Sweet friends and fun

Cole, Marcus, Cade, Payton, and Carson

Jen and I

Watching a movie

For the last couple of days we've had the pleasure of having Jen and the kids here visiting! It was so fun to just enjoy each others company and hang out like the old days. We miss them SO much! Payton and Cade are so sweet and have grown so much. It feels like time is moving way too fast for me right now...it seems like yesterday her kids were the toddlers.

The kids all played so well together and had such a good time. Payton and Cade are so loving and sweet to our boys, even though our little guys are right in the midst of a "rough" season with being in the age range of 2-4. We definitely have our good days and bad days, but Levi and I are trying to stay consistent with them in discipline.

Anyway, the visit was so good and such an encouragement to me in so many ways. We are so thankful for good and real friends.

Hoops and stuff

Marcus, Cole, Carson, and Spencer watching the game.

The boys before church on Sunday

This past weekend we decided to take the boys to their first basketball game. Marcus and Cole were a bit sensitive to the noise at first, but Marcus adjusted fairly quickly and pretty much sat and watched most of the game. Cole sat on my lap and cried the first 10 minutes or so, holding his hands up over his ears. I could imagine for him it was a bit scary too, just being in a fairly large place with lots of people...throw in loud buzzers and loud band. It might have been a little too much for him. By half time he seemed ok and was into snacks and wanted to sit by his brothers and Spencer (Marcus little friend and his Daddy were sitting with us too). Carson seemed to love the whole thing, wanted to go down with Daddy and Grandpa Kelly to get popcorn and skittles. He was funny and all smiles watching the big Bulldog very closely...I asked him if he wanted to go give him a hug and he got a pretty scared look on his face and said, "NO, Mommy".

Near the end of the game Carson was standing on his seat and lost his balance. Thankfully Levi reached out and caught him by his shirt. A few minutes later Cole did the same thing, however the outcome was not so great. He fell down to the next seat, then did an acrobatic maneuver down to the next row before slamming his little head into the seat. My heart just sank, as I just knew we'd see blood when we picked him up. It made such a loud noise that everyone within a 20 person radius silenced and looked to make sure he was ok. Amazingly enough there was no blood, and not even a bump on his head. We were so thankful.

So, the basketball experience didn't go exactly as we had planned...but on the way out Marcus said he had a good time. So we're thinking maybe next season we'll get a sitter for the little guys and just take Marcus to a few games.

On Sunday the boys seemed to be more relaxed at church and not so clingy to Mommy and Daddy. Marcus is extremely shy (no surprise to anyone who knew Levi or I when we were little) but on Sunday he did a great job talking to people and seemed to feel more comfortable. There are a few pic's of them here before church that day.

Feeling good and a fun milestone...

Sick little guys

Well as it turned out the whole family got the stomach flu last week, but I'm happy to say we are all feeling great now. Let me tell you it was a long week, as little boys were extra whiney, irritated very easily, and Mommy and Daddy felt so bad too. Thankfully Levi only missed one day of work. So far this week everyone is much happier and their behaviors much better! What a relief!

There are a couple pic's here of the boys with a pirates eye patch on. They recieved a really cute pirates playset from the Minnis family and they love playing with it and shooting the canons. Last week though, they didn't even feel like going down to the playroom to play with it...so they would just take turns putting the eye patch on and saying, "Argggh". It was pretty funny. Otherwise to keep them entertained and keep them from running around they watched way too many episodes of Spongebob.

On another note, a year from today will be Levi's last day as a student! While we are so excited about that, we are also not wanting to miss anything about the present by looking forward to the future too much. Having said that, this weekend was a pretty rough time on call, but Levi handled the no sleep thing very well and life moves on...on Monday morning he said some of the attendings were teasing him about it by saying they hoped they were never on call with him, as he's had a rash of shifts with extremely long hours lately. That's the way the ball bounces I guess.

Be My Valentine

Treats!

Opening their mail

Marcus

Valentine's dinner
Marcus

Carson

Cole

Most of the dinner conversation was about "fire"

Saturday was a busy day for us, but a really fun one! Deann and I hosted a bridal shower for Levi's cousin Rosana. It was a great time and we had a great turnout! We're all really looking forward to Andy and Rosana's wedding in March!

Since Saturday was also Valentine's Day, Levi and I decided to have a candlelight dinner for 5! The boys were so excited and loved the special evening and especially the treats. They received some Valentines in the mail, so after dinner they opened those and we enjoyed a family night together...until one little man decided to get the stomach flu! :(

Cole then passed it onto Mommy and we had a low key weekend from then on. We're both feeling better today, not quite 100%, but we are up and moving around. It's so sad to see a little guy layed out flat for two days, who normally is bouncing off the walls constantly. He handled it all well though, and has his smile back today thankfully!

Please Pray for the Degler family

I just found out this morning (on Facebook of all places) that Emily Degler (Honeycutt), a girl I went to college with, just lost her 9 1/2 year old son on Friday.  He was a seemingly completely healthy little boy until the age of 8.  They found he had a genetic metabolic disorder that reduced the amount of energy available to all of his cells.  He had become increasingly bereft of his motor control, lost his speech, and his faculties slowly faded.  Grant passed away Friday and is in the sweet arms of his Lord and Savior.  Please join us in praying for Shawn, Emily, and the rest of their family in this time.   You can check out this site if you 'd like...it's an amazing testimony.  

Our Weekend

What a great weekend we had?! The weather was so nice and warm on Saturday that we went to the park to let the boys play. (not your typical February weather around here) Of course they had a great time and enjoyed getting to run around. Friday night Levi took me out on a date for an early birthday treat! My birthday is today, but he is on call so he wanted to celebrate early in case he isn't home tonight. We went out for dinner and a movie, very fun, and a very special time for the both of us. He surprised me and had it all planned out, and babysitting already taken care of too. Since he's been in school we've rarely been able to do date nights, but we both know it's just a season in our lives right now, and so we've just appreciated time together at home. Thanks sweetie for your thoughtfulness, and for such a special evening out. I love you!

A Week with Mom

Mom and Marcus
Dad building with the boys
Marcus watching the coffee maker

Story time

The boys wearing their Daddy out!

Wrestling all three at once

Having fun in the "penalty box" :)

Cole showing me his piano still works even though the end broke off when he stepped on it

This past week was so fun for me! Not only did my parents come up to visit last weekend, but my Mom also stayed with us all week. She took a week of vacation and came to hang out with us. It was such a big help to me to have her here, especially on a week when Levi was on call and gone quite a bit. We had a great time visiting, playing with the boys, shopping, and just hanging out. God has been so kind to give me such a loving and sweet mother...I've always known that, and having this past week with her meant so much to me. I love you more than I can even adequately express Mom. Thanks for sharing the week with us!

Dad drove back up last night after work and Levi's parents had brought dinner over. We had dinner and played mexican train domino's most of the evening. It was a lot of fun. Levi was in and out most of the evening. He got home from work, and then was paged and went back in two more times before his head hit the pillow last night. So far today he only had to go in once, so it's been a relaxing afternoon for him.

We're having Levi's family over for the Super Bowl tomorrow, so that will be a fun time! Hope you're having a great week!