Leaves, Leaves We Have So Many Leaves!

But we are putting them to good use!

 So happy that Levi didn't decide to jump off the chair like big brother.

Happy Birthday (Great) Grandpa

We celebrated my Grandpa's 94th birthday last weekend.  Not all of us (children, grandchildren and great grandchildren) got to be there but we partied anyway.  First of all can you imagine how much a person has seen in 94 years of life?  It boggles my mind...I mean I've seen a lot change and I am just 29!

We had beautiful weather and great food and of course a few presents.  It was so much fun to hear Grandpa talk about farming and when he bought his first car and what type of tractor he used in 195(whenever) and it also makes me feel very blessed to be in a family that is so close and that I grew up knowing my 'extended' family.  Occasionally David makes fun of me for calling my cousins 'cousins', because when I say cousins I am talking my mom's first cousin's children, etc!  But I love it and I loved it growing up and I hope that our boys will feel the same way about it and appreciate family even if they may or may not be 'blood' related.

 Some of the GREAT Grandchildren helping blow out candles.

Our Levi with his Great Grandpa!

A Case of the Sniffles

Okay it has been a bit more than sniffles but that is how it all started.  After a weekend of fevers, runny noses and hacking coughs I feel like I can say that we are on the mend.  The little boys have not been feeling well so we laid low all weekend with a few movies, and just plain ol' being lazy.  A few peeks at our weekend.

 Hanging out in pjs and the laundry baskets!

 Noah passing on the art of Oreo dunking.

 This is pretty much what I want to do when I feel sick is cover up my head and go to sleep!

As you can tell they are feeling a little better and 'helped' mom organize the kitchen.

Can you name that tune?

Isn't this the soundtrack going through your head as you are hiking through the Rockies?

Love our little guy and the big brother that taught him.

Batman PJs

Signs of Summer

A few pics to share of the handsome little fellas in my life.  We are having a great summer, hope you are too!

 He is measuring how tall his corn is getting.  He is very proud of his corn.

Here is one of our garden plots, and I am very proud of how it is doing!

Noah: Tee Ball

Today was the first day of the first season of what MIGHT become many more seasons of ball.  It was a little crazy for the first day and four fields of 4&5 year olds playing ball but it was fun and I was excited to see my son involved....if I can even use the word 'involved' when talking about 4 year olds waiting for a teammate to hit, waiting for the ball to come their way or waiting to run to the next base while a crowd of parents and grandparents watch trying to yell directions.

But when all was done for this Saturday morning of tee ball I asked Noah if he had fun, he without hesitation responded, 'YES!'  So I the parent who kind of stepped in and made myself the 1st base coach didn't ruin it for him and he had fun even though he walked off the field to Grandma saying that he needed a drink and then when he got back to the field to sit down at short stop.  It was cute and it really wasn't that big of a deal to anyone (the ball never got hit that far anyway).

One Step At A Time

He is getting more and more confident every day.  Trust me I will let you know when he starts running, then we will really be in for it!

Gardening

Some of you may have seen my facebook and saw that I (we) are attempting a garden this year.  I remember my parents gardening when we were younger and my mom can bring almost any plant that has been in my home back to life and David's parents have a beautiful garden every year.  I do not have a green thumb but I am thinking/hoping/wishing there has to be some green in me somewhere because I have not given up hope yet! 

I love the idea of gardening and we love to visit the farmers market every week.  We have canned tomatoes and apples the last couple of years and try very hard to keep fresh fruits and veggies on our table.

So this summer we joined a community garden with some friends and Noah and I headed to Bomgaars to fill up our cart and came out with some:
cherry tomato plant (my must)
green pepper plant (David's request)
zucchini plant
onion plants
sweet corn seed (Noah's request)

David's mom gave us some of her leftovers:
jalapeno plant
'Better Boy' tomato plant
carrot seeds
spinach seeds

Then recruited some experienced gardeners (Grandma Carolyn and Bucko) to help plant our seeds and plants.  We had a great time gardening now we just need to keep watering and hope that something, out of all that, grows!!

 

A New Mode of Travel

Well we are not up on two feet and walking upright yet but we have a new way of getting from point A to point B when on not so 'nice' surfaces.  Check us out.

Levi Turns 1!

As Levi's 1st birthday approached I of course went to the boards, Pinterest of course. :-)  At first I focused on LIONS.  Early on one of the ways I could bring a smile to Levi's face was by calling (sweetly) 'Levi the Lion' and giving a gentle roar.  He loved it so he has become my little lion.  Of course there are no party themes of JUST lions so I searched: Jungle, Safari, Circus and pulled from some pretty amazing parties out there in blog land.  And so course as my Pinterest board grew and grew with ideas I had to do some major editing and focusing, otherwise I didn't even want to think about how much a party would cost if I carried out all the ideas.  Our party was not big some close friends and the grandparents, the boys each had a couple of friends.  

 Levi the Lion

 Noah tried to encourage Levi to dig into his cake, he mostly ate the frosting.

 A little for Daddy!

 Our little safari table decor.  (Nothing too fancy, just fun)

 I found these little cups at Dollar Tree and filled them with animal crackers for kiddos to take come with a bubble wand.

 Our python sandwich, we also have chips, pasta salad, fruit salad and of course...

 cupcakes!  Grandma Carolyn gave me a hand and took care of the cupcakes.  I will brag and tell you that I made the lion cake after finding a picture on a website.

 Happy Birthday Levi, we love you!

Some of the websites I pulled from:
Lion Cake, Sandwich
Safari Friends Cupcakes
Birthday Invitation Invite (wording)

My Pinterest Board for all those other awesome parties I found! HERE

April, the Beginnings

I am in a bit of a blogging funk I guess so here are some pictures from recent events.  I am bummed there isn't much from Easter we were at my parents and my camera battery died...and of course I didn't bring the charger!

 One of my new favorite pics of David and Noah.

 One of the four Easter Egg Hunts!

 Official candy inspector.

 Levi loved watching the fish at the zoo.

 Happy Birthday David! (I will have to post the cake recipe soon.)

 Noah FINALLY got light sabers in his Easter basket!  It has been constant Imperial March and running from storm troopers!

"What did my mom do now?!?"

March 21...

As Levi gets older I put 'baby' toys away and start pulling out all those 'toddler' toys.  As I was looking at the pics that we had taken in the last week I remember when Noah got this toy 4 years ago!  

Here is Noah (11 months old) enjoying his little seat.

And here is our little Levi (11 months old) enjoying a 'new' toy.  

I also look at these pics and realize that my babies are growing up WAY too fast!