Evan - 7 (and a 1/4) :)

Evan turned 7 in October which still seems pretty unreal! He is such a great boy. We love him and are so very proud of him.

It's been a long time since we've posted, so we have a lot of cover!

Activities
- Evan played soccer in the spring (instead of baseball), and then again in the fall. (Doug coached both his teams.) He is currently playing Upward basketball for his second season. It's been fun to watch him start to really start to pick up on both sports.

- In addition, he learned to really swim this summer (passed the 12' deep swimming test), took a tumbling class, and really enjoys indoor rock climbing. He is quite determined when he gets on the wall to always make it to the top. He will stay up on trying over and over.

 - Evan also started Cub Scouts this year, joining a Pack with his two best buddies. He is having a great time. He got to camp out with Dad in the fall and his boat won the award for best pirate theme in the regatta. He's working on his Derby Car right now. Most of all, he loves having time with his two friends.

School
- Our biggest change in the last year has been to Evan's school. He has been doing 1st grade this year at home! I won't go into all the details here, but we chose to try homeschool out this year for a number of reasons, to give him more individual attention and learning plan, more time to explore his interests, more time as a family, to name a few.

- School has been going much better than expected. Evan is excelling at school. Math is still his favorite. (He is placed in 2nd grade math, but we are already working on 3 grade concepts.) His reading has also greatly improved. It's fun to see him reading everything in site and he recently just finished reading his 1st Magic Tree House chapter book on his own.Writing is still his least favorite, but he is improving in that as well.

- We are also attending a co-op once a week where he gets to socialize and learn from other parents. (At first he wasn't sure he wanted to go, as usual, but has now decided that he loves it.) He takes a class on the 50 States, Art, Science Investigators, and Math Movers.
- On the days A has preschool, Evan knows it's time to get serious about school. Poppy also comes up at least once a week to help Evan with lessons or watch Ainsley while we do school. It's been great having the ability to take lots of field trips, play outside, and try new things.



Fun Stuff
- Evan has made new friends this year at co-op as well as staying friends with his buddies and neighbors.
- He still loves anything outside, especially if it involves water! He has also gotten really fast on his two wheel bike, zooming around the neighborhood. He loves hiking as well.

- He loves Pokemon, and finally learned how to play after months of sorting cards. Looking through his cards is still a favorite activity.
- He will play DS, Wii, or iPod, but in small spurts. His favorite TV shows are Wild Kratts, Phineas and Ferb, and Mythbusters.
- He doesn't really play with many toys, but is always coming up with something to play using a few items and his imagination.
- He plays so well with Ainsley. He is very patient with her, but they are starting to get more and more on level with each other. They love coming up with pretend scenarios and now playing on our finished basement! I would say that this has been one of the biggest advantages of homeschooling. He's also great with kids of any age. He will play with the older kids across the street and will play with his cousins or Ainsley's friends. 

- For his 7th birthday, we had a sleepover with his two best friends. They did a scavenger hunt during they day and slept in tents in the basement at night. I think all the boys had a great time.
- After at least 5 years of the same haircut, Evan decided to change it up! He looks so handsome and much older. We're still experimenting to figure out which way he likes it, but the bowl cut is gone. 

- At his 7 year checkup, he hit 4 feet tall! He's also around 55 pounds, on track with everything developmentally, and still had his allergies (yuck) and slight asthma (which acted up this winter - boo).

We pretty much consider ourselves to be the luckiest parents to have such a great boy who is "all boy" with such a tender heart. We love you Evan!