Day after Christmas

The snow stuck around and more snow fell throughout the morning, and it was just beautiful. Khaki and Q had over 3 inches of snow at their house. No one really played in it from our house today, just because it was SO cold. Daddy braved the elements and took some really pretty pictures of Khaki and Q's house.

Merry Christmas

Levi on Christmas morning.


Levi opening one of his Christmas presents with a little help from Daddy.


After we opened our presents, I got a surprising call from Q - it was snowing at their house. Daddy checked the roads on the internet, and we got ready and headed that way to spend the rest of Christmas Day with Khaki and Q.

When we got there, Daddy, Uncle Chris, CC, and Levi went outside to play in the snow.






Mama Rains was very excited about her present for Levi, so he got to open it right away. He really had fun playing the keyboard and singing in the microphone.


Khaki and Q went to the Auburn / Kentucky game this year, so they brought back a Louisville Slugger bat with Levi's name on it. Levi kept saying that he wanted "his baseball bap." For a kid who is so well spoken, it is funny to me that he can't say that it is a "bat". We had to hide it for fear of destruction around the house. :-)


Levi really enjoyed coloring and using the magnets on his new art table from Khaki and Q.


He had fun looking at the Christmas ornaments on Khaki and Q's Christmas tree with a little help from Uncle Wes.

Christmas in Augusta

We traveled to Augusta to have Christmas with Nana and Papa after Levi's second dentist appointment on Monday. You can see the sticker with his name on it in the picture below, but this picture was also just Levi having some fun with his sunglasses on the way to Nana and Papa's.


We all celebrated Christmas together on Thursday. The three biggest hits for Levi were the Handy Manny fix-it garage and football tent from Nana and Papa and the 3D Viewmaster from Dee Dee.




Another big hit with Levi had nothing to do with a Christmas present but was all about his Papa.


On Christmas Eve we spent the afternoon with Kevin's extended family. On the way to the "party", Levi took a quick nap.


Levi had a great time playing with all the kids, and Mama and Daddy had fun visiting with family we hadn't seen in awhile. We headed back home after the festivities, so that we would have Christmas morning in our house with just the three of us. Before Levi went to bed, he opened his Christmas PJs.

The Jesus Storybook Bible

Last Christmas, Audy gave Levi The Jesus Storybook Bible. Ever since receiving this Storybook Bible, it has been a part of our nighttime ritual. It says on the website that it's written for children ages four and up, but Levi is already quite enraptured with the stories and the pictures. There are only two stories that I usually skip at this age, because they just seem a little too difficult to explain to a two-year old. Anyway, the stories are really well written and all the stories in the Old Testament point to the Rescuer who was to come, Jesus. The New Testament stories continue to show Jesus as the Rescuer. There's also a common phrase that's repeated every third or fourth story. Levi picked up on the phrase this summer, and I finally got the camera and captured it. I have to start it, but he finishes. I get him to say it twice in this video.

Me: "God's Never Stopping..."
Levi: "Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always, and Forever Love."
Priceless.

Funny-isms

The past week or two, Daddy has been very busy with the end of the semester work - specifically paper writing. So, Levi has started being "busy, writing my paper." He'll sit at the computer desk and diligently "write" on whatever paper is in front of him.

This past weekend, Levi and I went to visit my parents - which also gave Daddy his own space to watch the SEC Championship Game. I really doubted at the beginning of the football season that our two teams would have to meet each other twice in one year, but it happened.

Daddy came up on Sunday, so we ended up with two cars at Khaki and Q's. CC and Chris drove one of them back, so Daddy, Levi, and I had to stop at their house on our way home to get the car. Daddy told Levi that we were going to CC and Chris's house to pick up the car before we headed home. Levi's response was classic: "Daddy, we can't. That's too heavy." Complete with arm motions like he was lifting weights!!

One of the teachers at Levi's school was killed in an automobile accident last Friday, and today was her funeral. The school closed to allow the teachers and school staff the opportunity to go to the funeral. Since Daddy is in the final 36 hours of paper writing and studying for one final time, I stayed at home with Levi today. We had a PJ day.

We watched Phil's backward shot once. Later in the afternoon, this began.


He was also really into putting today. He's telling me at the beginning of this video that he's putting and not doing a backward shot.

Happy Thanksgiving

Twas the night before Thanksgiving and all through the house,
Not a boy was calm or quiet, not even Mickey Mouse.


The cookies were decorated with tender loving care,
In anticipation of the guests who soon would be here.

On Thanksgiving morning, there arose such a clatter,
I sprang up the stairs to see what was the matter.


Then the family and friends, sixteen total, came,
With only a few comments on the upcoming Game.




All gathered together to fellowship and eat,
The food was delicious, from salty to sweet.


Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Hiatus

I took a slight break from blogging for a few weeks - roughly from Halloween weekend to Thanksgiving weekend - but I am adding one post from those weeks to show the Christmas parade.

So for those of you who actually read my blog occasionally, forgive me. :-)

Christmas Parade

We went to a Christmas parade at a nearby outdoor mall with Levi's CC, uncle Chris, and Audy - and Audy's boyfriend and his boys. Levi loved seeing the old fire trucks, band, Dora, Elmo, and Santa. Here are a couple of pictures. Levi is sporting Uncle Chris's hat.

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.