My boys in uniform...

Matt was recently made the new Cubmaster. I just love my boys in uniform!

Sunday Naps

Sunday schedules are always a bit tricky. Normal schedules are replaced with church schedules and it frequently throws off Levi's nap schedule. Last Sunday he absolutely refused to calm down and take a nap so we let him stay up, thinking that he would have an early bedtime instead. About 4 pm he got ridiculously mad and started screaming. (I think we were out of fruit roll-ups!) Anyway, Matt made the comment to him that "this is what happens when you don't take a nap." 

After several minutes of uncontrollable rage-like yelling, we heard him stomp his way up the stairs and a moment later we heard the door to his room slam shut. 

By the time we got up there to check on him, this is how we found him:

FAST ASLEEP in his bed. 

What kid puts himself to bed when he's mad? Matt and I were certainly surprised but let him "sleep it off" for a while before waking the little guy up. 

(I sure love my kids and all the crazy things they do!)

Deck Progress continued....

 We hit a stall last week. We ran out of decking material and have to wait for more to be delivered to finish the last couple of rows. It's looking great so far, though!

 Who knew building a deck was a spectator sport? 

Kellie can often be seen sitting on the sidelines watching Matt as he builds.

 Levi, on the other hand, thinks he's the foreman of this project and likes to get in the middle of things, frequently questioning Matt and giving advice.

" -Inators"

You know your kid has seen enough Phineas and Ferb when they start building "inators" all the time. (or as Levi likes to call them, " 'nators")

Progress...

Framing Complete

Matt finally finished the framing! We had our inspection today (we passed!) so now we can move on to the actual decking material and railings themselves.

Creative Kellie...

The kids have been arguing all morning and so in a desperate attempt at some peace I sent them each to their own rooms for some quiet time. About a half an hour later I peeked in to check on them (it was a little too quiet) and this is how I found Kellie. She was happily entertaining herself with her princesses. I love having a girl!

Being Levi...

 It seems like a lot of our photos lately have been of Levi. I suppose that is mainly because he gets into everything, and is the source of much laughter, head scratching, and frustration in this house. He has a way of getting into mischief and then looking at you with the most innocent expression, as if to say, "What? What's wrong? What are you  looking at?"

We can either laugh or cry and (most of the time) we chose to laugh. I am taking pictures so that some day when he complains that his son is driving him crazy I can present him with photographic evidence that proves he deserves everything he's getting. We sure love him!

 Levi snuck outside while I was out of the room. He filled up the sandbox lid with water and then got in his own private swimming pool.

 Levi likes to wrestle the bear.

Levi told me he was hot. :)

Big Bears

Kellie and Levi were going through some boxes in the basement. (Which they are not supposed to be doing, but that's a different story...) They came across some old friends that they haven't seen since our move because  they never got unpacked. Since then, these big bears have been loved, wrestled, cuddled and dragged through the house.

More deck photos...

 Matt putting in a post.

 Levi is fascinated by the deck and won't stay away if Matt is out working on it. This picture was taken right after his evening bath- he slipped outside to "supervise" Matt before I could get him dressed. (yes, he was at least in a diaper!) The scratch on his forehead is from crawling under the boards of the deck to retrieve his toy cement truck.

 Levi's toy cement truck likes to drive along the boards.

At first Matt tried to lay some boards across the beams for Sally to walk across so that she could reach the grass, but she much prefers to just jump down between them, then crawl underneath them and out to the yard.

Time Sure Does Fly...

 This first picture was taken a few years ago, at our old house. 

As you can see in this one, the kids have grown so much and we've added another one since then. It's hard to believe my little ones aren't so little anymore and that we'll be adding a new one soon. They sure do grow up fast! I also find it interesting that although they have new swimsuits now they are still very similar to the ones in the first picture... I guess their style hasn't changed a whole lot, even if their size has!

Summertime and Sprinklers

...and this is what 2 hours in the summertime sunshine and sprinklers will do to a guy....

 (I sure love my sleepy little Levi!)

Levi's Broken

Last night we were coming home from the store when Levi called out to us from the backseat in one of the saddest, most pathetic voices I've ever heard.
"Me have Jacob's," he said.
"What? What do you have?" we asked.
"Me have Jacob's. Me broken."
Matt and I looked at each other, completely baffled. His cousin Jacob lives 8 hours away and we couldn't figure out what Levi could possibly be trying to tell us, and why he thought he was broken.
Caleb, who sits next to Levi finally helped us out by explaining that Levi had HICCUPS- not JACOB'S.
Levi was kind of upset to hear Matt and I start laughing then, because, as he was quick to remind us, he had "Jacob's" and was "broken". I'm sure he thinks we're mean to laugh at him when he was convinced he was broken.
(We really do love you Levi!)

Decking Project, continued...