Pongo and Minnie Mouse

Minnie Mouse Olivia. Little Miss Olivia was fun to dress up this year. Thanks to my sister Bridey who found the fabric I was able to make Minnie's dress.
Minnie Mouse and Pongo (the dog from "101 Dalmatian"). No, Levi's not a cow. The fleece fabric was on sale and it was so cozy. Levi loves to have fleece next to his skin. At first he wanted to be Pluto, but changed his mind when he saw the Dalmatian fabric.

Levi still wears last years Peter Pan Halloween costume. On any given day he changes from Pongo, Peter Pan, his ORANGE shorts, or "Batman Super Dog" (he wears an orange mask and orange cape) and today he added "A Laker" by wearing a Laker Jersey. All day he would only answer to "Laker".
Levi wanted a "Truck with a trailer-like Daddy's" on his Pumpkin. You gotta love "The House of Bounce!" "You Pick the Day and the House of Bounce with Bring the Fun". Levi listens to me answer the phone all day long and he talks about jumpers, trucks, and trailers all the time. I am a firm believer that what you expose your child to, at least when he's 3, will become his tastes and preference.
"Daddy!" is one of Olivia's favorite words. She's in a really fun age right now. Thus far in her little life she's been a Momma's girl, but that is quickly changing.

Stayin' Alive

Whitney and Olivia July 2007. Olivia modeling her new swimsuit. I think Whitney gave Olivia dancing lessons. The picture below was taken at Courtney's wedding in 2004. The Heywood kids broke out dancing to "Bye, Bye Bye". The Heywood's love to dance. It's not uncommon for the whole family to gather in the family room, turn up the music and dance. It's a blast.

Hats Off!

Hats Off!

Along the street there comes
a blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums
a flash of colors beneath the sky
Hats Off! The Flag is Passing by!

Heny Holcomb Bennet

Levi on the 4th of July, 2006.
4th of July 2006 my little Levi turned 2. We really had a firecracker day. We went to a parade, had a birthday party, started a tradition of a water balloon fight, watched fireworks and set off fireworks.

No Longer a Lefty

I've been waiting to see if Levi was going to end up a lefty or a righty. He keeps changing hands on me. It looked like for awhile he was a lefty. But today I was watching him draw and I think he's going to join the right hander's world. He only uses his left hand if his right hand is really tired. Being a right hander is good because he'll avoid uncomfortable desk chairs and scissors. Ofcourse, unlike me, he'll never be in his "right mind".

Even Her Eyes Smile!

Unlike her older brother, Olivia LOVES to swing at the park! She giggles and laughs the whole time-unless a dog walks by. This girl loves dogs. Heres a list of her first words 1) Mama, 2) mamama (not to gross anyone out but that mean's mama milk), 3) Bye Bye, 4) Itsy, the name of Caitlin Heywood's little dog!

Olivia smiles like my Grandma, Veneta Culotta and my sister Amanda. I love (loved) laughing with my Grandma and Amanda. Even if I don't know what's funny I end up laughing like crazy because it's just so fun to laugh with them! Olivia is so good natured and loves a good laugh. I hope she grows up to be like her aunt and great grandma.

The Lovely Month of May

The Rose Garden at the Huntington Gardens is gorgeous in May. There are rows and rows of beautiful roses. The colors are vibrant and the smell is just amazing! Levi and I had to smell as many as possible. It was almost too much for him not to pick one and give it to me and Olivia Rose.

Memorial Day

"We cherish too, the Poppy red
that grows on fields where valor led,
it seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies."

-Moina Michael

Look on the website below and refresh your memory on why we celebrate memorial day.

http://www.usmemorialday.org

A Toddlers Point of View

The world from Levi's point of view- closer to the ground. As a toddler Levi's goals in life are 1. Explore, touch and get into as many things as possible, 2. Have lots of Mommy-Levi, Daddy-Levi time, 3. Wear his "orrrrrange shorts" everyday of his life.

One of Levi's past times lately has been taking pictures with my new camera. At first he turned the camera around and took pictures of himself, then he figured out how to take them the right way.

If you can't tell, this is Olivia waking up from her nap. Levi ran into the bedroom, woke her up and took some pictures. He figured out that he could get himself and Olivia in the picture if he took a picture in the mirror.

More to come on Levi's favorite past times on a future post!

This may be the LAST TIME...for a long time

On May 15th the family gathered for Hal and Whitney's birthday party. It was a great time to take a family picture since it'll be a long time until we're all together again. Whitney is turning in her mission papers soon and Marc and Courtney are moving to San Antonio Texas.


Levi loves his aunts and uncles! His nickname for Whitney is "Whit". This last weekend Caitlin asked if he could spend the night. He had a great time sleeping in the family room and watching "Finding Nemo". The next morning at 6:30 Uncle Marc walked into the family room and found Caitlin fast asleep and Levi playing outside with Dakota, the German Shepherd.

Caitlin and Dallin with Olivia!

March HEAT WAVE!

Braden and I took a weekend trip to Utah for Brett Heywood's wedding. It was cold, maybe in the 30's or 40's. The day we got home from Utah it was in the 90's here in California. The heat wave inspired the first swim of the year at Ashley's pool. My niece Siena and nephew Jaden came along for the fun.
I think I've truly become a "MOM" because the water was too cold for me to dunk. There was a time in my life where it didn't matter how cold the water was- I'd play in it for hours. I guess I'm not patient enough anymore to wait for my whole body to go numb.

My college career started Summer 2000 at Mt Sac and ended on December 9, 2006 when I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Cal State San Bernardino! Right after this picture was taken Olivia worked the rose into her mouth.

Three schools (four if I'm allowed to count Pomona College Orchestra), one Husband, and two Children later I finally finished with a degree in Liberal Arts with emphasis in music.

Thank you to everyone who helped me accomplish my goal by supporting me, babysitting, and by listening to me endlessly talk about the classes I was taking.

Christmas Eve 2006-Levi and Olivia

Today I was viewing all my favorite blogs and was enjoying all the up-to-date photos-until I got to one that hadn't posted for over a month. I thought, "Boring!"...then I got to thinking...then got to feeling a little guilty...so here I am, creating my own family blog. Because, what's worse than going to a blog with out-dated posts? Going to a blog and finding absolutely nothing!