From December...

Merry Christmas 2012!

Ooops--Jared and I got each other the exact same gift...those who shop on Amazon shop alike. Only he calls his a "spice grinder," and I call mine a "coffee grinder." 

First Tooth

Believe it or not, both the Tooth Fairy AND Santa Claus paid a visit to our house last night! I do believe they high-fived each other as they passed in the night. Parker lost his first tooth on Christmas Eve! The Tooth Fairy brought him a dollar in quarters and two packs of special gum--she knew that he would be very excited about the gum, and she was right. It's fun seeing Parker with this new "look"...pretty soon he'll catch up to Levi ;)

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!