Retreat to Gran and Granpa's

With Amber off on a short trip to do some wedding planning with her sister, momma, and sister in law I was left to fend for myself with the boys.  What's a man to do...retreat to his parents house ofcourse.  So we have been having some fun.  Here's some of what they have been up to today.

As it turned out the sugar cookies were good and Levi had too big of a piece and then wanted some more.

Sometimes a younger sibling will just cramp your style a little.  Amber and I can sympathize with him as we are both oldest of siblings.

Milo has really been into pointing lately.  Amber said he even pulled out the double point the other day using both hands.  Here he seems to point out where to press the toy so it starts again before going back to the task at hand (one of his favorites) rearranging or unloading the shelf contents.

Flashback Friday- Easter '88ish

Luke and I have been together for over 6 years now and I've seen him dressed many ways- work clothes, play clothes, soccer clothes, swimsuit, ski gear, and even overalls, but I have never seen the man sporting a cardigan...that is until now...

look how much likeness there is between Marji and Luke here.

A Few Shots from the Day

Levi's favorite crafty activities are cutting and painting.  Those black boxes on the table are 'dinosaur feet'.  What, you don't think they look like dinosaur feet?  No one really knows what they look like- these could be true-to-life replicas!

ROWWWRRR!

Milo is now fully weaned.  He uses sippy cups during the day but still has a bottle in the morning and right before bed.  Levi likes to cuddle/mess around with him while he drinks it.  We're glad to report Milo can feed it to himself now.  He was used to being nursed and acted a bit put out when we were trying to get him to hold his own bottle.  Like, "I have to WORK for this??"

Milo on the Move

We took the boys to a playland this afternoon and Milo was big enough now to enjoy it with Levi.

Super Hero

Levi requested a cape so that he could be a super hero.  We enlisted one of my pashminas.

Look at that leaping action!  Probably not too many super heros have fringe on their capes.

In addition to jumping off his bed he also ran in circles enjoying making his cape fly out behind him.

Flashback Friday- little Lucas

The date on the back of this photo says September of 1978.  Lucas would be 14 months old here.  We got a kick out of this one because the expression on his face looks a lot like Milo's mad face.

Going to the 'Lie-berry'

The three of us go out each morning and today's outing was to the library.  The weather this morning is extremely windy but warm.  It was so nice not having to bundle everyone up in multiple layers.

Levi's job is to return the books we checked out from the last visit.  This makes me laugh every time- he is not content to just put the books into the chute.  He likes to reach in as far as he can before he lets go of the book.  He also really likes to peak in and try and catch a glimpse of any librarian working back there.

He's still a little pitiful  This morning he had a low grade fever and was  up once in the night because of teething pain.

Playing with blocks, puzzles, and cars.  Milo is in his signiture position.  He crawls along then kneels like this to play then goes back to crawling. 

Levi was on my lap while I was reading to him.  Milo came over to investigate and to try and gnaw on the books.

I was trying to get Milo to smile at the camera with no success- he just looked at me with the same expression he's wearing in the second picture.  After awhile I said, "Levi, will you make your brother smile?".  All Levi did was turn and say, "HA!!" and I snapped the picture above.

Is there a better way to spend a morning?

I'm sorry, but these pictures are going to make you sad.

I was trying to get a cute picture of Milo wearing this 'My Aunt Rocks' t-shirt he just received as a hand-me-down.  I'm sure Milo would want his Aunties 'On-Dee-Uh', 'Keen', 'KiKi', and 'Yaya' to see him in it.  Instead it produced some photos capturing his current sad state of affairs the past two days.  He has a big, mean tooth getting ready to erupt and it's making his little life miserable.  Even with ibuprofen, stickers, and Mama making silly noises, he couldn't manage his typical serious expression much less crack one of his smiles.

Birthday Celebrating

We celebrated Marji's birthday this weekend.  What was her favorite part- the cake? the presents??  No, of course not, it was all the grandkids.

The first one is "the Army", the second is "Mountains", and the last one is "the ABCs one".

Saturday Soccer

Milo loves to stand at the plexi-glass and watch the action.

Unfortunately there are always pieces of wrappers and other garbage close at hand in this position. 

The big kids like to play soccer behind the bleachers during the game.  This time they took over the stroller for some fun.

The four-year old trying to climb in on top of the three-year old while the 2-year old was driving.  It ended just as you probably guess it might.

Ben is saying, "No-no, Miwo."

Dinner Out

Last night we grabbed dinner out at Luke's current favorite sandwich place, Firehouse Subs.  Milo loved getting to watch people and Levi loved getting a fire helmet.

This is an optical illusion.  I promise that Milo is not really reaching into the chip bag to help himself.

Levi, watching basketball just like his Daddy, eating lemon wedges like just like his Mommy.

Photo Shoot

We were at Lynn and Marji's getting ready to go to their church when I was overtaken by how cute my boys looked.  I mistakenly thought I'd be able to capture a perfect shot in the few moments I had to dedicate to the endeavor.  Here are the results:

Levi: "I like being in charge of holding Little Brother!  I'm going to move him around instead of looking at the camera and smiling."
Milo: "No, I will not smile."

Levi: "Oh, you said, 'DON'T close your eyes?  I thought you said, 'CLOSE YOUR EYES.'"
Milo: "Yummmmmo, flashlight!"

Levi: "Haha, Mama is funny when she's waving around that flashlight."
Milo: "Give me back the flashlight and I might smile."

Levi:" I want to go look at the fish- SEE YA!"
Milo: "Flashlight????"

Miles: "Yummmmo, Flashlight.  What?  I never PROMISED I would smile if you gave it back, that was your assumption..."

p.s. thanks for the hand-me-downs, Kim.  How I love me a sweater vest.

Weekend

Pardon the picture quality, this is a self-portrait taken of my reflection in the mirror.  I know that Miles is getting big but when I catch a glimpse of me holding him, it really hits home how much he's grown.  Not all that long ago he was a little bitty thing curled up on my shoulder!

We celebrated Joel's birthday after the soccer game on Saturday.

Chocolate cupcakes with mini-Joel decorations.

My 'little' brother, the birthday boy.

Ruby and Ben spent the rest of the day with us on Saturday.

Levi had so much fun he fell asleep on the ride back to Joel and Kelly's.

We spent Saturday night with Lynn and Marji.

Milo loves grabbing a hold of Grandpa's beard.

Flashback Friday- Grandma Gladys

This is my Grandma Corzine when she was around 10 years old (I think!).  So cute!

A Few Random Shots

Eating a few of his favorites: chicken with 'white dip', sugar snap peas, and pumpkin bread.

Milo LOVES pumpkin bread as well.  He clears off all but the tiniest of crumbs from his tray.

"Uh...Mama...what is going on here?  What is he tucking into the back of my pants?  Is that a pillow case?"

"Big Brother told me that I have a tail and that I am now a fox.  Wha???"

First Levi told me that he was a baby in a crib, then he changed it to a monkey in a boat.