Kung Fu Boys

I took the boys to see Kung Fu Panda a few days ago and if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. Joel got a little bored, but I think he was tired. Evan got a little scared at times, but as long as he had my hand he was okay. As soon as the movie was over Evan declared, "That was awesome!" Since then, there has been a little more kung fu action in our house - and in other people's houses, too. At a recent party Joel was accosting Evan with a balloon, and Evan was retaliating with kung fu kicks. Now we must teach the little grasshoppers to harness their power and to use it for good, not evil.

Superman returns!

Last night Evan was "Bathtub Boy", but tonight he was Superman.

Joel likes to be Obi-Wan-Kenobi sometimes ...
but sometimes he's getting married (as if his towel is a veil). We've tried to tell him that boys don't wear veils, but as usual, he thinks he knows more than we do.

Another interesting conversation

Evan asked me earlier today if I had ever watched Power Rangers. I told him yes and then he started asking me questions, as if he couldn't believe it. (We don't let the boys watch Power Rangers.) He finally asked me if it was on real tv or fake tv. I told him real tv. He said, "I watched it on fake tv." I said, "Really. And how exactly do you watch fake tv?" He answered, "I went to my fake job and got fake money and bought a fake tv. Then I watched it on my fake tv." Well, I guess that explains everything perfectly!

He then said that when he was 10 he would get a real job. He listed 10 jobs that he would have, but I can't remember them all now. Here are a few of them: fixing things, making his bed, delivering mail, picking up his toys, and the most important job of all - putting out fires. I just asked him if he remembered what all of the jobs were, but he doesn't. His answer now is that he'll just do whatever jobs he wants. I have noticed that this "do whatever I want" attitude is getting very pervasive!

It must be the full moon

The boys have been really, really disobedient the last couple of days. In fact, one of our recent conversations went something like this:
Me: Evan, pick up these toys and put them in this toy box. (The unspoken plan was to watch a movie when he was done.)
Evan: I'll do whatever I want.
Me: Then you will go to timeout.
Evan: I'm not listening to you!
(He was persuaded to listen and pick up the toys, and he got to watch a movie.)

A conversation from today:
Me: Evan, you need to _______.
Evan: I am not talking to you for 100 days!

A conversation with Dad from tonight:
Dad: Boys you need to obey. I don't want to come home from work and have Mom tell me that you disobeyed all day.
Evan: Okay! ... but I might forget in a few days.

Please let this be a temporary thing and let it pass soon!

Watch out Picasso ...

here comes Joel! I am not sure if he intended for this to be a face, but that is what he calls it now. I am also not sure what the other stuff in the picture is supposed to be, but with a face like that does it matter?! What artistic ability for a 2-year-old! ;)

What does Father's Day mean?

Their dad rocks and they know it!

Apparently at out house it means sharing. The boys gave their dad some gifts this morning. They were all crafts that they had made. One was a little box that they had decorated at storytime which contained some Hershey kisses. As soon as Dad opened the box and the boys saw the kisses they were asking for some. I kept saying, "Remember, these are Dad's!" Dad let them each have one and then Evan was counting them to see how many we could all have. When we got home from church, the boys were asking about the kisses again. Evan asked me if I had eaten any and I told him no, that they were Dad's. He said, "Dad has already said that he would share!"

Dad made oatmeal for breakfast today. (I volunteered to make him something "special", but this is what he wanted. He prefers to make his own oatmeal, too.) The boys decided they wanted oatmeal, too. And not their own bowls, but to share with Dad. It was a little messier that way, but no one was dressed for church, and everyone survived.

So, in our house Father's Day is about sharing, but also loving on Dad. The boys really do love their dad so much, and while their love can be a bit "overwhelming" at times, their Dad loves them too! So on this Father's Day we wish all father's a very happy day and that you know how much you are loved by the special people in your lives!

That was then, this is now

Then - Evan helping Dad (May 2005)

Now - Evan helping Dad (June 2008)



Then - Evan with nails (May 2005)

Now - Joel with nails (June 2008)

The boys are helping their dad fix the fence today. As Steve said, "What's a project without your mom's camera?" So, I thought that I would share my part of the project with you all - the photojournalist perspective.

When things don't go as planned

This seems to be the motto of our week. Yesterday I had all of these great activities planned, but they got ruined by our much-needed rain showers in the morning and by the boys' tiredness and crankiness in the afternoon. We adjusted our plans and still had fun, though.

Today we were going to a special kids movie and after we drove there, we found out the theater had no power, so no movie! We did get passes for any other movie that we want to see, so we got something in exchange for our gas. (The special movie was only 5o cents a ticket, so the passes are worth a lot more!)

We are now resting, since the boys are inexplicably cranky-tired again. We hope to go to the waterpark with some friends later, but we'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

This hasn't been a horrible start to the week, but I really hope that this is not how the whole summer goes!

Keeps going on and on and on and ...

As I guessed, Evan is trying to milk this birthday for all that it is worth. He wants to pick what we do at the waterpark because either: a)he is 5 now, or b)it has been "a long time" since his birthday (since I pointed out that birthday picking privileges had been extended and are now over). I am sure that he will use any reason that he thinks will win approval. He knows a good thing when he sees it and he's not ready to give up these special privileges just yet.

He did go on a "shopping spree" with some of his birthday money earlier in the week. He has been talking about wanting a teddy bear for a few weeks now and that is what he chose to buy. I think that this talk started when he had a teddy bear tea party at school and he couldn't find a suitable teddy bear to take. He took his puppy, and seemed fine with that, but then the "teddy talk" began. He ended up getting a panda bear, with a little encouragement from Mom, which he named Evan. He also calls it "Teddy" and "Panda". Today he told me that he wants to go back to the store and get another panda so that Teddy can have a panda friend. Apparently we need same-species friends in this house. Although, that hasn't been an issue for Monkey or Puppy. Hmmm ....

So proud of my boy!

I have been noticing an interesting phenomenon in Evan's life. He is becoming an even better big brother.

On the last day of Evan's school there was an extra boy in his class (whose mom was substituting in another class). He was apparently doing something to Joel and Evan told the boy to leave Joel alone because he was his little brother. Later some of the girls were building with blocks and were telling Joel not to knock them down. Evan walked over and said, "I'll take care of it." He then started talking to Joel, who somehow hurt himself and started crying. Instead of coming to me, Joel went to Evan for a hug and Evan tried to make him feel better. So nice to see!

After Evan's party, Joel was upset about something (because he was so tired, no doubt) and was throwing a fit. We were trying to get him to calm down, without much success, and Evan came in with his brand new lightsaber and offered it to Joel. All on his own! Just to make Joel feel better!

Evan has always loved Joel, but the competition between them has been increasing lately. He also doesn't always notice Joel when he is around his own friends. So, these actions were especially precious to me and I am filled with joy watching him grow daily!

Happy Birthday, Evan!

Evan's pink (strawberry), Star Wars birthday cake

5 years old! Wow! Where has the time gone?

We have been having birthday celebrations for almost a week now, and Evan would probably like to keep it going for even longer!

Last Wednesday was the the last day of school for Evan, so to celebrate that and his upcoming birthday, we took donuts to school. Joel and I stayed there for quite a while, just playing, eating and talking. We went back up there for lunch, too, so we had a fun day with Evan at his school.


Friday was Evan's birthday and he got to pick our meals all day long. For breakfast we had pancake puffs. In case you aren't familiar with those, we first spotted them on an infomercial. Evan thought they looked like the best things ever. Every time we would see the infomercial he would get excited and ask to get it. They now sell them at Target, too, so I bought one as a surprise for him. For lunch we had pizza, after a birthday trip to the dentist for a cleaning and check-up. (He was great for the dentist, by the way!) For dinner we had macaroni and cheese, which is probably his favorite meal of all time. He also got to open a couple of presents that day, which turned out to be a tee-ball set and a recordable story-book set. The tee-ball set was a big hit, no pun intended. The story book has 4 pages that are like white boards, where you can draw your own story and erase it. There is a recorder on the side so you can record a story to go along with your drawings. He had it beside when he went to bed that night and then grabbed it as soon as he woke up in the morning.

Grandma had come into town Friday night, but the boys were already asleep by the time she got to the house. They got to see her Saturday morning and they both had a great time playing with her while Steve and I got ready for the party. This was the biggest "kid party" we have had, with 5 kids Evan's age and one Joel's age, and it was a lot of fun! At times I was overwhelmed with trying to keep the kids occupied, like while the adults finished eating, but the kids were very well-behaved - for a birthday party. ;) Steve missed the entire present-opening experience because he was getting the outside activity ready - a slip-n-slide! This was a big hit with the kids, but oddly enough no parents participated. ;)



Grandma is still here so both boys have been enjoying playing with her and all of the wonderful presents that Evan received from our generous friends and family. (Thanks to you all!)

Tomorrow Grandma goes back to the airport, and I think after that we will go shopping so Evan can spend some of his birthday money. He already has some ideas on what he wants, since he has been thinking about this for quite a while. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

We hope that you all enjoy the beginning of summer!