"go bulls" birthday bash...

i keep staring over at levi in amazement thinking "he's four... FOUR!".

on one hand it feels like it was just yesterday i pulled his creamy green bassinet around the house every where i went cause i couldn't fathom the thought of not seeing this little tiny, most precious gift for even one second.
then on the other hand it's hard to even remember life before levi. it's like he's always been here.

anyhow, he's four now. and yesterday we celebrated it.

what other way then go bulls style!
yes, levi is a boy after his own daddy's heart!

we decorated the kitchen the night before (a little family tradition. i love the look on their faces in the morning).
and brian had the bright idea to put streamers across the door so that when levi woke up he would run through them. i thought levi would get scared. and sure enough at 4 in the morning levi came running into our room crying because "something got him on his door". we let him crawl up into our bed and in the morning we noted that the streamers were still fully up. so, now i have this picture of poor little levi crawling under the unknowns, half asleep, and freaking out.

his face was filled with glee when he actually got up for the day. this was is the first year he noted without having to be told that it was his birthday. he ran into the kitchen and spent most the rest of the afternoon riding his new bike around the house, taking off his helmet and putting it back on.... asking every once in a while if it was time for his party yet.

and before he knew it... it was.

i decided after kyle's party to have levis at my parent's condo. and i'm so glad i did. it was stress free and relaxing. the kids had a great time swimming and fishing (well, not levi he screamed like a girl and went running with the first fish caught). and no one had a house to clean up after, which was wonderful!

i guess i should have had a talk with levi on the way over about what to do if he opened something he already had or maybe didn't want. but his reaction was cute so. my mom got (after i told her to) a click start computer. good for learning letters and such. well, i guess (this was the first i heard of it) levi had wanted some monster truck video game. so, when he opened my mom's "video game" his reply was "this isn't a monster truck one". the good news is we hooked it up this morning and he played it for about an hour, so he likes it... now.

levi had a great time. he's been talking about it all morning.

so blessed to be his mommy!











i've been getting cakes from slice of heaven for years. they pretty much hooked me right after our wedding. i'm not gonna lie, their pricy. but, worth every penny in both looks and taste.
levi was beaming from ear to ear when he caught first look at his fabulous football USF bulls cake of yumminess. he has been dreaming about for about a year now. and i'm pretty sure it lived up to what his imagination drew up.
now.

my whole world changed 4 years ago...

levi,

i remember this day four years ago so clear in my head. it's so true that time is fleeting. it goes by so very quickly...
and before i even knew it, here you are today all boy no baby.

you are the joy of my life. i wanted a boy so badly. i hoped and prayed that you would be.
so believe me when i say i take in and cling to every boyish thing about you.


my snuggler, my kisser, and hugger.
my bug catcher, my whiner, my dirt digger.

your my boy.
my precious, precious boy.

you've blessed my life far beyond what you will ever comprehend.
you made me a mother.

i love you so very much.
mama.

...more then meets the eye

levi is so stinking cute these days.

he has become quite consumed with transformers.

how he learned about them, i'm not entirely sure.
but, he walks around the house singing this song...
i guess it's from the show (to which he has never watched, to my knowledge).

and just in the last few days he is busy bragging to alivia and nataley that he watched the movie (the commercial trailer)
and that it wasn't scary one bit.

anyway,
he has a bit of a new obsession with them.

some yellow guy named bumblebee in particular.
he keeps saying how badly he wants him for his birthday, but brian and i had already decided that we were going to get him a big kids bike and helmet.

so, i'm sure you could imagine the joy i had when i found a transformer bumblebee bike tonight!
yep, it sure made me happy. i just know levi is going to be so excited!

hard for me to believe that he is going to be 4 in 3 days!

F O U R ! ! !

random quotes from levi...

yesterday at target.

there was a display of transformers at the check out line.

levi:
i want a transformer.

mommy:
no! not today.

the whole time through checking out...
levi:
I-W A N T- A- T R A N S F O R M E R!!!
over,
and over,
and over...

when i was done i got down, looked him in the eye and calmly told him...
if i hear you say that one more time, you will get a spanking when we get to the car.

levi:
"um, maybe i don't want a transformer" :0)



today, at lunch.

mommy: but you need to eat if you think you are going to go swimming tonight at nana and papa's house.

levi: "we don't say BUTTS mommy!"
(rolling his eyes and laughing looking just like his daddy)

fathers day...

i promised it...
and here it is.

a great fathers day idea!
brian actually had tears rolling down his cheeks...
which has happened all of 4 other times this whole brian and shannon life of ours.
once being his wedding day,
and the birth of all three children.

so, yea. it was a great idea!
thanks complete stranger blogger to which i stole the idea!



i took a deck of playing cards and turned them into fabulous keepsake with only
markers,
stickers,
a hole punch
and a few pictures of our family. oh yea, and a key ring!

like i said before we sat down and thought of 52 things we love about brian.
each card now holds one of those things.

here is s quick list of the things we thought of and who thought of them:

~ he thinks sharks are cool. (levi)
~ he's smart. (levi)
~ he gets us donuts. (alivia)
~ he works hard. (me)
~ he can dance. (alivia)
~ he kills bugs. (levi)
~ he is a good daddy. (group effort)
~ he is my friend. (levi)
~ he plays video games. (levi)
~ he takes me fishing with a net. (levi)
~ he knows about robots. (levi)
~ he gives good kisses (alivia)
~ he's VERY hairy. (levi, this one made me laugh)
~ our daddy is cool. (group effort)
~ he is my true love, best friend and soul mate. (obviously... me)
~ he takes us to the movies. (alivia)
~ he's a boy. (levi)
~ he loves jesus. (levi)
~ he opens our new toys. (alivia)
~ both our toe nails came off. (long story but, levi)
~ he's BIG. (levi)
~ he gets us yummy food. (group effort)
~ he loves us. (group effort)
~ he drives real fast. (levi)
~ i have his eyes. (alivia)
~ he's my daddy. (picture of nataley faye)
~ he is so, so, so nice. (levi)
~ he buys us toys. (alivia)
~ he makes money. (me)
~ he loves the letter L. (levi)
~ he takes us places. (group effort)
~ he swims like a mermaid. (alivia)
~ he is one handsome hubby. (me)
~ he always helps us. (levi)
~ he holds me. (alivia)
~ he sings (alivia)
~ he is my daddy. (alivai said this like a million times)
~ he loves "go bulls". (levi)
~ he knows about transformers. (levi)
~ he takes us to disney world. (alivia)
~ he can catch lizards, bugs, frogs and butterflies. (levi)
~ he makes us laugh (levi)
~ he is the best daddy in the whole wide world. (group effort)
~ he's not scared of pirates. (levi)
~ he is my daddy. (picture of alivia)
~ he gives us ice cream. (alivia)
~ he is my real life prince charming. (me)
~ he mows the grass. (levi)
~ he is sooo strong. (levi)
~ he is my daddy (picture of levi)
~ he has given me all this (a picture of our family... also the one that teared him up)

i really had fun all the way around with this little project.
the kids and i had fun of thinking of reasons we love daddy, and they were able to help make up the cards which was great.

on saturday we made him a strawberry cake from scratch. and seeing as how it was devoured in all of 1 hour by our family i guess it's safe to say i have come up with my first ever secret recipe... that i will take to my grave. ;)

i let the kids sit down and help come up with a little gift that says "thanks for being such a great daddy". and we ended up getting a basket filled with movie treats and a new movie for a family movie night.





i know i can't speak for brian, but i am sure even he would say...
he had a great daddy's day!



ps... levi got a surprise on sunday too. uncle kyle and aunt kathleen brought him an early birthday gift. levi is now the proud daddy to "bumble bee" our new pet turtle!

brian's blog...

when i was a little girl i dreamed about one day being married to my prince charming.

and the day we vowed forever,
i knew i had found him.

what i didn't know that day however,
was that a silent prayer of my heart would one day be answered.

he would make me a mommy,
and you would become the best daddy in the whole world!

brian,
you parent with love, and patience.
you make us laugh, your faithful and true.
you take care of us.

and we love you for it!

my heart is filled with joy because you're more then any wife could ever ask for.

you're teaching our son how to be a loving, honorable man who will one day make a great husband and father himself.
and you display the perfect example to our girls on what they should pray to seek out in a mate.

you're my very best friend,
and i hope you have a great day!
because, you deserve it!

smart quotes from levi...

mommy:
why are you being so bad today levi?

levi:
because, sometimes i just got to be silly mommy!
(with a face only levi could make)

randomness...

i just wanted to jot down a few little things that happened yesterday.

random acts of kindness

levi and alivia were playing in the girls room.
they were playing "house" with alivias doll house.
all was fine for quite a while when all of a sudden i heard a loud thump followed by livia crying.
as i started to make my way over, i heard levi say without prompting "livia, i'm so sorry (which is his new thing, he is always "so sorry" for everything). i wove you. are you ok?".

there is something about my kids loving one another, showing genuine care and concern for each other that automatically lifts my spirit.


creativity

~ we started daddy's fathers day project after lunch.
i've had the idea planned out for a couple months now.

for the first part of it we needed to come up with 50+ reasons why we love daddy.
i honestly was expecting that i would be the one coming up with reasons.
but as i started saying a few to show the kids what i was looking for they both chimed in quickly and ended up coming up with 39 things they love about their dad completely on their own.

so, counting the first three that i gave to show what i was looking for,
and the 6 times alivia simply said because "he is MY daddy"...
that only left 4 reasons for me to come up with (which obviously was no problem at all)!

i was rather impressed.
and don't fret, i will be taking pictures of our works and jotting down their reasons on another blog.
so check back after fathers day, cause it's a really cute idea!

~ i have been waiting to find what area i will be helping out next week while the kids are in vacation bible school.
i offered to lend my assistance all week because they were in real need of helpers.
i was really hoping for the "arts and crafts" department, but when i filled out the card i put "wherever needed".

i got arts and crafts! i'm so excited.
alivia is looking forward to vbs, levi... not so much!


free dinner

alright, i'm not doing it intentionally or anything but this summer is rocking when it comes to my food bill!
about three times a week we head over to my mom and dads house so that the kids can swim in the evening.
and my mom always seems to offer up dinner while we are there. so, that's 4 dinners a week on average that i'm not having to cook or pay for!
and i'm learning some really great HEALTHY recipes to boot!

i'm loving it!

it's hot out there...

let me just start off by saying...

it's truly a blessing to have family.
when we know how to love, family makes us better people.

it teaches us patience and kindness.
when there is "real" love there it keeps us from our own selfish ways.

i've recently started the "love dare".
and only days into it, i am finding great changes in myself.
i'm learning that when i love the way god commands me to love (even when it doesn't seem like the natural thing to do),
the ones i love are reacting in in more patient and kind ways themselves without even knowing it.

after that little side note...
it's hot out there!

i'm not sure when exactly it happened, but, it is stinking hot outside!
i know, i know, it's florida, what do i expect?
but come on! i can barely breath when i step foot in the hot sun.

the fear of heat stroke has set in limiting the things we can do to keep busy.
but, we're managing!

on sunday we had a family dinner over at the emrich's house.
we spent the afternoon (well, everyone but me that is. i forgot my swimsuit at my parents house) splashing away in the cooling pool. we talked about our future plans for an emrich family vaca...
maybe renting an RV and driving up to gatlinburg or south carolina... who knows where we will end up. but the plan is being made! and although the thought of cramming 6 kids and 7 adults into one moving vehicle sounds a bit on the overwhelming side, it will be well worth efforts to have just one night alone out with my husband!



yesterday, after brian finished mowing our yard, we drove down to tampa to visit the zoo. once again, i could complain about the heat, and the sweat that dripped off me most of the day.... but i won't.
rather, i will tell you what fun the kids had. alivia freaked out over feeding the colorful birds and stingray. i think she is all girl down the the core! levi had such a good time that he actually said "that was a way fun day". we rode rides, ate lunch and got home in time for dinner.






i so love this family of ours!
i live for fun family days. big or small,
rain or shine, hot or cold...

there is just nothing in the world like a loving family!

what a day...

*warning... if this blog seems to be a jumbled mess i'm sorry, it's just been that kinda day*

i say that i'm not one for known surprises.
now i know whole hearted that it's true.

each day is a gift,
ones like yesterday are amazing!
ones like today are amazing in their own way (because it's another day god has given me to live), however...
had i known what today was going to hold last night or even this morning when i first woke up...
i just might have stayed in bed.

i think i let myself get a little over ambitious!
taking three kids to the beach all on my own and having a great time.
tricking myself that every day could be that easy!

we woke up.
got dressed.
headed out to the pool for some swim time.

on the way back we stoped for lunch at chick fil-a, i let the kids play a bit.
as we drove home all was silent, naps we being taken...

the calm before the storm if you will...

i pulled up into the drive way grabbed the keys and ran inside to get a bottle for nataley.
i had planned on taking them to play putt-putt.
(a not so great idea in the middle of the afternoon on a hot florida summer day in and of itself, i know).

i quickly made up the bottle and ran back out to the car.
and with that...
the very instant i closed the front door.....
i realized something was wrong!

i locked the keys in the house!
so, call #1 to brian from my cell.

bri...
"i locked us out of the house.
please hurry, the kids are sleeping in the car."

20 minutes later brian pulled up.
and then we were off...

now,
here is part (notice i just said the word PART, because by the end of this evening you will see that this was a tiny portion) of my utter insanity.

i should have known better. when the man said "no strollers along the course".

we should have turned away and went bowling.

as hot, hot, hot as it was outside...
but no,
i had told them we would go, and we were there...

so, i pressed on through all 18 holes carrying nataley,
and putting her in the bumboo chair at the start of each round.

one hour later i was a sweaty mess.
levi and alivia were filled with giggles.






we had some push up sherbert ice cream and then we made our way towards home.

levi had a great idea...
"let's go to nana and papa's house for dinner and swimming"

i thought i would be a smart mother.
stop off at home, grab pj's to make things easier this evening.

i once again ran inside, and gathered the things i needed.
i came back outside, and realized i had forgotten something for my mother.

turned around locked the front door and headed out to the car.

got in and looked down for my keys...
once again,
i locked them in my house, but this time with my cell phone sitting right beside them.
seeing as how i knew from before that every door and every window was locked i quickly moved to plan B...

the neighbors house...
no answer.

the other neighbors house...
no answer.

across the street...
no answer.

i resorted to the fact that i would have to break into my own home.
i took a heavy branch and made my way towards the side garage door when i heard the neighbor next door pull in.
i ran over and used their phone...

call #2 to brian...

"hehe, your not going to believe this but...
i just locked my keys and my cell in the house"...

while i waited for him to arrive i pulled out the honda owners manual and looked up how to program our garage door opener to it. so thankfully this should never happen again!
(i'm no dummy... 10+ times in 5 years of living here) :P

once again 20 minutes later my hero arrived with a smile on his face to boot.
(just a small reminder of why i married the man).

we went to mom and dads,
ate, swam and had a great time...

then as i went to put some thing in my car i realized...
i had locked my keys in my car!

something only shannon would do, i know...

but even i would have to say...
what a day, what a day!

three amigos and me...

by 10:30 this morning boredom sunk in,
by 1:30 we were on our way!

it was a perfect hot summer day,
and i figured "why waste it?"

so, i loaded up the van with :

two pair of arm swimmers,
one baby float,
3 sippy cups,
4 pairs of dry clothes,
a wagon full of beach toys,
one double stroller,
4 large beach towels,
a small bag full of snacks,
2 bottles of sun tan lotion,
the regular diaper bag stuff,
and a camera...
oh yea, and three beautiful little faces too! :)

a beach and pool trip all on my own has never been attempted.
i usually go accompanied with alyson and her kiddos...

but today...
we ventured out all on our own.
and we had a great hot time!

we walked along the beach on the search for pretty shells and tiny fish.
we chased flying birds.
we watched butterfly oysters bury back in the sand when the waves interrupted their slumber.
we dug holes, filled them up with water and crashed monster trucks into sandy mounds.
and when we were done...
we walked the short distance over to the pool and cooled off the rest of the afternoon.

it was a great day!
we smiled, we laughed, we made memories...
my three little amigos and me!

another week gone...

ahh, monday night!

it's funny cause i kinda think of the weekend as sunday and monday...
those are the days i look forward to all week long...
the ones i have my one and only home with me.

i've wanted to find time to blog for a few days now, but haven't managed to squeeze it in with the wacky week i had.
wacky including...
excitement
annoyance
worry filled
fun

and many more emotions...
i'm just happy we made it though!



my childhood best friend, sara, and her family came to vacation here and it was so nice to catch up with her face that i miss so much, and look in amazement at the new little faces her and her husband created!
man, time fly's!
the days of scrapbooking, sport playing, and car rides filled with music our parents would frown upon seem as though they were dreams of long ago now!

the new lives... "grown up" lives we live now consume us, but it touches my heart that we have and WILL remain friends who can catch up and pretty much leave were we left off each conversation!
but, oh how i do miss you guys sara!

my dad had his surgery on friday and praise god everything went smoothly!
i'm once again left with thankfulness and a new found closeness to my dad...
seriously, a girl could never think to wish for a better dad, i love him so much!

so with that being said...
i once again look forward to crawling into my cozy bed, snuggled up next to the man my heart belongs to...
filled with thankfulness and love...
praying for guidance, and strength to make it through another week filled with endless possibilities!

gotta luv the beach...

our new favorite evening hobby...

boy charmer...

the blond haired blue eyed boy of mine won the key to my heart tonight....
ok, i fib...
he won the key to my heart when he gave us a "thumbs up" the very second the ultrasound tech told us "it's a boy".
but, tonight he won it in a new way.

you see,
anyone who knows me, even a little bit...
knows that i hate bugs, lizards, frogs...
critters of all kinds really.

i have a fear, a BIG fear!

so, tonight when i saw the hugest palmetto bug that i have ever seen (seriously, at least 3 inches long) crawl right past my feet on my living room floor it is no surprise that i screamed on the top of my lungs. the shriek of my mouth was quickly followed by the sound of 2 pairs of little feet running across the house to my side to see what was the matter. alivia, took on look at the bug and started to cry with terror in her eye.

but LEVI, my sweet little bundle of boy. looked at that huge bug....
told me to "watch it so it doesn't run away", ran and put on his green crock, came back and smashed the living day lights out of the creepy crawler. he looked back up at me and told me "it's OK mommy... i'm not scared anymore. i killed it for you".
he then asked me for a paper towel, picked up the gooey remains of the nasty thing and flushed it down the toilet for me.

yes,
someday he will make a fine husband,
a true charmer...
in the most boyish way possible.

"UP"

the kids have been talking about seeing it for months now. and on sunday their small dream came true. my parents were nice enough to watch nataley so we could take the kids to see "UP". which, was really sad to me, but that makes it a good one!

the kids did great, and brian and i each only had to take one trip to the bathrooms.
levi finally got his request for popcorn answered (for some reason he has been asking me for it for days now).

a great family day for sure...
makes it so that i cant wait till nataley is old enough to join in the family adventures. :(

she did however get to go swimming well into the evening with us at my mom and dads house after,
so i guess she wasn't completely left out of the loop.

we ended the day (what better way) with ice cream....
a truly sweet ending to this truly sweet day!





ps....
did ya watch jon and kate plus 8 last night?
did ya?
if you did, and if you weren't paying attention to kate at the book tour part but rather searching through the faces of fans,
you may very well have caught a glimps of ME and my s-i-l kimmy with our kiddos!

yep, it's true i was on it!
i guess this means i officially "beat" my husband in the race of being seen on cable television!
and yes, this really was a race we had going!
score on for shannon! :)