Responsibility

We have traveled down the road of contact lenses with Evan.

Yes, he's only 10.
Yes, he's a boy.
Yes, we're gluttons for punishment.

After careful consideration a momentary lapse of judgment, we decided that with the amount of sports Evan plays, we should consider trying contacts.  He can't exactly wear his glasses on the wrestling mat.  SO, a trip to the eye doctor, a contact lens fitting, and 3 [yes, I said 3] lenses later, we are on a roll.

He can wear a regular old disposable lens in one eye, but the other eye...not so much.

Astigmatism = Lots of $ and a really thick weighted lens [BOO!]

Thank goodness the ripped lens was the cheaper version - and it happened on only day 2.  Evan has gotten really good at taking his lenses out but mom still needs to help him get them in.  The eye doctor told me I was enabling him.  Oh, well.  I will pick my battles.

And tonight while sitting in front of my computer, I had a brief moment of panic that Evan went to bed with his contacts in.  I flew upstairs imagining him rubbing his eyes in his sleep and scratching his cornea, or worse yet, ripping the uber-expensive lens.

I flipped on his light and woke him up.  Only to find out that my 10 year old son was responsible enough to remember to take the lenses out and put them safely away in their case all. by. himself!

My little boy is growing up [sniff...sniff...]

Now if I could just get him to pick up his dirty clothes off the bathroom floor and his wet towel off his bedroom rug, we'd be all set...

Evan's Phillies Room (from 2011)

This post is two years past due, but that's okay, because I still think it's worth sharing. All three boys shared a room [their choice] until three years ago when Evan decided he was old enough - at 8 - for his own room.  We agreed and decided that the old nursery would be perfect.  It was being used as an extra playroom for the boys [because they needed two??] and it was time.  

Evan decided he wanted a Phillies room, so that's what we did...

We had to work with the white wainscoting around 3 of the 4 walls because we CERTAINLY weren't ripping that down after Mark installed it for the nursery decor.  I hated painting over the alphabet and star border that I had so lovingly painted along the top of the ledge, but if you look ever so closely, you can still make out a letter or two under the fresh coat of Phillies blue paint [and I sanded them, too!]  

I knew I wanted to incorporate an interactive scoreboard in the room.  I searched high and low for something to purchase online.  Everything I found was too small, too large, too expensive, not right, so I decided to create my own.  Mark helped put together the templates and then brought home a projector so that I could tape it out on the wall.  First I painted a large white square.  Then, I projected the outline of the scoreboard and taped it off with painter's tape before giving it two coats of green.  

The kids had fun helping pull off the painters tape to reveal the white lines underneath.

Then, I cut out numbers and words on my Cricut and used the negative space as stencils to fill in the numbers and words.  I also purchased cheap plastic green pocket folders and white number stickers.  I  cut the folders into green rectangles to fit the scoreboard squares and assigned the numbers.  I plan on adhering velcro dots to the wall and to the back of each number so that Evan can change the score as he  watches or listens to the games. [I don't have a pic of the number cards so I'll have to update once I get this part done - hey, it's only been two years!!!!]

I projected the Phillies logo and Phillies 'P 'onto the wall to trace them out and then painted them.

I had these 12 x 12 canvases [doesn't everyone have them laying around? Oh, wait - that's just me...].  I decided to make some quick personalized art accents using paint and some scrapbooking supplies I had around.  I really love how these turned out!

This desk has a story behind it.  It was passed down from my parents' house so it had a few coats of paint on it and it was pretty banged up.  I wish I had a BEFORE pic of it, because it was bad.  I sanded it and painted it dark blue.  The top had some weird thing on it that showed through the paint, so Mark decided to sand it down again and repaint it.  Except when he sanded it down, we saw this beautiful wood top and I had the brilliant idea to make it look like a wooden bat on the top and leave the rest painted.  Mark remembers this story VERY differently and claims that it was his brilliant idea to do that.  I'm just setting the record straight, people!!!!!

I will give Mark all the credit for working up the Louisville Slugger stencil on the computer and finishing off the top to look AMAZING!  I really think that's what makes the room complete.  He even put Evan's birth year on the "bat" - 2003.  Love it!!

This was Evan's very first night in his new bedroom.  I think he loves it, too! 

Goodbye, Hello

Today marked the end of the boys' school year.  I feel like every year goes faster and faster.  Other moms tried to warn me back when I was a harried mom of three children ages 3 and under that these boys would start growing and that I'd miss those little people pulling at my legs and throwing fits in stores.  I don't know that I miss all that fun stuff, but I sure do agree that life is flying by and my boys need to stop growing up so quickly.  

We celebrated with our 2nd Annual Jumping Off The Couches 'School's Out For Summer' Dance Party when the boys came home.  

Don't tell anyone, but I think I look forward to this tradition more than they do-hee-hee!  

Goodbye Kindergarten, Hello 1st Grade!

Goodbye 2nd Grade, Hello 3rd!

Goodbye 4th Grade, Hello 5th!

Mustache Party

I really don't know when or where my obsession infatuation with mustaches began.

Looking back at some of my old blog posts,

there's this post about our family talent show act dancing with stick-on mustaches to the Funky Monkeys' song "Mustache."

And this post with my boys' green smoothie mustaches.

And this post with Ryan in full mustache and eyebrows.

I think you get the idea.

April 2013 marked a pretty big milestone in Evan's life ~ he turned 10 years old!  Double digits!  I cannot even believe it's been 10 years since we were blessed with our first....

Anyway....what better way to celebrate than to have a Mustache Party?!?

It was just our family, so I knew I could be goofy.  They don't expect anything less.

I downloaded and cut out these great mustaches that I used to string from the ceiling to the half wall between the family room and kitchen.  This photo makes them look a little like bats, but in real life, they  were pretty cool.

I also used these mustaches to adorn our photos hanging on the wall.

There was a mustache cake.  Yes, you must turn your head to view.  For some reason, this pic didn't stay rotated in the upload??

And straws with mustaches.

Oh, and of course, EVERYONE had to put on a mustache at the start of the party.

I stole this idea from my niece's 1st birthday party (thanks, Kim!).  I tried to find photos of Evan from every year since his first birthday and strung them up on a clothesline along the mantle.  It was a fun trip down memory lane and makes me realize how quickly my first baby is growing up!  

you know you're getting old...

when you have to explain to your 8 year old what a phone booth is.

That's just crazy!

hey, lloyd!

Remember Lloyd Christmas from the movie Dumb and Dumber?

That's what Mark has started calling Evan this week. 

Not because he's dumb [although that's debatable in this circumstance!].

No, it's because HE. CUT. HIS. HAIR.
 

Apparently, he did not learn this lesson
when Ryan massacred his own head.

Twice.

Nope, we must learn the hard way around here.

And even though Evan thinks it looks good,
we're still gooping him up
and trying to mask the ridiculousness
 until we can get him in for a haircut.

Note to self:

Hide the scissors!

it's great to be eight!

I cannot believe my first-born is eight years old today.....
well, not officially until 8:47 p.m., but still. 
Where does the time go?
It flies, that's for sure!

It's hard to believe this big second grader was once a 10 lb 5 oz (!!) newborn babe!

Evan celebrated being eight by taking Rice Krispie treats to school. 
Then, for dinner, he requested chicken pockets
followed by blueberry coffee cake with strawberry ice cream. 
Yum-o!

Here are some facts about our BIG 8 year old...

Number of missing teeth: 7

Number of Happy Birthday calls received today: 4

And a list of favorites....

sport: baseball and football

book: Curious George

movie: Megamind

TV show: Phineas & Ferb

food: chicken nuggets & mac & cheese

color: blue

teams: Phillies & Eagles

outside activity: playing baseball

Wii game: Super Mario Brothers

Evan, mom and dad are very proud of the smart, thoughtful boy you have grown up to be. 

We pray that you continue to grow into the young man God imagined you'd be way before you were even born. 

We love you higher than the sky!

Happy Birthday, Monkeyhead!

Meet.....SUPER TUTOR!

So, February marks the end of the second marking period in these parts,

 bringing report cards and parent/teacher conferences. 

 Ryan received his very first report card, which was amazing!

And it was no surprise to us how well Evan did either.

I met with Evan's teacher who told me

how bright she believes he is,

how quickly he finishes his work,

how everyone just LOVES him.

I was so proud of him hearing all

these wonderful things.

After all, Mark and I must be doing something right...

And then,

[I should have known it was coming -

heck, I'm a teacher - you tell all the positive things first

and then BAM! hit them with the

"needs improvement" items]

she told me that Evan needs to

work on listening the first time when she redirects him,

work on not trying to be the funny guy

[he gets that from his father, of course],

and work on being a leader, not a follower.

None of this was really much of a surprise,

but we did discuss ways that we would try to

give Evan more opportunities to be a good example

and a leader, because he feeds on praise.

When I came home, Mark and I sat down with Evan

and talked about his school behavior.

I told him his teacher would be asking him to help

 other students who need help with math or reading,

kind of like a tutor.

Then, one of us said he could be like a super hero -

SUPER TUTOR!

And of course, being the mom of boys that I am,

made a 'toot' sound

and

SUPER 'TOOTER'

was born.

Evan LOVED the idea

and since the conference,

his behavior has been

EXCELLENT!

Let's hope SUPER TOOTER continues to make good choices!!

wordless wednesday

our very own jack o'lantern

Evan lost his second tooth in as many weeks this past Friday. He is our very own resident jack o'lantern. Good thing, too, since we didn't get around to carving one this year ~ hahaha!

And by the way, the new but apparently not much improved tooth fairy almost blew it again.

Lucky for her, trying to wake Evan up in the morning is like trying to wake a hibernating bear and she was able to buy some time.

We've hired her only on a trial basis.

i fired the tooth fairy

Evan lost his third tooth this week. We were play-wrestling [READ: mommy was trying to snag a hug] one day after school and he yelled, "Stop!", stood up, and spit his tooth out. Now his tooth was loose, but this still was kind of a shock for me.

The night he lost it, we both completely forgot to put it under the pillow for the tooth fairy. So on Thursday night, I made a point of remembering to put it in the pocket of the little tooth pillow my mom made him and placing it alongside of his pillow after I kissed him goodnight.

Fast forward to the boys' 6:45 a.m. wake-up call.

Evan, who is normally as hard to wake as a hibernating bear, pops up from his pillow to check his tooth pillow. And....the. tooth. is. still. there.

Mommy, who is normally not quick on her feet, literally or figuratively, declares, "That's IT! I'm calling the tooth fairy! I can't believe she FORGOT to take your tooth! I'm going downstairs to call her right now and telling her she's fired!!"

I took the tooth pillow downstairs, pretended to make a phone call, and switched out the tooth for DOUBLE the monetary gift [READ: guilt offering].

I returned the tooth pillow to Evan and told him the tooth fairy was fired. Not sure if he totally bought it, but he smiled.

Crisis averted.

What will we do upon the next lost tooth?

Hire a new tooth fairy, of course.

She better tie a string around her finger or set her Blackberry alarm or something...

scrappy share

Supplies: Patterned paper, October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket;

Paper edgers, Colorbok; Chipboard button, Scenic Route;

Thickers, American Crafts.

I LOVE this layout of Evan! It captures his funny personality and humor so well. The photo was taken when he was only three and I scrapped it a while ago, but I still like it.

quote of the week

From Evan:

I'm feeling pale.

chores, chores, chores

For the past few weeks, Evan has been begging us relentlessly to give him an allowance. And being the good parents that we are, we're going to make him work for it ~ hee, hee!

Hence, the traditional chore chart. I actually started this project for Evan a few years ago and never finished it because I was afraid to draw the pictures for the chores. Well, I dove in headfirst Tuesday and sketched them out in pencil first and then once I was satisfied, I went over them with a gray marker.

The base of this is a square magnetic board that I bought at Walmart for about $7. The star magnets are wooden stars that we painted (yes, Ryan 'helped' me) and then glued button magnets on the backside. The alien stickers I had purchased on the clearance rack for a $1 at Michael's way back ~ they are SandyLion brand ~ isn't that alien just the cutest??


Here's the chart before the chores are finished:




And as he finishes each chore, he moves the stars to cover them. Here's an after shot:




And here's a close-up of one of his chores.

Supplies: Magnet board, Walmart; Gray pp, Unknown; Green pp, Scenic Route;

Paper rocket ship, Basic Grey; Ribbon, Cosmo Cricket; White letter stickers, American Crafts;

Metal letters, We R Memory Keepers; Mini blue letter stickers, Making Memories:

Alien stickers, SandyLion; Wood stars, paint, and magnets, Other.

Each chore must be completed everyday, with the exception of wiping down the bathroom and taking out the trash ~ those are once a week jobs. If Evan works hard, he can earn a whopping $2 a week! Multiply that by 52 weeks and he'll earn over $100 in a year! Not bad for a 7 year old!

I'll keep you posted on how this goes...

tomorrow

Mark asked the boys to help him clean up our unfinished basement recently.

The ensuing conversation:

Evan: Dad, let's get cracking on that basement!

Mark: Buddy, we don't have time to start that today. We can do it tomorrow.

Evan: You always say tomorrow, but that day never comes.

Needless to say, Mark and I laughed out loud at this one.

so long, first grade

My 7(!) year old had his last day of first grade today!

Where does the time go?????

His teacher celebrated by treating the class to a pizza lunch followed by water ice for dessert. Isn't that nice?

Nice...

Yeah.
So today Evan had this clutched in his hand
when I picked up the boys after work.

Where does an almost 7 year old 1st grader
come across such large funds, you might ask?

From his girlfriend, Emily, at school
who calls him "Honey"
and "loves him."


ummmmm.....WHAT?!?

Either our son is quite a smooth talker or EMILY is a little hussy.

Miss Emily, I'm sure you're a really nice girl,
but kindly keep your hands off my son
and your money in your piggy bank.
Thank you.

Wordless Wednesday

Backseat Banter

On the way to drop off the kids the other morning, this conversation occurred:

E: Mom, when we get up there on the road, I want to show you something funny.

R: What is it? Is a chicken crossing the road?

Made me laugh out loud :)

Pumpkin Carving

In between taking temperatures, dolling out doses of Tylenol and Motrin, and amidst the chorus of coughing in our house, we decided to carve pumpkins on Saturday night.

Daddy carved one.

Evan and Ryan cleaned theirs out

and then told Mommy what they wanted.

Nathan was content to just hang out. I think at one point,

he even left the kitchen to go "read" books on the couch.

The boy LOVES to read :)

Anyway, we told the boys to get newspaper out of the recycling box to cover the table before we started. Evan comes running back from the laundry room with some school papers I'd recycled.

[I'm trying to be much more efficient w/paperwork this year ~ only saving the really great stuff ~ as I still have stacks of papers from Evan's preschool AND kindergarten upstairs waiting to be sorted through ~ ugh!]

The ensuing conversation...

E: Hey, who threw these away?

M: I did. I'm only saving the really great things you bring home. I can't save every single math paper you do in first grade.

E: But I worked really hard on this....I had to use all my fingers.