Lessons Learned (by Matt)

Things I (Matt) learned this weekend:

1. It takes reeling in a fish every 30 to 90 seconds to keep a 4 year old's interest.

2. To a 4 year old, playing on the beach beats sitting in a boat.

3. A 4 year old will ALWAYS choose chicken nuggets and French fries, if given the option.

4. No camping trip is complete without packing up in the rain.

5. Any weekend spent with your son is a good one!

While Matt & Levi are away...

Matt & Levi are on a fishing trip this weekend, so Reuben and I headed to my parents cottage. We enjoyed gorgeous weather, yummy food, splashing in the lake, and special Mommy-Reuben time!

Just hangin' out


Claiming Mommy's chair for himself


First time eating corn-on-the-cob!


He did take this in the water for a SHORT time


Just Mommy and Reuben

Feel the Love!

This past Sunday, we went to a different church for our nephew's dedication. During the service, Levi made his way down the aisle to sit by his 7-year-old cousin, Faith. Levi was in his glory and behaved surprisingly well! After church we found the following note written in Levi's notebook:


Today, the fun-annoying pendulum was in full swing as Faith and Bella came over for the day. The kids played quite well together and I was able to get some things accomplished around the house! During Reuben's nap, the girls and Levi enjoyed a popcorn treat while watching CARS.

Levi and Faith cozied up in one of the Lay-z-boys...

...while Bella had the other Lay-z-boy to herself and kept asking Levi to come sit with her.

In spite of being "a little annoying", Levi was in high demand today!

Manic Monday

One of these things happens on an almost daily basis around here. Can you guess which one?

A. I can be heard yelling like a maniac for/at one or both of my boys.
B. Air Force One flies over our house.

If you guessed B. you would be wrong - we don't live in Washington D.C.

This afternoon, however, both A & B happened at the same time!

We knew that President Obama was flying into town for a graduation ceremony tonight, so I told the boys that we would get to see a really big plane fly over our house. It was the highlight of our day -- well, Levi's day -- I'm getting my highlights at 6:15 :) The boys got up from their naps in plenty of time, so we headed outside and worked on the weeding. A few minutes before 4 PM, I told the boys they should start looking in the sky for a big plane.

Just as I notice Air Force One coming past our house, I call out Levi's name. No answer. So I snapped a picture real quick like and start yelling Levi's name. No answer. At this point, I began screaming for Levi & Reuben - running through the garage and the house to the backyard - no kids anywhere! In my head I was waffling between anger (I was missing Air Force One!) and fear (where are my kids?). As I ran back through the garage to the driveway, I notice the boys sitting in the two front seats of the van. Unbeknownst to me, the boys had let themselves into the minivan in the garage just after I told them to look for the big plane! Part of me just wanted to go back to the driveway and snap a few more decent pictures, but the rest of me knew that Levi would be totally bummed if he didn't get to see the plane at all. In retrospect, I kind of wish that I had left them in the van (I know that makes me a terrible mom!).

Anyway, here's the only decent picture I got:


The picture doesn't do justice to how big the plane really is! Matt works just outside of the airport and he took our video camera with him today - I'm looking forward to seeing the video footage he got!