Yeah for Tax Returns!

Well this last week went alright, but most of our life was put on hold until we got our tax return. Luckily we are able to put a lot away in savings so we don't have to skimp along any more. So yeah for tax returns!

My mom headed out to Chicago to visit my sister for the week... leaving me jealous with her daily updates. I loved Chicago when I went the first time, and I would love to go back someday! Just to hear her talk about the food she's eating makes my mouth water. Those of you who have been to Chicago know what I am talking about. She comes home in a week, so just one week of torture coming up!

We have been looking to get a small dog as a pet for Levi, but to no avail! Levi loves animals, so it only seemed fit to get him a friend. Unfortunately we need one that is free, fixed, and potty trained.... VERY hard to come by. So we'll keep an eye and ear open, but I think we'll just have to keep waiting.

Levi got to try out his tricycle this week, and he seemed to really enjoy himself. He couldn't fully reach the pedals at times, so I think I'll have to add wooden blocks to help him out. We were mostly trying to help him learn how to use the pedals, and I think he might be getting the hang of it. We'll see how he does over the next couple weeks after I add the wooden blocks.

Another Levi adventure was the baseboard heater. Over the summer he would put things into the heaters, which was no big deal since they were off. However I foresaw a problem in the winter and tried to deter him all together. I thought I had succeeded, but the other day he found his ear thermometer and put it in the heater. Luckily the heating elements are fine... but our poor (and only) thermometer is not. Just one more expense I guess.

Levi has been quite cute lately in playing and entertaining himself. He loves his trains and will randomly sit and play with them without wanting mommy or daddy to help. He makes up stories and situations all on his own, and it is really cute to watch them play out. He also likes to scream and run into the back rooms (indicating he wants to play with you, and you should chase him). He is recently learning his body parts and loves to point to ears, heads, and noses (and tell you what they are). He also loves to point to yours or his nose and say 'honk!' It is the cutest thing!

My big endeavor is my calling as Camp Director. We have been trying to plan a fund raiser for the girls, and we had a couple great ideas. Unfortunately after I had done a lot of planning on one the bishop and YW President decided it wasn't the best idea and canceled it. So now we are doing a silent auction that I am trying to get going. I have the list made and set, but now I have the execution and that is where the stress will come I'm sure.

These last shots are of a project I finished a couple weeks ago for my mom. They aren't anything fancy, just something my mom can hang in her house. I also made them so she could add more grandchildren as they come (since I know I'll have more, and two of my siblings are currently expecting).

We are all well, and we hope you are too!

Sickness and Valentines

So it has been a couple weeks again. Both Levi and were pretty sick for a while there, so that is the reason for delay. Nothing serious, just the flu or something. I will try and touch on some things that happened the past couple weeks, but I may forget something (medicine can do that).

About a week and a half ago Levi and I went to watch two of my nieces in their karate class. Levi behaved a lot better than I thought he would. He was very entertained by the kids chopping and kicking and saying 'Hi-ya!' In fact, about half way through he caught on to when they would grunt and yell, and he joined in every time. It was the cutest thing. I looked into it, and he can start a class called Little Dragons as early as 3 and a half years, so I may enroll him in that when the time comes.

Levi also had his 2-year check up last week, and we found out he looks great! His imagination is wonderful, his motor skills are great, his vocabulary is right on track, he has tons of teeth, and his height and weight are still in the upper percentiles. He is almost 3 feet tall (35 inches)! We love our pediatrician, and I'm glad Levi actually enjoys these visits (until the shots that is).

Our Valentines Day was split up over a couple days. Justin had to work that evening, so when he got home we spent some time together. On Sunday my parents took Levi to family dinner and Justin cooked me dinner. We had a wonderful meal and watched the movie 'No Reservations'. It was a good movie. It had some funny parts, some sad parts, and some happy parts. I'm not sure what genre it was, but I still enjoyed the movie. After Levi came home we all ate a special cake I made for Justin. It was yellow cake with cookie dough ice cream in the center. Everyone loved it (especially Levi). I'm really glad my mom got me the special cake pan so I can make these kinds of cakes!



Justin and I are big 'Monk-a-files'! For those who don't know what that means, we love to watch the TV show 'Monk'. It is about an obsessive detective who has several quirks and numerous phobias which ultiamtely allow him to solve the cases. It is a good clean show to watch for those interested (Grandma, think of a modern day Murder, She Wrote). It is on the USA network, and you would have to look it up online for local listings. Anyway, I share this simply because most of Justin and my evenings after his work are spent watching re-runs and such. This has resulted in us picking up some of his traits. So if you see us picking a speck of lint off something, remind us we are not Monk!

I think that is all from us this week. Hope you all are well!

Birthday Week

You how sometimes you feel like nibbling but then once you taste it, you bit off more than you can chew? That was my week! I love projects. I love crafts. I love making things myself. So at first I was planning to just draw and color some Thomas things for Levi's party, but my week became a mass amount of projects that all seemed to culminate on Friday. This week brought more snow, so I could not go to my parents house, where most of my supplies were to my projects. This meant I had to wait until Thursday and Friday to do all my projects that needed to be done by Saturday. I had to blow up balloons (which never got done), bake and decorate a train cake for Levi, build Levi his art desk, draw, color, and cutout trains for the party, create a Thomas DVD for the party, do some touch up work on his railway, wrap his presents, and do any last minute shopping needed. All of this with my house slowly getting more and more dirty. In fact my clean laundry is still waiting to be folded from Thursday.


Although I was pressed for time, and very stressed on Friday, Levi's party was a total success. More than I could have wanted! He has several friends from church show up, as well as his cousins, and various family. My brother found his ride-along train which was the hit of the party. It is a mini train that kids can ride on. We also had Thomas shows, coloring pages, and Levi's railway for the kids to play with. All the kids had a great time, and I am so glad he had so many friends to play with. Levi was so excited he didn't know what to do with himself. When he opened all his gifts he was completely overwhelmed, as was I by the amount of gracious gifts he had. I can garauntee he loves each and every toy and item he recieved. I think he has play with each one at least twice since yesterday! My sister-in-law took pictures, so I hope to get more soon. Next week will probably have some left-over birthday pictures for you. If anyone else took pictures, please send them to me!!

Levi has had many cute moments this past week, but here are a couple! One night he didn't want me to leave him alone to go to sleep (which is unusual because he loves to go to bed at night). So I laid next to him and put my arm around him. Every time I would pull my arm away he would grab it and put it back. I had laid there for about fifteen minutes and decided I should leave. So I whispered in his ear 'Good night. Momma loves you.' To my surprise and utter delight he whispered back 'Ni-Night.' And I then left him alone. What a sweetheart.

Another time he was in his room for some quiet time (he was supposed to be taking a nap, but he decided to play instead). He was in there playing and having a good time when all the sudden he broke out into the A-B-C song. He only knows a few letters, but he has the tune down perfect! It was so cute to listen to him sing. He also knows "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", which is the same tune, but he knows the words to this one. He can be so cute!

Justin recieved a letter this week inviting him to join the honor society! We were very excited for him, as this would be the first time he made it to an honor society. We are going to join, since we know it will look good for him down the road. He's been doing well in school, and seems to be managing the term quite well. I know he'll keep his GPA up!

Well that was my week in a nutshell. Hope you all are well!