Levi's 7th birthday

This year Levi wanted a Star Wars party at our house. So we rented a Darth Vader costume from Lucy's in Disguise and a friend lent us a Jedi robe for Ty. Jedi Ty led all of the kids in a lightsaber class before Darth Vader came out and all of the kids got to fight him. We also put up a backdrop with stars and photo props for everyone to take pictures. It was a fun party and the kids had a blast! Great ideas, Levi! 

Uncle Emmit was gracious enough to dress up in the costume for us at the last minute. 

Pool noodle light sabers were so much fun! 

May the 4th be with you! (This is Levi's favorite Star Wars joke on the 4th of every month).

On Levi's birthday, I asked him how it feels to be 7. He said, "It's good! I don't have to lie at Disney now that I'm 7." When I took the 4 kids to Disney last fall, the rule was that you had to be 7 to ride the rides without an adult. But Zoe and Tatum were too little to ride on many of the rides he wanted to ride on and I couldn't leave them unattended, so he missed out while Colt rode solo. After a morning of this, I finally told him that it was ok to lie about his age. He is so mature that he wouldn't make a poor decision to stand up on a ride and is as tall as most 7 year olds. He is a total rule follower, so he was hesitant, but eventually did it and enjoyed several rides that afternoon. I haven't thought about this again until his b-day. Didn't realize how much it really affected the little guy!! 

Cake time! 

Thanks to Nana for taking most of the pictures! 

Photo booth prop fun!!

Levi, 

You are a good friend, helpful brother and affectionate son. You are easy going and love to play Legos, go swimming and see our extended family. You are our most adventurous eater, a rule follower and hesitant to try new activities that have an element of danger... so maybe I should say you are wise?! You love going on dates with either Mom or Dad, going with Dad to set up our church every Sunday and getting the kid's vitamins down from the cabinet for Zoe every morning. You continue to be my biggest helper and a leader to the other kids when asked to get ready for bed or do chores. You are a terrible joke teller... but we love to laugh with you when you read us jokes out of your joke book! You will learn to be a regular stand up comic one of these days, just keep on trying! You are gifted in social dynamics, but not so much at internal dynamic of humility. We pray that this next year you will work on using your strengths to help those who don't have some of your strengths and maturity, rather than thinking they are less than. We know that as you continue to develop your relationship with Jesus, He will guide and grow you in these ways as He makes you more like Him. 

We love you so much! Love, Mom and Dad

Levi's 7 year old B-day survey:

Who are your closest friends? Caleb, Liam, Jonathan and Jett

What are some talents you have? Rock wall climbing

What activities do you like to do with your family? Go to Chuck E. Cheese

What makes you happy? Jokes

What makes you sad? When I get a spanking

Favorite color? Blue

Food? Macaroni and Cheese

Sport? Basketball

Book? Star Wars books

Movie? I don't have a favorite movie.

Game on iPad: Smashy Road

Song to sing? Church songs, every single one

What do you like best about school? Math

Day of the week? I don't really care. 

When I grow up I want to be a father. 

My goal for this year is to eat at least one cookie. 

Something new I want to learn when I am 7 is how to be even better at math.

April 2016

Our friend, Sarah, was diagnosed with breast cancer last month. She was Levi's kindergarten teacher last year. She is embracing her new circumstance with great faith and decided to have a head shaving party when her hair began falling out. Here is Levi helping cut her hair off before the shaving. Since I am just now blogging about this in July, I want to give God the glory that she just last week finished her last round of chemo and her latest tests found NO cancer in her body. We are rejoicing in this answered prayer! 

We went to the Mother-Son adventure that Westover throws every year. We had SO MUCH FUN!! The boys said they want to go on a date with Mommy every month, which was so sweet. We canoed, hiked, rock climbed and played soccer. 

Here is Colt deciding which way to climb.

Levi spent his date time wiggling his bottom tooth that was so close to falling out. 

On our hike we found a beautiful waterfall. Unfortunately, Colt fell and got some terrible rash so we had to end our hike early, but one of the moms had some hydrocortisone cream that fixed him right up! 

Zoe is a crazy girl! 

Grandad and Grandma came to watch Tatum's soccer game and the boy's baseball games! 

They love their grandparents and would never want to hit them with sticks :)

All of the kids love running through the tunnel after the game - it's the best part! 

Our neighbors found mold in their home and had to move their child's birthday party, so we let them have it in our yard. It was a petting zoo party and they were gracious to let our kids participate, even though we didn't really even know them. 

Pretty sure my kids monopolized the petting zoo!! 

Zoe also had a birthday and turned 3!! I honestly feel like this is a big milestone that has brought some relief to my stressful mom-life. She can buckle herself in her car seat, is potty trained mostly, can make her needs known, etc. She is still spunky and mischievous, but I already feel like the busy part of parenting toddlers for the past 8 years is passing and I am shedding no tears over it! 

Tatum tested up to the next level of ballet! 

I went paddle boarding with some girls from church. We love having the young professionals in our care group! This is a special group of women- Erica, Kayla and Dannelle.

Zoe does this funny thing where she always wants to put her head on my tummy... even in public when she's tired! I think she started it a year ago, about the time I weaned her. She just really loves the skin-to-skin contact. She wants to put her head on Ty or my stomachs at nap or bedtime and will pull up my shirt in public to snuggle up when she's tired. It's pretty funny and quirky!

Colt working on his Saturn model before running off to his baseball game. 

Colt worked hard on a presentation and model of Saturn. His BFF, Matthew, is holding the model while Colt does his presentation. Colt is not a natural speaker, but diligently works at it and got a top score for this project. One of the aspects of Veritas that I love is that the kids are taught how to do public speaking/presenting from the earliest of grades which will continue until they present their Senior Thesis. 

Nana captured these baseball images when she and Bang Bang came to cheer on the kids! 

Levi was hanging out in the outfield, until he spotted Nana with her camera...

a flashed his cute little grin. 

Ty was an assistant coach this year. This particular game the pitching coach was absent so Ty got the pleasure of filling in ;)

Good looking boys!

Tatum was excited that Bang Bang and Nana could watch her soccer game too!

Tatum and her soccer team! We have a one sport at a time rule in our family and somehow we allowed Tatum to participate in ballet and soccer and swim lessons all at the same time. We have asked her to choose one sport for the fall and soccer didn't make the cut. We have loved our time with this team and getting to know these families. Coach Scott was a fun and patient coach who taught the girls so many skills - they were the best in their league! Hopefully if Tatum chooses to play again in the future, there will be a slot available on this team. 

I think the only other noteworthy part of April was that Ty played in the church basketball league. He loves playing every Saturday night and we enjoyed going to cheer him on! 

April 2016

Our friend, Sarah, was diagnosed with breast cancer last month. She was Levi's kindergarten teacher last year. She is embracing her new circumstance with great faith and decided to have a head shaving party when her hair began falling out. Here is Levi helping cut her hair off before the shaving. Since I am just now blogging about this in July, I want to give God the glory that she just last week finished her last round of chemo and her latest tests found NO cancer in her body. We are rejoicing in this answered prayer! 

We went to the Mother-Son adventure that Westover throws every year. We had SO MUCH FUN!! The boys said they want to go on a date with Mommy every month, which was so sweet. We canoed, hiked, rock climbed and played soccer. 

Here is Colt deciding which way to climb.

Levi spent his date time wiggling his bottom tooth that was so close to falling out. 

On our hike we found a beautiful waterfall. Unfortunately, Colt fell and got some terrible rash so we had to end our hike early, but one of the moms had some hydrocortisone cream that fixed him right up! 

Zoe is a crazy girl! 

Grandad and Grandma came to watch Tatum's soccer game and the boy's baseball games! 

They love their grandparents and would never want to hit them with sticks :)

All of the kids love running through the tunnel after the game - it's the best part! 

Our neighbors found mold in their home and had to move their child's birthday party, so we let them have it in our yard. It was a petting zoo party and they were gracious to let our kids participate, even though we didn't really even know them. 

Pretty sure my kids monopolized the petting zoo!! 

Zoe also had a birthday and turned 3!! I honestly feel like this is a big milestone that has brought some relief to my stressful mom-life. She can buckle herself in her car seat, is potty trained mostly, can make her needs known, etc. She is still spunky and mischievous, but I already feel like the busy part of parenting toddlers for the past 8 years is passing and I am shedding no tears over it! 

Tatum tested up to the next level of ballet! 

I went paddle boarding with some girls from church. We love having the young professionals in our care group! This is a special group of women- Erica, Kayla and Dannelle.

Zoe does this funny thing where she always wants to put her head on my tummy... even in public when she's tired! I think she started it a year ago, about the time I weaned her. She just really loves the skin-to-skin contact. She wants to put her head on Ty or my stomachs at nap or bedtime and will pull up my shirt in public to snuggle up when she's tired. It's pretty funny and quirky!

Colt working on his Saturn model before running off to his baseball game. 

Colt worked hard on a presentation and model of Saturn. His BFF, Matthew, is holding the model while Colt does his presentation. Colt is not a natural speaker, but diligently works at it and got a top score for this project. One of the aspects of Veritas that I love is that the kids are taught how to do public speaking/presenting from the earliest of grades which will continue until they present their Senior Thesis. 

Nana captured these baseball images when she and Bang Bang came to cheer on the kids! 

Levi was hanging out in the outfield, until he spotted Nana with her camera...

a flashed his cute little grin. 

Ty was an assistant coach this year. This particular game the pitching coach was absent so Ty got the pleasure of filling in ;)

Good looking boys!

Tatum was excited that Bang Bang and Nana could watch her soccer game too!

Tatum and her soccer team! We have a one sport at a time rule in our family and somehow we allowed Tatum to participate in ballet and soccer and swim lessons all at the same time. We have asked her to choose one sport for the fall and soccer didn't make the cut. We have loved our time with this team and getting to know these families. Coach Scott was a fun and patient coach who taught the girls so many skills - they were the best in their league! Hopefully if Tatum chooses to play again in the future, there will be a slot available on this team. 

I think the only other noteworthy part of April was that Ty played in the church basketball league. He loves playing every Saturday night and we enjoyed going to cheer him on!