3rd Birthday and Gray Hair

Evan turned 3 on May 18th (no, he isn't the one graying), and we celebrated for two straight days. On Friday the birthday extravaganza began with a mommy and Evan special breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. He was too excited for words! 

Later that afternoon, David and I joined E at school with his classmates for their afternoon snack. We brought goldfish crackers (per Evan's request) and David read books to the kids. It was priceless. His rendition of "There's No Such Thing as Monsters" will go down in infamy.

The next morning, we were joined by many of our friends and family members for Evan's party. We had it at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham and it was awesome! The kids got to play in the party room with legos and play doh and we ate lots of cake before 11am. I'm sure that last bit of info made all of the parents happy:)

I thought this construction site photo 'booth' would be hilarious for the kids. Evan was the only one that even put his face in it for a photo op. Figures.

My dad got in on the action though, which made the $9.95 I spent on this thing completely worth the money. 

Since the kids were clearly not interested in the kodak moments provided by this fine birthday party accessory, I forced my co-workers and dear friends to give it a shot. They are such troopers! We all teach middle school, so honestly, this is not even CLOSE to the most ridiculous and embarrassing thing we've done. Not. Even. Close. 

Construction worker Amy:) She's an Assistant Principal now- I wonder what her teachers would give to have this as her yearbook photo.

One of our 6th grade social studies teachers (and my boss, as Athletic Director) Johnny even took a turn. I am 100% sure I'll be working every late basketball game for the next 5 years as a result of sharing this...

and his ADORABLE wife Claire:) who teaches 8th grade math. I work with such fun people!!!

To fit the construction theme, I jazzed up a cake.

 I ordered a basic cake from Target and added the construction treasures (I ordered them from Amazon). Note to self: don't assume that just because you pay for a cake with a message that the person writing said message can do it better than you can. Next year? I'm tackling this on my own.

On the way home from his party, E was perusing some construction related materials and sporting his hard hat.

And, probably my favorite birthday photo of them all - E wearing "ALL the stickers" as he likes to say:) sans pants:) while shooting his bubble gun. How much do you love those knobby little knees and his shorts tan line?

We've had Evan's birthday photos made each year by our dear friend Carrie Richardson Fry. She's also the one who took our 'welcome home' photos of E when he was about 6 weeks old, photographed his baptism, and has taken the photos for our Christmas cards since 2010. This is one of my favorites from the session. Isn't he handsome? He decided, during the photo shoot, that he needed to add a bit of GQ to the session, so he spread himself across a bench and requested that Carrie take a few photos. I thought I would die. Such a ham. 

Richardson Fry Photography

This one is sweet as can be but it just. about. did. us. all. in. to get it! Poor little E had a hard time balancing those 3 blocks on his hands at the same time. I think we reset them about 4,327 times before they stayed put long enough for Carrie to get a shot of him smiling. It was so worth it. 

 Richardson Fry Photography

It is this adorable 3 year old little ham and his priceless antics that may or may not have caused THIS:

I always thought that gray hair made people look distinguished. Old people. People who had lived long lives and accomplished all sorts of amazing and noteworthy things- like the Nobel Peace Prize. I have a slightly different opinion of gray hair currently, and I have declared war. This fella didn't stand a chance. His friends need to get the message: I am not old enough to have gray hair. I see several boxes of at home hair color that claims to 'take care of gray naturally' in my future. I'm going to take my gray hair and my ancient self and go have a cup of tea. And watch Jeopardy. And Wheel of Fortune. And get to bed before the sun. Isn't that what old folks do?

The Worst Blogger Award Goes To...

Me. Apparently I am the winner. It is a landslide victory really. No competitors.

Not to make excuses, but Facebook is SO much easier! However, according to my dad, Facebook is the root of all evil. Although I initially laughed at this statement, I am beginning to think there is some truth to it. Recently I saw that photos of Evan were being used in Facebook advertising. He is adorable :) so I can see the reasoning behind it, but as a mom it made me a bit uncomfortable. We haven't done anything rash like remove all photos of E from Facebook or anything, but it is making me think twice as I post new photos from time to time.

Perhaps this is the motivation I need to get back into blogging.

Ha.

I say that as if I was ever a reliable blogger.

Nonetheless, E has a way of drawing people in. I don't know if it is the remarkable story of the way he became part of our family, or the fact that we are simply blessed with a support system of people that love us, but folks are thrilled to see updated photos of him and hear funny Evan stories. He is a ham, that one. So, I will once again make the statement that I'm going to attempt to blog more regularly. No promises though, my credibility is shot as it is. No sense in adding to it. Sigh.

If we are friends on Facebook (or, The Facebook, as some older folks are known to say...) you've already seen this photo, but I thought it was just too adorable not to share. E said "Ta-da!" when I asked him if I could take his picture Easter morning. He felt as if a performance was necessary. Yes, I do realize he is wearing knee socks and saddle shoes. Much to David's dismay, I may add. I. Love. It. He is adorable. He won't let me dress him like this for much longer, so I have to take advantage while I can. There are years and years of cartoon character shirts and gym shorts in his future as a boy, so I'm savoring these last few opportunities to dress him like a sweet little man.

This pic is from Touch-a-Truck in Chapel Hill. Grandad went with us and E was OVER. THE. MOON. He was able to crawl in a dump truck and countless other trucks and pieces of construction and fire/rescue equipment. He also LOVED the bus. Yes, the bus. Public transportation. That's what the picture below is from- E is looking out the window of a Chapel Hill bus. It reminds me of our trip to DC last year. I took Evan to see my brother and sister-in-law over Spring Break. They lived a quick bus ride from the Pentagon at the time, and we rode the bus in to the metro stop there daily to sightsee in and around the city. E was more fascinated with the bus ride than ANY of the things we saw or did while we were there. As a matter of fact, he fell asleep at the zoo and asked to leave the aquarium before we even rounded the first corner. Maybe E is a city dweller at heart, as is evidenced by his love for public busses.

E just started in his 3 year old room at school on Monday of this week. He was so excited to meet his new teachers and new friends. It melted my heart to hear him talk about how much fun he would have. This is the end-of-year gift from his 2 year old teachers. We love Val (or 'Bal" as E calls her), Wendy and Katie like they are members of the family. E had such a fantastic year with them- we are so happy that he loves school so much!

He is such a sweet boy with such a good heart. We pray with him each night as we're putting him to bed and he prays for each of our extended family members by name- sometimes including their pets! He has even started filling in words to the Hail Mary. He always mentions his teachers and his friends and even prays for people he met throughout the day. A few weeks ago he prayed for a man he met at the grocery store! Such an innocent heart- I hope it stays that way as he grows. We've begun thinking a bit about kindergarten options and I can't help but think about the possibility of sending him to a Catholic school in the area where this part of him will be fostered and supported. I know that as his parents we are his first teachers of the faith, but I had such a wonderful experience teaching at a Catholic school a few years ago and I know that it would be an amazing opportunity for E too.

There is so much more to share, but let's be honest - photos of E are much better than sentences describing him. So, here goes...

 E has developed a love for Oreos. Go ahead and submit my mother of the year nomination now. He apparently felt the need to craw inside the bag to make sure he hadn't missed any.

David - who is seriously the best dad ever (besides my dad and his dad) takes E to the pool all the time so he can swim and I can work on readings and assignments for graduate school. E definitely takes after his daddy and is a Parkwood Piranha in training- he loves to be in the water and his new Buzz LightYear goggles have been a huge help. When he used them for the first time, he came up from being underwater and said (loudly) "Daddy, I can see your body!" The lifeguard thought this was hilarious:)

E and I went to Clinton for the 4th and he slept right through the fireworks with his Grandad. He worships my dad and melts my heart to see them together.

They even did a bit of yardwork during our visit. E was tons of help, I am sure. I remember watching my brother ride with my dad when he was little. So sweet!


While I was in grad school last month, Dave and E went to the beach with my in-laws for a week. It was so hard to be away from him, but he had a blast! Here he is watching cartoons with his cousin Logan

He did some seashell gathering as well...

 

This is the one he found for me. Daddy helped him write in it. I may or may not have cried a bit. 

 Look at my two handsome men. I am so blessed.

E worships his Grandpa Myers too- there is something about this grandbaby that these two men cannot get enough of! Here John and E are enjoying a boys only breakfast on the deck while at the beach.

 My sweet boy loves his Grandpa!

Maybe this post is the start of a more regular blogging habit. We'll see!