Kristin's Preschool

Kristin started preschool this year. She goes to the Children's Center of Wonder and Discovery (what a fancy schmancy name!) in the Lakeside Community Center. She goes for a half day three days a week. We figured that she would enjoy going to school, but we had no idea how much! She really LOVES preschool. In fact, she gets pretty angry when she finds out it's a day when she doesn't have class.

Here are a couple of pictures from Kristin's first day. First, she and a friend check out the sandbox in their classroom:


Here's a photo of Joey and Kristin at the end of the day when they picked her up. See? They get along just fine...once in a while.

Kristin seems to especially love all the art projects they do at school. She comes home with new paintings every week.


Of course, some get a place of honor on the fridge:

Our Three

A Man in Uniform

For the past couple years, Matt has been a referee for soccer games through AYSO. This year he's extra official (no pun intended!) because he got this snazzy referee uniform. Though he'd probably deny it, it's obvious that Matt loves this uniform. In fact, every weekend that he's worn it, at some point he'll ask me if I love a man in uniform. How could I not?

Soccer Season

Soccer season is once again upon us. This is Joey's third year of playing with AYSO. This year, his team is red, and their name is The Red Dragons - which is kind of funny because his first year he was on a team called The Purple Dragons. Joey likes playing soccer, but he doesn't exactly have that competitive edge. Take the following photo for example:
This was taken during the game this past weekend. Note how all the action with the ball is going on behind Joey. Joey was busy kicking at a patch of dirt. (This happened a lot during the game.) There were times, though, when Joey would have a burst of enthusiasm and would take off running for the ball. And I'm not being biased when I say that kid runs like the wind when he wants to. Maybe he was more cut out for Track and Field stuff.


Next year, I think, Kristin will be old enough to play. I can't wait to see her out on the field. Joey might be mellow and uninterested in winning or losing, but Kristin is a whole other story. Heaven help whoever gets in her way.

(Thanks, Wendy, for taking pictures at the game!)

Soulful

Look at Simon's big brown eyes. I could just look at them all day! I don't know if they're really brown, because sometimes they look very green or gold. So, maybe they'll be hazel? I just don't know. They're definitely not the blue eyes Joey and Kristin have, though - that's for sure.

Self Esteem

Last night when Matt got home, Kristin ran up to him to give him a big welcome-home hug. Their exchange went something like this...

Matt: Hi, Kristin! I'm so glad to see you. I really missed you today!

Kristin: I know! I'm so pretty!

Boys will be boys

What is it about bugs that is so tantalizing for boys? Here is Joey, playing with "The Snail Family." He happily let them crawl all over his hands, then put them on the ground for a race. Can you guess which snail won? The one with the car. It had a big S on the side. And Joey said, "Look at that S car go!" Get it? Escargot? Thank you! I'll be here all week!

Ah, the 70's

After my dad passed away this summer, we spent a lot of time looking through some old photos. I thought I'd share these couple of gems. The first one, I think, is of my parents when they were at someone's wedding or...something? Or maybe they were chaparones at a senior prom somewhere? Mom's lookin' foxy with her big teased up 'do, that's all I'm saying. The second is of my dad looking, shall we say, a little scruffy? (That may be putting it mildly.) The disheveled hippie look is really underrated.

The 70's were such a magical time.

Kristin's Fashion Sense

The girl knows how to work a look, let me tell ya. It's all about the right accessories...in this case, the hat from her Yoda costume.

La Casa LeVine

This year, we were finally able to buy a house. We'd been living in a very tiny apartment, taking advantage of the cheap rent so we could save money. Buying the place was quite an ordeal. We put in our original offer on February 1st, but because it was a short sale (whoever called them short sales lied!!) it took almost four months before we got an answer. Then, the day before we were set to close escrow, the seller declared bankruptcy so that delayed the sale even more. We didn't get our keys until the end of July. Then we had to get the place cleaned and painted before moving in at the end of August - all right before the kids started school and Nikol returned to work after maternity leave!

The house underwent quite a transformation. It's amazing what a little paint can do. As you can see from the following photos, the original owner liked some very bright colors. She also had this fun wallpaper border in the dining room with pictures of cockatiels on it. In the photo of the kitchen, you can see some open cabinets. When we bought the place, that space was originally covered with plexiglass stereo doors. We've since had a cabinet maker install some normal cabinet doors that match the rest of the kitchen, though we didn't have them when the photo was taken, obviously. Here's a little before-and-after for you:

Welcome!

Welcome to the LeVine Family website! Thought we'd jump on the blogging bandwagon, and provide a way to keep friends and relatives updated on our crazy lives. It's been a busy summer what with the new baby, a death in the family, and moving into our new house. There's always something happening. So, check back for updates!