That's One...

Thanks to a friend's recommendation, we have been using the 1-2-3 Magic discipling method on Evan and until recently, it actually worked really well. But something about turning two and half has diminished its effectiveness. Evan will now finish counting for you and he likes to put himself in the corner. He also seems to think "I'm sorry" will get him out of the corner faster.


I think I am in search of a new kind of magic...

You Better Watch Out...

Evan has really been getting into the whole Christmas thing and he is loving all of the Christmas music. His favorite seems to be "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and he can actually sing most of the first verse. I am loving it because, believe me, I am not above using the ol' Santa card to encourage better behavior!


This year, we decided to start the tradition of the Elf on the Shelf. We named our elf Charlie and Evan has really enjoyed looking for Charlie every morning after he returns from the North Pole!! And this morning, he wanted to make sure Charlie knew "Evan nice, very nice."

My Little Helper

Evan has really been on a mission to help Mom lately. There is nothing I can do without him right by my side.
Whether it be bathing Libby,

vaccuming,

or sweeping the kitchen floor,




I can count on Evan to help me to get the job done!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Evan has been preparing the past couple of weeks at school and would spontaneously burst into a song about turkeys. I never got the entire song out of him but the basic idea was that the turkey should hide from the farmer and maybe even start saying "moo". He also made a turkey table decoration and he wanted to know why it wasn't on the table with the other decorations. It was cute to see what he is learning in school showing up in his everyday life.

A Birthday Party

This morning, Evan told me we needed to have a birthday party. With a cake. A strawberry cake. And hats.

So we headed to the store, picked up all the necessary party supplies and had a birthday party...




When I asked who the party was for, Evan responded it was for Thomas the Train.

Evan's Turn

A couple of weeks ago, I shared some juicy tidbits about Libby. Well, today, as he turns two and a half, I invite you to take a peek into Evan's world.

Evan is still infactuated with The Little Einsteins. I am starting to think this is one phase that is never going to pass.
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He also likes Diego, Dora, The Backyardigans, Larry Boy and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
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Every morning, he announces, "I wake up." He then has a cup of chocolate milk and watches an episode of Little Einsteins. Every morning. He is definitely a creature of habit.
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Evan knows all of the basic colors, such as red, pink, purple, blue, orange, etc. He does get black and brown mixed up occasionally.
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Evan knows his shapes. I am still impressed that he knows the difference between a square and a rectangle.
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When Evan wants crackers as a snack, he asks for them by shape.
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Evan can recite numbers up to 15 most of the time and can actually count to five or six.
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Evan LOVES chocolate and whenever he says "chocolate", he says it like it is the most special thing in the world.
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Evan's favorite breakfast foods are waffles and oatmeal.
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Evan loves pizza dipped in ranch dressing.
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He will eat almost anything. He likes most vegetables (artichokes and broccoli are two of his favorites). He loves all sorts of beans. The only fruit he really doesn't care for is peaches and he is slowly coming around.
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He speaks in complete sentences most of the time and has for quite a while.
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Right now, Evan prefers showers to baths.
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He sings in the shower.
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He is not interested in being potty-trained.
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His favorite books are currently "I Love You Stinkyface", "Green Eggs and Ham", "The Going to Bed Book" and "The Barnyard Dance".
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Evan is starting to ask who sings songs on the radio and asks me to play them by artist.
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Evan prefers painting over coloring with crayons.

Back to School

A few weeks ago, we drove by Evan's old school. When he caught a glimpse, he said he wanted to go to school. You may remember the last time we tried school, it was a complete disaster. Eight weeks of sheer torture and a lot of crying by both Evan and Mom. So needless to say, I was a bit skeptical.

However, Evan brought up school almost every day for two weeks. He would say that he wanted to paint with Miss Evelyn. He would mention the sand castles on the playground. He would talk about circle time. So I decided I would start checking around and see about getting him back in school. I called a couple of different schools and actually toured one but I really liked his old school best and I just felt more comfortable there.

So last week, Matt and I took Evan back to school just for a quick tour, meet his new teacher and just see how he would react. HE DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE!! I was so surprised but I have to admit that once again I was skeptical.

We decided we would let him stay for the morning. Sure enough, when we left him in the classroom, he started wailing. You could hear him all the way down the hall. It was just awful. We went ahead and left him so we could see how he would adjust (much easier typed than done).

We had left his jacket in the car so Matt ran it back in and Evan had already quit crying. And bless Matt's heart, he went back one more time just to make sure he was still okay.

I showed up an hour and a half later to pick him up and when I walked in the room, the kids were doing circle time. I could tell Evan was a little upset and he just sat right up against Miss Evelyn (his former teacher). But he was being a trooper and trying really hard to participate. However, as soon as he saw me, he ran over and his brave face disappeared. He just cried and cried and kept saying, "You came back, Mama".

After that, I was certain I wasn't sending him back. But every day since, he has said he wants to go back to school. So I guess tomorrow we will try it again. He told me he will cry but he also said that I would come pick him up at 11:30 and we would go get a milkshake.

Please pray for my little guy tomorrow. He is really struggling to gain his independence right now, especially away from me. Evan is never one to complain and it is so hard for me as his mom to see him get hurt or be sad and then watch him try to be way more grown up than he needs to be. I wish I could make him understand he is only two!!

My Happy Baby

Libby is smiling all of the time right now (and even laughing some!) and she is at her happiest right after bath time!

7 x 7

Angie Smith, whose blog I read regularly, recently posted her idea to pray for your children seven times a day for seven days. She is a much more eloquent writer than I am, so just click on the link to read her post. I think it is an excellent idea and am excited to be doing it this week.

And if you have time, you should read ALL of her blog. She is an amazing woman with even more amazing faith!

Camping Out

This weekend, Matt and Evan pitched their tent (in our bedroom!!) and had a little camp out. Evan was so excited and when Matt got the tent up, Evan said, "Good job, Dad!". He then stuck his head in and exclaimed, "Oh wow. It is so nice and clean!"

They only made it until 1:30am before they moved to the bed. I guess it is a good thing they did a trial run.

Libby Lou

Here are a couple of pictures that Matt snapped over the weekend...




Can you believe she is three months old???

My Diego

This morning, Evan put this outfit together and announced he was Diego.


It was comprised of:
a cowboy hat
his OSU jacket
his Halloween treat bag/rescue pack around his neck
pajamas
his church shoes

Plan B

Today, Evan, Libby and I were outside cleaning out the flower beds and sweeping the walk. As we were finishing up, Evan announced, "Time for Plan B!" I asked what Plan B was and he responded, "you know". He then went inside and was rummaging around his play room. I stuck my head in to check on him and asked if he was doing ok. He told me he was fine, just looking for Plan B. When he finally came back out, he had a hammer. Sounds like a good Plan B to me!

A Week of Halloween

Last weekend, we headed to Tulsa and took Evan to Boo Ha Ha. It is just a little street party where kids can go trick or treating at the different merchants on Brookside. However, Evan really didn't get into trick or treating at all, but he loved the little carnival. By the end of the day though, he was really starting to get the concept of Halloween and he was loving it! We were able to meet up with the Wong's and it was so much fun to see all of the kiddos together and all dressed up!

Here is Libby in her Halloween outfit...


Evan playing with the rubber duckies...


Then on Tuesday, the Pittser's invited us to the Fall Festival at their church. It was pretty crowded and we really didn't get to hang out with the Pittsers much, but there was a Jupiter Jump so Evan was happy. They also had a lot of little games and Evan loved playing along and "winning" candy. But the best part was at the end. There was a fire truck outside and the firefighters let Evan go in their truck and explore. And since he was a firefighter for the day, they even let him wear a helmet. Evan was thrilled!!



Then on Thursday night, Matt's receptionist invited us to her family's Halloween party. I don't have any pictures but we had the best time. There were at least fifteen kids there and they had tons of activities and prizes for the little ones. And the best part for Evan was the hay ride. He is still talking about the "fracter" that he got to ride.

Finally on Friday night, Evan went trick or treating for the first time. We met up with the Pittser's and we trick or treating on our street. The first few houses, Evan was a little shy. But in no time at all, he had the hang of it and was actually saying "I want some candy" rather than "trick or treat"! Libby got to go along also but she fell asleep before we even left our yard.



Evan was so excited when we got home, he just kept showing off his loot all evening and it was almost impossible for him to go to sleep. I absolutely love Halloween so I was really glad he had such a positive experience! Hopefully, next year he will pick out his costume. I can't hardly to see what he wants to be!!