Evan is 10!

Evan's 10th Birthday Interview:

1.  Who is your favorite person in the whole world?

"Mommy because she does a lot of stuff for me."  (He must be trying to win some brownie points.)

2.  What is your favorite color?

"Green.  It is always going to be green."  (That's what he said.)

3.  What's your favorite television show?

After taking a very long time to answer and acting like he could not remember any shows, he finally said "Doctor Who."  We have recently become addicted to watching all the previous seasons of the Doctor.  Mommy is slightly more obsessed than he is. 

4.  What's your favorite outfit?

"The outfit that I am wearing right now."  Which just so happens to be his Panther colored polo which was his exact answer from last year.  Haha!

5.  What sport do you like best? 

"Baseball"

6.  What song do you love?

"Colder Weather" by the Zac Brown Band.  He has recently started loving this band and for his birthday, he received a memory card for his phone to hold his favorite music so he can listen.  He doesn't have an ipod, but he prefers using one of our old phones to play games.  

7.  What's your favorite cereal?

"Mom's Best Cocoa Crisp" (same as last year apparently) 

8.  Who is your best friend?

Tyler (a new friend at school) and also Colby (an old friend from his old school that recently wrote to him) 

9.  What do you want to be when you grow up?

"Engineer or Architect"

10.  What is your favorite book?

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"  He finished all of the books last year and the new play this year after receiving it for Christmas.  I told him that was a pretty big accomplishment for a fourth grader as I am pretty sure most kids his age may just be starting to read this series. 

11.  What are you really good at?

"Running."  Mommy will add with bragging rights that he has also continued to prove that he is both an excellent math student and an outstanding reader.  His reading Lexile scores are off the school age level charts above those of average 12th graders, and he scores in the high 90th percentiles in other tested areas.   I can't wait to see what his recent Georgia Milestones test scores will be because they actually test writing already here.  

12.  Where do you wish you could go on vacation?

"To see the Eiffel Tower and the Great Pyramids of Giza."

13.  What is your best memory?

"When Mommy had Brody."  (He loves being a big brother, and Brody started it!)

14.  What would you buy if you had $1000? 

"A computer so no one else has to pay for it."

15.  What vegetable do you hate the most?

"Lettuce" (The same answer as last year and still I am baffled.  He seems to think I forced him to try some one time which I believe is a complete fabrication.)

16.  What food do you like best?

"Hot chicken wings" (same as last year)

17.  What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

"coconut fudge"

18.  What do you love most about yourself?

"I am fun, smart, athletic, and a good big brother."

19.  What do you like to do with your best friends?

"play outside" (He does play outside more these days with lots of neighborhood kids to play with.)

20.  What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday?

"To go to the two places mentioned above."  Ha!  I told him that was probably a bit unrealistic for this year. 

This year's birthday celebration was pretty simple.  He enjoyed his visit with his Grandma and Papa before his birthday.  His actual birthday fell on a Monday night, and Daddy got stuck at work and arrived home late.  I had made preparations to celebrate our big boy for dinner that night which turned out to be a very late affair.  Although the actual birthday didn't turn out quite how we expected, we have tried to enjoy some fun times the last few weeks and look forward to seeing what the rest of this year holds.

Mommy made his baseball cake. 

Some balloons for our #1 son. 

Ready to make his birthday wish. 

My baby boy isn't a baby anymore.  Sniff. 

And a new pair of wheels to assert his independence.  Although he had learned the basics of bike riding without training wheels a couple of years ago, he never loved riding and preferred his scooter so he had to finally master this skill.  I thought a bike with a wider wheel base would help him feel more comfortable balancing.  He pretty much jumped right on and started riding with no trouble so all of his (and mom's) anxiety was for naught. 

We cannot express just how much we love this little man and how proud we are to call him our son.  He has always surpassed our wildest dreams of what our son could be.  We are so very thankful we get to be his parents and watch him grow into a wonderful, loving, kind, compassionate, polite, well-mannered, intelligent and accomplished young man.  Go Evan! 

Papa's and Grandma's Visits

These boys were very excited to get a special birthday visit from both their Papa and their Grandma, Aunt Naomi, and cousin Grady in March.  Papa could only come and stay a few days during the week because of his duties at his church so the boys could only spend time with him after school.  The weather during the week was cooler than normal and did not cooperate with many of our plans.  After Papa left on Friday, Grandma arrived Friday evening to stay until Sunday.  The weather was just perfect for her visit, and we enjoyed showing her around downtown Savannah and our local beach.   We hope Papa can visit again this summer so he can experience more of what the area has to offer.

Papa missed his littlest man, Grayson. 

Brody and Papa always bond over electronics.  Fellow tech addicts. 

It was a cold day on the beach.  Papa refused to dress warmer because he insisted he could handle it.  Haha! 

These boys love the beach even on a cold windy day.  Some crazy wind surfers were entertaining to watch. 

Yikes, these guys got eaten by a large shark! 

My silly boys pretending they were being eaten. 

Downtown Savannah with Grandma, Aunt Naomi, and Grady. 

Evan is such a good big brother/cousin holding hands walking down the street.  Brody and Grady are best buddies. 

Brody wanted his picture taken with all the monuments.  This one was a sweet memorial to Scottish forbears.  I guess there is a large Scottish ancestry in the area. 

The obelisk monument to Revolutionary War hero Major General Nathanael Greene who is buried in Savannah. 

The pretty gold dome of Savannah City Hall and some cannons to impress the boys. 

An old U.S. Customhouse. 

I thought this arch was the perfect couple photo spot. 

Grandma and the boys enjoyed some yummy ice cream from the River Street Sweets shop. 

Daddy and Grayson enjoyed resting on a bench by the river. 

The bigger boys enjoyed playing on the little tug boat. 

Sweet little boat captains. 

Grayson and Mattox wore the sweet Grandma rocks shirts I bought them for the occasion. 

Mattox is always taking care of his baby and wanted to be sure Grandma was holding him correctly. 

Better pictures of Grandma and all her boys.  Mattox was slightly more cooperative this time. 

Grady always wants to hold the baby. 

The boys loved watching the Georgia Queen on the move, and the boys were excited to hit the beach. 

Mattox the pirate loves the beach. Mommy bought all of the big boys some Tybee Island t-shirts that were on sale at a local shop. 

Brody's shirt was big enough to be a dress so he went without pants. 

The water was surprisingly warm. 

Cousins on the beach. 

Mommy and Mattox taking a stroll. 

Little Grayson loved the sunshine. 

Mattox just loves playing in the dirt. 

These boys were shark hunting. 

Celebrating the boys' 10th, 6th, and 2nd birthdays together. 

Sweet Mattox got to celebrate his birthday again. 

Enjoying their cupcakes. 

Mattox enjoyed his cupcake sans icing.  

Grady and Mattox enjoyed some play time together before bed. 

Grandma giving her littlest man lots of love before she had to leave. 

Celebrating Mattox's 2nd Birthday

Our little rainbow Mattox is 2 years old!  How did that happen?  What a colorful little addition he is to our family.  We just love him to pieces.  This stage is just so fun with him.  He is still so sweet and loving, but he is getting so independent and very busy all the time.  He is so much like big brother Evan and does not like to sit still.  His favorite things are his baby brother, giving "bah" kisses, driving his cars and making car sounds, and getting into drawers and cabinets that he knows he shouldn't.  He is a mess, but he is so cute that it is hard to be mad at him.  While I know relocating to a new house in a new town has turned his little world upside down, he has handled it like a champ much like he did as a newborn.  We wanted his birthday to be extra special for him even though we couldn't do a big party with family and friends since we had just moved.  We actually celebrated several times over the course of the month.

I wanted to put up some festive decorations to surprise the birthday boy when he woke up.  

He was pretty excited to walk through the streamers outside his bedroom and to see balloons and more colorful streamers waiting for him. 

I thought about doing a different "theme" for this year, but with the moving and unpacking business, I just never had the time to put something else together.  Of course, rainbow colorful decorations for our little rainbow blessing just always seems appropriate. I think God has seen fit to take the stressful big birthday party planning out of my hands the last few years and has forced me to keep it more simple with moving twice in two years.  I know that planning bigger parties was always a stressful addition to my life and that I did need to relax and relieve some stress.  I do appreciate a simpler way of celebrating together.   

Mattox enjoyed his breakfast "cupcake" complete with candles, and he even seemed to appreciate Mommy singing to him.  It was just the two of us and baby Grayson most of the day. 

He even wore his party hat proudly.  I love that little chocolate face. 

I just can't imagine anything any cuter than that face. He has stolen my heart completely!

I made him a birthday shirt to wear.  Although I wasn't going to do any themes this year, I just thought this Dr. Seuss idea was too cute since his birthday is only one day from Dr. Seuss's. Someone on facebook said it sounded more like something Yoda would say.  I think Yoda would say "Two am I."  Haha!

I added his name and number 2 on the back. 

These boys and I planned to meet Daddy for lunch in a neighboring town about halfway between our house and Daddy's work.  Daddy works about 45 minutes away so driving all the way there is hard when I have to get back to pick the boys up from school.  Plus, there are not many places to eat around his work since it is out in the middle of nowhere.  Daddy ended up getting stuck inside the bomb range because of some bombing practice so we ended up eating by ourselves at a Mexican restaurant.  Yes, that was a little stressful for Mommy, but I did try to get a selfie to remember it. 

Later that day, Daddy got home to put Mattox's present together.  He was so excited when he walked outside and saw his cool new car.  He loves to drive, and I think he makes a cute little police officer.  He makes the cutest little gestures and head tilt when he is thinking about something or checking something out.  I wish there was a better way to capture all of those cute toddler expressions and actions. 

Loving his cute little car.  

I was going to buy some of our favorite Whole Foods cupcakes for after dinner that night, but sadly, the Savannah Whole Foods doesn't seem to keep cupcakes ready to sale so I will have to remember to special order those next time.  I bought a little cake instead.  It was very rich and sweet. 

Excited to be sang to and to have a candle on his cake.  He still hasn't perfected blowing it out by himself though. 

The cutest and sweetest chocolate face. 

It took me a pitiful long time to get this present wrapped for him.  I wanted him to have one gift to unwrap.  I had picked this up before his birthday and then realized I had no wrapping paper because I had not wanted to pack my old paper rolls and bags and had just tossed them out.  I finally got some new paper and wrapped this one up for him to open a few weeks after his birthday.  Like I said, we celebrated all month.  Haha! 

He was so excited to see his new lawnmower.  We had also tossed out Brody's old mower because it was in poor condition from being left outside for the last couple of years.  Mattox needed a new one. 

He loves mowing the grass and making bubbles too. Brody enjoyed it too. 

Bubble mowers are awesome! 

I also finally got around to painting the little house we had picked up last year in our old neighborhood and rescued from being thrown away.  I think it looks pretty cute now.  I had seen one on Pinterest spray painted like this and liked it.  Mattox loves his little house. 

That weekend I made him a little 2 cake because I thought some friends were coming over and going to the children's museum with us, but they all got sick.  Our neighbor friends made Mattox this sweet poster for his birthday.  They are two of the sweetest boys, and I am so thankful Evan and Brody have them to play with.  

We tried out the Savannah Children's Museum which is an outside play space in some old historic railroad and manufacturing buildings.  While right now, I don't think it is worth the price, I think the building plans for the future additions to the museum looks amazing.  I know it will take a lot of money and work to get those old buildings renovated to safely house a children's museum while keeping the character and history of the space.  The boys did have fun together.  It is connected to the Savannah Railroad Museum which the boys would really enjoy visiting. 

Mattox enjoyed leading me through the little maze and dressing up as Harry Potter. 

Mattox helped big brother build his fortress. 

And he and Mommy built him his own fortress out of big lego blocks. 

More building.  These boys could build all day long.  I think they will have their own construction and architectural business one day. 

Mattox enjoyed playing music on this cool musical art feature. 

Carrying big blocks is hard work. 

Meeting a bear and driving a big ship. 

Brody and Mattox hanging out with the bear. 

Evan found a soccer ball and was showing off his tricks. 

These boys enjoyed playing on this little train locomotive. 

But playing king of the hill was probably their favorite part.  There was this big hill for climbing on outside the museum play area.  

Mattox tried to climb up too.