Preschool T-Day

Yeah, I'm still catching up.

We got to go to Levi's first preschool program for Thanksgiving. It was small during part of his normal class time but all the family and siblings were invited to come to the harvest feast.

Here was levi's placemat he made. And the centerpiece he did (he had been talking about it for DAYS)
He was able to write (or tell) what he was most thankful for. That made me smile. A lot.
Max was extremely excited to go to the preschool, he pretty much begs to go every time we drop Levi off. All the families waited in one room and later the preschool kids walked in. Max was so surprised and excited to see his big brother.
The program was very short and they sangs a few songs and did some poems. My favorite was the Turkey dance which I made Levi do tons of times after. "Do a dance that can't be beat, flap your wings and scratch your feet. Be a turkey if you please, gobble, gobble, gobble, freeze!" It was so cute.
Afterwards came the feast. I made a bunch of cookies and Max downed three of them, and they were pretty big. I think that might have been his lunch that day..... It was a battle I was not going to fight, especially when he wouldn't be taking his nap. It was a fun day and I love to see my Levi having fun with all his friends. He's such a big boy.

Baby Time

No, I'm not pregnant.

But I have had the chance to take some pictures of some sweet baby girls in the past month. I love doing pictures for people. I'm not great at it, heck I know personally at least a dozen people who are much better at it than me, but it's fun for to play around a little bit and also I figure I'm better than a iphone or someone at Sears who only has a limited time to shoot.

Now to introduce you to the stars.

This is Miss Lyla Rose Becker. I took pictures at her parent's wedding a couple of summers ago and they did such a great job. She was 5 weeks old when we did this so a little bit more filled out than a new born and she was a trooper.
She loved sticking out her tongue and was probably wondering who this crazy lady was sticking this big black thing in her face.
She was quite a hungry gal and got a bit fussy but she was very lucky to not only have mom close, but two grandmas to hold her. By the end of it she was tuckered out and we got some sleeping shots. Babies (and people in general) look so different when sleeping!

Now here is another wonderful lady, Abigail Christensen who just happens to be my cousin. Yey! I'm particularly excited about her because this means we actually have a baby/kid cousin living close by. The boys are excited about it and Levi even told me he's going to teach her how to crawl, walk, run and somersault.
This is one of my favorites, I love her cheeks and pretty lips.
I don't know exactly why I liked this one, but I think it's the wrinkly hands. She was so wrinkly!!!
Check out those feet!
Butt shot. Dad loved that one.It was a lot of fun doing these and I learned a lot, also it was kind of nice holding a baby again. Glad we have more coming this way (from family and friends, not me, just to clarify).

A Typical Sunday, Sort Of

Just some random things that happened this Sunday that made me smile. Or cringe.

- The boys jumped on us in bed in this morning. They love to tackle Jason, hide under the covers and just be silly.

- In the parking lot there was a big fight between the boys of who got to push the button to go down on the wheelchair lift in the van (we all go together to church in the wheelchair van with my grandma and mom). It's pretty much a weekly fight. Although why wouldn't it be? How many kids get to go up and down on a lift from their van?

- When we got to church Max made a beeline to get a hymnal because there were none on our back row. Then he ran to find another. And another. And yes another. It was hilarious. I like to think we provide some source of entertainment for the back of the gym attendees. We are in excellent company back there.

- As soon as the sacrament prayer begins Levi asks, fairly loudly, "Where is that noise coming from?!?!"

- Minutes later he comes up to me and declares "When I am 12 I can be a sacrament boy too!"

End Scene. Curtains open on Primary time.

Craziness, craziness, craziness as I run around helping our new counselor settle in.

- For singing time they do the song 'Give Said the Little Stream' involving clapping and standing at certain times. Levi was paying very close attention to the director (he's right up front) trying his hardest to get those claps right and when the time came to stand, his feet, like most of the kids on the front row, didn't reach the ground and he toppled over his feet. But he got up right away and tried to finish best he could. So funny.

- As Jr. Primary sharing time was coming to a close they were about to announce who would be receiving the 'golden ticket' for the day (whoever gets the golden ticket for being reverent gets to go to the bishops office and they can get a treat from him, it's a fairly coveted prize) and immediatly following the pronouncement of another child close to him getting it, Levi loudly exclaims "But I tried my very best!!!" It was so sweet. And for Levi he was doing pretty well that day. Maybe next time bud.

-After the end of nursery I got to talking with the leaders and they tell me how well Max is doing. He knows and sings all the songs, prays, raises his hand. Makes me feels good to know he does pretty well for other people.

- The boys were pretty good all church long but minutes of getting home there was screaming. And more screaming. And then some more. But we threw them in bed and that settled things for an hour or so. That's what we get for having church at 1pm.

Portlandia

My brother Jared has been great in taking Max for sleepovers every now and again. They have a lot of fun and it's good for me to spend some time just with Levi. Here he is in portland at one of the carts I think, eating some french fries. I think Max is in heaven. Plus he's sporting his new red coat which he picked out himself. He loves red.
On the sad side I miss his face. Max that is, not Jared's. But it's good for him to get some away time and get a little bit spoiled.

Just Do It

Several weeks ago Jason applied at Nike and for part of his research for the interview he took the boys to the Nike store in Portland. I was out of town for the day and it was a boys day out. Apparently they loved it and Levi has talked about it several times.
I guess the trip worked because he got the job and is loving it!

Friday Adventure

On Fridays I try really hard to make it a point to do something extra fun with the boys, something we don't normally go and do. I try my best to make our regular days fun but usually most days are pretty normal for us involving cleaning, running errands, cooking, homework.....nothing too exciting. But Fridays are our adventure days, which might just involving doing a fun play date, but still an adventure.

This Friday it was actually sunny out, which doesn't happen here very often. It was amazing to see the sun shining. So we put our shoes and coats on and went out for a walk to the park. It's not the closest one to our house but within reasonable walking distance, it is where I went as a kid when we would visit our grandparents in the summer. There is a park a pool and it's next to a 7-11.

The boys took off running and loved walking there. Max's favorite part of the walk was jumping on top of flying leaves and shouting "I got you!". Levi kept an eye out for litter and we picked some up along the way. He's a very earth conscious 4 year old.

We got to the park and played hard. Swings, climbing, slides, the works. Max was terrified to cross the bridge on the playground, he clenched my hands the first time but then he got better and after he crossed it every time by himself after that would exclaim "It no O bad!". He's definitely getting to be a chatty boy.

Then PBJ's and off for a Slurpee. All the adults there thought they were so cute as we chatted about the Slurpee machines where they each picked the red apple flavor. They each had taken 4 quarters out of their John Deere piggy banks grandpa gave them for Christmas (we had a brief discussion about money and coin values, our lesson of the day I suppose), and they were off to pick out a snack. I thought they would make a beeline for the candy section. Guess what they picked? Bananas. I was so proud.

We slurped our way back to the playground for round two of playground monster and eventually headed home. Mid way on the journey back Levi asks if he can take a nap when we got home and Max asked for me to hold him. I did for a bit but man did he get heavy quick. Made me really appreciate my ancestors who had to walk months holding small children. I don't know if I would have made it.

All and all it was a great trip and as an added bonus both boys took extra long naps that day. Yea! We'll see what we do next week.

Hilarious Max

For FHE we have been working on putting together 72 hour kits, so for the first time we went and got backpacks at Goodwill. We found the perfect sized lighting McQueen one for him and he has since taken it over and has been carrying it around with him about 40% of the day for the past 2 weeks. "My bagpac" he says over and over. It is now filled with as many stuffed animals and books he could fit. And for all that might wonder, he even sleeps with it.

One night he woke up crying so I went in to see what was the matter. He kept saying something over and over in between sobs. While he's been getting to be pretty chatty I can only understand so much of what he says. After a full half hour of crying in my arms I finally figured out he just needed his new stuffed shark. A boy needs his shark I guess.

Another night time adventure. Max woke up wanting the light on, which he pretty much wants on any time he goes to sleep. We've even started to unscrew all the light bulbs to keep him from turning them at night. That night I decided to try something new and gave him a couple of glow sticks. It took two seconds and he was quiet and calm. Funny man.

For Christmas the boys both got swords from Grandpa Larry. Who knew that dollar store swords would be the hit of the season? Well, the boys of course got into numerous fights and one time Max was fighting when Levi didn't have his sword so I explain to Mr. Max that we don't use our swords when someone else doesn't have one too. So he quickly drops the sword to the floor and says "I don't have sword".

Ask Max if he's a good guy or bad guy. "Bad guy". Every time. I think it might stem from when they were playing and someone told him he was the bad guy. Now when asked I'm the bad guy too.

I once asked Max if he's poopy. "No, you poopy" and then proceeds to check my pants. Oh, FYI I was good.