*

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Weekend with Corrine

We had a great weekend in Leavenworth with the Dickson clan. Corrine was up visiting and also brought Symphony. Levi was very glad to see more family. More news: Chuck and Aundrea got a puppy this week. Her name is Flurry and she's a collie. Levi was obsessed with the puppy and her wherabouts.













Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Cutest Thing You'll Hear All Day.

On Saturday Ruby’s Papa heard her singing the children’s chorus, “Praise Him All Ye Little Children”. It’s one of her current favorites as she’s been listening to a recording of it on a CD they rented from the library. Papa used his membership at CCLI to download the hymn sheets and then used those to created an accompaniment track. Then he quickly formed America's fastest rising toddler music group: Ruby and the Back-Ups. I’m pleased to introduce their internet debut:



I wish you could have seen her face when she heard the recording- she was so surprised and excited to hear herself singing.

(All concert requests may be addressed to “Management” and left here in the comments section)

Monday, May 25, 2009

Memorial Day Weekend

Mom and Dad Corzine flew in from Rhode Island for the holiday weekend. It was a much anticipated visit and we had such a great time while they were here.

On Saturday we slathered on the sunscreen, loaded up Levi’s wagon, and headed out to Jiggle Jam, a children’s music festival held at Crown Center. It was a big hit. On Sunday we went to church together then did some shopping. Nana and Papa spoiled us all with piles of new summer clothes. The highlight of Monday was lunch at Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant (a.k.a “The Train Restaurant”). Levi was enthralled by the trains and didn’t sit down at all during lunch. He stood in the booth next to his Papa, busily looking around for the next train. He sure had a lot to say about them. A sample of one of his monologues: “Papa, Bloo da ree theed yahdahmah CHOO CHOO jay ooo ve da poko TRAIN CHOO CHOO CHOO!!” He was so distracted that he hardly ate anything for lunch. He did manage to eat one onion ring. Correction, he managed to eat the batter off of one onion ring. After he ate the outside he handed the ‘naked’ onion to his Papa. Levi was confused as to why Papa didn't want the rest of it.

We feel so blessed to have had this time together with family. Levi has been adding many more words to his vocabulary and now “Nana” and “Papa” are among them. Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for coming all the way out here to see us and for all of the treats!





































Saturday, May 16, 2009

Weekend

Levi LOVES his cousins. Here he is moving in on Ben for a hug.
awwww.Levi has figured out how to get his sandals off. Now as soon as we buckle him into his car seat he starts working on getting them off his feet.


Levi 'getting' Daddy.

So cute- wish I wouldn't have cut off the top of Luke's head. In my defense, he's very tall.

Hair!
Levi busily carrying the hamper around. All this kid does is housework.


"Spaghetti is kind of tricky to eat."

Guess which one is having a real conversation.

"I love my Daddy!"


Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Yay Coupons! My New Hobby.

I don’t know if you’ve had the time or inclination to look at any of the millions of blogs on the internet devoted to frugal living. There are all kinds of people out there documenting their purchases and sharing sales tips. With those tips and with the help of my smart and thrifty SIL, Kelly, I’ve been working at becoming a coupon detective. When you combine store sales with manufacturer’s coupons and store coupons you can really save. Lately I’ve been coming home from the store feeling triumphant and proudly tell Lucas what I got. He cheers me on and even patiently plays the game where I make him guess at how much I paid for my pile of loot.

I paid $10.82 for the 14 items shown above. That's an average of $0.77 per item. With no fancy-pants coupon action the total would have been just over $30.

Of course that is not my best work of the day- just the one most easily tabulated. My real work today was taking care of this little guy. He's looking so grown-up to me lately. Compare how he looks now with last year at this time. We're extremely pleased to notice a difference since he got the tubes put in his ears last week. He is less fussy, is saying many new words, and even his balance seems better.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Play Time

Levi bounced back from his procedure quickly and kept himself quite busy today. We had fun at the park. I'm really impressed with his new skills and coordination.




Tubes in the Ears

This morning at 7:00, Levi went into the surgery center to get tubes put in his ears. The whole procedure only took 10 minutes and Levi did extremely well. We're home now with our drowsy, somewhat loopy little boy. He's sitting with his Daddy getting to watch part of Jungle Book- a very rare treat.

Outing

"This gravel is so intriguing!"

Levi, eyeing the goats somewhat suspiciously.

" Where's the starter on this thing?"



"I'm ready to go! Wait, is this right? Something seems off with the seat, but I'm not sure."