Celebrating Daddy

This week has been all about Evan. Tuesday was his birthday. Nicholas and I made homemade cards on Monday. He shocked me when he wrote 2 “H”s on the back of Evan’s card. I never taught him how, he just did it. We’ve been doing a tracing workbook this summer, so it is obviously working as a pre-writing book. We also decorated the cards with stickers too.

We had both sets of parents over to have cake and ice cream. Surprisingly, I think this was the first cake I ever made. I’m not a big cake fan, unless there is plenty of chocolate in it, so I don’t ever make them. I prefer cookies and brownies over cake and cupcakes any day. Nonetheless, I think the cake turned out well with sprinkles courtesy of Nicholas.

Unfortunately, my camera was way too slow to get any decent shots.





We kept gifts low key this year, so I got him the next novel in the series he has been reading. Evan is not a reader at all, so the fact that he will sit down and read these 500+ page books means they’re pretty good. He had been telling me that I should read them for awhile. I didn’t want to start because I didn’t want to get ahead of him. But, he continued to ask, so I obliged. I am a reader. I love it, so I kind of went through three of the books in about a week. I have no idea where I found the time to read. Well, I had bought him the fourth book weeks ago, before I started reading them. But, once his birthday came I was ready for that book. I had to convince him that I didn’t buy it for myself. After a little begging, he obliged and let me start reading it. They are suspense thrillers, so if that is a genre you enjoy, check them out here

Another big event happened in Evan’s life this week too. He finished his Associate’s Degree in Marketing! This has been a long time coming, but only because of all the stumbling blocks in his way. First, he never liked school as a kid, so the fact that he wanted to do this was a big deal. Second, he worked full-time (for 90% of it), had 3 trips to Russia to fit in, and accomplished all of this debt-free! He persevered and never gave up. I am so proud of his hard work and his willingness to do this for himself and our family. Nicholas and I both cheered for him as he left for his last class on Wednesday. We’re pretty sure that even with senioritis, he’ll probably be getting an A in his last class. We’re so proud of him!

Here’s what he thinks about finally being finished:







Finally, Evan will have another change coming to his life in a little over a week. He has a new job! He actually enjoyed his summer job and felt bad for leaving. They liked him too and tried to match his new salary, but came up short. We’re hoping that maybe he can still work there one day a week in the future. Evan’s new job provides us with benefits. I cannot wait to make our last COBRA payment!!! This new job has opportunities for advancement, which is something his last full-time job did not offer. We’re thankful that God has sustained us this far. We still need to continue to trust Him for our needs everyday though.

Nicholas has an important weekend coming up, which I will share about later. But for now, I’ll leave you with some pictures from this week.

Picnic

Today was our church’s picnic. They held one last year, but we were in Russia. This year it was held at a horse farm and was also a baptism service. They had games for the kids and plenty of food!

Nicholas played with some large bubble wands.





He tried to get the bean bags in the buckets.



Then he tried to get the rings on the lollipops.



However, is favorite game was where he had to find the candy. Since he was the youngest one participating, we coached him bit. We may have led him toward some of our favorite candies while we were trying to help him. He seemed pleased with the end result.







The church provided hamburgers and hot dogs. The rest of us brought side dishes and desserts. There were so many to choose from. It was almost too overwhelming.



After we ate, they held the baptism service. I think there were 26 people that were baptized. Nicholas clapped for each person. He told us, “I want Pastor Jim and Pastor Gordon to baptize me – when I’m bigger.” That’s my prayer too.









After the baptisms, Nicholas played a little. I may have mentioned before that there is a little girl at church that is always hugging him. Well, this evening, he took on her older brother. They wrestled and wrestled and wrestled. The funniest part was when he spun Nicholas around in circles. Nicholas let out several girl screams. I think Marc thought Nicholas was having fun, but Nicholas is not into spinning. When he put him down, Nicholas was beyond dizzy, which was really the funny part. We taught him to say, “Stop, please. Put me down” if he didn’t want to be spun around. Don’t worry I was about to intervene if it got out of hand. Nicholas had only eaten about an hour ago, so I was waiting to see if he was going to throw up on Marc, but it never happened.







Here's some other pictures from the picnic:


I asked Nicholas to smile, but he wouldn't. So, Poppy is making the same face as Nicholas.



So, he tickled him.



But, he still wouldn't smile for the camera.


Nicholas wouldn't smile with Nana either. I guess it was just one of those days.

Finally, after a shower and a couple of bedtime stories, he's out like a light.

Splash Pad Take 3

So, going to the splash pad again was a great idea. For some reason, they always seem to have a nice breeze there. Often times you get a nice mist from the water as well. I like that I don’t have to get wet as I walk through the pad unless I choose to get wet.

This time we invited Evan’s sister, Amanda, her husband Jason, son Carter, and our niece, Haley. We all had a great time! The three buckets that drop water on your head is a favorite. I took so many pictures just trying to get the right shot like I did last week. With my very slow camera shutter speed, I only had a couple of victories.

I wish we would have gone to the splash pad a lot sooner this summer. We have about six more weeks until it closes for the season. I’m sure we’ll go back a couple more times before then.

Here's several pictures to document our day:

I don’t think he knows what’s about to hit him.







The three cousins loved to run through these arches.





Jason and the three kids





I wasn’t sure if I was getting “the shot”, so I took a video to make sure I did.





I tried to get all three kids in a picture, but it didn’t work out. Nicholas doesn't look too thrilled.



Group shot minus Amanda and me.



Walking back to the car



Actually stopped and posed willingly.



Note: Amanda and I really were present even though there is no evidence. Someone had to take all the pictures.

Adios Freedom Car!

So, we’re back to being a one-car family for now. It was fun while it lasted. The reason that we had a car for that week is because my parents were away on an Alaskan cruise. They got back late Monday night though. My mom must have had Nicholas withdrawal because she was here bright and early Tuesday morning to watch Nicholas so that I could go to Bible study. My sister, who originally volunteered to watch him, came too. Nicholas was in heaven and I was able to drive my freedom car one last time. I think you can tell how much we are going to miss it.

We didn’t do anything too exciting this week. Poppy stopped by on Wednesday to “drop something off”. I think that he also had Nicholas withdrawal. They wrestled and played together for quite awhile. I sent Poppy back out the door bruised and battered, and probably exhausted.

Thursday we stayed in all a day. It wasn’t too bad. We had our morning walk and played outside for awhile. It seems that we will soon be transitioning Nicholas from an everyday nap to a rest time. Some days he doesn’t need a nap and other days it is very clear that he does. So, come this fall he will have to go up to his room to rest or play quietly. If he is tired, he’ll take a nap. If not, he will just learn to play quietly by himself. I love him to death, but we both need a rest time apart from each other every day. Without a car and not much square footage to play, it’s just a wise idea.

Today Evan was off from work. What seemed like another headache (everyone recently had their hours reduced for the next few weeks) in our life has turned out okay. Sorry for being so vague, but I’ll be posting more about it later. We did get to go out to lunch with Evan’s parents and our niece, Haley today. Nicholas did pretty well for having to wait a loooooonnnggg time for our food. He was able to make his own ice cream sundae after he ate his lunch, which I think made the waiting more than worth it for him.

Well, I didn’t take any pictures this week, so I asked for Nicholas to pose for me today. He’s much more compliant than he was months ago. The pictures are a little grainy, but that’s the best I can do for this week.













It’s supposed to be another hot weekend. I think another trip to the splash pad is in order. Then, on Sunday, we have our church picnic! I have a feeling the weekend is going to fly by!