It's all about the Sixth Graders!

Today was Evan's last day of 6th grade and he and his classmates are all moving on to junior high at a new school next year. Thus, today was going to be an extra special last day of school. He was excited this morning as he caught the bus because no work was going to be done and it was going to be "all about the sixth graders."

To start the day off, his class was treated to a doughnut breakfast. After that was the awards ceremony where students were acknowledged for all of their accomplishments during the past year. Lunch was boiled crawfish and pizza and the day was ending with a DJ and dance. Chad and I went to the awards ceremony and are so proud of our soon to be 7th grader!

Happy Birthday, Evan!

I can't believe that my "baby" is eleven year old today. How time flies! It seems like yesterday you were that tiny baby that I brought home from the hospital. I have enjoyed watching you grow and become your own independent person. I love hearing your thoughts and about the many things that interest you. You have a great sense of humor and I treasure all of laughs we have shared.

Instead of going with a traditional birthday cake, the birthday boy picked out a patriotic flag cake to celebrate the occasion. He has been blog-shy, so thank you, Evan, for giving me permission to post a couple of pics on your special day. Hope you enjoy it!

 Evan with his flag birthday cake!

Hanging with his friends and playing lazer tag.

Here are a couple of other photos from when my brother and his family visited us a few weeks ago. The boys have a blast spending time with their cousins!

 

 Chad, Evan and their cutie cousin, Clark.

Evan and Darby Gene

Honor Roll Breakfast

Evan made the honor roll this past reporting period, so we got an invite to a breakfast for the honorees. Todd had to work, so Wanda went with me to cheer Evan on. After munching down on doughnuts and milk, Evan was presented with a certificate and some coupons for free meals and discounts at local businesses. I'm sure that the one for Baskin-Robbins will be one of the first ones he uses. Way to go Evan!

 Evan and MeeMaw (who made his day and surprised him with her own little gift!)

Evan and his classmate, Sage. Two smart (and handsome) boys right there!

Spring Garden

Every Spring and Fall Todd likes to plant a small garden. I love homegrown tomatoes and green beans and this year Todd is also growing some pepper plants, eggplant and probably a few other surprises.

Evan has been very interested in the garden and even informed me a few weeks ago that in addition to helping with the family garden, he was going to have his own "private garden." A couple of weeks ago we had a beautiful Saturday so Todd got the tiller out and prepared the garden for planting. He made some nice rows and he and Evan planted and watered the plants and seeds that they had gotten from the nursery.

Evan found some leftover boards and made a rectangle frame. He filled it with dirt and planted his own garden of sunflowers, corn and green beans. He also planted a grapevine near the fence. You can see from the photos below that he has his daddy's green thumb!

 Todd and Evan working in the garden.

Evan helping with the planting.

 Evan's private garden 3-15-12.

Evan's garden 3-27-12. 

 Evan's grapevine 3-15-12.

Evan's grapevine 3-27-12

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.

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'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!

Summer Sniffles

A cold bug has been making it's way though our house. Todd had it last week, then I came down with it this week and a couple of days ago, Evan got it. He was sniffling a lot and decided to stay home from day camp yesterday. He had fun just resting, watching t.v. and playing video games in the morning. However, by late afternoon he was ready to jump out of his skin.

It had rained off and on during the day, but had pretty much stopped in the afternoon. After being cooped up all day, he was ready to head outside for some fun. He was in the ditch in no time in search of creatures. He told me to correct my post from the other day as he is catching tadpoles, not minnows. His little tank had quite a few more yesterday. He told me that he had found their secret hiding place, so he was able to catch a bunch.

He also did some shooting with his gun. All in all, he is pretty good at entertaining himself when he is outside. He is always able to find something new to explore.



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Busy Weekend

Since the summer seems to be flying by, we are trying to cram as much fun into it as possible. This weekend was non-stop fun. Both the boys had friends come over. Evan's friend spent the night on Friday night and they played video games and watched t.v. until the wee hours of the morning. All that activity made them very hungry, so I took them to an all you can eat buffet for lunch on Saturday while Todd and Chad did some shopping.

The restaurant is one of our favorites because They have a lot of variety and everyone can find something they like. Because of that Evan said it was a 5 star restaurant. His friend agreed and so I asked them what other restaurants they rated 5 star. They both had McDonalds and Burger King on their lists as well as some other local chain restaurants. We definitely have different criteria when it comes to our 5 star ratings!

Saturday night was date night for Todd and I so we went to dinner and a play at our local downtown theater. It was a musical, which I love, but can't say is Todd's favorite kind of performance. I have to kid with him every time we see a musical because during the first one we ever went to, he fell asleep. It was many years ago when we went to the Texas state fair in Dallas and Robert Goulet was starring in South Pacific. I do have to say that we had walked around the fair all day and that probably contributed to the sleepiness more than the performance, but it is one of those funny stories we won't ever forget.

On Sunday I finally took Chad to see the new Harry Potter movie. I have read all of the books, so I probably wanted to see it as much or more than he did. We met Chad's friend there and then he came home with us and they spent the afternoon playing video games and basketball. It was sprinkling off and on, but they didn't let that spoil any of their fun.

Todd finally got to mow in the morning. It has been raining her pretty much every day and the grass is growing like crazy. He then took Evan to a birthday party in the early afternoon. When Evan got home, he was ready to play outside. He played some basketball with the big guys, shot his pellet gun and searched the ditch for minnows. He found a couple and was happy with his "catch."

One of Evan's minnows.

Evan posing with his newly filled aquarium.

 It was a fun day...now time for a good bath!

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Summer - Almost Over?

The boys continue to enjoy their summer. They only have three weeks left until school starts so we have been stocking up on school supplies and buying uniforms.

Here are a couple of random photos from this weekend. Chad isn't in any of them. All his free time has been spent in a dark room playing his Harry Potter game. He already went through the whole game once. Hope it has a lot of replay value!

Evan with the creation he made at Lego Club.

Evan and Todd goofing around.

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Early Birthday Present

Chad's birthday isn't until August, so he was thrilled today when we gave him an early birthday present, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II video game for the Wii. It does make sense to give him some time to play it now since his birthday is the day after school starts, right? Bummer!



He started playing late this afternoon and went strong until the batteries in the controller went dead at about 9:00 p.m. I am so glad to see him have a great time!

Here is a pic of my other two cuties:



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Belated Birthday Dinner

We invited Todd's mother for a belated birthday dinner since Evan was out of town on his actual birthday. We had some sheet brownies for dessert as Evan had already had two birthday cakes. Here are a few pics of the birthday boy:

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Happy Birthday Evan!

What a great day! My "baby" is now 10 years old and in the double digits. Woo hoo!

You are growing up so fast! I love hearing about you experiences, watching you grow and seeing what an awesome young man you are becoming. Sorry I can't be with you today, but I know you are in good hands. Have a super day!


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Texas Fun

We met my brother on Saturday so that he could pick up the boys and take them to Texas. They are going to stay with my parents for a week and then stay with him for the second week. They were both excited about the trip and having fun 24 x 7.

Evan went nuts for the escalator at the Isle of Capri, where we ate lunch, and must have gone up and down at least twenty times. We definitely need to hit an amusement park, soon. Have fun y'all!

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