Storytime with Evan

Evan amazes me everyday with his expansive vocabulary, ability to not just speak in paragraphs but to hold a conversation (at 3 1/2 years old!) and his story telling.  Since Christmas he has been "reading" to us by telling us a story of what he sees happening with the pictures in a book.  Now, he's really starting to remember the words from books we read them and recalls them when he reads the book to us.  Last night he read a book to me and I smiled the entire way through the story with pride! 

His teacher let's the kids bring books to read to the class and Evan LOVES sitting in Miss Sara's chair and reading to his friends.  I recall when I was little and setting up a pretend classroom where I was the teacher and my sister was the student.  I think I even gave her homework.  Must be a 1st born trait!  His teacher sent a note that said "Evan read his book to the class today.  He does a great job explaining events on the pages and he feels very comfortable reading in front of his friends."  I'm so proud!  Evan, your mommy LOVES public speaking.  You're headed down that path too!

Evan's school has a new online program where they report about the kids days (what they did, ate, learning, etc.).  They can also take pictures and share them with parents which of course, I LOVE!  It's so fun to see Evan as a student and feel part of his day when I can't be there. 

 

I absolutely LOVE this picture of Evan.  It truly captures his giggle/laugh when he finds something very funny.  His teacher's caption with this picture: "Evan had so much fun in music class.  The new music teacher was in love with him."

It's great that Evan is so vocal and confident, but it can also be frustrating when it comes to tantrums and his attitude.  He's into the "I don't like you" phase (saying it with his arms crossed and an attitude tone to his voice) and he likes to tell me that he's not going to do something when I ask him to.
- Me: "Evan, clean up your legos."
- Evan: "No.  YOU clean up my legos." 
- Me: Reminds myself that I chose to have children (I say with love; ha!)

Funny how Evan listens really well to everything you DON'T want him to hear.  Like potty words from classmates or conversations that Erik & I have.  The other day, Erik and I were talking about something that made me frustrated and Evan said "It's ok Mommy.  Daddy isn't being very nice so just walk away and find another activity."  Ha!  In Erik's defense, I was probably nagging him about picking up dog poop in the backyard. 

I think it's a guy thing to quote movies.  Today I told Evan that he will always be my little baby.  He said "Mom, I'm a little boy.  I'm an anchorman."  Ever seen the Will Ferrell movie, Anchorman?  Yep, he heard that quote from Erik!  Evan also says "Fire the laser!" when he's building a rocket or throwing something.  A quote that he hears Erik repeat from Austin Powers.  BOYS! 

Never a dull moment!

Lots of pictures from the past few weeks to showcase all the happenings with our little family!

 

Evan loves building forts.  And sometimes he will build them right on top of/around Tyler wherever he is.  In this case, Tyler was playing with his little gym mat and Evan turned it into a fort for them.  So cute!

 

Happy 32nd Birthday Erik!  That's a LOT of candles!

 

Our beautiful family *LOVE*

 

"Do I have something in my mouth?"  Tyler knows how to put food (little rice crackers) into his mouth but doesn't know what to do when it's stuck.

 

 Selfies!  Such a silly boy.

 

Cannot get enough of his smiles!

 

Love my boys.  Cuddling in our pj's, reading books!

 

Always smiling!

 

Evan is SOOO creative and has an amazing imagination.  He built these all on his own!  He asks me for empty boxes (or collects them off the counter when I am cooking) and using scissors and glue, he builds space ships, rocket ships, and cars.  I'm amazed by him every day!

A puppet he made at school with a bag and scraps of paper.  So creative!



 

 

Evan's school has a new online system and they send me pictures and summaries of what he is doing & learning throughout the day.  Here he was building airplanes out of Legos. 

 

 Another creative moment: Evan finds a bunch of sticks and asks us for string to make a bow & arrow.

 

Art show at school

 

Evan brought a book to school and read it to the class.  I love how he holds the book just like his teacher does to show the other kids.  Nia, aren't you proud?!

 

 

 

My little man sitting in a big boy high chair out at dinner

 

Grocery shopping with Mr. T.  One of the store employees thought I was talking to myself because they couldn't see T from the side of the cart.  Ha!

 

Hooray for warmer weather!

 

Evan's getting really good on his bike!

 

 

 

One day of winter on April 15th...yuck.  Evan was probably the only person in MI excited about it.  "Mom, it's snowing!  I can ski with Uncle Danny!"  When I told him the ski "mountain" (note my quotations around mountain for the ski hills here in MI!) was closed, he said "OK, I'll build a jump for my sled."

 

I realized in my last blog post about our horrible winter, I didn't post a pic of just how much snow we had accumulated in our background over the winter.  Hopefully we'll never see snow like this again!

 

Nia & Guh were in town recently and we were lucky to see them twice!  Evan loves his God Parents!

 

Happy Birthday to our friend Lily!  Fun party at the indoor bounce house place!

 

 

 

We love this place - an indoor showroom for playground equipment that has open play hours.  It's perfect for kids and parents!

 



 

Such a handsome boy.  Getting so big!

 

Our first zoo trip of the year.  I tackled taking both boys by myself.  Phew!  I'm still tired!  I'm sure we looked like a train wreck running all over the place but we survived.  Went with one of my friends and her two kids and had a blast!

 

 

 

 

HAPPY SPRING EVERYONE!