Evan is 3, watch out!

My little boy is 3 years old as of January 21st!  Let me tell you though, he almost didn't make it to his 3rd bday due to a MAJOR meltdown the night before...It was a tantrum to end all tantrums.  After I finally got him calmed down (well, I called my hubby and he talked to Evan over the phone and I sat there and prayed that I wouldn't sin in anger), we had a quick bedtime routine and I went down to my room and prayed that this was not an indication of what age 3 was going to look like.  Now, I know this is not a very positive post about my son turning 3, but just wanted to be honest.  I LOVE him, but I do not always like or understand his actions.  I am realizing how bad it hurts when you see your child deliberately sin against you.  It cuts you to the core.  Can you imagine what God must feel when he sees his children deliberately sin over and over again?  I only have one child and it is kills me.  BUT, I have to choose to love him, just like God still loves me even when I mess up time and time again.  I can't love Evan only when he is good (easy to do)and I can't love him because he is good (never going to be perfect).  I am called to love him with the same love God gives us- an everlasting, grace-filled, patient, no strings attached, true love.  Pray I am able to do this as I want him to understand the love of Jesus Christ.

Ok, now that I got that off my chest, here is what is new with my little man lately:
-Still obsessed with Cars movie stuff, he has about every car, both movies, pillows, a couch, stickers, crayons, books, shoes, shirts, and this list could go on and on.
-LOVES books and reading-some of the books we are reading are 50-70 pages long with lots of words on each page and he will sit and listen to every word, you will also find him looking at books on his own-Favorites include Curious George, Clifford, Cars movie, the Bible (we read one story from his Bible before nap and bedtime and he is excited to do this!), Corduroy, and many more.
-New favorite activity-playing games on the IPAD2 we got for Christmas, loves Monkey Preschool Lunchbox, Miss Spider's Tea Party, SuperWhy, and TeachMe Kindergarten
-Loves PE time with daddy (obstacle courses in the basement, random silly exercises)
-Loves learning letters and wants to know how to write them, working on that skill-knows all letters and sounds, knows all his numbers, shapes, colors, you name it! 
-Enjoys helping me cook
-Loves library storytime, Titus Tuesday, community group, and MOPS (time he gets to be with his buddies)
-Best friends are Isaac, Andie, and Solon
-Loves games, favorites are Cars memory game and Candyland
-Likes art projects, but not just randomly coloring, it has to have a purpose
-Is very cautious, a leader, wants to do things on his own after he has been shown how
-Always notices things like a beautiful sky, the other day he said, "it looks like a yogurt sky" because it was very pink :)
-Has a HUGE sensitive heart, doesn't like to see others sad
-Says "good night, I love you, take a good nap, see you in the morning, I love you," when we put him to bed
-Is always teaching his little sister what things are, how to say things, giving her hugs, he also likes to beat up on her a little bit and doesn't like when she plays with some of his toys but overall, he LOVES her and is an awesome big bro
-Loves giving huggers and kissers
-His love language is quality time, when you are with him, he just wants you to be with him and give him your full attention
There is so much more to say about my special little man, but I will leave it at that...I thank God everyday for letting me be his mom, for giving me this great opportunity to watch him grow and learn and change, and for creating him just the way he is.

Happy 3rd bday Evan!

Christmas....What???

Haha!  So I am just now writing about Christmas...you might be thinking, is she crazy?  Christmas was almost a month ago, it is a new year!  I realized that but it has been BUSY!  With a trip to Puerto Rico and Evan turning 3 and starting to finish our basement (posts about all of this to come!), I am lucky to just get the day to day stuff done around here.  Anyways, we had a lovely Christmas.  It was kind of strange having no snow but I am not complaining about the great weather we had for travel.  We went to the farm (Mickey's family) for a few days before Christmas, Mickey had to work Christmas Eve so it was just me and the kids at home, had Christmas morning at home just the four of us along with going to church, then up to Ames with my dad's side of the family for dinner.  On the 26th, we headed to the QC for the annual hotel get together with my dad's side of the family.  My grandma gets us all hotel rooms for 2 nights so we can all just hang out.  It is such a fun tradition.  Ok, enough about our schedule, let's get to the good stuff!

Some of our favorite things about this holiday season:

Evan starting to understand what Christmas is really about: Jesus!
Alea being old enough to enjoy the activities a little bit!
Evan being in the Christmas program at church-he laughed midway during Silent Night and got the whole church to start laughing!
Hosting a "Homes of Light" with my two wonderful friends Erin and Sarah, it is a women's evangelistic outreach event that was so much fun.
Pizza & Game night at my parent's house with my brothers, grandma, and aunts and uncles.
Making mint cookies with Evan.
Decorating our new, huge tree as a family.
Having to go down Frosty Lane and Gingerbread Lane (two streets by our house that go all out with outside decorations) every single night if we were out and about!
Eating Old Oma's yummy feast in Amana and Evan being the gift giver to everyone during present time. ( and basically opening everyone's gifts for them)
There are too many more to list!

Some of our favorite presents from the holiday season:
Mickey- skis, a fresh supply of several travel coffee mugs (since he loses them throughout the year), a French press, and a tent (for him to Ev to camp out in this summer)
Mandey-IPAD2 (wow, loving that thing), sewing machine (can't wait to learn how to use it and get started making some things), TOMS shoes, a new hairdryer (desperately needed), Tervis coffee mugs, and the most comfy pj's and cute red shoes
Evan-IPAD2 (haha, he thinks it is his, he didn't get his own, let me assure you), CARS Memory game, CARS 2 and Lion King movies, kids camera, pretend cash register, Cars couch that folds into a bed, and a sled that we haven't been able to use yet!
Alea- 1st dollhouse, cow pillow, and pretty much the gift bags, tissue paper, and wrapping paper!  haha!
We were so blessed with wonderful gifts this year, thanks to our generous and giving families!

Below are some various pictures of our holiday season!



Decorating our Christmas tree




Evan singing in his first Christmas program at church




Christmas love for the siblings




Our walk around Gingerbread Lane one night



Helping Old Oma open her gift

Christmas morning just the four of us-look at that focus!

My beautiful little girl in her Christmas dress

Evan's speed gift opening session at Nana and Pops

The 3 grandchildren opening presents with Oma and Opa