Evan graduates!

 In May Evan graduated from Growing Smarter Preschool.  Evan has grown so much this year.  I am so proud of the progress he's made.

 For part of the graduation he had to say what he wanted to be when he grew up.  He wants to be a cowboy so he can ride a horse all day.  :)

 Below is a picture of Evan and his teacher Ms. Lisa.  I've known Lisa since college.  I can attribute much of Evan's growth and maturity this year to her.  She is an awesome teacher.  He loved going to school.  Evan and I both will miss seeing her.

I can't believe Evan will be starting Kindergarten at the end of July.  Watching my kids learn and grow is always bittersweet.

Halloween

A few weeks ago Ian took Evan to get a Halloween costume. It was no surprise that he picked Mario - he loves to play Super Smash Brothers. Fast forward to Saturday night - our church's Trunk or Treat. Evan refuses to wear the Mario costume - luckily we have an endless supply of costumes so he decides to be Godzilla instead. Weirdly, Joshua comes as Mario. Note: Evan refused to smile for the picture because Godzilla doesn't smile.

I had bought Max a Jango Fett costume but on Saturday he decided he wanted to be a Cardinals player like his friend Case. So...we searched many Wal Marts and finally found a kids Cardinals helmet. It was fun spending some one on one time with Max. And boy does he LOVE that helmet. Which is a whole other frightning post.

There was chili and lots of games, but of course my boys brought a football and spent the first hour playing in front of the church.

I saw a few of my favorite people...including this girl:

Xander - ready to get some candy!

Kim and Joe carved the coolest pumpkins! Brian and I handed out candy and Kim took the boys around trunk or treating.


Some angry birds and happy pigs :)

After Trunk or Treat Ian and I went to a costume party at Dr. V's house. I was Edward and Ian was Bella.


Dr. V and Rufus:Let me tell you Dr. V throws one heck of a party! We had so much fun and met some really cool people.
Today was Evan's preschool Halloween celebration. His class did a little parade and sang some songs. It was so cute and I'm so glad Evan sang!

Tonight we went Trick or Treating with Kim, Brian, Joe and The W family. We usually go in the W family's neighborhood and this year they invited us to join in. Yay! We had a hard time getting Evan in the group picture.











Megan was so good with Evan. She was totally fine being the only girl amongst a bunch of crazy boys!
Buzz got tired (Evan decided to be Buzz instead of Godzilla or Mario) so Brian carried him.

I went home and got Ian. He had fun trying to scare the boys with his scarecrow mask. There were so many freaky houses - the boys loved it! Their favorite was the one with a woman dressed up in a torn wedding dress. They called her Bloody Mary. Ben said she was scary but really nice once you talked to her :)

Evan with his stash -he quit early so he didn't get as much as the other boys.

It's been a fun couple of days. Let me just say that I am so glad to see October end. It was filled with stress, un-planned for expenses (probably the most expensive month EVER) and sickness. I can't believe it's already November but good ridance October!

Firestation Fieldtrip

A few weeks ago I went on a fieldtrip with Evan's preschool to the firestation. It was the best firestation fieldtrip that I've been on (and I've been on quite a few).

First up: watching a movie on fire safety. I feel asleep during the movie but Josh and Evan both said that was there favorite thing about the fieldtrip. Next: a tour of the station. This included climbing in the firetrucks, seeing where the firemen work out, sleep and eat.

Just look at Evan's face - you know he was dying to go down that pole.
Ms. Lisa with a few of her favorite students :)

All the kids got fire hats. Evan still has his and wears it often. Seriously.
Next up: Ms. Lisa got to be a fireman! First she had to put on all of the gear (btw, firemen have 1 minute to put on their gear. Crazy!)


Firewoman Lisa:
Then she got to spray the hose!

The best part was that the firemen let all the kids take turns spraying the hose! They loved it!

Then the kids got to play with the hose for a while. Finally, the firemen polietly kicked us out :) and we all went to Chick-a-fila for lunch.

We had a blast!

1st day of school

About a month ago Evan started school. His teacher is Ms. Lisa - who I've known since college. She is super organized and fun but also laid back enough to not stress out when Evan starts screaming for me. I was relieved that he would be going to a teacher who I know personally and who I love. The first day they sang and acted out the Bear Hunt at school and Evan did not like that - at all. He said he hid his head and plugged his ears because he was scared. I texted Lisa about it so the next school day they did Goldilocks and the 3 Bears and Lisa assured him that these bears were nice :)

He comes home with many art projects and science experiments. I know he is having a blast and making new friends. He also loves having Joshua in his class - although Lisa has had to break up a few wrestling matches. For a while he would get mad that he had to go to "stinkin' hot recess" as he liked to call it, but now he is loving every aspect of school. I love that he is happy going to school and that he will be well prepared for kindergarten next year.

Fish

I was able to go with Evan on his last fieldtrip to the Aquarium. At first he hid in the corner - he's shy like that.

Once Rowan got there Evan quickly joined the group. Evan's teacher has been wonderful with him - so patient. He really loved going to school this year.

The kids got a lesson on fish and the ocean. I think Evan is telling the girl next to Rowan to "back off!" :)

Then we were ready to see some fish!

All through out the aquarium there are bubbles you can duck into to get a better look at the fish. The kids loved them!

Half way through there was a theater that was playing Sponge Bob episodes on the screen. Ummm...excuse me??? Seriously. I took this picture of Addy and Ro while Evan was in a trance watching the screen. I finally got him to leave when some other people came in the theater.

I took lots of pictures of the fish - I just didn't want to post them all. There were stingrays, sea horses, giant craps, star fish, clown fish, blowfish, all kinds of sharks....this great white was the freakiest. Ummm....is it just me or does this shark have a big bite out of his fin?

More bubble time:


It's always nice for me to spend one on one time with one of the boys. I think Evan's favorite part of the whole place was the playground at the end. I need to take the older boys back - they would love it - especially Xander.