Thank you Dad for all those fun boating trips!

Today I gained a new appreciation for my Dad's 25 plus years as a scout/ youth leader for church. We just got home from taking our young men and young women out for an end of summer boating day. One of my counselors called last minute to say she couldn't get any of the food we needed, so I had to run buy it all not at Sams. We bought a barbeque and barbequed hot dogs for a cookout. Then we went down to Philpott and tubed and kneeboarded. There wasn't enough room so me and the kids had to play on the shore for an hour or two which was totally o.k. with them because they love the beach. I think everyone had a good time. At the end of the night we had one popped tube, one ripped tube (brand new- we bought it for this outing) a broken flag, a broken boat floor, and a rock chip in our van (from a rock someone accidentaly threw). The kids and I rode back to the dock on the popped tube and I can say that I think I now know what an enima feels like- yuck! Then we loaded up to head home, and after what I consider to be a significant sacrifice of time, $, and resources only one youth thought to say thank you as he drove off.

I always thought that my Dad just loved the youth and felt like a kid when he got the privaledge of taking them out on the boat. Yea, his scouts broke stuff occassionally, (like the several vans we went through when I was a kid) and they sometimes did dumn stuff like throw rocks for no good reason, but he loved them like they were his own. I don't think that I ever thanked him enough for taking me out on the boat as a teenager either. I'm starting to think that it might have been more of a sacrifice than I realized at the time- either that or my Dad is a little more Christ-like than I am. Probably both.

What's the going rate for the toothfairy?

My first baby boy lost his first tooth last weekend. He has told us that his tooth was wiggly for a few weeks now but we told him no it couldn't be, "You're only four and you're not supposed to lose your teeth until you are like six or seven." Last Saturday we were eating all you can eat sushi/ seafood and Jack set his corn down and smiled at me like this:

He lost his first tooth and probably swallowed it because we were not able to find it among all the sushi roll rice on the floor. We explained to him about the tooth fairy and he was very excited. We weren't so sure what the going rate was for the toothfairy but we figured since Jack loves money he wouldn't be too picky. When I was little the toothfairy gave us a quarter I think, but with inflation she now pays $1.50. One down, 19 more to go... He sure looks cute with his toothless smile.

The Evans Family Farm

As practice for having children, we bought 5 fish all but one promptly died within a few months. Suckerly Duckerly lived until we moved to Minnesota and he now resides with Julie and Scott Bradbury. Since having children we have not felt any need to have pets. When Aunt Laura moved in to our house she brought our first pet Fluffy the superstar turtle (click on the left for the story of Fluffy's trip accross the country) Fluffy has been upgraded to our front room and Laura bought him a new table and light and filter. He's living in luxury now.

Since we moved to the "country." Technically we live in a city still but since it is not Martinsville, we have different zoning regs. My consollation prize for enduring a cross town move (which incidentally is worse than a cross country) was that Adam agreed to let me get chickens. It took us a while but we finally got them.

They started out so cute and little and cuddley and within a week, they had grown and been transfered to their outdoor cage. Charlie LOVES them and calls them our "cheep cheeps."

baby cheep cheeps in their carrying case.

Laura bought a bunny which we named Madelyn but it was not a nice bunny and it ran away. We were then given a baby bunny. We were supposed to get two bunnys a grey and a white, but then Don figured out that one was a boy and one was a girl bunny and we decided we did not want to have them propogate like rabbits, so we decided to just take one. He is white and grey and very lovable. We had a family vote on his name that had to narrow down from 30 names to 20 names, to 5 names to one. Jack had trouble with the democratic process since he was outvoted. The bunny name is now Spike Jellybean Evans. A very manly name and it goes well with Fluffy the turtle.

Spike Jellybean Luke Skywalker Darthvator Bubble gum the third.

And last but not least the fourth member of our farm is our Beta Fish Shockey Lockey. I rescued him from being flushed following a stake youth dance. He was the centerpiece on one of the tables a few months ago, but he's still alive to. I'd say we are improving on our pet nurturing skills.

So to count them down now we have:

One bunny Spike Jellybean, one fish Shocky Lockey, one Fluffy the turtle, 5 baby chicks (I think their names are Apollo, Clucky, Cheep, White Guy, extra crispy and as of now no partridge in a pear tree, but just give Laura a few weeks and Im sure she'll think of something else. She's already told us she needs an early morning seminary mascot.

Gymnastics Stars

Our favorite Aunt Laura signed the boys up for a fun gymnastics class. They had lots of fun and Jack's favorite part was that he got to hang upside down alot and show off his summersaulting abilities.

This was there favorite. They hang from the zip line and slide down the cord to the foam pit.

His hardest part was learning to listen to the teachers and follow directions. I guess he might take after me.

He had to jump through hoops...

One proud Daddy.

The 6 hour hike...

We were told by my very fun and outdoorsy coworker about a hike up near Blacksburg called Cascade falls or something like that. We looked it up online and it said it was supposed to be 2 miles up to these waterfalls on a paved trail that was a great beginner hike for anybody.

Here we are just starting out. Before anyone had pit stands and while Jack was still walking of his own accord.

Laura taught Jack the art of poo-sticks. We hiked and hiked up these rock steps that were definately not "paved" like the trails in Utah. What we thought would take us an hour took us about three hours to get up. We thought about turning back several times but I kept thinking it must be just around the next bend... We finally made it (carrying Jack on my back the last 1/4 mile) and the Cascades were awesome. The waterfall was so high and the water sooo cold. Not at all like Philpott water.

Charlie boy

Laura looking like she's walking on water... :)

Jack has style!

Huge waterfall.

Kindergarten or Preschool?

Kindergarten or Preschool?- that is the question that shouldn't have ever been a question but has been knawing at us for weeks.

Warning- this is a frustrated soap box post, proceed at own risk.

The past two months have been extremely stressful as we have been preparing to send Adam back to school and find day care for charlie and preschool for Jack.We started applying to preschools 2-3 months ago. The local school district has a great full time preschool program with free bus service, free breakfast and lunch served daily and relatively small class sizes. We were first told that Jack wouldn't qualify because: 1. we were married, 2. we have college education and 3.we are not currently on welfare. "Are you kidding?" I asked, "So you're telling me we would have a better chance of getting into preschool if we were divorced or drug adicts?" "Yes" she said and then added to Adam, "It helps that you're unemployed, but it would be better if you have ever served time."! I couldn't beleve that we were being discriminated against because we are married and trying to take care of our children and make a life for ourselves. We then tried to get Jack into a Headstart program and they told us that we are the wrong race. The preschool grant system is set up so that they receive more money for each hispanic or black student they have so they take all of those children and then take the white children if they have any spaces left. That is crazy! In more than half of this town, we are the minority.

We then wondered if we were being led to put him in Kindergarten because here the deadline is Sept 30 so technically he is able. Utah's cutoff is Sept 1, and Jacks birthday is Sept 14th. I filled out all the papers and tried to register him for kindergarten but then I started hearing more horror stories about how much is demanded of kindergarteners. It is a full day program but the kids need to beable to write their first and last names, recite their adress and telephone number, write all their letters, (some can read already) and do basic math BEFORE going to Kindergarten. I thought that's what they were supposed to learn IN Kindergarten. We attempted to teach Jack to write his name, we bribed him with chocolate cake for each correct letter, but he still hated it and I could tell that he is just too competitive to start out at the back of the class. Not to mention that this is one of my Mom's soap boxes she has preached to everyone since I was a kid. "Boys mature slower than girls so if you have a boy on the fence keep him home an extra year." I beleived that... still do, but when we don't qualify for free preschool like everybody else, the only other option is preschool-daycare at $100/ week. I hate to make decisions for my childrens future based on money, but when you add up 2 kids in daycare, we're looking at $600/ month. (we do get a multiple child discount) That is almost more than our rent out here. Today we had hope for one last preschool option and set up appointments to screen him, show them our taxes, bla bla bla, and she told me that technically Jack is too old for the program by 14 days. I tried to explain our predicament to her, but there was no budging. As I hung up with her, I felt discriminated against again. 14 days!

That reminds me of our other 14 day problem. We are just a few weeks shy of having lived here for a full year and so we have been rejected for instate tuition meaning that one semester will cost us$6,000 instead of $2,000. We asked if there was anything we could do and they said no. If we made less money we could qualify for grants and if Adam had lost a job here, they would pay for all of his schooling. If he were female or a minority, there would be financial aid. There are absolutely no scholarships around here for middle class white males. It is so frustrating to me that thousands of people around here are receiving money, health care, food- (that was the first thing we learned here: NEVER EVER under any circumstances go to Walmart on the first of the month, the checkout lines are terribly long), and childcare assistance that is paid for by the working tax payers (like myself). I know some people genuinly need it, but I have seen so much fraud lately, and people who just think the government owes them for being alive and refuse to work because they are better off recieving government services, and if they get a job they will lose their benefits...

I am grateful for my job and for the opportunity I have of working and planning for a good future for my family. "I'm above the below and below the upper, I'm stuck in the middle where money gets tight but I guess I'm doin alright." As for now we've decided ot keep paying our tithing, try and find Adam a job that will pay for daycare, take less classes so tuition will be a little less, and pray that everything will work out.