outside, outside, OUTSIDE!

Levi has shown absolutely NO interest in going outside or playing in the snow so far this winter, (in fact, the few times I tried to take him out he just cried until we came back in)...until a few days ago. I can't remember where we were going, but about a week ago when I was getting the kids in the car, Levi wanted to walk around in the driveway. I didn't think anything of it. I let him walk around for a minute and then away we went.

Yesterday as we were coming in the house, after getting home from Laura's, Levi started kicking his legs and wanting down when I was carrying him inside. He started screaming, "outside, outside, OUTSIDE." I let him down and he was so happy and playful. I figured it was fairly warm (in the 20s somewhere) so we could play a little bit... a little bit turned into 30 minutes and his face and fingers were bright red!! (and I was getting a little nervous about him playing on the ledge right by the stairs--you know Levi's luck by now), so I decided it was time to go inside. Not to mention, by this time Isaiah had been inside by himself for a good 15 minutes, I was a bit afraid of what kind of mess he might have made. I picked Levi up and he instantly started kicking and screaming again!! Isaiah watched from the door for a little while and then came outside with socks on his hands.

I figured if he actually wants to playoutside, then I really should let him, but we were going to the front walk way instead. I carried him (kicking and screaming) through the house to the front and put him down, he instantly stopped screaming and was so happy to be outside again. We played another half hour or so out front and then it was time to go inside...so we did, Levi kicking and screaming! I think he would have stayed outside all day.

Guess what...this morning after we'd been up about an hour, Levi finds his shoe, brings it to me and says "outside." After him repeating, "outside, outside, OUTSIDE" over and over again, I decided we'd go outside...we played again for a long time and then we came inside with Levi kicking and screaming. Isaiah really didn't want to go outside, so after a couple minutes he came to the door to surprise me with his "summer clothes!" :) It's a bit difficult to have one little one wanting to play outide and one refusing to stay out more than 5 minutes. But we made it work!! :)Notice in the picture above of both boys, that Isaiah has his shorts on over top his pajama pants--he wanted to come outside in just his shorts and sleaveless shirt! I told him he could, but he needed to wear pants and his coat with it, so all on his own he went and put pants under his shorts :)

Later that night, Levi demanded to go outside AGAIN. So of course we did :) This time Isaiah actually enjoyed it for the whole time too! And we played out in the yard, not just on the path!! Maybe this outside stuff will wear off on him?? Isaiah was such a good big brother too. When Levi would fall down, he would help him back up. It was pretty cute.I guess we are supposed to get more snow tomorrow, maybe we'll have more snow adventures then!?

PS - I accidently uploaded most of the pictures in size large, I was too lazy to go back and re-upload them. Hope you enjoy them big this time! :)

winter sun catcher

Isaiah loves to do projects with me so when I saw this one in a children's magazine, I decided we should definitely try it. I have to say, it was a little messy, took a long time, and didn't really turn out exactly the way it was supposed to, BUT it sure makes me smile when I peak out the window and look at it.

Here's what it is supposed to look like :)

oh man.

Here's what happens when you step away from 4 crazy kids to check your email....
I should have learned by now, huh?

dinosaurs!

Isaiah's Great-Aunt Kelly gave him some money for Christmas and we finally decided to spend it this week! Thank you Aunt Kelly!

I'd been wanting to buy Isaiah some nice "big boy" bedding for his bed since we switched him to his new bed, but couldn't decide on what to get him and didn't want to buy it until he was accident free at night (for the most part). It's been a LONG time (knock on wood) since he's had an accident at night, so I felt like he was ready.

Finding little boy bedding for a queen size bed is not an easy thing to do, but I found this dinosaur bedding that I liked before Christmas. I looked it up again this week and showed it to Mark, he liked it too, so I showed it to Isaiah and he liked it too!! So we were in luck! It was also $30 cheaper than it was at Christmas time!! So we ordered it on Wednesday and it arrived in the mail on Saturday! I washed it all up right away so we could put it on his bed. I moved the matress off the box springs to put the bedskirt on and Isaiah was so excited. I let him play on the matress for quite awhile. It made him happy! :) (Of course he asked to do it again after the bed was all made and when I said no, he was not happy.)
The sheets are really funny. They are two different patterns in one. I've never seen anything like it, but you can have them on one way and see one pattern or another way and see another.

They are so cute! I love it, and so does he!He wouldn't pose for a picture with the made bed...he kept pretending to sleep in it.!

But Levi posed...(yes, he has another cut on his face, I'm telling you this kid has bad luck! At least there was no ER visit this time!)Here he is really sleeping in it for the first time. Doesn't he look so little and sweet?

Thank you Aunt Kelly!!

football day.

I guess there was a big football game last Sunday. Mark had a few friends over to watch it to watch it with him. The boys always love it when Mark's friends come over, and I think his friends enjoy seeing them too (or at least they pretend!:).

For the first part of the game Isaiah and Levi used them as a jungle gym.But then we decided to go on a walk OUTSIDE! The sun was shining, the temperature was above zero, and the streets were mostly snow and ice free from the weather the previous day. And I knew the football watching boys wouldn't mind a little kid free time:)
The walk made me long for warmer weather even more, I miss my nightly walks. But soon enough. We went back to check out the football game, but got distracted by the Jeep.
And then Grandpa showed up...
And Isaiah tried on his hat and coat, I love the second picture!! :)Oh happy football day, I think there is another one coming up soon, right?

swimming!

We have such Spring fever at our house that last week I decided that we NEEDED to get out and do something fun and different...I then remembered the YMCA.... and I knew that was just where we needed to go. So on Saturday afternoon that's where we were.

Isaiah was SO excited when I told him about our adventure. He couldn't wait! I shouldn't have told him as early in the day as I did because all morning long he kept asking to go. But the open swim hours were from 12-3 so we had no choice but to wait.

We were the first people there waiting for the pool to open (Isaiah couldn't take it anymore and we left around 11:30 :) and for the entire time we were swimming, we had the pool to ourselves--PERFECT! (by the time we were all dressed from swimming the pool was FULL of kids! I was so happy that we made it before the rush). The Y has such a nice "baby" pool, it's so warm and it's plenty big with walk in stairs for the kids to play on.

Isaiah got right in and was excited. Levi, on the other hand, was so unsure of the pool and kept signing "all done" for the first 10 minutes or so. Mark and I took turns carrying him around and trying to get him to warm up to the idea of playing in the water... and let me tell you - he warmed up to it!! After about 20 minutes in the water Levi was more adventurous than Isaiah! He was putting his face in on purpose, going in as deep as he possibly could on the stairs, holding on to the stair railing and kicking his legs, he was even so brave that he got out and then jumped in all by himself - not even into anyones arms, just jumped into the deep water!! YIKES! We were right next to him, of course, so grabbed him right away, but he wasn't afraid at all. My fearless little guy.
Isaiah had a great time too, but he doesn't like to put his face in, he wanted to be carried around in the deeper water and didn't really want to give "real" swimming a try. But that's okay too, he had fun playing with the fish and ducks that we brought and thought it was pretty funny to play catch across the pool. We swam for a little over an hour and then were ready to move on to the indoor park!!! I guess this room isn't typically open to the public (which I think is really, really silly) and is mainly for the daycare kids during the week, but since we have connections, Mark was able to get us in!! (Remember, Mark used to work at the Y and still knows many of the staff!)

While Mark and Levi were changing, and he was getting the key, Isaiah and I ran around in the racquetball courts. Isaiah always thinks the little door is funny and especially likes how it is so small that I have to bend over or I'll hit my head!
The kids haven't been on a playground in so long, it was almost as if they forgot what to do!! But it quickly came back to them! :)
What a fun time. We were all worn out when we got home... Levi went right down for a nap and daddy and Isaiah ended up like this...
I think we should have fun days like this more often!! Hurry up warm weather!!

One last Christmas.

My mom's side of the family had to postpone our Christmas celebration because of the bad weather we had at Christmas time. We had a party last weekend instead! My grandma rented a big hall for us and it worked perfectly! Thank you Grandma!!

The boys had fun running around and playing catch with the balls we brought before the party started...The cousins had fun playing together - they are growing so fast - they are already to the point where they can be left alone and play together (well, not alone, but you know) !!We had a big lunch with so much food! Thanks Grandma! Thanks Aunt Sharon and Dave for all your hard work and thanks Mom for bringing all the festive accessories!!! Isaiah and daddy ate fast so while the rest of us were finishing up, they decided to take a rest. Next it was time for presents! Isaiah and Levi had fun helping everyone open their gifts. My grandma got her favorite - black licorice (YUCK!:) and she shared with the boys. Isaiah loved it, of course--anything candy he LOVES, and Levi spit his all out. My Aunt Sharon and her friend Dave opening the gift Mark picked out for him - can you believe it, Mark picked out an IOWA STATE gift?!!?

Like I said, the hall was a great place for us to meet. So many new and different things to play with and space to RUN. My dad and Liahna playing in the mirrors!

Merry Christmas 2009.