cold treats while tooting around the biltmore.

tuesday, august 31, 2010.

when joshua went back to school he was given a coupon for a free smoothie from mcdonalds. i clipped the coupon to my "reminder" board and passed by it everyday. then i set it on the counter a few days ago to remind me to go before it expired. well, it expires today. so, after dinner we decided to go get the smoothie for me, get the boys cones, and joshy a mcflurry. then we headed to the biltmore to let the boys burn off some of the sugar high that was sure to follow.

abraham actually fell asleep while eating his cone in the car. oops!!! we woke him back up to eat it.

levi devoured the whole thing. minus the paper.

running.

getting wet in the fountain.

more running.

flowers from levi.

a trip to the biltmore wouldn't be complete without a walk through the tunnel under camelback road.

tunnel. tunnel. tunnel!!!

making wishes in the fountain in front of houston's.

levi still had 3 pennies left, but started to cry because he didn't no what else to wish for. he had already wished for trucks, hitches, etc. i told him he could think about it and make more wishes when we came back by after we were done with the escalators or that he could keep the pennies for his piggy bank. but, he can be SO SUPER SENSITIVE sometimes. he reminds me of the little boy in PARENTHOOD, which is one of my favorite movies of all time. and i am SO steve martin!

a family of four like us.

walkin'.

me mid spin.

back through the tunnel.

abraham going pee pee in public:)

levi's running dramatically back to the car.

abra"ham" hamming it up as he runs.

lity is super tired. time for night night.

abraham's stuttering.

sunday, august 29, 2010.

we have noticed for a while now that abraham is totally stuttering. luckily, we have lived through this once before and know that it is, in most cases, only temporary. of course when levi was stuttering really badly, i hopped online and researched all about it. he stuttered for several months and finally i talked to dr. lersch about it during one of abraham's well baby appointments. levi wasn't with me, so dr. lersch couldn't listen to him talk, but he gave me a referral for a speech therapist based on what i had told him. he did tell me that lots of kids, at his age, stutter though and that i shouldn't worry. we never ended up seeking therapy for levi because it did resolve shortly thereafter. so, this time with abraham, i am so not worried! the research i did said that it is hereditary. abraham is just so darn smart and has so much to say. we couldn't believe how well he had been talking, amazed at the sentence structure and concepts he can get across. (especially for his age...levi was a late talker). it's weird how all of a sudden it just changes and the words that used to just flow so easily now get stuck. research suggests just let him finish his thoughts no matter how long it takes him to say it. we just have to be more patient and accept that it could take a year or two for it to resolve.

levi's newest invention. while the boys are away, papa and mama will go on a date.

saturday, august 28, 2010.

levi woke up to find that papa had drilled the NEW "HITCH" into his tow truck.

the story behind this is that yesterday levi told me he wanted us to poke a nail through the plastic in the back of his tow truck. then we needed to cut part of it off so it wasn't too long. then he'd be able to hook trailers on it. i thought it was a SPLENDID IDEA, but explained it was more a job for papa. so, levi could not wait until papa got home. he asked every 20 minutes or so when papa would be home so he could tell him the idea. pops was a little too tired to do it last night, but did it bright and early this a.m.

***then g'pa and g'ma block picked levi and abraham up at 8:00 am to take the boys to OUT OF AFRICA.

so, joshua and i got to go on A DATE today!!!
first we went to see INCEPTION at the esplanade...

...and then ate a late lunch at LA GRANDE ORANGE. we finally got to put our gift cards to good use and are very thankful to the givers.

my nummy hot pressed tuna.

the boys got back around 6 pm. we visited with g'pa and g'ma and looked at super cute pictures from their little adventure.

then it was off...to go PUDDLE SPLASHING on the way to find the richardson's.

check out abe's super sweet outfit! fake uggs and undies.

abe bookin it.

hmmm. the richardson's aren't home. they're probably still on their bike ride.

puddles a plenty.

yay. we found emma. bonus=malcom the pupper was out on a walk with camille too.

little people parade.

animals in the trailer...

peeps in the truck bed. (the new hitch too)

abraham doing his own hitching with some of the people.

farmer jed is driving.

making a road wide enough to drive the tow truck on

a close up of the new "hitch."

ta da. it fit. such creativity!!!

bubble blowers.

thursday, august 26, 2010.

the boys wanted to bust out the hand held bubble blowers i bought ages ago. i didn't think abraham was quite ready to use one when i bought it, so i put it on a high shelf in the boys room. now he takes a step stool to that high shelf and gets the "do not touch these" things down. if he's old enough to figure out how to get to that shelf, i figure he's old enough to use the toys on it now;)

the boys pet house. swingin'. readin'.

wednesday, august 25, 2010.

we love the boxes from costco.

levi turned this one into a puppy/horse house.

sometimes abraham pretends to be a horse, but here he is a puppy trying to escape!

levi came running inside to ask if i could give him a push on the glider. when i went out i couldn't believe what i saw...levi got abraham into his swing all by himself. he put the little walker toy underneath the swing like a step stool. abraham climbed up on it and somehow levi lifted him into the seat!?! he even locked the tray in place.

abraham showing me his super funny kicks. a family gave us a whole bunch of gently used kids shoes. abraham thought the "work boots" were awesome. they look just like papas work boots!

the string that levi attached to abrahm's swing. this way abey's swing moves as levi glides.

reading time. at some point everyday, and usually several times a day, the boys hop on the couch and read books. i love it!!!

abraham is now wearing the furry "ugg-like" boots that levi had on earlier. abraham also has a thing for putting socks on his hands. usually papas old sock awaiting to make it to the laundry. funny, but kinda icky at the same time:)

levi looks soooooo long here. i love that he loves to read:)))