Native American Day

Today was "Native American Day" for the Kindergarteners at Parker's school, and Parker said it was "so awesome." The Kindergarten outdoor area became the site of ten different "stations" where the kids could take turns planting corn, playing a game, spearing fish and a buffalo (sorry, PETA!), and doing various other fun and exciting things that I can't think of right now :) They also got to eat lunch together out on the playground (apparently, Native American fare includes hot dogs and juice boxes), and wore vests, headdresses, and necklaces that they made and decorated themselves with Native American symbols. Parker loves his "gear" that he made, and happily modeled it for me after school. Apparently, he either chose or was given the name, "Hunting Wolf." Sounds pretty cool. 

This is Parker giving me his version of his "real smile"...

Attacking his brother, as usual

Here Parker is explaining to me the meanings of the symbols that he drew--bear, man, boy, fire, eagle...

Prindles in a Sabot

God bless that little 7-foot 11-inch Sabot, it gamely took us all for rides in Mission Bay and didn't dunk anyone a single time. And Nate, Lisa, and Alex gamely agreed to hop in the tiny boat and trusted Jared not to dunk them a single time ;) Good thing, too, cause although it doesn't look like it in these pictures, it was a pretty chilly, windy day on the bay! As you can see in these pics, the Sabot doesn't exactly perform at its maximum capabilities with two adults aboard, but as long as it floated (mere inches above the water), stayed relatively dry, and moved forward, we were good to go. 

Poor Lisa! She may have gotten a little closer to the water than she bargained for ;)

The Family that Paints Together...

It felt like Levi's birthday lasted for three days...we headed down to San Diego on Saturday morning and enjoyed two days of food, fun, and family. Mimi and Niki gifted Levi with a beautiful easel, which he thoroughly loves and enjoys. He must have spent over an hour painting and drawing when he first got it, and he also got to spend some quality time playing with Nate, Lisa, and Alex to boot. I love our little budding artist!

 

Strider Adventures

Levi just looks too cute on his new balance bike from Grammy and Grampa--I can't get enough of it! And he can't get enough of it either...he had plenty of opportunities to "ride" around on his bike this weekend in San Diego, and created his own opportunities, too! 

Two Years Old!!

Parker's friend Reece gave Levi these balloons in the morning! He LOVED them!

Cheese!

Trying to show "two" on his fingers

This is how he smiles for the camera :)

Parker made Levi this party hat, and Levi absolutely loved it. It made him so happy that Parker did this just for him. He asked to wear it all day long, and just about never took it off. 

Ian, Krista, and Forest joined us for dinner and cupcakes!

Levi with his "happy cake"

I went a little crazy with the frosting...this was the first time that I tried dying the frosting different colors with food coloring, and I didn't really approach this with a "plan," as you can tell. Levi loved all the colors, though, so it was worth it :)

Forest gave us more than a few harmonica concerts :)

Opening presents

With his new choo choo book and blanket

Trying on his new watch from our neighbors

Checking out his awesome new tractor-slash-flashlight from I, K, + F--what a smart way to combine two things little boys love!

And a huge Thank You to Grammy and Grampa for the awesome new Strider balance bike! Levi loved it! I know he is going to be so happy to have his very own real bike! And he made sure to point out that it's red :)

He took it for a few spins around the living room--can't wait to try it out this weekend

Snuggling under the new blanket and reading a new Thomas book (and no, he is not sucking his thumb, so don't worry!)

We managed to really talk up Levi's birthday over about a week, and he got really excited about it. He would smile so big if you mentioned birthday cake, balloons, party, or presents, and he would list every family member that he could think of that he would invite to his party (he's getting great with everyone's names!). It was definitely a fun day! Now we're heading down to San Diego for Party Number Two! Sending special thoughts and hellos to Grammy and Grampa, who are off on an adventure and can't join us to celebrate. We love you guys! And big thank yous to everyone who is helping to make the start of Two Years Old so wonderful!

Levi's Birthday Quilt

I did it! It's done! I finally finished Levi's quilt--and even days before his birthday. I actually bought the robot fabric almost a year ago with the idea of making him a blanket with it, and lo and behold, it has finally happened. It was actually pretty easy to make--the blocks were easy to cut and piece--I just don't work on my sewing that often, since I find it hard to find quiet alone time during the day and I'm pretty exhausted by the time the boys go to bed. Once again, I know that there are plenty of things about this quilt that aren't done well or right (most things aren't straight or square, many of my stitches are uneven, I did a sewing "flip trick" instead of binding), but when it comes down to it, this thing looks and feels and acts like a blanket, and it was absolutely made with love. Levi really likes to sleep with his favorite blankets every night, so I hope that he will bond with this one too--it's the perfect size for the toddler bed that he will move up to in the next year. He's seen it in its many stages of preparation, but hasn't seen the totally finished product yet. I'm going to wrap it up and give it to him on his birthday; I'm not sure if he'll be that excited or surprised, but I do hope he grows to love it :)