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Monday, September 17, 2012

no... unless it's colt

since my last post about evan's vocabulary- it has grown. he can now say:

moo (very short)
oo (the sound a gorilla makes)
pa pa (poppie)
wa wa (water)
colt (our friend/adopted family member colt campbell)

and.....

NO! or no no! or no no no or another combination.

right now, it's hilarious. and we are living it up. we ask him everything we can think to ask him and the response is always a resounding "no"- head/body shake and all

well, before church yesterday, he was laying on our bed while we were putting his shoes on him, and matt decided to ask him who his favorite was. the conversation went a little like this:

matt: is mommy your favorite?
evan: no
matt: is daddy your favorite?
evan: no
matt: is mimi your favorite?
evan: no
matt: is ak your favorite?
evan: no

and so and and so on with practically every member of the family. so i said to matt "watch this" and i had this conversation with him:

me: evan, is colt your favorite?
evan: colt, colt, colt

then we get to church. colt shows up at the door. he points and points and says "colt"

we are waiting for sunday school to start, matt and colt are standing outside of the door and he is pointing to colt and repeatedly saying "colt"

so today, at my yw presidency meeting, i decided to see if he would perform for everyone. here is how that conversation went:

me: is mommy your favorite?
evan: no
me: is daddy your favorite?
evan: colt, colt

he didn't even wait for me to get to colt- he just went there on his own! so colt now has a fan club. with at least one member in it. although he's only 13 months, he seems pretty committed.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

review: the hunger games trilogy

i told you all i have been reading all along, they have just been series so i've been waiting to post my reviews until i finish the entire series.

well the series i just finished (on friday actually) was the hunger games. hmmm... where to begin.

i guess i should begin with the truth: i did not like them. actually, when i finished the last book i thought to myself "did i really just dedicate so many hours of my life to these books?" i really thought they were horrible. not horribly written but the content was truly horrible- horrible idea, horrible ending. the word have more frequently used is terrible. but depressing, sad, bizarre... they all work too.

in case you haven't read them let me tell you what they're about in a few sentences. there is an all-powerful government that forces 24 kids to fight to death with only one victor every year to remind the "districts" how powerful they are. the main character wins when she is one of the kids sent to the games and she then in turn starts a rebellion. the rebels win, the central government falls, and she basically turns into a lunatic. end of 3 books in 3 sentences.

here is why i didn't like it:

1. i do not like death. i really do not like murder. and this book is full of both.
2. i hated the ending between her and gale.
3. i hated the ending between her a peta (who wanted to see them end up together? not me.)
4. i hated the ending with her sister.
5. i hated how she ended up being crazy.
6. i hated that she went to the games twice (seriously?)
7. i wasn't crazy with katniss after the first book. she just became so self-interested (in my opinion, and i know... the hunger games would change a person a lot)

basically, i can't think of all the other reasons, but i just didn't enjoy them. i liked the first one okay. the second one i was not happy. the third, i was miserable. so would i recommend you read them if you haven't already- absolutely not. but if you want to, you are welcome to borrow any of mine. unless i can sell them first... any takers?

Thursday, September 6, 2012

vocabulary of a 13 month old

tuesday, evan turned 13 months! i don't have any more shirts to photo him in, which is kind of sad, but this month has been the month for talking! he has learned so many new words. here is a list of the words he can say and their translation (i will do my best not to miss any...)

1. mama
2. dada
3. ollie (my parents' dog)
4. ooooo t (oh toodles- from mickey mouse clubhouse)
5. woo woo (woof woof, when he sees a dog or is asked "what's a dog say?")
6. cuk cuk (cluck cluck, when he sees a chicken/rooster or is asked "what's a chicken/rooster say?")
7. gub gub (glub glub, for fish)
8. ca ca ca (car- he always says it multiple times in a row)
9. ba (ball)
10. voo voo (vroom- anytime he is playing with a car)
11. cok (clock- he loves them)
12. go cocks (i swear... he can say it. but when you put a camera up to that boy he immediately stops anything cute he has been doing)
13. go ga (go gators- my dad is an alum)
14. roo t (roll tide- my mom's family are fans)

i am certain i'm missing some. the much longer list is the list of things he can identify. i couldn't even begin to tell you everything on that list but here's an idea:

-all of the family around here and ak
-the names of all the people in pictures on my parents' fridge
-each of the dogs
-tons of toys including: ball, truck, car, lion, penguin, flapper, dog, sock monkey, bear, book, turtle
-most of the furniture
-if you say the word "out" you better plan on taking him with you or he will be one unhappy fella

he's just smart! and i know i'm biased but i'm also blown away with how smart someone can be after only being on this earth for 13 months. if you don't know any babies- you should get to know some because they really will blow your mind. and if you don't know evan- major shame on you.


Monday, September 3, 2012

labor day

i love labor day- it's right when you feel like you need one last taste of summer and always seems to be a good day. today was no exception. matt was off school and katie made the trip up here for the long weekend so we made sure to enjoy their day off. we all slept in (even evan slept until 8) and then lounged for a little while before we headed over to my parents to drop evan off and pick colt up and the 4 of us headed to the lake.

it was my first time going to lake keowee marina- it was really nice and so close to town, i just had no idea. we decided to go kayaking. katie went last weekend in the canals down in hilton head and had a great time and wanted to go again with all of us in the lake. so we rented 2 double kayaks and headed out. we had a really good time but let's just say, katie and colt were much better than matt and me. i'm not sure it was just us or if it was possibly the kayak but, we had a hard time going straight. we kayaked to a little island and walked around the whole island and skipped rocks- that was really fun. then we headed back to have lunch at the marina.

now this is when things got interesting. we were enjoying our delicious appetizer of homemade blue cheese chips when all of the sudden we see a lady changing her at least 2 year old son's poopy diaper on a table behind us!!! what in the world?! everyone was talking about it, including the employees but it's like i heard one of the waiters say, what in the world do you say to her about that? it was so bizarre. i understand that the restaurant is outside and maybe their wasn't a changing table in the bathroom but goodness, walk back to car or change him on the bathroom floor- just don't use a restaurant table when there are a bunch of other people around too! some people...

after our delicious lunch we had to have some fro-yo so we headed into clemson and enjoyed some 3 spoons. after katie left matt, evan, and i all took and nap and then had breakfast for dinner, watched an episode of mickey mouse clubhouse, and played around a lot.  it was just a really enjoyable day and i am thankful that we got one more of those in before the marching band season takes over all of our lives!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

my Heavenly Father loves me

as i was swinging evan yesterday outside i was thinking about how beautiful my home and my life is. how beautiful the world around me is. it was early in the morning and everything was still and quiet. it was a good time to reflect on just how blessed i am. through this reflection, one song would not leave my mind, my Heavenly Father loves me, which has always been one my favorite primary hymns. probably because it is the simplicity of the blessings we are given daily which astounds me most. the very fact that we are blessed to open our eyes each morning and partake in this great, albeit trying, mortal existence. seeing nature can so easily bring tears to my eyes. i always think of my many solo drives to ky through the appalachian mountains and the awe i felt when i saw the beauty of the forests, the changing leaves, and the mountains. i love driving back and forth from clemson simply because i get to drive over the water, and since i have lived in SC i have fallen in love with the sight of water. the flowers in my walkway have really gotten out of control, but i cannot bring myself to trim them back, i just love flowers too much! i am thankful for all of the blessings this beautiful world has to offer and am humbled that our Heavenly Father would think to provide us with these things to enjoy.