Day at the Park

After the flurry of Christmas time, I was able to take a few days off work to stay home and play with the kids. It was great being able to spend some extra time with them - and I'm sure my mom (who normally watches the kids during the week) appreciated the break! One thing I learned quickly is that kids need to be kept busy. Sitting around watching movies and napping sounds like heaven to me, but it's Death from Boredom for the kids. And what better way to use up some energy than to run around at the park?

Kristin wasted no time running over to the swings, and was excited to show me her latest trick. Taking a photo of this was entirely her idea:Then the kids found a mini basketball that someone had left on the playground. Simon in particular was excited to play with it. They played catch for a while, and then they ran out to the field and kicked it around like a soccer ball. But mostly it seemed like they just liked running back and forth and laughing. Which, of course, I loved to see.I also loved to see Simon making silly faces at me from the top of the slide. Isn't he a charmer?Simon is generally afraid to go down the slide by himself, unless it's a very short slide and he can easily do down backwards. (Otherwise he's afraid he'll fall on his face.) But he's comfortable when Joey or Kristin go down the slide with him. Joey was so sweet, helping his little brother:After a couple hours, it was time for lunch and a nap. Know how I knew it was nap time?

Christmas Day

On Christmas Day we had the family over to our house for dinner. It's so nice that we have space for everyone! I know it's been over a year since we moved into our house, but my excitement about leaving the apartment behind hasn't faded! Here is a photo of my pretty Christmas dinner table. The flowers for the centerpiece were a gift from my mom's next door neighbors, the Kingstons, who own a flower shop. They also did all the flowers for my and my sisters' weddings.That's right, I had little candy cane hearts at every place setting. I know it's sickeningly sweet. Sue me.
Here we see Matt, Joey and Kristin working on putting together some Legos. Both of the older kids got Lego sets from Santa. Joey got a big pirate ship which took a few hours to complete.
And here's the ship, all finished. I know you can't really see it in this photo, but there's a mermaid for the masthead. There are so many fun little details. Lego has come a long way since I was a kid! (Back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth).
Grandma, Kristin and Joey. Kristin wasn't in the mood for picture taking, but I was trying out my new camera.
Here's Simon and his Uncle Sean. I forget what they were laughing about, but it was cute to see them playing together.
Here is a photo of our Christmas tree. It looks a little messy at the bottom, since we had lots of miscellaneous gifts piled underneath. But at least you get the idea.
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! See you in 2010!

Merry Christmas!

Another Christmas is upon us! Happy Holidays to all of you from the LeVine Family!This post is really about Christmas Eve, when we all gathered at my mom's house to open gifts. In our family, we open everything on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is exclusively about Santa and overeating. And remembering our Savior, of course. (Way to take the Christ out of Christmas, Nikol. Sheesh.) Moving along....here's a photo of Matt and his niece! Aren't they a cute pair?
And here's a photo of Tandy and Alicia. Awww, my two "little" sisters.
Here's Kory showing off the gift he got from Tandy. She actually got him a couple of video games, and just wrapped them in the Snuggie box. She's sneaky like that. (My mom was the actual recipient of the Pepto Bismol Snuggie).
Here's Wendy showing off the scarf I made for her. The family all went in on a big gift for her (a Roomba!), but I wanted her to still have something to open. So I made her this red knit scarf. It's kind of hard to see against her red shirt. It's made of knit material - soft, like a t-shirt. And I sewed the fringe myself. I may or may not have sewn the scarf to my pants once while putting on the fringe.
The family also all put in to buy a Wii for Matt's Christmas gift. When he opened the box, he held it over his head and said, "Wiiiiii!" (It was funnier in person than in print, trust me).
It was a wonderful night! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Why I Don't Have Photos of the Three of Them Together

It seems like I have a bunch of pictures of Joey and Kristin together, and of Simon by himself, but very few of the three of them together. So, one day when they were dressed up and looking so nice for church, I thought I'd try to snap a photo or two. Joey and Kristin were in great moods. I love this one of them laughing:So then I tried to take a few pictures of the three of them together. Simon wasn't crazy about the idea, as you can plainly see. But I tried. Of course, since Simon was fussing, Joey and Kristin didn't feel like cooperating, either.
Then the older two thought it was funny that Simon wouldn't sit still, so then they were laughing as Simon tried to squirm off the couch.
So I gave up.

Making Gingerbread Houses

For Family Night one evening, we decided to make gingerbread houses! Well, I guess a better name for them would be Graham Cracker Houses, since no gingerbread was actually involved! Here are the houses waiting to be decorated.
We had all different kinds of candies and other foods to use as decorations: M&M's, gumdrops, nuts, marshmallows, coconut, candy canes. We also had tubes of colored frosting, and extra white icing to use as glue to get everything to stick together.
Matt was very focused on the details while making his house.
Simon was a little upset when we told him he could not take the houses apart, nor could he eat any of the candy. I know, I know. We are so cruel. And at Christmas, too! Maybe we deserve coal in our stockings. (That's my finished house, by the way!)
Joey and Kristin were very proud of their finished houses.
It was such a fun activity for everyone, that we definitely plan to make it an annual Christmas tradition!

Wendy's Birthday

December 18th was the anniversary of Wendy turning 21! Happy Birthday, Wendy! For our traditional family birthday gathering, we went to Souplantation for dinner and then went back to Wendy and Sean's house for presents and cake. Here's a photo of the birthday girl! Note the super cool snowman sticker on her sleeve. That was a little birthday gift from Kristin.
While we were at Wendy and Sean's, Simon fell in love with his "cousin" Sam's bed. He was sitting and/or rolling around in it for quite some time. Glad he's not allergic to dogs!
And then the evening devolved into this:
Sadly, we had to take the kids home earlier than I would have liked because Simon was really tired and GROUCHY. Joey and Kristin were both really hyper, too. It was a crazy night! But we had fun getting together. Happy birthday, Wendy!!