A little tie just like daddy's

I have looked everywhere for cute ties for little boys and just can't find them. I have been to every store and I have gone to the end of the internet and back. When I do come across something decent it is ridiculously expensive. Evan loves wearing ties to church just like daddy. I'll tell him that we need to get ready for church and he will run into his room and bring me out his tie. When we put it on he'll hold still until I'm done then he'll run over to Paul and puff out his chest and say "tie!, tie!, tie!" till Paul says something like "oh wow what a nice tie buddy". We bought him a white shirt and tie combo for Easter in spring colors but he has since out grown them and the colors don't work for fall so the tie hunt began. I finally asked a friend of mine where she got her son's ties because he always has on the cutest ties and one for every season and holiday. She told me that her mother-in-law made them. I had never thought of making ties for Evan before because it seemed like it would be a lot of work. After some searching, however I found this great tie tutorial and pattern. They are so easy to make and they whip up so fast, I think I can make tie from start to finish in about 2 hours.

Down on the farm

Not far from here is a fun little farm that lets the public come and roam around free. Evan and I have gone a few times this summer to see the animals. In the spring we saw baby chickens and baby sheep and goats. This time we got to see baby cows and baby pigs too.

 We have a great time and Evan loves to see all the different animals and make all the different farm animal noises.

By the picnic area they have small tractors for the kids to play on. Evan loves them and it is hard for me to get him off when it is time to go.

"bye, bye truck" he'll say as we leave.

Friends

Evan and I have had a lot of fun this summer going to parks on Fridays with my friend Krystal and her boy and girl twins. Our kids are about the same age and they have a lot of fun together. Evan gets so excited when he sees them and even knows Jakob's name even though he plays more with Joslyn. Jakob is just easier to say I guess.

           We love the swings and as for slides the bigger the better.

I was lucky enough to get my camera out just in time to take this picture of Evan holding hands with Joslyn. 20 seconds later and I would have missed it. They are so cute together.

Earthquakes and Hurricanes

It has been a very interesting month here in Virginia weather wise. On August 23, 2011, at 1:51 pm I woke up to my bed shaking and the doors rattling. It was so weird I didn't think Virginia had earthquakes, but not only was it an earthquake it was a fairly decent size one at a magnitude of 5.8. Had it lasted any longer it could have done some serious damage. We only had a few pictures go crooked, but some of the older buildings in our area didn't fair so well.

the Washington monument has a huge crack in it and is closed indefinitely.  These 100+ year old structures just aren't built to stand up to earthquakes. 
Just as we were recovering from our earthquake less than a week later Hurricane Irene struck with flooding, power outages and fallen trees everywhere. Once again we were left unscathed with just a few fallen branches to clean up, but we cant help wondering whats next?

A little off the top

I hold many titles around here and one of the stranger ones is company barber.

Both my boys needed haircuts this weekend, so I got out my trusty kit and went to work. Evan was very good and sat still the whole time, but he didn't like it when hair got in his mouth.
He has needed regular haircuts since he was 3months old to keep him from looking like a girl and my husband doesn't think that a bald man should have to pay for a haircut so I am what they get. I do an okay job and if there are any complaints I just remind them that you get what you pay for.

Dinosaur, Rarrr!!

Evan is just getting old enough where it is fun to take him places because he actually gets interested in seeing new and fun things. This weekend we took him to the Natural History Museum at the Smithsonian to see the dinosaurs.  He was very excited to see the dinosaurs, and would point to the dinosaurs and say 'dinosaur, Rarrr!' He roared at all the dinosaurs and tried to climb into the exhibits.

 We went around and saw a bit of everything except the butterfly exhibit because you had to pay to get in. Evan also really liked the mammals exhibit with bears and tigers and our favorite a hippo!

Beating the Heat

It has been unusually hot in Virginia this summer with at least 5 days in July reaching over 102 degrees. That isn't even counting the humidity. For some cool summer fun my friend and I took our kids to Lyon Village Spray Park. There are a few spray parks dotted around the area. This park has many sprays that go upward from the colorful concrete floor. There is a bucket that pours water from above and a spinning flower that spritzes water. The best part is that they are free. Our kids had a great time and we were happy to join in on the fun too since the temperature was about 104 that day.

 This will most likely become one of our favorite summer haunts.