CHIPS OFF THE OLD BLOCKS

saying buh bye to the crib...it's served us well. well, more just in looks than actually being slept in;)

monday, november 22, 2010.

we bought this crib and mattress from rob and amy withem for $150.00 about five years ago, right before levi was born. WOW! is levi really going to be 5!?! anyway, it totally made his room a "nursery." however, it didn't get much use. we basically had the whole "family bed" thing going on. i'd put him in the crib for naps occasionally. then abraham came along and while we had talked about not doing the family bed with him, it didn't work out so well. in fact, some nights still, all four of us end up waking up in our bed even if it just started out with only joshua and i. abe still wakes up sometimes between 1:00 and 3:00 am and i bring him to our bed. and, on occasion, levi will wake up in the middle of the night and crawl in with us too. though more often then not, he sleeps through the night in his own bed. yay!

the crib had a drop down front, but you'd still have to lean into it to put a sleeping child in when the mattress was set to the lowest setting. and a las, after so many years, it cracked!!!

we were bummed because we had hoped to sell it, but no such luck now.

it was no longer suitable to have abe in the crib, plus he was just passed the 36" tall mark where a child should no longer be in one.

just split:(

the good news: abraham was so excited to be getting rid of the crib and have a "big boy bed" like levi.

abe talking on his "phone." big bro levi was pretty excited about the whole idea as well.

abe checking it out.

and liking it!!!

we used the cribs spring base and mattress and laid them on top of the three wheeled toy bins that we'd always stored under the crib.

then the boys helped me disassemble the rest of the crib;)

...

ta da...abe's toddler bed.

we'll see how it goes tonight!

my super duper helper.

abe checking it out again.

levi picking out a book to read to abe. how sweet is that?

levi reading while abe pretends to be asleep.

then it was back to disassembling for abe.

sweet face.

and more reading for levi.

:))) i love that he loves books.

abraham still working away.

...

falling asleep while watching a movie.

conked out!

sleepy brothers.

i moved each of them into their big boy beds. we'll see how it goes.

rain. levi's bashed tooth. we're sickly. and photos by abe.

sunday, november 21, 2010.

the boys playing outside in the rain with anderson.

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loving stormy weather.

pics of levi through the window. i'm in the photo too:)

my camera lens framing levi's eye.

total cuteness.

seriously!!! levi's front teeth met with abraham's head last night while they were playing with the neighbor kiddos. abe's forhead has a huge welt, as well. it made me so ill, i had to leave our own shindig and turn in for the night. and, as i write this, weeks later, i can say honestly it was a forethought in my mind for weeks after. i can't hack blood, trama, injury. all i kept thinking is he's gonna bonk it again and it will pop out. but you gotta love carmi's question to my concern. "so what's the worst that can happen? it might fall out early?" exactly, i don't want it to fall out early!!! i have wacky tooth/gum dreams sometimes, so when it does start to happen, hopefully naturally, in a couple years, i'm gonna have to hand it over to pops!

yikes. it ended up turning more bruise and grey as the days went on!!! so not okay on mama's weak stomach.

papa collecting limes in the rain. both he and i are feeling a bit under the weather:(

pictures by abe.

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folk dancing at the russian festival.

saturday, november 20, 2010.
today our folk dance group performed at the russian festival. it was a beautiful day and we were so excited to dance in front of a live audience. sometimes i feel i've missed my calling, not that i'm talented, or even good at dancing, but it just makes me so happy to be doing it. i'm buzzed for hours after!

...at glendale community college.

joshua and i need more legit costumes. this is just a peasant top from marshall's.

let the dancing begin.

so, we missed the last practice and consequently royally screwed up the first dance up. we were laughing so hard the whole time. usually when we dance this particular dance it's in a circle within another circle. men in the inside circle face out looking at the women and women in the outside circle looking in. it's normally a mixer with a new partner at the end of each cycle too. this time there was no mixing and no circle. it was kind of wacky for us.

me and my "partner" for life.

about to begin another. one of my faves...

"gori more"
taught to us at a workshop by lee otterholt of norway.

more advanced members of our group preforming a more intricate dance.

"dimna juda"
a dance we learned on our first night with the group. i came home and immediately googled it. the music is divine. and it's such a simple yet beautiful dance!

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joyce, smiling, is one of our teachers. she is a professor of the russian language and has been there several times. she is why we were invited to dance today.

dancing a mixer called "sasha". we pulled people up from the audience.

finding a new partner. my poppy is just to the right of middle.

hand clapping. poppy's in the middle in the black long sleeve shirt.

joshua and my dad.

abey leaving the bouncey.

maaa... and poppy.

watching francis and his brothers preform bavarian dances.

francis and his mom, tina, on the left, as they preform with their group, the chalet dancers. check them out at http://www.planterhouse.com/. we are so lucky to have them in our group too.

getting treats.

shoe slap dance.

getting ready to make the girls fly.

the girls legs are off the ground! weeeee.

so impressed. they were incredible.

levi wanted grampa batt to buy this:)

lity being a boy.

abe tossing bean bags.

espen came too. he was staying the weekend at g'pa and g'ma's house.

he's so social now that he is in preschool!

enjoying our day.

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the church that hosted the event.

markov brought over some of these bagel/pretzel things that are hanging from a string in this painting to our house long long ago. a russian treat.

this photo, which i'm sure is for joshua, as well as the following photos were all taken by greg markov, whom we invited to come check out the event. unfortunately, joanne and the boys had to leave early because it was a we bit boring for them. it was the first time they put on this festival and you could see all there was to see in about 15 minutes.

the m.c. she was actually pretty funny.

believe it or not, the father was a hoot as well.

getting ready to start the first dance.

in motion.

ditto.

joanne. to the left of middle. is also one of our teachers. she knows hundreds of dances by heart!!! it's mind boggling.

lynn and alice. lynn does a lot of scottish dance and contra dancing as well. he's a very good partner.

karen and bill faust form the tucson folk dance group. they used to perform professionally and are amazing to watch. plus they have crazy legit costumes from all their years of performing! they come up from tucson to teach from time to time.