Our Thankful Tree

Thankfulness is a big deal to me. I definitely want it to be a big deal to my kids as well. I heard about the "Thankful Tree" several years ago. I finally got my bootie in gear this year and made it happen. I want thankfulness to be a habit around the Evans Home, not just around Thanksgiving. As parents, it is OUR job to teach it, encourage it and model it. It doesn't hurt if there is paint involved too! :)

I know what you're thinking: "WOW! I've never seen purple & blue leaves before!" You guessed it! Shaefer's favorite color is purple so she INSISTED on purple leaves for all of her "thankfuls". And you know Trey, if Shaefer gets purple leaves, then he HAS to have blue ones! I love it!

We had a great time with this craft! I look forward to keeping the leaves each year to see how their "thankfuls" evolve as they grow up.

Most importantly, we are thankful for Jesus! He is our everything!

We are nothing without Him!

Happy Thanksgiving, Y'all!

Thanks Amanda for another AWESOME idea!

Dance & Gymnastics

The kids began their "fall sports" last week at the local rec center. Trey told me he wasn't all that into sports, that he prefers to play with Legos, but he would give gymnastics a try again. He is a funny kid and turns out that he's pretty darn good at gymnastics to boot! Shaefer, on the other hand, has been talking about taking a dance class for AT LEAST 6 months. She is taking ballet and tap and is BEYOND excited to wear her "tappy-tap" shoes!

Trey just got these sunglasses and flip-flops from one of our friends and was determined to wear them to his first class. For some reason he feels the need to flash the peace sign in all of his pictures! :)

I'm pretty sure there is nothing cuter than a 3 year old in her first leotard & dance tights!

Shaefer gave me very specific instructions: "Mommy, take my picture! I'm a dancing princess!"

I'm not sure why I torture myself with attempting to get a decent picture of them together! I think it's every mom's dream! HA!

Even though they were being crazy, this is one of my FAVS of them! That is a sister that LOVES her bubba! I can still hear that laugh...

On the balance beam...

Dismount!

This kid has SO MUCH energy! Love him!

I know you are wondering where the pictures are from Shaefer's class. I was shocked (and sad!) to find out that her class is closed to the parents. We peeked in the little window at her...she was doing GREAT! You better believe I will be snapping pictures like crazy come recital time!

First Day of 2nd Grade

I wanted to share our first day of homeschool with you! We made it! There is a summer-long story behind our decision, but that is for another day!

Today we celebrate with pictures!

Here is our big 2nd grader!

Of course Shaefer Kay had to join in on his big day!

Trey got to choose breakfast... glazed donuts!

Shaefer thoroughly enjoyed her donut holes!

We couldn't get started until they had their morning wrestle!

Here is our school table!

This is the most familiar spot for both of us, so we will start here. I don't expect to spend too many days here as we get more comfortable.

I love the freedom to learn where ever we want to!

Getting ready to begin!

Shaefer LOVED her special spot with her special things!

Gettin' his school on!

We were able to celebrate Trey's big day at his favorite dinner spot: CHILI'S!! It was a great ending to a great day!! Don't get me wrong...it was FAR from perfect. We had 2 tearful breakdowns within the first hour. Overcoming "summer brain" coupled with the adjustment to having mommy as the teacher would probably bring any one of us to tears. The great thing was that I got to be the one to walk him through his frustration. I got to hold him as he cried. We were able to talk it out right then. We were able to move on together. I am excited to see what this year holds for us!

Until next time...

PEACE OUT!!! :)

Curiosity Greased the Girl

One night last week I went grocery shopping so Alf put the kiddos to bed. The next morning I went to wake Shaefer up to take Trey to school. When I turned on the light, I noticed her hair was REALLY greasy. I thought, "My baby girl is WAY too young to have greasy hair!" Alf was in the next room, so I called to him, "Um, babe? What does Shaefer have in her hair?" I hear a chuckle from his computer. He said, "Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you..." (I LOVE when stories start that way!) "I caught Shaefer in the bathroom last night putting medicine in her hair." Awesome! I began to wonder, "Why on earth would she do that?" Then it hit me...she wanted to do her hair like mommy does! :)

Here is what she sees me use on my hair every morning:



And here is what she used:

I must admit...she DID smell nice and minty! Oh how I love my curious girl!