Rediscovering Crayons

Evan has rediscovered Crayons. And markers. And drawing. We have one wall in our kitchen that is covered in art from Evan (and a bit from Mark & Jack, too). I need to remember to take a picture of our art wall. It's pretty cool.



Evan likes to make hills & roads, and draw cars on those roads. He also likes to draw the four of us together, in our home. He is such a sweet boy.



This one is a little crazy with the Crayons. But he loves to do anything his big brother is doing, including coloring. He is great at scribbling on the paper (and on the table). And he loves to color his legs with markers. We have to watch Jack very closely when he is coloring because he also likes to eat Crayons. Silly boy.

Capturing Today.

Jack's appointment went really well on Thursday. The Orthopedist didn't see any abnormalities, and doesn't think there is anything physically wrong with Jack that would keep him from walking. So... we wait and see. We have another appointment in a couple of months if he still isn't walking. The Dr. seemed to think that Jack would get up and walk any day now, and I hope he's right.

I have a layout to share today. This was a quick page Ali Edwards posted on the Shutterfly website a few months ago, and I love the floral paper & the title:


[Supplies: Quick Page- Ali Edwards for Shutterfly. Staples- Karla Dudley Designs.]

Have a wonderful weekend. We are enjoying the last few weeks of summer :-)

xoxo,

Erin.

Updates.

A lot of changes going on around here, which is part of the reason my poor blog has been neglected the past two weeks. The other reason? I'm in a bit of a creative rut... I just haven't been in the mood to take photos/edit photos/create in my studio. Every few months I have a take a break from cardmaking/scrapbooking and do something else. Within a few weeks I'm back to my usual crafty self.

Anyway, our family has several big changes coming up. First, I got a job. I am demonstrating the Cricut machine at Michael's stores in the area. I am working on Sundays, with an occasional Friday or Saturday as needed. My first two shifts went really well, and I had some surprise visitors at the end of my shift on Sunday:



Second, Evan and I are both starting school in a few weeks. I have been thinking about finishing my degree for a while now, and I finalized my schedule last week. I will be studying Graphic Design & hopefully I will finish my degree in 2.5 years.

Finally, Jack has an appointment with a Pediatric Orthopedist tomorrow morning so we can figure out why he isn't walking yet. I wasn't sure if I wanted to post anything about his walking delay, but I decided to let my friends and family know what we are going through. Our pediatrician has no idea what might be causing his delay. Hopefully the specialist will have some answers for us tomorrow & we can start a course of treatment soon (if that is needed).

I have a few photos to share from the past week. The boys & I have been hanging out at the house, going to the Y, playing Playmobil, playing outside, and going to swim lessons.


This is the best smile I can get from Evan these days... he is way too busy to give me a real smile :-)


Evan needs a haircut. His hair gets really course and wavy when we wait too long between cuts.


I know I've said it before, but I adore this little boy's blue eyes. Love, love, love them.




While I was working on Sunday, Mark took the boys to the air museum in Dayton. Most of the photos from inside the museum were dark, but I love this one of Evan pushing his baby brother in the stroller. Jack looks bored, and Evan can barely see over the top of the stroller :-)


Evan is still taking swim lessons, but this session is at the YMCA. He is really enjoying it, and we will continue with lessons through the fall. Starting in September, Jack will also take a swim class with Mark. Our weeks are going to be really busy between swim, soccer (for Evan), pre-school, my classes, my job, and Mark working 50+ hours per week. After our relaxing, lazy(ish) summer, this is going to be quite the adjustment for us.

Wish us luck .

xoxo,

Erin.

Right Now.

He:



Adores his back-to-school sweaters from Crazy 8. After I had him try this one on, he didn't want to take it off & insisted on wearing it the rest of the evening.

Is talking about going to school a lot. "Do I go tomorrow?" and "when do I start school?" are questions he asks me almost every day.

Loves his baby brother to pieces. When Jack wakes up from nap time, Evan is the first one to race up the stairs and run into their room so Jack won't cry.

Has been playing with his Tag & reading "Up" for the past few days. He likes to memorize the stories so he can read along with the Tag.

Loves going to the water park at the YMCA. We put a life vest on him so he can swim around on his own in the deep end, and he loves jumping off the side of the pool.

Still says "I love you" and "you're my best friend"; he totally melts my heart.

He:



Likes having time to himself during the day. He will crawl into the play room and stack blocks, play with his Fisher-Price kitchen, or look at books if Evan is being too noisy or he is getting tired.

Is still sleeping 11-12 hours at night, and taking two naps during the day.

Loves it when Mark or I read him "Dinosaur's Binkit" by Sandra Boynton. He likes touching different textures, lifting flaps, and turning pages.

Started saying "wow" this week. While we were driving home from Crazy 8 he was in the back seat saying "wow, wow, wow, wow" over and over and over.

Thinks Evan is hysterical. All Evan has to do is make a funny noise and Jack starts laughing and clapping.

Is still into everything. He loves to pull books off the book shelf, take all the toys out of the toy box, unfold laundry, open the kitchen cabinets and take all the food out, and knock his blocks over so they make a crashing noise.

They:



Are best friends.

Still share a room, but it works really well for us. We haven't had any problems with them not sleeping, or keeping each other up at night.

Are learning how to share their toys. I have a feeling we are going to be dealing with this issue for the next few years. Jack wants everything Evan has, and Evan doesn't like it when Jack ruins his game, track, or whatever he is playing with. Evan is very patient with his baby brother, and we are finding things Jack can play with so he doesn't take Evan's things.

Are my stubborn, happy, moody, loud, adorable little boys.

Moments: A Layout

Karla Dudley Designs has a new kit releasing tomorrow! I was thrilled to create a layout using papers and brushes from that kit:


[All supplies are Karla Dudley Designs: White cardstock- Sunkissed. Patterned paper- Sailora. Word strips- Sailora. Word brush- Sailora. "Moments" brush- Digi Essentials No. 4. White tag - Spring '10. "J"- Digi Essentials No. 5. Staples- Digi Essentials No. 1. "love" brush- Say It With Love]

Evan is getting excited for pre-school and soccer, which start in the fall. I think he is getting tired of the heat, too. It's been so hot that we can't go outside in the afternoon/evening, which is not ideal for a very busy 4-year-old.



One of my goals for the next three weeks is to find a couple of new activities for the boys to do, both at home & in our community. I've heard Dayton has a great Children's Museum, so I might check that out next week. Finding exciting things to do at home is always a challenge for me, though. Evan has been coloring and drawing a lot lately, so I might try to find a couple of cool art projects for him to do. Jack loves to color, too, but I have to watch him closely because he also likes to eat crayons. The kid won't eat anything I offer him at meal time, but will eat Crayola Crayons. Go figure.

Happy Thursday! I am so happy it's almost the weekend :-)

xoxo,

Erin.

Then & Now: A Layout

In July, I posted some of Jack's favorite things, quirks, and daily routines along with a couple of pictures. I ended up turning that post into a layout about our little Jack-Jack:



{All supplies are Karla Dudley Designs}

It's been a super busy weekend, so I'm looking forward to some down time with the kids tomorrow. We have a few errands to run in the morning, and maybe a trip to the YMCA after Mark gets home from work. I love that I can drop my kids off to play while I work out. I don't love the working out part so much, but I know it's good for me, and I am doing something for me.

Have a great week!

xoxo,

Erin.

"Daddy's big, red truck"

Evan is in love with Mark's new red truck.

Seriously. In. Love.

He almost cried when we picked it up from Mark's parking garage, and Mark almost drove off without him. We had to put Ev's car seat in the truck so he could drive to the grocery store with Daddy.

And he had to bring his puppy and bear along for the trip. And his Leapster.


{Sorry for the crappy iPhone photo, but my camera was at home & this was the best I could do}

Evan wanted to drive around in Mark's truck all day. He didn't have anywhere he wanted to go... he just wanted to drive in the truck. Silly boy. I told him that tomorrow he can go for a drive with Mark.

Tonight he told Mark and he loved riding in "the new big red truck". He says it so fast that it sounds like "thenewbigredtruck".

I don't know what I'm going to do with that kid. He sure knows how to make his Mama smile :-)

xoxo,

Erin.

For my mom & dad:

I finished sorting and editing the photos from my parents' visit, and I thought I would post some of them here. All of us had a wonderful time & I can't believe how fast those 2.5 weeks went. All of a sudden it's August and I'm back-to-school shopping. Where does the time go?

Cincinnati Zoo
I hate taking pictures at the zoo. There are always poles, fences, mesh cages, buildings, and other objects blocking my view of the animals, & causing my photos to have obstructions that drive me crazy! I attempted to take a photo of my mom, dad, Evan, and Jack on the train we rode around the zoo, but there are not one, but two poles in the photo. It was also 90+ degrees and humid that day, so I was monitoring the kids' water intake, and trying to keep the fussing to a minimum. The Cincinnati Zoo is huge, and it was a lot of walking, but the animals were amazing. Jack was completely in awe of every exhibit, and would screech if someone stood in front of his stroller and he couldn't see.



Grandpa & Jack-Jack



Bananas
On a particularly hot day, my Mom and I took the kids to Bananas Jump and Play (Come & Jump? Drop in & Jump? I don't remember their tag line...) Anyway, Evan probably ran 5 miles that day, and Jack sat in one spot and smiled.





King's Island
Another hot, hot day in Ohio, but the kids didn't seem to notice. This trip I decided (after some prompting from my mom), to allow Jack to sit with Evan on a couple rides. His expressions were absolutely priceless. He smiled at all the attendants that strapped him into the car/train/seat. Evan was very protective of his baby brother & put his arm around him during the fast parts.







Saying Good-bye
This is one of the last photos I took before Mark and Evan drove them to the airport. Evan fell asleep on the way, and didn't really wake up when my mom & dad tried to say good-bye to him. When Mark and Ev got home home, Evan broke down and started crying, saying he missed them already. It broke my heart that he was so upset. He had a couple of rough days after they left, but I think he's feeling better.



Thanks, Mom & Dad, for making the trip to Ohio to visit us. We love you!

xoxo,

Erin.

My New Favorite Photo.

My parents flew back to Washington on Wednesday, and the boys miss their grandparents like crazy. I am still trying to sort through all the photos I took, but this one stood out to me. I love the expressions on Evan's face. He adores Grandma & Grandpa, and was crushed when they left.



I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday. We have swim lessons in the morning, and some serious cleaning/organizing/sorting to do tomorrow afternoon. My craft room is out. of. control.

Wish me luck :-)

xoxo,

Erin.