The next Tiger???

I was looking for a phone number in my hubby's cell phone just the other day and I started browsing through the photos he had on there. Not for anything in particular mind you, but I was pretty sure he had some pics of Evan that I didn't and if he does I always send them to my email when I find them for scrapbooking. Sure enough...he had several from the times when they had gone to hit golf balls. I'm no expert, but Evan truly looks like he has some clue as to what he's doing!lol I say again...I'm no expert! I just wanted to share these with you so you could be judge. Even if he's not the next Tiger, they're gonna be adorable additions to my scrapbook!

Keepin' cool in Californ-i-a

We spent the day at Gramma and Grandad's house yesterday and as you can only imagine, with the triple digit temps we've been having here in the valley, the better part of the afternoon was spent playing in the pool. Evan had to seize this opportunity to show us all he had been learning in his swim lessons. He's alot more confident than he was when he started for sure. At one point, he was sitting on the side of a swimring and got a little carried away playing and actually fell off backwards into the water. Typically, he would have freaked out but he was surprisingly calm about it and seemed fine other than "getting water up his stupid nose" as he put it. He's doing well trying to float on his back, just needs to get his feet up a bit more. He started jumping off the side of the pool and has figured out how to quickly make his way back to the surface and swim to the side. One of the most important things for us in taking the swim lessons to start with was to teach him how to get back to the side of the pool if by chance he fell in and he proved without a doubt he can do that now. I'm very proud of his progress and hope to see how well he continues to do in the upcoming session of swim lessons. I'll keep you posted!!

Evan, Matt(Gramma's neighbor), and cousin Josh

Who says a crocodile can't read scripture?!

Evan had a busy week this week...between karate, swim lessons and Vacation Bible School at church he was spread pretty thin! He enjoyed it regardless, having a great time at church. The Crocodile Dock theme was a huge hit with the kids! The program seemed to really get them involved and interested in learning about more than just fun! Friday, he brought along Natalie and Dominic and because he brought friends, he got to sit in the special seat on stage and have a Slurpee...he loved that no doubt! The most surprising thing I think for me was when on the way home after VBS yesterday, he told me, "Mom I can't wait to go to Heaven.". I was kind of taken by his words, and asked him why and he proceeded to tell me because he thinks it will fun to be with Jesus. These are amazing words to be coming from my child, to hear that he has a better understanding of the concept of Heaven than I give him credit for was really touching. I have to take a moment and thank all of the volunteers that helped to pull this off for our kids, without you, I know it wouldn't have been possible! You all did an amazing job and I can't tell you how much it means to me that you would give so freely of your time to help teach our kids of the most important lessons of all! God bless you!
Dominic, Natalie and Evan

He finally did it!!

Tying Shoes
By Sharon MacDonald

My fingers don't know how
To weave two strings about.
There must be some magic
To make a bow come out.
Everyone has shown me where
The skinny strings should go.
In a week or two, I'll learn to tie
But for now - I'll use Velcro.

No more using velcro for my little boy!! Wooohooo! This one was on the very top of our list of things to learn to do this summer and we kept going back to it. It took ME about 3 times trying with him before I had daddy give it a go and what do you know...less than half an hour later, he had it. He started tying all the shoes in the shoe closet, seeing if it would be harder with a longer string or a shorter one...he was on a mission! We are so proud and so is he! That smile on his face when he realized he had it was absolutely priceless! Way to go Evan, mommy is sooooo happy for you sweetie!!

Photo courtesy of http://lorajeangudmundsenphotography.blogspot.com/

Swimming lessons are going swimmingly:)

One thing Evan could never be accused of is being a fish. Don't get me wrong, he loves the water as much as any other little kid his age. He can get in the pool and splash around and stuff with the best of em. He's even finally figured out how to get his little legs behind him to make himself go instead of just underneath him. Even though that is all good the only problem at this point is he still cannot stand to get his face wet. He used to be playing around in the pool and he would get out, go to the nearest towel and dry his face off and get back into the pool. That's what we are hoping to get him past with his swim lessons...just to get him used to the idea of actually having water ON his face! He asked me, "What if I drown?"! I told him, "You have the man teaching you RIGHT there with you. There's a lifeguard that walks the side of the pool when you guys are in your lessons. I don't even need to mention the 20 or so parents who are sitting poolside watching their own little kiddos and would be there at a moments notice to help you if something should happen!" I understand his fear, I really do. When I was young, the way I learned how to swim...and I'll never forget this mind you...my Uncle Doug...love the man like a father I do...he took me and my sister and my cousins out to this creek and he swam out to the middle of it with me and looked at me square in the face and said "You've gotta sink or swim." and let go of me. Now, I can swim just fine, but mercy, I can't imagine teaching Evan to swim that way! At any rate, he's doing very well and though he's only been for 4 lessons, we've noticed some improvement. He will most likely attend for another session though as the sessions are only for 2 weeks. The YMCA is actually very reasonable, too, more so than the private swim lessons he took a few years ago. By the end of those lessons, he was no better off than he was when he started and they were waaaay more costly! Those lessons were one on one as well, so he actually should've done better! Anyway....enough of my rambling! Just wanted to share some photos of the little monster!!

My Little Karate Kid

We are so proud of him! He's worked hard the last two months and finally earned his yellow belt! The test was last night and we were looking forward to seeing him show his stuff. He's gotten pretty good, but admittedly still needs practice. For anyone who might not know, the orange stripe represents the next color belt he's working on. The whole thing was very ceremonial...the kids had to be spot on with all of the movements and even what they said...it's very disciplined which is another reason we are so proud of him...to see him show such control is almost shocking! Anyway...I'll have better photos to post soon.:)

(Master Randall Flaherty)

Father's Day in Monterey

For Father's Day we took a much needed 'vacation'...just a little weekend getaway for the three of us. We went to Monterey on Saturday and stayed the night, spent the day at the aquarium on Sunday. It was a first for Evan and I'd say he really enjoyed himself. We spent a little time at the beach before heading home and he was terrified of the water! It was actually kinda funny...heehee. We got some beautiful photos while at the aquarium which will surely make for some great scrapbooking! Anyway...I just wanted to say that I'm very thankful for the wonderful husband that I have and even more thankful that he is such an amazing father to my son. I love you Shaun and I hope to share many more 'Days' with you...Father's Day, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day...any holi-day at all! Love you sweetie! Happy belated Father's Day!

Rain, rain go away...

I came across this photo of Evan that I took about a month or so ago. I absolutely love the way it turned out. He's such a photogenic kid and usually in a hurry to turn on the cheeses for the camera. I think we were both in a state of shock that it was raining in May here...not a usual thing for us! Anyway, just wanted to share it!

He's going in for the pretest for his karate tomorrow. He's excited but not half as excited as his dad and I. I'm sure he'll do well.:) Off to play...chat later!

Been awhile....again!

Ok, ok, I know....I'm a busy woman, what can I say! Well...let's see....

Evan is now officially a 2nd grader...he turned out a great report card for his last trimester, we were so proud of the little guy. His friend and our neighbors finally did move less than a month ago. We were so sad to see them go and it was alot harder on Evan than we thought it was going to be but he's doing better now. He starts summer school tomorrow. The teacher said he didn't need to go but because of his IEP he got an invite anyway. We figured we may as well take advantage of it, if for no other reason to keep him on top of things. He's also taken up karate...that's going on 2 months now. He'll actually be testing for his yellow belt at the end of the month are we are super excited about that! Shaun is planning to start going as well. He went once for a trial class and loved it so now I'm gonna have all the security I need when we all go out!lol Shaun is doing well. He's coming up on his 11th anniversary at Graniterock. Yes I know, I can hardly believe it myself! To think he's put up with that stinkin' 180 mile roundtrip commute for that long just to allow me to stay at home with Evan means so much to me. It's also hopefully going to be the reason that we are finally going to be able to get a house! Well, that and the fact that the housing market here in CA has nearly hit rock bottom! We have been steadily getting ready for it and the day can't come soon enough that we'll be able to put in the app for a loan! Anyway...enough for now! I will write more later...I know, I know...empty promises are useless!lol

Evan's newest passion

It just goes to show you how hard a child will work to get something they really want! All he knew was that we were going to get to do something on Saturday night if he passed his 5-A Mad Minute last week and he did. Seemed like he was really stuck on it but he did it. We went bowling with our neighbor and her little girl. We have gotten to be really good frieInds since the beginning of the school year when we decided to carpool because the kids are in the same class. Evan is going to miss Amanda dearly when they move back to Nevada in the spring. I'll miss them, too.:( As for the bowling...for his very first game ever, he did great! He scored a 74...I only got an 81 so he was keeping up with me pretty well! We'll be going back again soon as that's all he can talk about now!lol I'm glad to have him interest in something besides a video game for once!