levi's 10th birthday

It was birthday party year for Levi! For weeks he was set on a Pokemon party. I didn't love the idea, but Pinterest totally came through. Tons of good ideas! Levi and I had lots of fun putting everything together and I realized he is way more creative than Pinterest! It was a fun party and seeing the size of his smile all day just made my heart so happy! 

His actual birthday was a quiet day at home. He spent the day playing with his new toys from his incredibly kind friends. He requested Sweet Potato Nachos for dinner and a donut cake for dessert.

Levi is such a delight to our family! He has done a ton of growing this year and has chosen kindness to be his way of life. He is easy going and welcomes any friend to our home. We love our Levi!! 

levi's baptsim

 :: the boys found a fallen flower, and Levi thought he was hilarious putting it on his head (those eyes and smile though) ::

Levi's Baptism Day!

We love you Levi! The gospel means so much to us and watching you take this first step and make covenants with your Heavenly Father made us so happy!

You were so fun when we took your pictures at the Salt Lake temple on the last day of summer break. You had such good ideas of where to pose and your smile was spot on! Afterwards, we went to The Lion House Bakery for a free roll. It was a good day.

Your baptism day was full of excitement from you, love and support from grandparents + aunts + uncles + cousins + friends, there was plenty of yummy food, and a special spirit was felt throughout the day.

11.10.2014 - for hide and go seek with levi

Levi is usually quite an independent child. Which I love. But sometimes cuddling is not his favorite. 

Our activity for Family Home Evening this night was hide and go seek. My most favorite part was Levi wanting to hide with me every round. One of our hiding places was on the top bunk under the covers. We were giggling so much it was no wonder we were the first ones to be found. I am so grateful for this moment with this boy.

six

Six great years it has been with this boy of ours. He loves minecraft and legos and pictures covering his wall in his bedroom. He chooses to sleep in his clothes rather than pajamas and he tries to wear regular clothes underneath his church clothes, so that he can save that extra step the minute we are home from church. His blanket is still his favorite. He gets his chores, reading, and math facts done as fast as he can so that he can play minecraft. 

^^ A Steve cake (minecraft). Candybar poster from brothers. ^^

 We know for a fact that our family would not be the same without you. We love your spunky attitude!

tooth fairy

The boys were sitting around the counter doing a puzzle and Levi was telling his brothers all about his super loose tooth. I can't remember the conversation they were having, but it made me laugh and I had to capture the moment. Taylor was telling him something about how he shouldn't just pull his tooth out cause it will hurt.

The next day we were sitting in church and for the first time in forever (your're welcome for getting that song stuck in your head) the boys had a little bag of cereal to eat after the sacrament. Again, we rarely take food, not even for Rudger, because we think they can sit through three hours of meetings without having to eat something. Anyway, Levi turned to me and pulled out his tooth. He told me he was eating away when all of a sudden he bit on something hard, he thought it was super hard cereal. But he figured that couldn't be it and pulled out his tooth.

Later at home the boys were having some really deep discussions in their bedroom. Levi came tromping out and very matter of factually said to me:

"Mom, tell me the truth. I know that the tooth fairy is a girl. So, is the tooth fairy you?" 

I started laughing hysterically inside. Then I smiled and told him the truth. Because, after all that is what he asked of me.

(Seriously, if you know Levi...this stuff is so like him and keeps our family very much not boring. We die at how this kid rolls.)

for levi

This boy makes my heart so happy. Even when he is being so stubborn, I realize I should be grateful he knows just what he wants. I have noticed some huge growth in this boy. Even though there are some exhausting days, I love his amazing memory, his sweet shyness and yet he is so social, his ability to light up our home, his excitement, his tender heart, and of course his squishiness. 

Today we took Levi to get a hearing test. He didn't pass the tests they do at the school so we needed a more in depth test. (It brought back memories of when I was about his age and had hearing problems.) As I looked through the little window I could see him sitting on the chair, with the headphones over his ears, and trying so hard to get all the 'answers' right. He would bite his lips and timidly raise his hands hoping he was doing it all right. My heart wanted to burst out, he was so grown up.  I am so grateful for this boy.  

Luckily, (I guess you could say that) he does not have any permanent hearing loss. He has had an ear infection for the past month that looks pretty bad in one ear. He never complained about his ears hurting. We will be getting him on medicine right away and going back for another test. And again I'm feeling grateful for modern medicine.

the words that come out of his mouth

Our Levi is such a fun boy to listen to. The perspective he has on life is so fun, he just says it how he sees it. The emotion he is feeling at that exact moment is what you are going to hear at that exact moment. The way he describes things makes me laugh, but at the same time it makes complete perfect sense. I love talking with this boy, but most of all I love listening to this boy. 

You want to hear some?

"I'm going to do my funny chore. You know, the one where I put my blanket by my pillow and then put my sheets over my blanket so that it will be bumpiesh"

"I wish we could have a baby that never turned 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15 or I just wish he could always be just one!"

Levi: "there's a sound stuck in my ears.
Me: "do you mean stuck in your head"
Levi: "No. in my ears, it's the Mario song."

Me: "we have a great family, huh!
Levi: "no."  
*me feeling sad about that*
Levi: "Our family is the best!!"

"Nephi's older brothers did not reply. That's bad. To reply is good."

Corbin: "is mom home?"

Levi: "yes, I was I tall girl walk through the door and it was mom."

*For a couple of days Levi had been begging to play this game on the computer. I finally let him sit down and play. About 2 minutes into playing, Levi's friend knocked on the door to see if Levi could play. I told Levi he could either choose to finish playing his game or play with his friend. He had an internal struggle for a minute, but decided he would play with his friend. After a few minutes I looked in the backyard to see Levi's friend and another friend jumping on our tramp, but no Levi. The boys mom's were calling them to come home. I went outside to find Levi, he was sitting on the front porch crying. I asked him what was wrong. Through the sobs he said:

"I should have chosen to play animal jam instead. Those boys wanted to jump on the tramp and I didn't want to. Now, they have to go home and I didn't even play with them AND I don't get to play animal jam because I chose to play with my friends instead." 

broke my heart.

Oh, but how I completely love this boy and the words that come out of his mouth.