Evie and I met up with some photography friends in McKinney to try out some new toys - new toys for Mommy that is! My friends and I did a little lens exchange and tried out all different lenses of different focal lengths. Such a fun challenge to try something new!
Pops was so silly today! We think he caught the goofy bug.
That's what birthday parties do to little boys!
Gram had some help blowing out her birthday candles this year!
Evie and I visited Heritage Farmstead with some photography friends on a beautiful fall day. The last time she was here, I was carrying her in the Baby Bjorn and Papa Emil and Grandma Jan were with us! This time she got to run around and explore on her own. She fed the chickens, collected some wooden eggs in the hen house, and took a ride around the farm in a covered wagon pulled by a John Deere tractor! Such a pretty place for kids to roam. We had a great time!
She likes to live dangerously.
Hand Foot and Mouth disease hit our house last October and it hit hard. Sam missed several days of school - Doc said he could go, school said no-way. Apparently, once the bumps appear, you're no longer contagious, but school wouldn't let him in. I can understand; he looked pretty gross! But he didn't feel sick at all, so it was hard to know what to do all day.
So we had a dance party, Ghostbusters-style.
We put in my Ghostbuster's soundtrack on cassette tape (from 30 some-odd years ago), and played that puppy over and over and over. Sam's quite the dancer, and Evie just loves to have a good time! We were in there several hours, I think? Everybody was hot and sweaty and tired by the time we were done dancing and playing.
That afternoon, in keeping with the day's Ghostbuster's theme, my little Peter Venkman wrote a ghost story. It helped us feel like we had done something at least a little school-ish that day. Sam dictated it to me and I wrote it down for him, but the words were all his. He illustrated it as well, my favorite picture being the last one, with the dead ghost throwing up on the men's pants. Such a boy. My favorite sentence was the last one, too. What an ending, right? But having watched the movie several times myself, Sam's story sounded awfully familiar...
Once upon a time, three men found a ghost at a library. The ghost was yellow. It was called a Flipper Tipper which is a yellow ghost-duck with webbed feet. The ghost flew to the men even though it didn't have wings. So the men ran away yelling "Ahhh!" They ran into their big building house and slammed the door. They locked the door with wood and plastic and hard metal. They felt safe and secure.
RAT! RAT! RAT! There was someone at the door. They could hear even thought the metal was hard. They took all three things off but it was the librarian. The librarian said, "There's some ghost in the library between shelf number one and number two". So they went back and when the ghost wasn't looking they tip-toed close and stood right next to him and grabbed his arm and slammed him on the ground. Then they stepped on him. The ghost threw up on their pants. The ghost was dead. They stepped on him good enough.
by Sam Straka
I took this picture pre-forehead injury but I'm just now getting around to posting it. This image is mostly for me, so I can remember.
This is how I see Evelyn, every day, same time, same place. The minute we get home from walking Sam to school, Evie heaves herself up on the couch and asks for "Beesth" and we watch a couple episodes before starting our day. This is not only her favorite show, it's the only show she'll watch when Sam's not around. It's really called "The Hive", but we call it "Bees". It's on Netflix and it's about a hive of little English bees, so of course, Mommy loves it, too. If you ask Evie which bee is her favorite she'll tell you, "Rubeeee!". I'll tell her Jasper the wasp is my favorite and she always replies, "No! Jas naughtyyyyy!" complete with a little British inflection. She's right. He's a naughty little wasp.
First homework assignment! The project directions were to work with your mom or dad to make your child cut-out look like you. We made sure we got his new blue shoes on there and put an Elephant and Piggie book in one hand. It was like pulling teeth to get it done. I finally said, "Dude. You've got sixteen years (or more) of homework ahead of you. This is nothing. Now glue your googly eyes."
WARNING:
Do not proceed if you're squeamish about blood and boo-boos!
Well, we made it almost six years. Five-plus years of parenting and this was our first trip to the emergency room. Evie fell last Saturday while we were playing at Gram and Pops' house, and managed to slam the very middle of her head right on the edge of where two walls meet. It made an awful sound. She didn't trip over anything; just over her toddler-self, I guess. Quite honestly, we're all shocked she almost made it to two-years-old before having an accident, as active as she is. Pops found her first, just as I was running to her, and he picked her up and passed her to me, blood running down her forehead.
We tried an after-hours children's urgent care place first, but they sent us over to Children's Medical. She cried for a while and then perked up a bit on the drive over. Having Gram in the back seat sure was a nice distraction for her. She was fine in the room while we were waiting for the nurses to stitch her up, but as soon as any hospital staff came in the room she cried. Playing peek-a-boo with Daddy and wearing his glasses helped pass the time a little bit. While Evie and Daddy and I played in the hospital room, Sam and Gram and Pops colored some pictures for her in the waiting area and took a walk on the hospital grounds. We had to keep him busy - he was definitely a bit shaken-up and worried about his baby sister.
As you can see from the pictures, this cut was a doozy. It took six stitches and there's very likely to be a scar. Lots of Mederma and sunscreen for a while, too. But she was excellent during the stitching. She spent the whole time screaming "Mama", pausing only once to beg, "Please stop", but she didn't squirm too much and the nurses kept saying how great she was doing for someone her age. I stayed with her under the little paper sheet they put over her face, so she could see one of us, and Daddy watched the stitching, giving me updates as they worked. He held on to me, too, keeping me calm since it's really hard to hear your baby cry for you like that.
A few days after her accident, Evie and I were playing on the couch and she looked at me and said "Gram. Pops. House. Fall. Waaaallll!". So far, that was the only time she said anything like that about her injury, and that pretty much summed it up!
We're proud of her for being so brave and hope she'll do this well the next time, too. Because knowing our crazy Evie-girl, there will be a next time!
Contact paper and colorful paper shapes kept these two busy one morning. They look pretty when the sun shines through them, too. Evie keeps going over to Sam's, saying, "Sam made 'dis!"
Another visit to Celebration Park! Evie loves to run up and down the ramps and climb up and down all the steps. Her muscles got a work out for sure!
"ook, Mom, a tick!"
It was a beautiful location...but a little slimy for Evie's taste.
We might try it again sometime. I bet Sam would have a blast!
Sam and I took a special trip out to Ft. Worth this weekend to visit Dean who is a sophomore at TCU. Dean was a fantastic host and tour guide and knew all the best places to take a five year old! We started out with a BBQ lunch at the Stockyards where we got to see some horses and a vintage railroad train pull in to the station. After lunch we drove to Steel City Pops where Dean treated us to fancy popsicles for dessert! We finished our visit with a walk around the commons area of campus. Sam played by the fountains and rolled down the hill. It was so good to see Dean and hear all about how school is going, and Sam loved "going to college". We appreciate him spending his Saturday with us and we'd love to visit again soon. Thanks, Dean!
This is a common sight around here, and has been for the last three years or so: Sam finding every pillow in the house, making a pile, then running and jumping. Over and over and over! Evie loves to jump, too, but she's not big enough yet to get this kind of air. Needless to say we had a blast shooting this series!
Just few fun pictures of Evie playing!
And of course, we have to end with a snack!
Evie misses Sam terribly when he's at school. She asks me "Where Sam go?" alllll day long. All. day. long.
Having said that, I think she enjoys having some alone time with Mommy and playing with toys by herself. It's a whole new world for all of us. I think we're going to have even more fun mommy-daughter adventures once the cooler weather arrives. Glad we'll have some just-the-two-of-us time the way Sam and I did when he was this age!
I shot this image right before we left for school on the first day. Brian and Evie were already headed down the street and I asked Sam for just one quick shot before we left. I think I speak for everybody when I say we had some butterflies. You can kind of see it in Sam's face, too. But we all enjoyed walking to school together and getting Sam settled in his classroom. He seemed so grown-up. Such a bittersweet day for all!
Back to school pictures in downtown Denton's Quakertown Park and dinner at our J&J's Pizza afterward. A reward for all our hard work and a back-to-school celebration!
Hello School - here comes Sam!
And a few more in front of his new school!
