Happy Halloween!

The boys had plenty of opportunities to wear their costumes this year! We started on Friday night at my parent's house and then on Saturday we went to a church "Trunk-or-Treat", as well as some trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Here are some pictures from our Halloween activities:

Levi was The Cat in the Hat
Reuben was the Fish (from The Cat in the Hat)

The fish in his fishbowl

Gotta love that cat!

Trunk-or-Treating with Larry the Cucumber (Henry) and Bob the Tomato (Meleah)

Matt & I joined in the fun on Saturday
(Thing 1 & Thing 2)

Another picture of the Dr. Seuss Family

The fish minus his fishbowl

Off to some more houses!

Trick or Treat!!

Thing 1 got a little creative with his costume!

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!

Sweet Spot

Levi and his cousin, Meleah, have always had a special connection. Levi always makes sure to say "Hi" to Meleah and see how she's doing. Sometimes Levi will even ditch Henry for a little while to play with Meleah. This, of course, leaves Henry and Reuben paired up - they are a bit of an "odd couple" but that's another post!

Yesterday, Levi & Meleah got to spend some time together while Henry went to the dentist and Reuben napped. They had a great time playing trains and tools, etc. Then in the afternoon, we had both Henry and Meleah over to play. For part of the time, we watched the CARS movie. There are two prime viewing spots (the lay-z-boys), which Henry and Levi quickly claimed. As I was settling Meleah on the nearby couch, Levi scootches over in his chair and says "Here Meleah, I've got a special spot for you right here next to me!" He then proceeded to put his arm around her and there they sat watching the movie. They sat together for maybe five minutes, but it was sweet while it lasted!

A New Nephew!

We got the call this morning!

Our new nephew was born at 3:51 AM today. He weighed in at an even 8 pounds and he's 20-1/2" long.

Tonight we got to meet Graham Evan and we're so happy to welcome him to the family!

Ten little toes - so cute!

Reuben isn't the baby anymore!

Matt and all the grandsons on his side of the family

"Isn't he so cute?!"

Proud cousin Levi - he thought it was so cool to hold his new cousin!

Halloween 2008

Hard hat: $1.06
Red shirt: $5.30
Yellow paint: $5.70
Being "Bob the Builder" for a night: Priceless

TGIF - Summer Style

Q: What do you get when you put together a play structure, a pond with ducks, a package of old english muffins, and a sprinkler?

A: A whole morning of fun for two 2-year old boys!

This morning, Angie & I took the boys (and Meleah) to a nearby park and then headed back to my house to let them run through an old sprinkler in the backyard. Levi has been napping for about 3 hours now - further proof that it was a fun morning and a great way to tire out two active boys!

Grandpa's Birthday Party

Today is Matt's Dad's birthday and tonight the whole family got together for supper to celebrate. The warm spring weather was wonderful for sitting outside and the kids had a fun time playing on the swing-set.

Happy Birthday Dad/Grandpa!

A New Niece!

We're so excited to announce that Matt's brother and sister-in-law, Marc and Lori, had a baby girl this afternoon!! Lydia was born just before 12:30 PM and weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces. She's such a little peanut and slept the entire time we visited them tonight - go figure, being 6 hours old and all!

Welcome to the family, Lydia! We love you!!

A little laughter...

on a somewhat gloomy Tuesday afternoon:

Never mind what Auntie O had to do to get them to laugh!

Gather 'round...

...for a little after Easter dinner reading
with Daddy/Uncle Matt!

What have we been up to?

The past couple of weeks have been fairly busy at our house, and I haven't had a chance to update our blog. While Levi is down for a nap, I thought I'd recap what we've been up to lately:

Levi got his first haircut! Well, it was actually more of a trim – I couldn’t bring myself to cut his curls yet. He got his bangs trimmed, along with some of the hair in the back – no more mullet!

Before & After Pictures:

Levi is going to get two new cousins in 2008! Matt’s brother and his wife (Marc & Lori) are due in April and we found out last week that they are having a GIRL. I had guessed boy, but was wrong – now Levi will remain the only grandson on Matt’s side. Also last week, Angie and Scott started sharing their news about BABY #2 – due in June! They told us before last week, but now we don’t have to keep the secret anymore. We’re so excited for both couples and we can’t wait for new babies to hold – we love them already!!

Matt went duck hunting for the last time of the season – and returned successful! He and his friend Jack got three ducks between them, but one got away. They were hunting on a river and couldn’t find one of the ducks they shot – too bad!



Levi had a slumber party last Saturday night – Scott and Angie had a Christmas party, so Henry came to our house and spent the night. The boys did great together (slept in separate rooms, but slept through the night just fine) and even took their baths together:

Rub-a-dub-dub - cousins in the tub!

"Juice, Juice!"

We had my family over for Sunday lunch and afterward we tried to get a picture for our l-m-n-o Christmas card. I always have a vision in my head of what I want the picture to look like and it never goes like I plan – you would think I would learn. This year we did manage to get a couple of good pictures and I just got the finished cards delivered yesterday – now I’m working on addressing them. I updated the sidebar with the runner-up picture.

Yesterday was our MOPS (Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers) Christmas brunch. Angie & I were in charge of food and we did a sit-down pancake breakfast. It was a lot of work to arrange and pull off, but it went great. By yesterday afternoon, I was exhausted and took a nap when Levi did!

Now, I’m working on the final preparations for a bachelorette party taking place at our house tomorrow night. I can’t share the details, since the bride sometimes checks this blog, but we’re planning a rootin’ tootin’ good time!

Now I think we're up to date again!

The food is always better on someone else's tray...

...or when your cousin feeds it to you!


Levi "helped" Henry clean his tray at lunch today -- but only some of it ended up in Henry's mouth!

'Twas the day before Thanksgiving...

...and the boys got to eat chocolate pudding with their lunch!

Halloween 2007

For Halloween this year, Levi and Henry had coordinating costumes: Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato from the VeggieTales. The boys are both quite obsessed with the Veggies, so Angie & I thought it would be quite fitting if they dressed up as "BobWay-wey" (they have a little trouble saying their "L"s and "R"s).