December 11 marked Levi’s 9 month birthday. By this time he had begun sitting up on his own, playing patty-cake, giving high-fives, and having even more fun. His crawl was more of an army crawl, scooting around using his elbows to drag the rest of his body across the floor. It was also at 9 months when he started pulling himself up on the furniture and cruising along. Here are a few pics of the little mover and shaker. Enjoy!
Archive for February, 2009
Graceland
We’ve lived 10 minutes from Graceland for 2 1/2 years without even visiting. So when my sister and aunt visited for New Year’s, my mom and I decided it was time to go. We all spent hours touring Elvis’ house, his airplanes, a car museum with his old cars, and another museum with his old army fatigues and letters. It was really informative and interesting, and Mom and Aunt Cathy loved taking pictures with Elvis! We had so much fun, we completely lost track of the time. Our truck was the last in the parking lot, as you can see in one of the pics below. Here are some snapshots of us at the “King’s” house. Enjoy!
Haunted Castle Reading Fair Project
Back in early December, Jonathan participated in the school’s reading fair. He read the book Haunted Castle on Hallow’s Eve, and we helped him to create a very interesting project. After a little practice at home, he presented it to his class, and was chosen to enter the school-wide fair. We were extremely proud when he brought home a red ribbon on his project. He won second place in the 3rd grade division! Here he is showing off his cool project with a moving drawbridge door, and his red ribbon.
Christmas Parade
These are a few pics we took at the Christmas Parade. It was cold, but the boys managed to enjoy it anyway.
Six Christmases
We spent over a week in Louisiana for Christmas. Nana and Pepaw were nice enough to put up with our family and all our stuff, too the whole time. While traveling from place to place to place, we had a great time visiting all our families.
We started out at Nana and Pepaw’s with all the family. The boys love seeing their nine other cousins, and pick up right where they left off the last time they saw them.
Next was Christmas at Mammaw and Roy’s with more family and even more food and presents!
Christmas Eve was spent at Mama Nance’s and Daddy Wayne’s, where the boys participated in the annual Christmas play put on by the grandkids and now great-grands. Jonathan was the “Little Drummer Boy,” Aaron was the shepherd, Caleb was a wise man, and Levi was baby Jesus. We also received a visit from Santa.
Christmas morning, we opened Santa presents and had our family Christmas with Nana and Pepaw. The boys must have been extra good last year, because they woke up to find an Ipod Nano and 2 Nintendo DS’s. This was the first time we spent Christmas morning with them, and they made it extra special. Pepaw even cooked us some pancakes for breakfast!
Before lunch on Christmas, we spent some time with Ma and Pa; and the boys got electric scooters. Levi got a ride-on/walk-behind lion. We had lunch with my aunt and uncle, and then we headed south to Nenaw’s house. There, the boys had a blast shooting fireworks.
A few days later, our Christmas with Mammaw and Papa Don was cancelled when he was put in the hospital. We took the boys out to spend a little time with Mammaw before she went to visit Papa in the hospital.
So, that’s the short version of our week of Christmases. The time flew by and we ended up loading up two truckloads of presents and even more memories to bring home. Thanks everyone for the gifts, memories, and for sharing the most wonderful time of year with us.
Christmas Book Countdown
A couple of years ago, we began a new tradition to count down to Christmas. Each night of December, the boys took turns opening a Christmas book. Of course, this was Levi’s first year to share in this experience, and he loved ripping open the paper. His brothers had fun with it yet again, and many nights we listened to Jonathan and Aaron read a story. These are moments to treasure forever. Here’s a sweet snapshot of one of our storytimes, and a few of Levi’s first Christmas book unveiling.
Giving Thanks
We celebrated Thanksgiving down in Louisiana with Nana and Pepaw and all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. The kids played outside all day and had a blast. Of course, we ate and ate some ham and turkey and all the fixin’s. During the week we also visited everyone else while we were home. Although we live 6 hours away, we are so thankful to see our family as much as we do. We always have a good time!
Christmas Un-Lighting
Back in November, we pulled out all our Christmas decorations, put the tree up, hung the stockings over the fireplace, and hung lights on the house. After untangling the cords, plugging them up, and making sure no bulbs were out, Jeff and my Dad climbed up on the roof to hang our icicle lights. When they got them all straight and neat, we plugged them in and only half were twinkling. So we pulled them down in disappointment and decided to wait until next year to do lights on the house again. We had fun that evening decorating the tree with the boys, anyway. Here are some pictures of our Christmas preparations.
8 Months
Levi turned 8 months old almost 3 months ago, November 11. So I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Here are pictures of him at 8 months. Notice his cute little bottom teeth! Also, notice his black eye. This happened when Jonathan was playing with him, pushing a little fire truck around. The truck slipped and bopped him right in the eye. The result: a black eye just in time for Thanksgiving! Levi was just starting to get into everything, and his favorite was the Christmas tree, which we put up the week before Thanksgiving. He thought it was so much fun to grab the lowest ornaments and pull them off the tree. They usually ended up in his mouth, just like his first sucker. The other boys were eating one, and he thought he needed one too. And, boy, did he enjoy it! Anyway, enjoy the pictures.
Field Trips & Class Parties
There’s always something going on in one of the boys’ classes, so it seems we’re always at the school! Here’s the rundown on all the activities.
During the first weeks of Kindergarten, the kids worked hard to learn their phone number, address, and birthday. When they all knew their birthday, they had a class birthday party to celebrate this accomplishment.
Last fall, Caleb’s class did a unit on the farm. To sum it up, they took a trip to Kidz Kountry Farm, and the next week had a big Farm Breakfast in their classroom.
Aaron’s class took their Fall field trip to the Pink Palace Craft Fair, where they learned how to make all sorts of old crafts. He learned how to weave yarn to make blankets, how to make homemade biscuits, and how to make pottery. Aaron and his friends also made their own sand art.
Jonathan went to the Pink Palace Museum with his SPOTLIGHT class. His Dad and Pa accompanied him on this trip. They learned about dinosaurs and fossils, and watched an IMAX movie about prehistoric sea monsters. Jeff forgot the camera, but he managed to snap a quick shot of Jonathan with his phone.
The 3rd grade class took a trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop as a learning experience about assembly lines. Jonathan was excited to take both Ma and Pa. I would never have guessed that 3rd graders would have so much fun making and dressing their own stuffed animals, but word is they all had a fantastic time.
Aaron’s class took a winter trip to the Pink Palace to watch the IMAX movie “Santa vs. the Snowman.” Jeff and I chaperoned and enjoyed the movie just as much as the kids. After the movie, we explored the exhibits in the museum. Ma and Pa had the camera for Jonathan’s field trip, so all we had was our phone. Sorry about the quality.
Then came time for Christmas parties . . .
Caleb’s class made Gingerbread houses and ate lots of the candy and icing intended for the houses.
As classroom mom, I planned Aaron’s party. We made snowman ornaments, played Pin the Nose on Rudolph, and ate lots of yummy Christmas snacks.
Jonathan’s party consisted of eating, too, and also playing Pass the Stocking to win free homework passes. Even the parents were allowed to play. I think we wanted the homework pass more than the kids!
So that about wraps up just the first half of the school year. We’re looking forward to even more field trips and parties, so check back later as we share more stories.
