Catch Up

Its summer!  Actually, Summer is nearly over.  I stopped blogging somewhere in the early Spring.  When the garden took over all free time in my life.  My apologies.  But, having just received my 365 Blog Book from 2011 in the mail, I am inspired to pick back up with blogging pictures daily.  The 2011 book from Blurb.com, is AMAZING.  I cannot even describe how wonderful it came out.  What a treasure of memories in photos and words.  Anyway, check back to our 365 blog frequently.  Im hoping to post and catch up!!!

The garden scarecrow apologies...

Soccer and Evan

Its soccer season!  Evan surprised us all this season and told us he wanted to skip baseball and try soccer.  And while we know how good he is at baseball, and wish he were playing, we want him to feel free to experiment with different sports and teams and anything that makes him happy.

Speaking of happy, this little boy was pretty happy today on the fields watching his brother play.  

 Evan had an amazing day.  He scored two goals.  He was out there enthusiastic and energetic and dare I say, even a bit aggressive.  If you know Evan, you wouldn't necessarily characterize him as aggressive, yet, there he was lunging and running after the ball, irregardless of the other kids who were bigger!  I was so proud of him.

G is the coach and Justin was out there as a helper.  It was wonderful to see my family enjoying a nice sunny Spring day, getting some exercise and having some fun, carefree.

Things have been a bit intense for Evan at the moment.  Due to some issues he was having with his feet, we brought him back to physical therapy and he had an evaluation.  The therapist found some issues related to his hips and also his ankle muscles.  The combination of these things has put him back into therapy once a week again.  Its disappointing to Evan, who told me, "But, I graduated from here" when I told him we were going back.  Things change, kids grow, new challenges crop up.  This is life.  The physical therapist was confident that Evan will overcome these new challenges, she told me that above all else, Evan is a hard worker and his prognosis is great.

The sheer amount of commitments is what is demanding, aside from physical therapy Evan has weekly speech and occupational therapy.  I try not to let things get too overwhelming, hurrying from school to appointments and such.  I also try and keep things light and the therapists do their best to keep things fun.  Evan is getting older and he understands that not all his friends have therapies like he does.  But, we talk a lot about how differences in people make the world interesting.  How weaknesses make you stronger and appreciative.  Evan really gets this, at his young age, he has such a healthy perspective on his unique self.  It makes me feel so hopeful for him and his future and the wonderful man he is growing up to become.

On the heels of all this comes a big specialist appointment in the city, referred to by our primary care physician.  We are meeting this week with a cranial facial team to have a complete evaluation done on Evan's head/face/pallet structure.  The appointment and its implications has been weighing heavily on my mind lately.     I can't change what is, and can only hope to leave the appointment armed with more useful information than I came in with.

Don't Forget! The 365 Blog

http://2013365ourlives.blogspot.com/

Dont forget to check out our 365 blog where I attempt to keep daily updates of photos of our lives.

Happy Birthday Evan!

Evan turned 7 earlier this month.  We celebrated with a Minecraft themed party.  A very huge thanks to my mom who made this fabulous Minecraft cake for Evan.  I wish I would have captured his face seeing the cake for the first time.  He LOVED it.

It really was spectacular.  The entire thing was 100% edible. 

There were also Minecraft gifts and cards, made by moi.

Evan got an awesome Minecraft shirt from his Nana and Pa.

Blowing out his candles.

 Eating a pig.

I made Evan this special blanket for his bed.  Of course it was Minecraft themed!  I crocheted each of the squares of green and black and pieced it together.  I finished just in the nick of time, after many, many, many hours of work.  He has been sleeping wrapped up in it every night.

I can hardly fathom the fact that Evan is 7 years old.  Wasn't he just born?  It cant be possible, and yet here he is, 7 years old.  A wonderful, sweet, smart, funny, kind, compassionate, not-so-little-anymore, boy.

This year his actual birthday was a school day, and he wanted to bring in something special to share with his classmates to celebrate his birthday.  He thought ALOT about it and decided on cake pops.  I have actually never made a cake pop before, so this was surprising and a challenge for me.  Needless to say, I was up until past 10pm the night before his birthday making 20 cake pops for him and his classmates.  They wound up coming out really great and Evan was so proud to bring them in the next day.  Definitely worth all the effort!

Something very special this year is that Evan has a classmate who was also born the same day, in the same hospital, only hours separating them!  I have known his mom since the kids were little, and this year they wound up in the same class.  It was really special for Evan to have a friend to celebrate with.  What are the chances of meeting someone born on the same day, in the same hospital as you?  And then being their classmate?!  Very cool.

Happy New Year!!!

There is something so promising about the new year.  Like freshly fallen snow, white and pure, awaiting a path of footprints across it.  A new year holds hopes and dreams and possibilities.  Will you dance across your year, creating a waltz of footprints?  Will you circle methodically?  Will you race?  Plod?  Sled perhaps?

Our family has many goals and plans, hopes and dreams for the year.  You can follow them here throughout the year.  You can also follow our new 365 blog:

http://2013365ourlives.blogspot.com/

A picture a day.  To be turned into a photo book of memories of our family over the course of 2013.

Our wish for all our friends and family is a happy, healthy 2013 filled with love, laughter and peace.

Celebrating - Gingerbread Houses

The magic of Christmas is in the celebration of the season and the traditions interwoven into the preparations leading up to the big day.  Every year since Justin was a baby we have been making gingerbread houses.  We make them shortly after the calendar turns to December and the kids are allowed to eat them on my mom's birthday.  

This year we invited my cousin and his son Andrew over for the fun.  And was it ever fun!!!

Here is the dining room table set up with the houses (Andrew brought his own house over) and candy waiting for four boys to set to work.

 A house fresh with possibilities.

 The boys begin.

 Nathan was surprisingly good at decorating his house.

 Andrew with a smile.

 Justin with a smile.

 And a laugh.

 Evan with a fist and mouth full of candy.  Its too good to resist while you decorate.

 Scott and Andrew.

 Little decorating hands.

 The completed projects.

We are Back! Prepare for an Overload of Cuteness!

I finished my 365 book from 2011, just in time for 2013!  Better late than never.  The blog turned into a 221 page photo book that is being published as we speak.  It came out so fabulous.  And although it was an enormous amount of work, I am so inspired by the finished product that Im going to do it again!  For 2013.  Keep an eye out for that link coming in the next few days!  Ill post it here!  

The other good news is that Ive deleted the old blog so I have memory space again!  Here is an overload of cuteness from Nathan's 3 year old photo session he did in November.  

Unbearably cute right?!