Quote of the day

Just as we were pulling into the driveway last night Levi says, "I wish Heavenly Father would come down and paint our house red. Because I like red and orange."

So, maybe we'll have to paint something red whenever we get a house. I just hope he doesn't think Heavenly Father really did it, because then we'd have a problem.

Variety show

So, Levi finally got better, but not completely until Friday. I kept thinking he was well, so I sent him to school starting Tuesday, but maybe I shouldn't have. I don't think he was contagious, however, so I'm pretty sure he didn't pass it on. Unfortunately for him, as soon as he got to school Friday, when he was finally feeling pretty good, he whacked in the ear with a chair. Thankfully, I hadn't left yet, so I could help him get over that. Poor kid. On top of all that, his hamstrings have been cramping like mad this week. They wake him up at night, usually at about 11pm, 1am, 3am, and sometimes 4:30am. He doesn't often wake up at all those times, though he did once this week. I thought I was past the newborn stage, so I am not prepared for nights like that anymore! Let's hope this passes quickly. (And, yes Brenda, we have been using the "special lotion" every night. Sometimes twice.)

Yesterday, we went to two great events. The first was a pancake breakfast for A.J.'s school. They have regular and chocolate chip pancakes, served up by some of the dads. It's fun to see lots of friends, and to see the teachers outside of the classroom. We even have community members, with no current connection to the school, come out in support. (That's our friend Steve in the photo on the other blog.) Good times!

Then, in the evening, we attended a baptism for one of A.J.'s friends. Jenna was sooooooooo very excited about it. I played the piano for her, and Aaron sat with the boys. Can I just say how much I appreciate the person who put up the glass in front of the font? Levi and his friend Eric, Jenna's younger brother and the same age as Levi, would have absolutely been in the font without the glass there. We got there a little early, so the boys had plenty of time to check out the font and try to climb in it. They never managed it, thankfully. A.J. really enjoyed it, and was full of questions about his bapstism. I think the most important thing to him was making sure we could have a baptism party at our house afterwards, just like Jenna did. That's right, he's most concerned about the food. He did at least wonder about the musical number. For Jenna's baptism, she sang "I am a Child of God" and "I Love to See the Temple" while her older brother Alex accompanied her. A.J. was wondering what he should do for that part. I told him we can worry about that a little later. He doesn't get baptized until September, after all.

All in all, it was a lovely Saturday. Aaron left early this morning for a week of training in DC. Levi is pretty sad about it and keeps asking when Daddy will get home. The boys talked to him on the phone after we got home from church, and I think it helped Levi feel a little better. We all will miss him this week, and it will be nice to see him again on Friday.

Levi's fever

Hi, this is A.J.

Levi got sick a couple of days ago. I know, doesn't it sound terrible? He still has a fever. It was high. He only went to Sacrament Meeting at church today. We got a Wii for Christmas. Levi likes it a lot. He likes Wii sports. I like Mario Go Kart. It's fun, too. We're watching football. Except Levi. He doesn't really like football that much. The football games is Steelers v. Ravens. The steelers are winning 13-0. Daddy looks like he's tired. Me and Mommy stayed at church the whole time today. Daddy took care of Levi.

Love,

A.J.

Christmas... and horses?

I finally have some pictures to post! We got some interesting ones over Christmas, and then last Saturday Levi's nursery teachers, Jeff and Brenda Barth, invited the kids and their families to spend an afternoon at the stables where she works training horses and riders. So here's a bunch from both.


First, Levi waving at me before his holiday show.


















Then, Levi showing everyone the WALL-E movie he got, saying each time, "I'm so lucky! I got WALL-E!"



















We got to see my younger brother Jared and his little boy Gavin (so cute!)



















And hang out with my lovely Grandma, although I think she might have been a bit overwhelmed by the crazy energy of three young boys.



















Then, we were off to Hannibal to see Aaron's family. Here are all of Susie's great-granchildren: A.J., Levi, Grant, Christina holding Christian, Shyanne, and Whitney.



















All of the descendants of Joy and Al, plus the "out-laws" (can you find us? :):



















Levi showing off his new octopus.


















And A.J. playing Santa.



















And finally, some pictures of the boys with the horses. Levi loved getting to feed them carrots and apples (two of his favorite foods!)



















Here's Levi riding with Brenda, while Jeff is preparing to lift him off.



















A.J. gets to ride by himself, since he's a big kid!



















The kids also got to lead one of the horses. This is Levi looking particularly western (the boys wore their rainboots) while leading Cassie.



















I hope all these were worth the wait!

My little man...

...just turned four! Levi's birthday is today, so I'll share a little bit of him with you.

Personality has been described as: expressive, vivacious, articulate, enthusiastic.

Energy level: very high, one of our friends always asks him to jump every time we see each other.

Interests: playing the Wii, especially boxing and bowling; chasing A.J. around the house, sometimes with their hoppity balls; painting and other artistic activities; and computer games.

Special Skills: charm, boy he can sure turn it on when he wants to; getting out of doing work, he likes to pretend he hasn't heard anyone ask to pick up, or that he can't do it; linguistics, his speech and language is so much farther along than A.J.'s was at the same age, and better than most other kids his age; happy to try new things, which A.J. usually isn't, so it's refreshing to suggest a new thing and have Levi respond with, "Okay!"

He can be such a sweet boy, and when I'm upset (often with their behavior), he often will continually ask me if I'm happy until I show I'm feeling good again. He is very attuned to people's feelings and moods. Levi is a very friendly boy, always willing to share and play well with the other kids at school. I'm so glad I get the chance to be his mom, no matter how challenging.