One Fish, Two Fish, Three Fish!

Levi took swimming lessons this week with Mallory and another friend at Carey's pool. Loni was a great teacher and Levi really progressed from Monday until Thursday.

Here they are, getting started with their first class. Splashing to Red Light, Green Light!

Swim!

 Swimming!

A break in the week...popsicles!

To celebrate Thursday's end of swimming classes, I made the kids blue rice krispy treats with goldfish. 

Happy cousins! Levi's favorite thing about swimming lessons was learning to hold his breath under water (his record was 13 seconds).

Levi is FOUR!

Four years ago Ashley and I's lives changed forever with the birth of Levi. We continue to grow as parents with him, learning who he is and teaching him to be a good person. He makes us laugh with his silly antics; he's a good big brother (as much as you can expect a  4 year old to be); and even though there are times when he challenges us and frustrates us with his behavior, we love him so much! I'm so happy he's my boy and I look forward to seeing him grow up. 

Here he is, on his actual birthday, June 15. He and Mason love cards that make noise so I've started splurging and forking over $4.99 to buy them for birthdays. This one makes an awesome fire truck siren sound. 

Our gift to him was a sleeping bag, which he wanted to try out right away (and spent a couple of nights sleeping in on top of his bed). 

GinGin and Papa were at our house and gave Levi his own suitcase, a nice one that should last him through college. Papa also gave the boys waterguns and you can tell they were a hit!

I love my parents--so thankful I have their parenting model to refer to and that they're able to visit a lot.

On Saturday morning, Debbie (Levi calls her Grandma) stopped by with his present, which included a kite. Ashley and his mom tried it out since the weather was perfect--slight breeze even!

I made Levi's "cake" this year--a John Deere cookie cake. His 1st birthday was also a John Deere party--and who knows, maybe another one will be, too! I've definitely learned how to draw tractors (and other pieces of heavy equipment) thanks to Levi and Mason's requests!). 

Debbie and Robert--I am thankful they live close and want to be involved with our boys' lives. I say it all the time--our boys are so blessed to have two sets of grandparents who love them and love being around them.

For Levi's party, we invited a few of his friends and their families over, along with our families. Playing in the pools was a big hit. 

All the kids ate supper on the front porch. 

Levi blowing out his four candles, with friends and cousins looking on. 

YUM--chocolate chip cookie cake! For the party favors, I made each family a jar with the dry ingredients for Tollhouse cookies (my favorite recipe). 

Zack, Susan's son, LOVED the cake!

Present opening was a big hit--everyone wanted to be involved!

So happy birthday to Levi! I know I'll blink and his childhood will be over so I try to cherish all the time I have with him now.

 I was reminded of this even more when we heard earlier this week that the younger brother of Ashley's best friend since middle school was killed in Afghanistan. Ryan was serving our country  with the SC National Guard. He leaves behind two young children, a family who loved him very much, and a pile of friends and colleagues who will miss him. Please pray for his family and all of the soldiers who are fighting a war that is so hard to understand. And hug your children!

Playing with Friends (and Cousins!)

Last week my friends Susan and Heather came over to visit with their children. All three of us used to work at USC together, all of us became mamas in 2008 and we all blog about our families. It was fun to finally get together and let the kids enjoy some play time (and us some mama time to talk while they enjoyed the pool!). I drug the pool into the side yard and placed it under the small patch of shade provided by one of our oaks. One day these trees will provide wonderful shade to our yard...maybe in time for the boys to still enjoy it!

We've been letting the chickens out of their house to run around; however, I'm about over this kindness because they love to scratch up everything, including making a BIG mess out of our pinestraw. But they do love a good romp (and so does Mason, seen here chasing after Heidi the dominant hen!). 

We tried to capture all 6 children on the front steps. Never an easy task. 

Almost complete here, minus Breeley. 

Here we go! What a great group! We ate lunch on the porch (always the boys' favorite place). And our visitors loved meeting the goats. 

More time with little people when I took the boys to NC to see my family on Monday. My cousin Heather brought over her twins (Mason's age) to play. A bunch of busy bees! Chalk, bubbles, cracking walnuts (thanks to Papa), and lunch were highlights. 

The plan for the NC visit was I was going to stay until Wednesday and then Levi and Mason would stay until Friday with Mama and Papa--and then come back to SC for Levi's birthday. I would have time to myself to get things done around the house and ready for Levi's birthday party. But all that got thrown off because Mason developed horrendous ulcers on his tongue and couldn't sleep or eat. So Mama and I loaded him up and brought him back Wednesday to see our pediatrician and Levi stayed with Papa until Friday. Levi had a big time with his Papa Charles, cruising around in the sportscar, visiting family members, eating out. And Mason got better at home with GinGin's constant attention. I was still able to get everything done thanks to Mama really helping me out but I hope to get the boys back up to NC for one more visit before Baby #3 arrives. We'll see!