Birthday time?

Although there were times when I never thought I would reach this year mark, now that we have I'm shocked - my littlest guy is a whole year!  Oh and walking!!

We celebrated for a whole weekend, because I just have to celebrate in big ways.  We had a party with friends and a party with family. And the actual anniversary of Levi's birth was a nice quiet day for our little family to enjoy.

Levi had a Cheerios inspired birthday - mostly because I thought the idea was totally cute, and because Cheerios are truly his favorite snack. So for a week I made fun little recipes that included or were inspired by Cheerios - Thank you pinterest!  Plus our decorations were a by-product of Cheerios - those cardboard boxes did not go to waste.

The Thursday and Friday before the parties Oma came up to help prepare and to celebrate with us. Which was great because she got to spend tons of quality grandma time with the boys (and Patrick!) while I got preparations done. What a gift.

For our friends party, I focused on making sure it was a relaxed party for a bunch of little kiddos to just have fun, and allow for parents to relax a little in the process. So it was mostly free play in the basement - where the really fun toys are - a small craft and of course snacks and cake.  I had set up strings to be used to make Cheerios necklaces - which, surprisingly, was a big hit. Plus there was block building and tool using and music playing - lots of fun for kiddos.  Then we all enjoyed snacks - there were Cheerio/marshmallow treats, Cheerio trail mix, Cheerios & Oatmeal cookies and (my favorite!) supersized bowl of Cheerios - mini donuts  in powder sugar.

Instead of a cake, I had cupcakes, with yellow frosting and topped with fruity Cheerio sprinkles. Needless to say Levi didn't care at all about the cupcake - another kid who does not have a sweet tooth. But still it was fun to watch him try for it, a bite before he was ready for some real food.

We had a ton of fun with our friends, just seeing all the kid interact and play was worth all the effort.

The next day we hosted a party for our family, which was fun in a different way. It is such a blessing to be part of a big family that wants to celebrate together. There was laughing and joking and fun everywhere, even though my two are the only kids in the group.

Levi and Nana- just love this picture!

Again Levi didn't seem too interested in the cake, however, he greatly enjoyed being sung to - we sang "Happy Birthday" twice, just to spoil him a little more!

The big hit of the event was a gift from my Aunt and Uncle - a doctor's play kit. Wyatt was all about it, and as result Levi showed a good amount of attention to it also. And still this is a favorite toy. Anyway, Wyatt quickly took on the role of Dr Wyatt and was examining the family - adorable.

Sure our parties were super relaxed and fairly simple, but memories were made, and smiles shared. I'm so glad to have family and friends that were willing and able to celebrate Levi's first year on this Earth.

Letter Box

One of the things I love about the church we are part of is the community groups that form, and how much all those in the groups work hard at making each group a community. Everyone is trying to find ways to build relationships and not just be people we see for an hour once a week - a much better way to live as a Christian.

So this summer the ladies in our big community group decided to have a craft night once a month. It was a welcome break from the craziness of the summer schedule where the ladies got together without kids or husbands to make something - oh and chat about life.

Our letter box

On our final craft night we made little boxes to display somewhere in our homes and these boxes have a special purpose. Every member (who can) will write letters of encouragement and love to each other and leave the note in our box. It's a way to build our family and show each other how much we love each other.

Making sure it is perfect

The concept was born after one of the ladies read The Five Love Languages (haven't read it? check it out!). And I thought it was brilliant.

So focused

So the next day Wyatt and I hung up our new letter box in the kitchen, where the whole family could see it and reach it. Then Wyatt wrote a note to daddy. He was so focused and proud to put a letter in that box!

Adding a heart to the envelope

Again I think this is a great idea! Now just to remember to actually write letters once in awhile to put in the box...

Not the same

After enjoying the piano at my mom's so much, we let Levi play on Wyatt's toy keyboard.

Not the same look as the actual piano...

I am pretty sure he was thinking, "Daddy this is not the same."

The Car Doctor

Before going on our family weekend trip to Idlewild, we had to take my car in for an oil change and such - you know in an effort to keep it from breaking down mid-trip - the plan was a success.

Anyway, we tried a new place close by because they had a "kid zone" and I was going to have to do this chore with both kids. So I figured I could use all the help I could get!

I was amazed at how well my kids did!

Levi playing in the kid zone

The kid zone was right next to a large window into the actual garage (is that the right term?) where they worked on the cars, so Wyatt loved watching the "car doctor fix mommy's car."

There was a small box of toys in the kid zone that kept both boys happy enough- I mean they weren't the same toys we have at home, so that's always more fun!

Escaping!

And to make it easier there was a full box of donuts to pick from - we were the first appointment of the day.

Enjoying a chocolate donut

Needless to say it was probably the best hour at a car maintenance place I could have ever dreamed of.

Family weekend

I am so blessed to have super generous parents who just adore seeing their grandkids having a good time. You see this summer Patrick and I decided we wouldn't be going any vacations, not big long ones, not mini-weekend ones - simply because the budget didn't allow it. I mean that has to be responsible even though I was wanting to create super fun memories for my boys. So my parents hosted a camping weekend, and then treated us all to a weekend away at Idlewild.Sure we went when Wyatt was like 18 months and had a blast, but it still was a great plan for a little getaway.

It ended up only being like a two and half hour drive, but my mom and I left early Friday afternoon and didn't make it until like 7:30 because of all stops we had to make for potty breaks and such. Needless to say by the time we reached the hotel, I was wanting to go to bed! Of course we had to stay up and get some pool time in - plus both boys had some extra energy after taking multiple catnaps in the car.

If you haven't been to Idlewild, and you have kids under the age of 10, plan on going next year because it is the best amusement park for young kids, period.

The park is full of large shade trees, which helps keeps the whole park cool. And there a ton of picnic tables so you can bring lunch and dinner to save some money - besides there is nothing worse than a tired kid who has only eaten junk all day - right? This way you can bring your kiddos favorites and know that they are still eating well, even if they are getting overstimulated.

My mom especially wanted to go on this trip because Thomas the Train was the star of a live show! And Thomas is very high on Wyatt's list of favorites (just barely behind Cars). As it turned out, Wyatt was a little overwhelmed (or rather scared) of how big Thomas was at first. But he wouldn't leave the show, because Thomas was there. Then a very hours later when it was time for the next show Wyatt dragged my dad to see it! I know so cute. Wyatt was glued that time - probably because they didn't sit quite as close. But still - perfect memory.

Another fun part to Idlewild is the play areas are made for little hands - both Wyatt and Levi enjoyed playing with the balls and air tubes - the pipes focused air into streams which allowed the plastic balls to fly/hover. Great fun for little ones.

Of course there was a super big slide. Wyatt and Patrick went down the slide together. Wyatt was all about standing in line to get the sack to sit on, but at some point realized how big the slide was... Needless to say it was a ride they only did once.

Uncle Jordan even joined the fun on this family trip. He was such a great sport! (Although I guess he had to prepare for the day of being a kiddie park with two little boys!)  Anyway, he did a great job helping Wyatt race boats against Patrick.

And the best part for me to watch was when Wyatt went on a ton of rides all by himself. Such independence. He even figured out how to drive a bumper car - you know hold down the pedal and steer while other kids are trying to bump into him - totally impressed mommy over here.

Overall everyone had a great day - sure we didn't do everything in the park but we enjoyed everything we did do!

Letters B & C

Surprisingly enough Wyatt is still on a huge alphabet kick, so we (by we I mean, me) have been trying to throw in more focused learning to add to Wyatt's alphabet knowledge.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that we worked on letter A - well since then we've done the numbers 0, 1 and 2, which I have to admit  are not as big on Wyatt's list as the letters are. So we've also done letter B and C - which he is way more into.

Wyatt's favorite - the letter C maze - we helped the cat find her bed for naptime!

I am loving the mommy/homeschool blogs that have free printables to use. It just makes it easy on me when Wyatt and I spend time focusing on a letter. Plus I try to keep track of some of the extra fun sites on pinterest, which makes it even easier when we are ready to move to a new letter.

Plus our magnetic alphabet toy on the fridge has started to provide hours of entertainment for both boys.

A collection of Wyatt at work and loving it

My favorite is that Wyatt has started to love this computer game, from starfall.com. It goes through each letter of the alphabet and says the name of the letter and the sounds it makes. Wyatt loves it. He goes around the house, saying "A says aaaa, A starts apple" or my personal favorite, "I am a boy, B starts boy."  I know adorable.

After having to do the speech evaluation early this year I am loving how vocal Wyatt is now. Sure he might not be advanced, but considering we were looking at therapy, and that "preemie" label started to be tossed back into our discussions, I'm super pleased with this advancement.

I guess the number 3, 4 and 5 along with letters E, F and G will have to be on my to-do list this month!

Levi's corn experience

As a result of the extremely hot and dry summer we've had the price of corn has been crazy - I mean we are used to the price of fresh corn on the cob at like 12 ears for like $1.50 at the farmers market, and it's like 10 ears for $4.00 right now. So needless to say we haven't been buying too much of it.

Yet, Levi has appreciated the few times we have gotten some.

Copying daddy

He loves eating corn - right off the cob. Such a good little eater!

So focused - who's going to tell him that's the wrong end? Not me!

Then again Wyatt used to love corn right off the cob too - remember? And those days are gone (for now).