So Proud...And So Adorable!

We're So Proud...

Evan was SOOOO excited to show off his 100 on his Social Studies States Test when he got home from school today! Memorizing is not the easiest thing for him, but we worked on coming up with mnemonic devices to help him remember the capital, abbreviation, and state for his 5 states this week. And they worked! One that he came up with by himself was about a little boy at our church. Evan thought of "Trenton has a New Jersey!" Pretty creative, Evan! We're so proud of him!

And Ethan is just...So Adorable!

At Evan's Upward basketball games, Ethan isn't really interested in watching Evan play. Instead, he tries to entertain himself with whatever is around him. He likes "crawling through the tunnel" (that's his explanation for crawling under the whole row of chairs), watching himself on the video camera that I'm trying to use to tape Evan,

sitting on basketballs (Thanks, Jeff Jones for teaching Ethan this trick),

and wearing my sunglasses.

McCarty Clan Visits Malakoff

Last weekend, we had a wonderful time with my family. First, we had Evan’s first Upward Basketball game at a church in Athens. Evan did a great job and made 2 baskets! He is getting much better at basketball this year!

Then, we met PawPaw, Grammy, Kevin (my brother), and Caleb (my nephew) in Tyler to eat lunch at Daniel Boone’s and to shop. The rest of the Sparks family came about 10 pm after Mauri’s marching contest in Dallas. Yea, Queen City Band…they came in first in their division!

We set a record at our house that night…we had 11 people and 1 rowdy puppy spend the night! We had people sleeping every where! Ethan woke up most of the house around 12:30 am when he woke up in my bedroom and I wasn’t in there. He was very confused! I put him in Evan’s twin bed with me for a little while to try to get him to calm down and not wake up anyone else. Well, that didn’t work! Finally, he decided he was tired of being there too, and said, “I want to go back to my mat!” That was about 2:30 am! Needless to say, I was pretty tired at church on Sunday morning! :)

We had a wonderful church service and then got to enjoy our big Sunday family dinner together. That’s one of the things that I miss the most about not living in Texarkana anymore. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, rolls, and a yummy cake that Evan helped me make. MMMM GOOD!!!

We really loved having the whole family (minus Ami--she's in Maryland right now) come to visit us! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Go Evan! He made 2 baskets for his first game of the season!

We only had 5 of our 9 players show up for the game, so they had to all play the entire game! The were hot and tired by the end but they played so well!

Ethan had more fun playing at Evan's game than watching Evan play.

Evan helped me make this yummy Halloween cake...it was an orange & chocolate swirl bundt cake with white icing and black bats & orange sprinkles.

Wow! We're full after our yummy Sunday dinner.

The guys just wanted to watch football all weekend.

Ethan likes the cake...well, he really likes the icing!

Evan is always smiling when PawPaw & Grammy are around!

Evan is proud of his creation! It matches their clothes too! :)

I cannot believe that Mauri & Caleb are both taller than me already! How can this be??

Random Thoughts by Ethan Beechem, Age 3

Tue, Oct 13
Ethan built a bridge between the couch and the ottoman with an upside down laundry basket. On top of the basket, he placed a little trash can. Then, he put a big piece of paper in it. He said, “This is my paper bin. I am going to recycle it.”

( I don’t know where he heard about recycling or the words “paper bin” but it was really cute!)

Wed, Oct 14
As we were getting in the van after church, he said, “There’s Miss Flo’s car. We’re not going in Miss Flo’s car tonight. We’re not going to Miss Flo’s house. We’re just going home.” (I think he was remembering the time we rode with Flo to see her house being remodeled this summer. It truly upset him to have to ride in another car, especially in a different car seat! He did NOT want to do that again!)

Thur, Oct 15
Although the last 2 days showed Ethan’s creativity and excellent memory, today was monumental in the potty training category! He went to Kids First day care with big boy underwear & did not have an accident all day long! We even went to Walmart & McDonald’s after school and he still didn’t have an accident! Yippee! Maybe we’ve finally crossed a HUGE hurdle! However, he keeps saying that he does NOT want to “grow up!” We think he thinks we’re saying “throw up” because he was sick a few weeks ago and did NOT like “throwing up!” L

It never ceases to amaze us how blessed we are with both of our children. It’s just amazing the things that Ethan thinks to say each & every day! He has such a sense of humor and quick wit!