Halloween Weekend

Friday night Levi, Audry, and I headed north for a quick trip. We had dinner at Khaki and Q's house, and then we visited Levi's great-grandmother Greer. It was a short visit, but nice. We then made a quick stop at Levi's great-aunt Kathy to see our Mama Rains.


They had bunches of fun together. Levi was in his PJs because Friday was PJ day at school. Since we were just visiting family, and I thought he'd fall asleep on the way back home, I just left him in the PJs for our whole visit. Nobody seemed to mind. :-)

Saturday night, we went to one of CC's friends' house. Levi got to trick-or-treat in their neighborhood. He didn't like the scary costumes, but he really liked walking around and saying, "Trick-or-treat". Unfortunately, no pictures.

Tonight, my best friend from college brought her family to trick-or-treat with Levi in our neighborhood. The daddies took three of the four kids trick-or-treating, while the mamas handed out candy and played with the little flower (see pic below).


Are they not the cutest kids you've ever seen?

Fall Festival

We went to the Fall Festival for the church where my best friend from college goes. For this Fall Festival, the kids got to dress up - and some adults dressed up too. We had been asking Levi for a couple of weeks what he would want to be for Halloween. He kept waffling between golfer and cowboy. One afternoon, I asked him what he wanted to be, and he reply was something like, "Daddy said I was gonna be golfer." I said, "Levi you don't have to be a golfer if you don't want to be a golfer. What do you want to be?" His response: "A cowboy." Over the next few days, we would ask him again, and his response became consistent: "A cowboy." So, here is Levi's Halloween costume debut:

I was having so much fun watching Levi play all the games the church had set up that I didn't take that many pictures. Here are a few that really show how much fun he had.


He really impressed the folks running the booths with his throwing ability.


He really liked jumping in the "Nemo" inflatable.

Old Baker's Farm

Today we went to Old Baker's Farm to get our pumpkin. We had such a great time. I went a little crazy with the pictures.

The farm had a barn where you could see some animals. When we got to the area with the chickens, a girl who worked on the farm took one out. Levi was the first kid to get to see it up close and personal. He liked getting to touch it with one finger.


Then, he saw a calf, but the calf didn't want to venture too close to Levi.


While in the barn, Levi could see kids jumping in cotton. He had to join in the fun. He would look at us through the sides of the trailer and say, "I havin' fun!"


We went to the cotton field. He liked walking through the rows of cotton and inspecting one or two bolls.


Mama stood in line for the hay ride to the pumpkin patch for a little bit, while Daddy and Levi played on a swing that looked like a horse. Then we got to ride in a trailer with hay bales pulled by a tractor to the pumpkin patch. Here are Daddy and Levi on our way to get our pumpkins.


We looked all over the huge field for the perfect pumpkins. We each got to get one, and we each wanted a very different type. Levi wanted one that was "just Levi's size". Daddy wanted a more traditional orange pumpkin. Mama wanted a white pumpkin. We found Levi's first. He liked that it was yellow. Then we found Daddy's pumpkin, which will definitely be our carving pumpkin. Then the search began for Mama's white pumpkin. Daddy walked all over the field, while Mama and Levi leisurely carried the "Levi size" pumpkin. Then, we saw Daddy triumphantly carrying both his pumpkin and Mama's white pumpkin from a very far away field!!

Here's Levi with our pumpkins.

Then we waited in a short line to get onto another hay ride and back to the farm. This time, we were pulled by mules.

After the hay ride, Levi willingly got into his stroller. On the bumpy ride back to the car, he fell fast asleep.

Froggy

Khaki and Q came for a quick visit. They took us to lunch and brought Levi a froggy costume. He jumped around and said, "Ribbit!" Too cute!!

Singing

Since Levi goes to school five days a week, he gets to go to music twice each week. He loves it. He likes showing me the music room when I pick him up, almost as much as he likes showing me the playground. Levi also loves to sing with me. His four favorites: "My God is SO Big!", "Don't build your house...", "Down in my heart", and "Take me out to the ballgame". I can start a line, and he'll finish it - except for the house song. He just likes to clap during it.

This past Wednesday, the church we've been attending had a "family gathering". Daddy had school, but Levi and I went with Audy. It was fun, and Levi got to hear some wonderful singing. The choir at the church released a CD on that same day. We didn't stay through the entire part of the gathering, but one song seemed to stick with Levi. We got into the car and decided to listen to the new CD. The very first song was the last song sung before we left - and the one that stuck with him. During the song, Levi started saying, "It's that guy!" or something to that effect - reminding us that the man singing on the CD was the very same man singing the very same song sung right before we left.

Now, every time we've been in the car together, he's wanted to hear "that guy sing". Today on our way to church was no exception. I turned it off when we got in the parking lot of the church, and asked if he wanted to hear more.



Overall, the most precious part to me, though, about him wanting to hear this song was that today I had it playing, and I saw movement in the backseat. Levi was raising his hands up and waving them like he was being moved by the Spirit! It was awesome! This evening, though, here's what he did.


Once I turned off the car, we headed to the church. He asked to go to "big church". He told me that he wanted to see the guitars and hear the singing. So, he came to big church for a few minutes to hear the music. He did so wonderfully - and he was so precious - clapping his little hands, watching all the people around us singing and praising our Lord.

Ouch Report

Monday, Levi received his first "Ouch Report" from school. He fell on the playground - apparently face first. The following day, Levi was playing on the playground under my watch after school. He fell again and injured practically the exact same spots on his face. I haven't taken a picture, and I'm not sure I will. I just hate seeing him scratched up at all, and on his face - well - it just doesn't seem fair to document. The scratches aren't horrible but are definitely obvious.

We took Saturday morning off from our normal activities (i.e. grocery shopping for me and Levi and studying for Daddy) to go to the Botanical Gardens. The purpose of the trip was to take pictures of Levi. We are now especially thankful that we didn't put it off a week!

I couldn't pick just one favorite, but here is Daddy's.