Non Traditional Christmas

Since the boys are older and don't believe in Santa Claus anymore, we decided to take a nontraditional approach to gift giving this year. Instead of opening presents from "Santa" Christmas morning under the tree, we decided to have them find their presents by following clues that led them from place to place within the house. Since they are out of school and received electronics, we did this a few days early so they would get in more play time before going back to school in January.

Todd and I sat down one afternoon and came up with all the clues for the game. We decided to make the first clue in code, so that they would have to put a little bit of brain power into it. It was really just the clue written backwards, so they both got it pretty quickly.

A couple of weeks ago I had them fill out Elf applications that I found on the internet. They asked me now and again since then what those applications were for. I just told them they had to wait and see, so that added a little to the fun. Their applications ended up being "Approved" and that qualified them to receive their first clue. Evan was a little more happy to go along with the story, but we all had fun doing it in the end.

The first video is of them figuring out the first clue and Chad finding his presents. The second video is of Evan following his clues. He didn't want to be taped through the house, so Todd agreed to only tape him actually finding the clues and opening his presents. Thus, it is a bit choppy.

Merry Christmas!

Basketball update

Evan's team has been practicing a lot. Their team has come together and they have won a couple of games. They have played some really experienced teams, though, and had their share of losses. Nevertheless, I still think Evan is the cutest basketball player on the court!




For family members and those really into youth basketball, you can check out a couple of video clips of his last game on my YouTube Channel.

Evan's Basketball Season Start

Evan is playing basketball on a parish team again this year. He is on the Celtics and they have been practicing for the past few weeks. They won their first game, but then lost two in a row, so the team is stepping up their drills and practicing almost every night. I got one photo and a short video of him shooting a free throw during the last game. Sorry for the quality, but the lighting was horrible.

I have learned to not sit to close to Todd during the games for fear of having my eardrum burst. He loves to coach from the bleachers and I'm sure he's thinking that all of his yelling is helping his boy and the team. I say that if it helps, keep it up! Go Celtics!

Giving me a smile during warmups.

Thanksgiving

We decided to hit the road for Thanksgiving and went to the beach in Alabama. The temps were mild and where we stayed had a heated pool, so we got to spend a lot of time outdoors. Evan was wet 90% of the time and couldn't get enough of the water. We also had a lot of fun shopping, eating out and riding go carts. Going back to school was hard this morning, but knowing that Christmas is less than a month away eased the pain a little. Here are a few of my iPhone photos:

Evan hanging out in the pool. There were about five other boys his age at the hotel, so he always had someone to play with.

Evan eventually dug this hole deep enough that he hit water!

Evan and Chad on the Beach

Sharing some of our food with the seagulls.

Ready to Ride!

Ready to Ride x 2!

Random Stuff

The boys are so happy to be out of school for Thanksgiving week. On the last day of school, Chad's Food and Nutrition class had a Thanksgiving Feast. He is learning his way around a kitchen and made a seven layer dip for the class. I love have multiple cooks in the house!

Chad's Seven Layer Taco Dip

Putting on the finishing touches.

Evan hanging out with Gwen.

 

More Evan and Gwen

Todd is on vacation this week as well and took the boys to the firing range yesterday and today. Chad and Todd both shot the gun yesterday, but Evan was a little worried about the kick after he saw them shoot. Today Evan got his courage up and shot the 20 gauge shotgun himself. Here is the video:

Weekend Fun

Saturday was the last day of football for the Colts. It was tournament day and both Todd and Evan were excited to see how the team would do. The first game was at 8:30 in the morning and it was really chilly. They won their first and second games and made it to the finals. They ended up losing the championship game, but came in second place, so that is really something to be proud of. Way to go team and Coach!

Colts Flag Football Team - Great Job!

Evan and Todd after the tournament. I don't know if Todd's expression is one of exhaustion or just relief that the season is over! It was fun, but also a lot of hard work.

On Sunday Evan and I made a trek to the pet store, which is one of his favorite places to go. He had coupons for some free fish and I needed to get some treats for Gwen. Evan put the fish in the pond, but it has been getting cooler here, so we will see how long they survive!



Last night Todd and Evan carved their annual pumpkin. I think that it turned out pretty good and they had a fun time. They will display it at Wanda's tonight, which is where Evan will do his Trick or Treating.

Boo!

Back in the Kitchen

It looks like Evan still has the cooking bug and pancakes are his specialty. Last night he told me that he couldn't wait for Saturday so that he could get up and cook. He must be getting that from Todd! I told him that he could cook, but he had to wait for me or his dad to supervise him. Before I could grab my first cup of coffee, Evan told me that he already had the batter ready and asked if he could fire up the pan.

I showed him a photo last week of someone who had made a bear face out of pancakes.

Source: cutestfood.com via Joan on Pinterest

He loved the idea so much, that he decided to try it for himself. He made pancakes in different sizes; smaller for the ears and mouth and a big one for the face. We didn't have any chocolate syrup, so we came up with the idea of using chocolate pudding to make the facial details. He took the pudding from a pudding cup and spooned it into a zip lock bag. He pushed it all to the corner and clipped off the tip so that he could squeeze out his design. He had a great time in the kitchen and the pancakes were delicious!

Evan enjoying his time in the kitchen!

Evan's Bear Pancakes

Look Who's Cooking Now

First, Chad had the cooking bug and it seems like it caught Evan this weekend. He woke me up this morning, pancake batter mixed, all ready to start cooking. He did everything by himself and was kind enough to share some pancakes with his brother.

A Neat Gun Case

Somehow Todd acquired an old wooden ammunition box. He brought it home for Evan and thought it would be a great place for him to store his pellet guns. Evan was over the moon and couldn't wait to put it in his room.

Evan Loves Lizards!

Evan's (Edible) School Project

Evan's class has been studying Indians and his teacher assigned a fun project for them. They were each assigned a different group of Indians and had to make display of their living environment. The catch was that the display had to be edible. How fun!

He was assigned the Plains Indians and said that he needed dirt, a tee pee, a fire and some bushes. We went off to the grocery store to get supplies. This is how it all came together and what he used:

Ground: chocolate icing

Tee Pee: Pizza sticks, peanut butter and a fruit roll up

Fire: Candy Corn

Bushes: Pieces of a cereal bar covered with green icing and dots of red icing for berries.

He didn't like my idea of using carrots for the fire or incorporating any vegetables. I also thought that broccoli would make some great bushes, but he would have none of that either. That's my picky eater with a sweet tooth for you...it had to be all sugar!

All the supplies and ready to go.

Spreading the chocolate ground.

Ground and base of the tee pee.

Putting icing on a bush.

The completed project!

Evan came home with an almost empty container this afternoon. Each child in the class got a spoon and was able to take a bite out of the display. Evan said he got to eat the tee pee. He also said that his teacher gave him an "A" on his project. Way to go Evan!

Adventures in Flag Football

A few weeks ago Todd got an email about Evan's Flag Football season starting. It gave some basic information and the great news that since Todd had volunteered to help out with the team, he was going to be the Coach. 

Since then there have been emails sent, plays written and a few practices. Yesterday the real excitement started as the team hit the field for two scrimmage games. I have to say that they looked pretty good out there. I can't wait to see how this season shapes up! Go Colts!

Todd reviewing the next play with the team.

Evan on defense waiting for the next play.

More coaching.

Evan enjoying his break on the sidelines.

Snake Hunt

Wanda (Todd's mom) called on Saturday and told Todd that she saw a snake in her back yard. She used to have several ponds in her back yard, but has slowly been shutting them down one by one. She wanted to see if Todd would come and kill the snake for her.

Well, let me say that Evan was all over this one. He initially wanted to take his gun and shoot the snake, but Todd explained to him why that wouldn't be a good idea, so he agreed with the shovel method.

They started breaking apart the timbers on the side of the pond in hopes that the snake would come out. After waiting a bit, they determined that the snake must have moved on. Evan was a little disappointed as he had his heart set on seeing the snake. Maybe next time!

Evan with MeeMaw ready to help with the snake!

Sorry, no snake!

Tropical Storm Lee

Today is a gorgeous day...blue skies and cooler temperatures! This past weekend we got quite a bit of rain from Tropical Storm Lee. Gwen doesn't like the thunder and rain and has a lot of anxiety when the storming starts. I was at the vet last week and they recommended trying a Thundershirt. It is a shirt that wraps snugly around your dog and the pressure is supposed to have a calming effect.

I didn't think I had anything to lose, so I went ahead and got one and tried it out over the weekend. I didn't expect much, but was really pleased with the results. Instead of shaking and panting in my lap or hiding under the bed, Gwen was calm through the storm. After I put it on her the first day, she stood still for a few minutes and then went and laid down and fell asleep. It made the stormy weekend easier on her as well as on me, amazing product!

Gwennie girl in her Thurndershirt.

 "So relaxed I think I will take a nap!"

The boys were out of school for the long labor day weekend, so what is there to do after a storm but play in the water. We have a little ditch in the back of our yard and Evan got the idea that it would be a good place to use his skim board and go for some rides. I know he must have been exhaused because he ran and played outside like this for several hours:

Pond Chronicles Part III

Evan and Todd keep working on the pond, and it is paying off. This past weekend I saw some lovely flowers blooming and just had to take a photo. A big change after the snail destruction episode! Thus, we now have these pretty plants and one orange fish in the pond.

Evan is cleaning the pump every day and had the idea that get a fish that eats algae would help. We made our way to the pet store and got the biggest one we could find. The store clerk warned us not to expect miracles, but Evan was okay with that.

Evan putting his new fish in the pond.

Since it looks like the pond is going to stay, Todd started fixing it up with some decorative slate. I'm impressed!

Pond Chronicles Part II

Evan's pond continues to be a learning experience for our whole family. Right after we put the huge snails in the pond, we saw some eggs on the side. We were so excited because all we could imagine was the fun of watching them hatch and have baby snails.

This past weekend there was an article in our paper about the snails, called apple snails, and how destructive they are to our area. At that point, we noticed the destruction that they had done to our little pond. Thus, we were convinced that the eggs and snails had to go.

Those snails destroyed all of our plants!

Snails right before their demise.

Todd got some new plants and we still have the tadpoles in the pond, so here goes our second try at a pretty pond!

 Pond do-over!

Pond Chronicles

Our pond continues to be quite an adventure. If you see the last photo on the blog I did on our new pond, you saw the pretty orange fish swimming happily around its new home. The day after I took that photo, I was walking Gwen and went to check out the pond. I peered into the pond and looked and looked and didn't see the pretty orange fish. I then looked to my side and saw it laying in the grass about 3 feet away, dead. We think that it must have jumped out of the pond and then died in the hot sun.

On the positive side, the large tadpole that Evan caught now has some feet sprouting and should be a frog soon. Evan and Todd also went fishing this weekend. They didn't catch any fish, but did come home with some huge snails. They are now residents of our pond.



This weekend, while Chad was hanging with his friend at at the mall, Evan and I went to the movies and saw the Smurfs. Evan, always thinking ahead, brought a bunch of quarters and couldn't wait to blow them in the game room.






Our Gwennie girl is still the sweetest dog in the whole world. Here are some of recent pics:







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Happy Birthday Chad!

How time flies! I can't believe that you are 15 years old today! I have watched you grow from an adorable little boy with the longest eyelashes into a young man who is anxious for new experiences and finding out what this world is all about. I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you and love you even more today. Here are some photos of you when you were little. Hope you enjoy them and have an awesome birthday!

 4th Birthday

 5th Birthday

Being a great big brother.

 

Your first day of kindergarten.

My favorite, Adoption Day!

 Still watching out for your little brother.

All grown up (almost) and ready for fun!