Evan Is Eleven!

Every year it feels the same way.  I know he's eleven but the word eleven just doesn't fit yet.  None of us are quite ready for the new number, but we embrace it!  

This is last year's Stampede -- his favorite toy ever.

It's so sweet to feel the thrill of a new age right along with your child.  Evan is so excited to be 11 even though, according to him, he "still feels 10."

We always start the morning with gifts so it feels a lot like Christmas :-)

Evan's interests over the past few years have centered around RC toys, Legos, Transformers, Star Wars figures and flashlights.  This year was all about some coveted upgrades to his Stampede RC and some unusual new flashlights.

We got him three flashlights -- one that attaches to the brim of a hat, one that turns on by swiping your finger over a sensor, and one with an extendable neck.  He LOVES flashlights!

RC parts don't really make for exciting photos, but we got him aluminum shock caps, a cooling fan attachment for his motor, and a new red top.  These are the three main things that he really wanted.

  His red top was the thrill of the morning :-)

"This is what I wanted!!!!"

Chloe shopped for Evan this year too.  Her anticipation is right up there with Evan's as she awaits the opening moment.  He loved what she picked.

As Evan put together his new model car, Chloe flipped through her Schleich catalog giving Evan some gift ideas to ponder as her birthday comes nearer.

Cards and gifts usually come in the mail so we save those for birthday morning too. 

Ruby barged in when she heard tissue paper crinkling, so the gift-revealing moment was lost.

One of the gifts Gramma sent was a beautiful outfit which, surprisingly for a boy, he loved!  He likes the shirt so much he even scoffed at my suggestion that we might need the next size up!

This shirt is awesome!!  Way to go Gramma!

After gifts were opened, Evan switched his Stampede into the new top and couldn't help admiring it like crazy.  His dream come true! 

I stuck the decorations back on it and he protested the ribbon.  "Mom, you're making Stampede look like a girl."  And off came the ribbon.

He played with his flashlights all morning while Todd did the parts upgrades to Stampede. 

We don't do traditional cake and ice cream, but we let the kids pick a treat for me to make.  So after lunch we ate chocolate pudding, Evan's favorite.

Laughing at his own joke.

Aunt Bryce and the family stopped by to sing and give gifts.  Uncle Chris worked his magic again to capture Evan in art (as a robot). 

Evan cherishes every single solitary thing Chris has ever drawn, even on scrap paper.  It's all saved -- in a treasure box, stuck to the wall by his bed, or framed. 

What a happy day it's been!

The yearly measurements on our little guy:

Height: 53.75" or almost 4' 5"
Weight:  52 lbs.
Shoe Size: 1
Clothes Size:  8/10 (medium) shirts and 8 slim pants

Eleven wonderful years.... and every year he gets more wonderful.  What a gift!

Posing

Every once in a while I ask Chloe to wear something that I pick out.  By that, I mean something she picked out at the store but has decided isn't her favorite so it never gets worn.  She always complains to me at first, preferring to wear her 'soft clothes,' but by the end of the day she has completely forgotten any of the things that originally bothered her. 

Today's outfit:

Her complaints?
*I really just don't ever wear necklaces.
*I don't even like white.
*I'm just used to wearing t-shirts, that's all.
*The buttons on these shorts are driving me crazy!
*This necklace is tickling me.
*I'm probably going to sweat since my armpits aren't covered.
*These shorts are too tight.

Ten minutes later she was posing for me and smiling and prancing around the house like she was in her favorite soft clothes.

Best Friends

Evan and Chloe play together like only siblings who are best friends can.  They do weird things that the other finds hilarious.  They play games with made up rules only the two of them know.  They can make each other laugh even when no one else in the room gets the joke.  They wrestle, tickle, chase, and tackle each other constantly in a way they don't with any other person.  They spend hours doing things like in the above photo, just staring at each other, swinging, and enjoying life in a way no one else quite understands but the one looking back at them.

Chloe's Always Drawing

Every day Chloe draws stuff.  She's always on the floor with a stack of paper and a box of pencils or markers.  As you know, she loves to make her own books that read sort of like comic strips.  She has a few characters that have developed over time and her 'animation' of them gets better with practice.  She told me she never plans her stories but just starts drawing and keeps going till it ends.

Here's a book she did recently, showcasing her favorite cats (Tom and Rachel) and dogs (Rose and Buster).  Making an appearance also are the bird (Flitter) and a squirrel (Skit).

Because she doesn't fluently read or write yet she uses a lot of initials for things.

Let's begin.

The cats and dogs are neighbors but a fence separates their spaces. The bird and squirrel who had originally been lured to the premises (in previous stories) to be trapped have since taken up residence.  Food dishes are always available.

The main characters are presented and their faces tell the story.  The bird has a plan which the dogs are never happy about. The cats don't know the plan but they are on the bird's team.

Christmas arrives and Flit the bird has delivered an enormous gift to all.  They are stunned.  They all pitched in and got Flit something really small.

Present opening commences revealing a Jeep!  The squirrel is stupefied and faints.  Flit has received a new bird-feeder.  Although things seem unfair they are all very happy.

Turns out this Christmas has made them all realize they love each other and want to do away with the fence.  Cohabitation begins.  The bird puts his old bird-feeder up for sale (F.S.) because it has chipped paint and a broken off hook.

The Jeep is parked in the yard.  The end.

(This was my paraphrasing of Chloe's adorable story.  Hope you liked it!)

Sunflowers

Some of my birthday flowers have been waiting for a cool enough day for planting.  Who would have known that on July 4th it would be below 70 degrees outside? 

Well, the flowers are finally happy thanks to Evan and Chloe. 

Evan dug holes and Chloe planted and watered, and another pretty corner of our world emerged.

Creating

Pictures don't do justice to the difficult complexity of Technic Lego creating and building.  This buggy was completely Evan's own design but all the most complicated gears and steering are hidden!  The steering wheel at the back end controls the front tires, so try to figure that out.  I'm always baffled by how his mind works.

Tracks and Wheelies

See a puddle, make some tracks.

See a bump in the path, do a wheelie!

or at least give it your best effort and then go back to making tracks.