Verde

Guess what Levi's favorite color is?

Done!

For the first time in months I went to the grocery store, for my big grocery shop, with both boys by myself. Now I know why I avoid it all costs. Max freaked out for the first 5 minutes because we didn't get one of the big car carts. He also insisted on carrying around a single banana (luckily he was content with the peel on) which he kept dropping but at least it kept him kind of quiet for a bit. Levi was ok for the most part, but I'm now thinking I hate the whoever it is who decides to put all the candy, toys and sugary cereals right where kids can reach them and then subsequently whine about them. Not nice people, not nice at all. Oh, and Max totally broke a wine bottle. I was mortified.

But the good news is that I got it all done and now have my meal plan done and shopping done for the next 2 1/2 weeks. Yea! I love it when I actually plan, it makes my life a lot less stressful. That is, after I've gone to the store.

If Looks Could Kill

For the past month or two whenever Max hasn't liked what we said or did he would give us a LOOK of extreme disapproval, usually followed by a 'NO' The other day Jason gave a great name for it. The stinkeye. It was perfect and we have been calling it that ever since.

Nesie

Nesie, my mom, is quite popular around this house. The boys freak out almost anytime they hear a car door shut or the garage door open because they know who it usually is. NESIE! They adore her and I always know they are in good hands when she's got them. It's great.
Why wouldn't they love her? Who else would let them eat snacks from a train?

More Hilarious Levi

Max finally figured out how to get out of his crib, and was doing it for 2 hours. So I went in AGAIN to put him back in and told Levi "I think we need to get Max a big boy bed." His reply: "Then we will put a new baby in it. Your belly is getting big again." Thanks bud. SOOOO much.

It was nap time, my mom called me while the boys were sleeping and I was working in my office. "Kendra, Levi has called me half a dozen times telling me he is having quiet time." Man he's quiet and I guess he figured out how to get hold of Nese on my cell phone. My poor mom. Recently cousin Elijah figured out how to call grandma too, but I bet that's way more entertaining than all that law firm stuff.

Levi playing with Max. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here. A little baby (pointing to Max). It's time to fight (with his sword in hand)"

I was getting some visual aids together for a song I am teaching in Primary and decided to let Levi assist. Before I even started cutting he says "I can help mom. I am an expert cutter".

We were looking for Max's pacifier (he still uses it to go to sleep) and I asked Levi if he knew where it was. His reply, "Mom, he's to big for one". So I guess if my three year old thinks he's too old it's probably time to pull the plug. I love it though!!!!! It sure comes in handy.

At breakfast. Me: "Levi, eat your oatmeal, we've got to get going." Reply: "But I can't catch the raisins!"

One of our favorite places to go is Wunderland, a local nickle-cade. We let Levi choose the prize from our winnings. It was a 'ray gun' that has lights and makes lots of annoying sounds. Of course Levi wanted to have the lights on the whole time, shoot people. He kept trying to shoot me so I sat him down and told him he couldn't shoot people. "Not even aliens?" "Ok, you can shoot aliens but not people" "But mom, there was an alien on your shoulder." Oh brother!

A new saying. "No way Jose!" "Yeah, baby!" and "You silly mommy", that one I get at least a dozen times a day.

Button Button Who's Got the Button?

I've mentioned how we have a huge box of buttons. Well, I've finally got around to taking some pictures of it all in action. My boys LOVE to do this activity and they are fairly entertained for 45 good solid minutes and usually without any (or much) fighting.

When friends come over they are usually skeptical at first. Heck I would be too if someone asked me if I wanted to play with a box of buttons but then they get really into it and can't believe I let them dump the whole thing out if they want. I've even seen a number of them make 'button angels' in the living room.

Sometimes they look for 'treasure' which are usually some shiny brass buttons, to put in a cup or treasure box.
Sometimes they fill up containers or use kitchen utensils.
Or even fill up some dump trucks to transport it all.
However they decide to play they sure love it and I'm glad I kept them around although I'm sure everyone thought I was crazy.

Gulp

Ever bite off more than you can chew? That's me. But I am pretty aware that I do it too often and have become a lot better at saying no to people and projects. What happened to this weekend? I don't know. I don't think I was paying too much attention to my calendar and I definitely don't know how I'm going to get it all done.

I am making a bunch of ring toss games for a toddler self learning activity. 15 people do 15 of the same project for pre-school aged kids to do on their own and then we swap and have 15 fun activities for our kids. I, of course, am making it far more complicated than I need to, but it looks awesome, way better than what was originally called for. Need to finish cutting and spray painting.

Tomorrow, Saturday, we're doing the swap, I need to go jogging (more of a want), got to hit up the Gem Faire to get a bunch of supplies for my shop, Jason's sister's in town so we're going to be hanging out and going to the zoo, possibly do a sleepover with Levi's cousin Addison, I need to figure out my music for Sunday because I haven't even started on it, and I have a FHE activity to finish that I have again made more complicated than I need to (another swap type of things with 8 people but then you have FHE done for a month. It's fantastic). And we're going to a play tonight which is great and I'm excited for but it means I won't get much done at night or be up far too late.

Thinking about it all makes me almost hyperventilate, especially since I was up SUPER late last night working on some of all that AND made a third batch of cinnamon rolls at 1am for Jason to take to work. It's his last day there and they said he had to. Far too much for one weekend but I've done harder stuff than this before and survived.

Wish me luck!

A blast from the past, Levi at 1 year. I wish it were sunny out!

Chefs in the Making?

Lately kitchen utensils have been the boys absolute favorite toys. I have no idea why but they just love them. At least once a day one of them will have either climbed up a chair to grab some from the jar thing, or swiped a couple as I empty the dishwasher. They chase each other around the house with them, mix with them, and sometimes just want to hold them. We also use them when we play with buttons (I'll be posting pics soon, because THAT is a sight). I don't really care, whatever works I suppose.
He's just so dang cute I can't stand it. He's watching his new favorite show, Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Five Minutes

This is what five minutes of having Max out of my sight gets me. He was pretty proud of himself. Not only did he get one box of raisins out, but two, and emptied them out in the kitchen.
Wait, not just the kitchen, but all over the hallway too. If you can't tell he's trying to get raisn's out of his toes. By the way, this is not how my house usually looks. Normally it is spotless, free of random sharks, emptied baskets, and projects waiting to be finished. Yeah right. This is what it REALLY looks like for anyone who thought that was the case. I had a sweet visiting teacher/friend who made a comment about how clean my house always is. Yeah, that's because I usually had a weeks notice of when she was coming!
He can't get enough of them. I just hope he doesn't find the Costco size bag of Craisns in the pantry.

A Day Off

This year it hasn't snowed much 'round these parts, which I am perfectly fine with. I think I got my fill of snowy winters when I lived in Utah. No thank you. Scraping off windshields, walking to work/class in the snow and ice, glasses fogging are not my idea of a good time. But it is nice to have a little bit of it if only to see everyone get so excited about it.

I actually had little idea it was coming because I rarely, if ever, watch the news. So when I woke up and saw all that white stuff on the ground it was quite a shock. I immediate took Levi to the window to show him who instantly became wide eyed, grinning from ear to ear and speechless, which never happens. It was short lived as talks of sledding, snowmen, snowball fights and boots came spilling out in incoherent sentences.
Luckily Jason got to come home from work because apparently it was a snow day for him too. Oregonians are so weak when it comes to handling the snow. But look whose talking, I avoid it whenever possible BUT that's not because I can't drive in it or anything because I can, I just don't like it. Dad came just in time to get in some good playtime with the boys who made a snowman and went sledding while I made everyone hot chocolate and homemade cinnamon rolls.

It was obvious the snow wouldn't last long and neither was the snowman so Jason and I, sang "Once There Was a Snowman" with Levi a couple of times so he would know the fate of his new friend and not freak out, which I could totally see happening. I guess it worked because he didn't say anything when it fell over after less than an hour. He was probably too hyped up on all that sugar to care much.
It was a fun day. But to be honest I'm glad it didn't last too long. I don't think I could survive living in Alaska.

Magic Wands

Though it's been almost a month, we had a very fun V-day. It involved a lot of treats, a number of friends coming to visit, and other fun surprises. Jason and I did something else on a different day just because I'd rather not fight crowds at restaurants or where ever else we decide to go. It was pretty laid back, which is what were all about here.

Nese got the boys 'balloons on a stick' which they love because they last a long time and then the use them for magic wands and turn each other (and us) into all sorts of things.

Oh, in the background you can see what Levi got for his dad on V-day. He was so excited when we picked it out.

Speaking of Spying on Kids....

Here's what I caught Levi doing after he woke up from his nap. He opted for our bed this time instead of his normal Thomas the Train tent, gotta shake things up a bit, right?

I Like to Type, Thank you Mavis Beacon.

Levi just got out of the bathtub. This is his second time today and he might go again tonight. The reason for this time? We had been talking about what we'll do in the summer because the sun was out for a split second. BIG mistake. After his nap he freaked out about how it's not snowy out, that it's summer time and he wants to swim in our pool. After some negotiating I got him to put his swim trunks on and 'swim' in the bathtub which seemed to do the trick for now.

Today I have been working on an activity for an FHE group I belong to. I love it. There are 8 of us and we each do a lesson/activity/story.... and make 8 copies and switch it so you basically have all you need for FHE's for the month. It has been GREAT and made FHE much more meaningful. This month I'm doing something way too elaborate and unnecessary but it's fun. Find it here if you're curious.

Tomorrow I am starting a "Biggest Loser" competition with a couple friends so I guess that means we're ordering pizza tonight! It's actually been a while since I had some but knowing that I have to be super good for the next little bit makes me want it more. I did pretty well with the competition last time but we did a month then had a month off. I like it a little longer because I can be pretty good for a month but two is going to be much more of a challenge.

Max is sleeping. Of course. Today I showed him how to do a sumo move where you stomp down one foot hard then the other. It was so cute cause he's so dang small!

Oh, and the most hilarious event of the day (and perhaps embarrassing) is that a man came and knocked on the door asking if we were selling the car we have out front. It has been sitting there for a year, perhaps more, and not been driven. The side mirror is hanging by a thread because it got knocked off when someone was driving my grandma's wheelchair out (it was not my grandma who did it fyi) and has a small gumby figure on the antenna in the back. Super classy. Also this is the second time this has happened in less than 6 months. We'll see if I can talk Jason into letting it go.

Speaking of talking Jason into things. This year our big project is going to be redoing our back bathroom, it is in desperate need of some work. It will probably have to be completely gutted. But I also want to do something with the fireplace. Nothing too big for now (you should see my long term plans for it, it's awesome) but maybe paint it and put a real mantle/shelf on it. We'll see if he goes for it.

Humpty Dumpty

I'll admit it, I love to spy on my boys when they are playing and think I'm not looking. I am always interested in what they do and what Levi says when I'm not around, not that he's talking bad, I just wonder what his little mind comes up with. The other day when Levi went in to play with Max, who had just woken up, and I heard some giggling coming from their room so I grabbed my camera take a picture and see what they were up to.

As I began to peek in I heard Levi softly chant "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall" As he said fall, he fell backwards from his perch on the side of Max's crib, into the LoveSac finishing with a perfectly executed back somersault.Apparently he had demonstrated this enough times that Max decided he would give it a try. He just wasn't quite so graceful.
***Note. After this Max knew how to get out of his crib quite easily and did it for a number of nights for several hours each night. Not cool Levi, not cool. But then Max fell onto the floor, no damage, and hasn't tried it since. Thank goodness. I'm not quite ready to have him in a toddler bed.