February Instagram

Seriously, where did February go?? Oh yeah, it was spent in the car driving too and from Kansas!! But we still squeezed in alot of fun!!

Wyatt wore nerdy glasses. The boys got Ninja hoodies! They helped Grandpa shovel snow in the tractor. The LEGO Movie finally came to theaters! We did ALOT of traveling and the boys were AWESOME!! Wyatt and I played more games, including Monopoly Jr. The boys got camouflage recliners- Grant blended in! Wyatt found the Owl puzzle piece and had to show Mimi. Grant modeling hats while he and I went shopping! 

Wyatt took a selfie! Wyatt laying on my lap! Wyatt taking his strider bike for a spin before school. Wyatt doing puzzles at Grant's speech. Wac-A-Mole! I'm preparing for birthday month- yearly pictures all over the house!! Mommy and Wyatt selfie! Wyatt did Easter Egg math! Wyatt having fun nesting Easter eggs.

(Lots of Wyatt pictures this month!!!)

Next up...BIRTHDAY MONTH!!!!!!!!

LEGO Maniac

Grant has a major obsession. And I am very happy he does!! Never in a million years did I think Grant would be a Lego kid. He NEVER enjoyed puzzles or blocks or duplos or anything like that as a toddler. He was all about imaginary play. So when Levi brought home a few sets of his old Legos, Grant was hooked from the get-go. 

Fast forward a year and a half later and this kid lives and breathes Legos! If he's not sleeping or at school, he's on the playroom building and creating! Since the Lego Movie came out in early February (which we've seen twice so far!) he has been building creations from that movie, talking about the movie, quoting the movie, and basically obsessing over it. He even has had trouble falling asleep some nights because he keeps thinking about how to build his next creation. It's so funny! And he's so amazing at it!! He can follow plans for 8-16 year olds! But he can also build his own things that are perfectly symmetrical and amazing without plans!! I'm truly amazed at each and every creation his little brain comes up with!

 During a few days stay at Levi's parents, we bought Grant a new set before heading out there to keep him busy. And that it did! He spent a good 9+ hours building one day!!

 This jet was from a Ninjago set my mom bought him. Of course, he added his own details to it!

  This was a space pod he made. I just love the symmetry he builds with. He's exactly like his mom! :)

And I do my fair share of building with him. He usually takes what I build and transforms it into another creation. Nice to know I still "have it" after all these years. But this one I'm supre proud of! I made Lord Business from scratch- no plans necessary!!

I can't wait to see how his building evolves over the years. He has quite the talent. I wonder where his love for building will take him in the future?!?

Taste of Spring

There is only one thing I like more than playing outside with my kids, and that's taking pictures while playing outside with my kids!!! There is something about being outside that just makes me want to take a thousand pictures of them playing. It captures their joy and their innocence. 

Thankfully, we've had a small taste of spring that past few days, so we've enjoyed it as much as we could. And good thing too, because the forecast calls for temps in the teens and freezing rain, ick!!

I think its safe to say that in these pictures, its hard to not feel the happiness and carefree moments of being a child!!

Yesterday afternoon was spent at the Waukomis park with Ms. Jessica, Cai, and Finn. Grant enjoyed the slide of death!! Although Wyatt did go down once, he stuck with the twisty red slide!

 This afternoon was spent in the backyard! Not sure what will come of this playset once we move, but we sure have enjoyed it in this house!!! 

While our new house has just as large of a yard AND a pool, this house has dirt and openess that we have been so lucky to have!! I feel so blessed to have given our boys a chance to live in such an open and adventurous area for this time in their childhood. Memories have definitely been made and I am truly grateful!!!

Muddy Rivers and Boys

Living in this house has brought about so many different play opportunities not many kids get to experience! From riding their bikes up and down the street, to having firepits in the woods, to exploring in the tall grass, to throwing rocks in the pond, its kind of a boys paradise around here!! 

And since this past weekend, Mother Nature decided to tease us with a taste of spring, the boys and Sidney and Logan got to enjoy another fun activity they love- digging in the dirt, but more so, making mud rivers!! They played Gold Rush for a while, pretending to dig up gold and diamonds. After washing their treasures in a bucket of water, Grant asked if he could dump the water into a trench he dug. Well, that bucket led to another bucket, to another bucket, to another bucket. And before we knew it, they had over a dozen buckets out and took turns filling them up and dropping them in! They spent a good two hours making this mud river! They had a super fun and messy time digging, pouring, and smearing the mud all around!

My goodness, there wasn't in inch on their body that didn't have dirt caked on there!! Grant complained about his shoes being soooo heavy he couldn't even walk! I had to wash their clothes on a double rinse, as well as their little bodies! Dirty boys makes for a dirty bathtub, but that's exactly what little boys need to do when you live in a house like this! Can't wait for spring to arrive for good to have many more days to enjoy all the fun play opportunities this house has to offer!!

Changes

Well, its been practically two years to the day that we moved here to Enid! Presidents Day 2012 was moving day, where our Parade of Homes stopped, for the time being at least! Hard to believe its only been two years here, since it feels like forever!! But, as with any military family, once you've been living somewhere for two years, that usually means another move is around the corner.

Well, that's also the case for us. We found out a few weeks ago that Levi received 12 month orders to Bahrain, starting this summer. We knew it was an option and we felt it was a good one, as opposed to moving somewhere where he would have to do 2-3 years of sea tour, which is no fun for anyone! So our plan is to move to Kansas City, Levi will leave for a year, and then once he returns, his military commitment will have been reached, and we can switch over to the civilian world once again. 

We are so looking forward to this next phase of life. We are hoping that once Levi's 12 months of deployment are over, we can start to have a stable and "normal" life. One that has a regular work schedule, where we can put down roots at a school and church, where we can be close to family. It comes at a great time, since Grant will be starting Kindergarten in the fall, and I wanted to give him the gifts of roots, and we're excited to be able to give him that! Wyatt too, of course!

Not only that, but as of yesterday, we officially bought a house! It seems so surreal to be finally moving back to Kansas after 8 years of living away. 

We are looking forward to the journey to come! Please pray that everything goes smoothly and the transitions aren't too bumpy!!!

Stay tuned for house details! :)

Celebrating LOVE

I told Levi that Valentine's Day was my fourth favorite holiday, coming after Christmas, Halloween, and Easter. He said that Valentine's Day was his least favorite holiday, coming after Martin Luther King Day (HA, such a romantic). We've been married 7.5 years now and I can't really remember a Valentine's Day where Levi really surprised me, other than the year before we got engaged. He snuck into my apt during the day (well, he had his own key), decorated my room with streamers, balloons, chocolates, etc. Then he went 40 minutes away to get my favorite Chinese food and had it waiting at his apartment that evening! It was the most surprised I had ever been, considering Levi doesn't really have a romantic bone in his body!

(there were streamers hanging from the ceiling too!)

Fast forward to the night before this Valentine's Day. I had been leaving him notes about things I love about him all week and he never mentioned them. So I asked if he read them, and he said yes, that he liked them. So I was teasing him (while being completely honest!) that he needs to step it up in the romance department! I'm not looking for diamonds or flowers- I'm just looking for thoughtfulness!! So, the next morning, Levi had to get up at 4:30 to get ready for work. He left the bedroom and said goodbye at 5:10. When I got up a little bit later, I thought it was strange that the bathroom door was closed, but didn't think anything other than that! As I opened the door, I saw this...

I was so shocked and surprised! I ran to grab my cell phone to text him, only to see he'd already texted me some sweet messages!! I couldn't believe my eyes! So as I smiled and skipped around all morning (well, maybe not, but it did put a spring in my step), as the boys and I headed out the door to leave for school, I found this....

Another sweet surprise!! I couldn't believe that he went through all that work so early in the morning! I actually felt bad for teasing him so much the night before! But it was just the sweetest gesture!! I guess I'm a cheap Valentine's date- a package of streamers and balloons and I'm as happy as can be!!

Next, it was my turn to surprise Levi! I'd been planning this idea for a while and was hoping it would work out. I texted him early in the day to tell him we had special dinner reservations and to be home at 5:30 on the dot. The boys and I were preparing a special meal and they were going to be our servers and waiters. We had a menu made and everything. Wyatt was going to seat Levi when he came in the door and take his drink order. Grant was going to take his food order. Well, Levi wound up coming home earlier than usual (seriously, when does that ever happen when I want it to!?) so we went along as planned, we just had to wait a while longer for the food to be served ;-)  

It was a special day, filled with celebrating love! The love between us, which we so often take for granted and overlook. The love that brought us together, that made us a family. 

The love that we will cherish forever!

Valentine's Preschool Party

The boys were so excited to go to school on a Friday and celebrate Valentine's Day at school! They don't usually go on Friday's this was extra special!! They'd told me all about their boxes they decorated and were even more excited when they told me about delivering their Valentine's to all their friends boxes too!! It was a big day!

They started the day with lots of Valentine activities, but the party didn't start til 10:45, so that's when I showed up. They at a delicious snack of cookies and candy, of course!!! I love seeing them sit at the table and chat with their friends! So sweet!! 

 

After snack, they got to go and find their box of Valentine's. Their's had been placed side by side, which was nice, so we got to go through them together! They went through each one and said, "Who's this from?" Over and over and over again!! They loved seeing all their special treats!!

After that, it was time to go! I surprised the boys by taking them to see the Lego Movie (again!) and they were thrilled!!

Another special day, filled with love!!

My Valentine Hunks

I'm a huge sucker for any holiday! Especially ones that I can dress up my cute fellas and take their pictures!! I've been brainstorming this one for quite some time, and thanks to a special snow day this week, we were able to get them done!!

I sure love my little hunks!

Sending lots of love!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Fun

It's a good thing I started preparing our Valentine's activities back in January, because after spending over a week in Kansas, Valentine's Day really snuck up on me! I had high hopes of doing lots of activities with the boys, and while we didn't do everything I was hoping to do, we did our fair share! I shower my boys with love day in and day out, but to have a special time of the year to celebrate love a hundred times over, it makes my heart swell! Any chance I get to go the extra mile for my boys, you bet I'll do it!

One day, after reading one of our Valentines books, where they made the biggest heart mouse EVER, Grant said he HAD to do that project! So we made our own adorable little heart mice! We also made Love Bugs, because I don't really need an excuse to do footprint art! We also made chocolate playdoh that day and they pretended to have their own chocolate shop! They used some of the little toys from our Valentine's sensory bin and enjoyed making little candies and having me shop at their store!

 I also made this Valentine's Countdown activity to do each day, sort of like an advent calendar. Each day was filled with M&M's or Hershey kisses. Although, since we were gone until Feb. 9th, it didn't get too much use...but we will definitely do it again next year! I also cut out hearts to write something I love about them each day, as well as a bible verse to read each morning. They've really enjoyed that part of the daily activities! I put them out as they are eating their breakfast, so when they go into the bathroom to get ready for school we read our hearts and verse together! I think they find those little hearts very special! And of course, I'm a total sucker for Valentine's candy!! My little tin and bowl area always filled with some sort of sweet treat!

Along with our hearts and bible verses each morning, we also learned about the 1 Corinthians verse. The word LOVE is used in this house over a hundred times a day I'm sure. In addition to all the "I love you's!" each day, we also encourage the boys to show love in all that they do, because that is one of God's most important rules! When they are fighting over a toy, or not obeying our directions, we tell them that they are not showing love. Each morning we would read two or three of the lines and put the coordinating heart into our love cup! By teaching them this verse, they understand all the ways to show love and they really got it! We didn't go as in depth on this as I had hoped, as we had to cram the whole verse into 6 days when I was planning on doing it in 16. Definitely an activity we will do again next year! But worth it nonetheless!

 One day we made Valentine's cupcakes!! We delivered some to our favorite neighbors! :)

 And we I prepared their school valentines. My goal was to prepare them the beginning of the month, which I did, so they could have a few weeks to write their names on each and every one of them, which they didn't. Wyatt got his name on three of them and Grant did one. And then we left town....and when we got back, they had three days to get them finished. So having them write their own names didn't happen. Maybe next year! Although we did have to prepare 35 Valentines EACH, so that definitely would've been alot of work for them. So then it just became alot of work for me. But, it was a labor of love! :) 

(Grant's are the blow-pops and Wyatt's are the chocolate hearts)

The boys made these adorable Valentine Vests at school this week, for V week! They were pretty proud! Grant, of course, made his very symmetrical :-)

 I'm encouraged daily to show my boys love and teach them to love in return. I came across these two verses from a daily devotional and I just had to take a screenshot of them both to help me remember to show love in all that I do!

  I don't need a special day or month throughout the year to shower my boys with love, but having the opportunity makes it all the more special!! They love special things I do for them at holiday times and I hope that each of these little activities brought an ounce of extra love to them that they truly deserve!