Up Close and Personal

MK gets cozy with the steering wheel. Definitely infringing on its personal space. It makes her feel safe. Bonding, if you will. Just as long as she doesn't use that argument regarding boyfriends....  

Quote of the Day

“Mom, can I waste [use] my screen time?”

I couldn’t have said it any better.

Quite the Cutie Pie

You could call it an obsession. It qualifies. And she's got the same last name we do. Less complicated when they marry, Cy tells me.

He likes to wear his football gear when they're together. Dress to impress, right? 

Her house on the hill overlooks our backyard. Cy will do his best tricks on the tramp, as nonchalantly as possible, to demonstrate his prowess and especially his availability for a play date. 

"Train them up in the way they should go..."

Self-portrait on my 40th birthday

The purple scarf brings out my eyes, don't you think?

First Grade Football

Cy’s playing tackle football as a 1^st grader.

Who is his mama anyway?

Well, I’ll tell you right now, that if he doesn’t LOVE, LOVE, SUPERlove it, I am yankin’ his tail right out of football. It’s just plain ridiculous. There are like 20 parents out there at every practice observing their player’s development, technique, hydration level…. There are six coaches. The head monster coach (6’5” human refrigerator) barks at them to “MAN UP!” And all I want to do is kiss his sweaty little forehead and pat him on the bum bum.

Great Expectations

Mia is my biggest helper and mightiest drain. Every day she thinks of what I can do for her and her friends to make their lives worth living. (No extra charge for the guilt trip.) Examples: “Can’t you drive us to Provo (hour round-trip), so we can go to Seven Peaks (for the 3^rd time)? There’s NOTHING else to do!! Can’t you pay for it, too?! You can drive to Costco first in American Fork and pick up their $15 passes, so it barely costs a thing!” Or, “Can you take me and my friend to Lagoon (in Farmington [1 1/2 hours round trip] for $41 a ticket). We’re so bored!!! And, and…it’s one of our summer goals! We HAVE to go to Lagoon before school starts!!” Or, “We’re inviting (she’s telling me, not asking) all of the Beehives over tonight to our house for a big PARTY! We’re going to have pizza, pop and candy, movies, games…. It’s going to be the funnest ever!! We’ve already planned everything (for you to do for us)!!!” Or, “Can you take us to the shopping center? We really need to go tanning BAD! Just look how gross and white we are!! And, and… we have to get school stuff, Mom. Do you want me to be unprepared for my first day of middle school?!” Or, “Can you take us out to lunch? We just decided that sounded like fun. So can you?”

Ya. I’ve been known to say if Mia were my only child I’d have my hands full. Tanning?….sheesh. Don’t worry—I’m way too controlling to let her run my life. But it sure is fun watching her get her hopes up!

A Week in Purgatory

(Soccer in the park with our buddies. This was the fun part.) 

MK's Hell Week (aka soccer try-out two-a-days). Highlights include: 

running sidewalks

her leaky red gallon cooler of water

sprints

"Indian" runs

the daily trek to the river to soak sore legs in the icy water after a.m. practices

getting the chills when she smothered her legs in Icy Hot every afternoon

driving to and from Purgatory with her learner's permit!

long naps on the couch between practices

afternoon scrimmages

running more sidewalks

first cuts

second cuts....

Results are in. MK made the High School JV/Varsity soccer team as a wee sophomore! She just beats the tar out of whatever she puts her mind to. 

Update: Pre-season, she’s played three JV and one Varsity game so far and scored a goal each JV game. Varsity lost 1 to 0. JV won: 3 to 2 ; 3 to 0; and 2 to 1.

Just Do It

Cam, who is terrified of rinsing his hair in the tubby, embarked on two weeks of swimming lessons. When I signed him up, I envisioned some kind of, you know… instruction. What we got was our instructor launching Cam into the pool and the directive, “Swim!” While Cam half-drowned, I politely interjected, “Ummm, he doesn’t know what you mean when you say ‘swim.’ Can you give him some idea of what to do?”

 “He’ll figure it out. That’s how my dad taught me.”

 Am I paying for this??

The Littlest Evans

At MK’s JV soccer game, Elle let out a blood-curdling yell, “Go!!!” (twice). All heads turned to her and people burst out laughing. I couldn’t have been more proud.

Elle knows how to say, “SDOP!!!” to Cam as necessary several times a day.

 

Elle's very favorite person in the whole world just might be Cy, who she calls for frequently throughout the day. Cy ADORES her. 

When she wakes up in the morning and from her nap, she throws her beloved red-tagged blankey overboard to show she’s serious about abandoning ship. 

Cy's Seventh

Sorry, People, but we have the best home teachers on the planet. Allow me to demonstrate: "Cy, don't you have a birthday this week? How about you and your family invite some friends over to our backyard for a pool party? Oh, and we've got a soft-serve ice cream machine for cones....Lorenne, don't you have a birthday next week? Let me put on my thinking cap...."

The Joker

Bored and hungry (‘cause boys are always hungry) on a hot August afternoon, Getty and his buddies Cody and Parker decided it was high time for some serious scheming. They each donned a full costume, grabbed an Easter basket, and moved out into the neighborhood. Trick or treatin’ in August. Sheer genius, these boys. They scored several cookies, fruit snacks, smarties, punch, and candy bars.

I just threw a whole-wheat bagel at them. 

Mia's Summer Goals

It's "Back to School," but I just found Mia's summer goal list, so let's take a gander (with her permission, of course)...

1.    go running with Kennedy MWF at 8:00 a.m. (happened twice, but good for her!)

2.   save up money for itouch and futon 

3.   cut back on junk food 

4.   don’t get on the computer as much 

5.   try to be nicer to family 

6.   don’t yell as much 

7.   be responsible [in order to earn] cell phone 

8.   learn how to use locker for middle school 

9.   say prayers morning and night 

10. be nice to everyone 

11. get tan 

12. keep working with dance, like pirouettes, fouettes, leaps, splits, etc. 

13. do flexibility workout every night 

14. get “Forever Strong” on ipod 

15. get on a rugby team

16. do chores without having to be asked

17. read scriptures and keep on track [with family scripture goal] (not on track, but feels guilty—does that count?)

18. try new hairstyles 

TMI

To add to the onset of a mysterious Evans-side of the family chronic pain in the nether-regions, Rob needs either a root canal or to remove his tooth altogether. I’ve never seen him in so much pain, especially after he eats. He paces madly around the house, moaning and holding his cheek. Once, when the pain began to subside, he told me, “If I were ever captured as a Prisoner of War and tortured for information, I’d give it up immediately.” (He knows I love him.)