how is he already 4!?!? I just love Ev (I love all my kids, naturally). He can be quite whiny, but he is just the sweetest and most snugly little boy. He thinks his brother hung the moon (I pray that never changes and that Luke grows to understand and appreciate that). He is completely obsessed with Star Wars. Only Star Wars. I don't think he plays with anything unrelated to Star Wars, actually. It's sweet and I love that he and Luke share that. Evan is doing great at school and is learning more and more each month. He loves to color and has recently become very interested in puzzles again. Soccer has been going well and he says he really likes it. I just love our little Evan and feel so blessed to be his mama. 

We had Ev's (Star Wars, of course) birthday party at the skating rink this year. It was SO much FUN. (Plus, I didn't have the pressure of hosting a party at my house - Bonus). We started our morning with our traditional cinnamon rolls and singing and then headed to the rink in the afternoon. Again, blast. Prepare yourself for a stream of pictures. . . .

Cake made by my amazingly talented cousin, Blair

I made Star Wars shirts for my kiddos

I 

Luke tried to skate! It was scary, interesting, hilarious and somewhat successful. J and I even got ourselves out there!

This boy . . .

Oh Evan. How funny and sweet and quirky and carefree he is. I am not great about keeping a baby book, but I do feel like I do a pretty good job at keeping up with our family journal. This is a memory I do not want to forget . . . 

The other night the boys were sleeping together and there was a very loud thunderstorm. The lights went out for just a few seconds, but it was just long enough for them to start crying and for me to go in and calm them down. Luke was the most upset and took some more convincing. As I was standing there telling them it was just rain and thunder, Evan says, "Mom, I'm not scared because God is with you always". Seriously. I almost cried and jumped for joy all at the same moment. It was so heartfelt and sincere. It was the sweetest. 

Below are pictures of my guy at breakfast this week. The sun was really bright so he opted for sunglasses to help out (never-mind my dirty windows). Oh, this boy.

Evan's 1st Soccer Game

Evan had his first soccer game last weekend. Well, let me rephrase, he had his first TWO soccer GAMES last weekend. Yes, for his first time out playing a team sport at three years old, he had a double header with an hour in between. Thank goodness for nice weather. Ev has continued to surprise me every time he gets out there and plays. He as come such a long way since that first practice. He went from crying in the car to playing nearly the entire game. He did fantastic (I'm not talking soccer sills, but attitude). I could care less about him being good (although that's a bonus), I am just thrilled with how this is teaching him not to give up. As I mentioned before, Evan does not like to fail. So this is really great for him and for me. I get to sit back and watch someone else help him through the internal struggle he's fighting. Tomorrow is an EARLY game with pictures before and it's going to be FREEZING, so we shall see how that goes. Fingers crossed that it's quick and fun. 

Check him out! So handsome.

Warming up 

Seriously, look he's really in there going for it!

Ok, this is too hilarious not to share/post. My best friend, Carrie's daughters are playing on Ev's team as well. Emerson and Luke go to preschool together and kind of really LOVE each other. No joke. Emerson is always looking for Luke and Luke is always watching for Emerson. It was so bad that Luke ran on the field during the first game and the whistles were blown and the game was stopped because he was out there to see her. Oh. My. Word. 

This is adorable. At the end of the game all of the parents line up so that the kids can run through. Love that.

Awesome sportsmanship. That's our #12. (Daddy's old number, of course)

Easter 2013

I am super late at posting Easter pictures! We had such a Blessed day. We woke up and gave the kids their Easter baskets and beanbag poofs (I may or may not have scrambled into the wee hours of the night trying to get these finished for Easter morning!!!), went to church, ate lunch and had a egg hunt at Gigi's and ended the day with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a full day and we LOVED all of it. We feel so fortunate to be so close to our family and cherish each time we are all together. Now prepare yourself for lots of pictures . . . 

Easter Bunny loot

This is the best picture we could get. It sums us up quite perfectly. 

I wonder how much longer I can get away with dressing them alike on holidays? It drives Justin bananas. 

T-ball

Luke is playing t-ball again this year. Last year was fun, but his team was a hot mess. They rarely practiced and often didn't have enough players to play the game. I think this year is going to be much better in that regard. Actually, several of the kids on the team are kids of parents Justin and I went to high school with. It makes practices fun. They've only had two practices so far, but Luke seems to be enjoying himself. We bought a tee for him to hit off of in the yard. . . hopefully with that he'll get some more practice squeezed in. These are not the most exciting or best pictures (blurry) but there's our big guy out there doing his thing. Fun!

Soccer

We signed Evan up for soccer . . . oh boy. He has been so excited to start. We bought all the gear, tried it all on and even took the ball to the park to practice kicking. All was great . . . until... the practice actually started. You see, Evan has this one little personality flaw. He does not like to fail. He would rather quit than do something wrong. When we got to practice he ran around kicking the ball in the goal with all the other kids and it was going ok. However, when everything actually got started he noticed that some of the other kids (older and have played before) were a little better than him. That was it. Shut down. Completely. Whined/cried and eventually sat in the car with Justin and Kate (it was freezing out). We would have left, but Luke started practicing with them for fun and was having a blast, so we stayed the whole practice. Luke begged to play the entire car ride home. He chose t-ball, so maybe next year he can play if that's what he decides. Evan claims that he still wants to play, so hopefully week 2 will go better. At least he looked cute.