four

Our sweet, wild and crazy Levi was 4 on August 12 so, of course, we had to spend the day celebrating!  He was sure he wanted a Power Rangers Samari birthday and so that is what he got!  My cake skills were a little off for this birthday so his cake didn't turn out exactly as expected, but he loved it just the same.  (I think it's because I tried to go easy and use a sugar sheet (thanks LeAnna!) instead of design my own.haha)

We started the day by heading to Mark's store to get a few things done, to give Levi the presents from us and Isaiah, a Ipad call to Grandma Michele and Great Grandma Mary and for lunch (McDonald's, of course).  I love the excited, surprised looks on his face when he opened presents.  Although he is so c.r.a.z.y. he really is a genuinely sweet and thankful little boy.

Then it was time to head back home to play - I don't think Levi could have been happier about the wet, muddy day.  There's nothing like a few hours in the rain, with a dump truck and your big brother!

While at the party store getting decorations for the party, Levi picked out Power Ranger tattoos.  I didn't look very carefully at them, but assumed the party package would be enough to give each guest a tattoo - well on the day of the party, I realized they were not individual nor could I really cut them to be - so the boys each put on about 10 each!  They also insisted that Titus get one too - no surprise that they picked their least favorite ranger (the green ranger) to put on him! :)

Levi was soooooooooooo excited when it was time to go to his party - he insisted on having a laser tag party - even over the jumpy house, chuck e cheese, or the park.  Even though I knew he would last about 20 minutes with laser tag, I went with it.  He was thrilled with the decorations (we hung Power Ranger things from the ceiling, you can kind of see in the bottom right picture) and the big poster game like pin the tail on the donkey (which now hangs in the big boys' room).

We played laser tag for a little while...

Then it was time for the pinata! This too now hangs in the boys' room since it was the pull the ribbon kind and was not broken with a bat! 

The kids were still so excited, but weren't exactly ready to play laser tag anymore, so after pizza they ran around playing Power Rangers for quite awhile! 

We eventually played a little more laser tag and of course had to eat the cake (which took another hit as Levi opened the cake lid and smashed part of it :) and open some presents.

What a fun day celebrating our four year old Levi James.  Happy Birthday big boy!

Levi at 4.

My sweet little Levi James turns 4 years old August 12.  I cannot remember life without him, but 4 just seems so big!  I have so many favorite things about him and I wanted to document just a few of them here so I can always look back on them...

* One of the best things he says is, "is it up time?" or "can I wear this for up time?" or "it's not dark out so it's up time."  He refers to daytime as up time and it is just so darn cute! :)

* He is definitely our spitfire boy.  His personality is bold and it's all the way or nothing - there is no in between with him.  I hope that he uses this trait to his advantage some day and always does things the best he can!

* He also is the boy that will always keep my heart pounding!  He continues to have absolutely no fear for anything - if it's the water, he will dive right in, if it's the playground, he wants to go as high as he can, if it's wrestling with his dad or brothers, he will be as tough as stone.  The boy rarely cries about an injury, but bumps and tumbles pretty hard!  When he falls, I can hear him whispering to himself, "I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay."  And if it's a big fall, he will say this out loud to me (and himself) sucking in the tears!

* Levi is so sweet to his baby brother and loves to play with him which means we've always got to keep an eye on him because this fear nothing boy isn't afraid to drag his baby brother into the danger zone! :)  He likes to share with him (but only when he wants to) and has been caught sharing licks of a sucker or bites of a cookie with him :)  lucky baby!

* Eating continues to be a daily challenge.  He only eats what he likes which isn't too much -- but I know this is very typical so I'm not worried.  Sure hope maybe this year he will grow out of that!  His absolute favorite food is cheese ravioli with sauce on top (the frozen kind -- super easy! no complaints there! haha).  He also likes chicken nuggets, cheese, pizza, apple slices, pears, grapes, peanut butter sandwiches

* At his 4 year old doctor's check up (on 8/15/12) he weighed in at 41.0 pounds (85%) and 41.0 inches (63%).  He was able to see the pictures on the chart and impressed all the nurses when he said "American Flag" at the picture of the flag.  His doctor had no concerns and was happy to see he was a healthy boy.  We opted for the shots this year as Isaiah did awful with them at his 5 year appointment last year.  I have to say that I'm not sure Levi's appointment was any better :)  but at least this time I knew what to expect.  He screamed and screamed as we tried to pin him down to get the 3 shots over with, he had real tears dripping and was red in the face, but after I pretty much laid on him the nurses worked quickly to get all 3 shots done - which the screaming actually stopped as they were doing the shots.  All the while, Isaiah and Caiden (who just happened to be spending the day with us) were holding their hands over their ears and Titus was in his car seat screaming himself! Thankfully we were in a closed room so no one could see (but only hear) the scene we were creating! haha.  Oh well, they are done and as promised, I took Levi and the boys to get a snow cone as a reward.  As we were eating our snow cones, Levi says, "Actually those shots weren't so bad after all." :)

* Levi continues to be very independent --- when he wants to be.  He wants to do things at his own pace and way, but when he just doesn't feel like it he things someone should do it for him.  Isn't this the story of all of us?

* He no longer loves, LOVES his blankie which is a bit sad for me, but exciting for him!  It was something that he couldn't sleep without for such a long time (maybe you remember back to the story where we turned around after 45 minutes just to get it at the hotel - yes it was worth an extra hour and a half in the car at that time!).  If I find the blankie which somehow still ends up all over the house even though I never seem to see him with it, I will give it to him and he will give it a big hug and then forget about it again.  He never asks for it and I'm not sure he even remembers that it was such a big deal to him.

* He does, however, still request "milk in a sippy" every night after supper.  I know it's not what experts suggest, but I give it to him anyway.  He normally drinks out of a regular cup all day long, but I find he doesn't hardly drink anything.  If I give him a sippy, he will drink the whole thing in minutes.  I figure a sippy of milk is better than no milk at all.

I could go on and on about Levi - he truly has his own unique personalty.  He is such a good boy, and such a rowdy boy, but I wouldn't want him any other way.  Love you Levi James! 

kites.

Levi loves kites and often asks to fly them (not sure where this love came from) so of course he wanted this to be on our list of things to do this summer.  We had only flown them one other time in the past, and from what I remembered it was fun, but frustrating for the boys.  Isaiah is easily frustrated when things don't go his way or if he has trouble figuring something out and flying kites can be a bit challenging (especially when you are flying $1 bin kites! haha).  One day when we had nothing planned and the weather was beautiful with a bit of a breeze we decided to try it out.  

Levi was able to get his kite up very quickly and with little effort and so this really frustrated Isaiah.  The unfortunate thing was that Isaiah wasn't careful with his kite and lost the wooden dowel that held it open so we had to use a stick which was a bit heavier which made his kite harder to fly.  He got a bit grouchy, but he has it instilled in him that he doesn't give up so he wasn't about to!  He did eventually get his kite up in the air and was so proud of himself!  

We took a break from the kites to hit he park for a little while.  

Then it was back to the kites for a little bit before heading home.  What a fun way to spend a beautiful afternoon!

crawling!!

Titus is such a strong little boy - not sure why all 3 of my boys decided to be so brave and strong so early on in their lives!  He started crawling all around and by early August he'd crawl to whatever he wanted to see or do and then stand up to it.  Usually he doesn't crawl to his toys like pictured here, but to things like the TV stand, the hutch, the toilet and so on.  It is really time to baby proof this house again!  yikes!

Waterhawks.

We went to a Waterhawks show one Sunday night this early August.  I was excited to go, the boys remembered it from last year and just weren't too sure about it.  Thankfully it was a much, much nicer day than last year which made it so much more fun!  (Last year it was 105 degrees when we went, compared to the 80 this year!).  The boys were very impressed with the different skiing moves and stunts they did.  They were most impressed by the skiers who used the ramps to do flips!  Titus sat and watched pretty good too.

What a fun way to spend a Sunday night!

4

10 years.

It's hard to believe that our wedding day was 10 years ago this August 3.  10 years is a really long time.  I am so thankful for so many parts of our journey together.  I couldn't ask for a more respectful and encouraging husband.  Thanks for 10 great years honey!

I spent our 10 year anniversary at the Bremer County Fair with Mark's employee Shawn while he spent the day helping people play laser tag at the store.  I was a bit sad we didn't get to celebrate together, but I was okay with it, no biggie.  BUT much to my surprise, Mark had planned a surprise party to celebrate.  I got to the store around 6:30 ready to drop off the guns and take the rest of our stuff home to unload.  When I got there I walked into the party room to find a room full of friends and family and a table full of all my favorite treats (dark chocolate M&M's, cheetos, chocolate chip cookies!!).  What a sweet husband to surprise me.  And after 10 years, he still keeps me on my toes! :)

  

Thanks for 10 great years honey, I can't wait to see where we are in another 10.  Never in my wildest dreams 10 years ago would I have guessed we'd have 3 little boys, a successful business and all that comes along with it!

BTW - notice that Levi is in his swimming shirt and swim shorts - no clue why, but thought it was funny looking back at these pictures! :)

the beach

On our list of things to do this summer Levi listed that he wanted to go to the beach so when I heard that the local beach had been cleaned up and actually safe to be at for this summer I was thrilled!  We only hit the beach one time late July, but it was a blast.  It was a perfect sunny, hot day to enjoy the beach.   And it was actually an afternoon that we got to spend as an entire family!  (very, very rare right now!)

Levi was especially loving it.  That boy and water - it's about his favorite thing ever.  He had no fear to get right in, put his face under and swim.  I am so thankful to whoever it was that invented life jackets!

As we walked up we found my mom and a couple friends who were at the beach too. A perfect surprise!  (I had actually called her to see if she wanted to come with but she didn't answer!)  She was more than willing to relax on the beach holding a baby while I got to get in the water with the big boys.  By the way - notice Titus' shoes in the picture - it's the one and only time he's ever worn shoes!

Titus loved the water too.  I did bring his swimsuit, but he just stuck with a diaper which was super full when we got done - I definitely have a new respect for the absorbency of Target brand diapers!

Both Isaiah and Levi are little fish.  They were practicing their swimming skills all over the lake! 

After a bit, Caiden and LeAnna joined us at the lake.  The boys loved splashing with Caiden!  They even made it all the way out to the buoys with Mark! 

What a great afternoon at the beach!  Great idea Levi!