Where’s Levi?

Levi is my second toddler in this house and he’s much more unpredictable than Elias was. I never quite know what levi will decide to do. The big boys were very active toddlers, but we had a much smaller house, so I’m constantly asking where Levi has gone. 

Sometimes he’s so busy playing that I just set his lunch plate next to him and let him keep playing. He’s in that terrible toddler stage of being hard to feed (as if that could get even harder for a Burda boy) so I don’t care where he eats a long as he eats. 

He’s the first toddler that I allow to run around the house while I shower because he does pretty well. He won’t stay in front of the tv with his brothers, especially since we stopped blocking the steps. The other day he was very quiet while I was showering and I found him reading. Amazing. 

Cooking dinner is the hardest time of the day because the toddler is clingy and whiney. A sensory bin at my feet is usually his activity of choice. 

He is starting to notice the Polly Pocket sets but can’t play them without some help. 

Outside

Levi’s speech path and I have noticed different language skills in Levi with different activities. The more large motor, the more sounds we hear from Levi. I decided to see what we would hear with water play. We didn’t hear a whole lot that was new from Levi, and it was tricky to keep Miss Holly dry! 

The humidity has finally hit this summer but the boys don’t seem to mind. They’ve played outside more this past week than they have all summer. 

Elias usually trims weeds. 

Augustine usually works on his giant mud hole.  

You never know what Lewis will chose to do outside. Today he chose making perfect mud cement. He’s so good at getting the perfect consistency. I’m amazed how well the “fence” behind him has held up thanks to that mud cement. 







We had one day of no humidity and a cool breeze so we ate dinner quickly and headed to the park. It was great as long as we stayed in the shade. 

Snakes

Lewis got a whole box of snakes at the fireworks stand. I was not about to store them for a year, so the boys used them all up. 

He also added his smoke bombs. 







It was both terrifying and super cool to see so many snakes at once. 

Never again. Once is enough. 

But boy did Lewis love it. 

Family Photos 2021

Fourth of July Weekend 2

Today was a pretty normal Sunday. We went to Mass, had lunch and quiet time, and watched The Wizard of Oz as a family. Elias had some hilarious musings about the movie.

Elias: this is way too romantic. 

Elias: it would be a good life to live there [in Oz]. 

Elias: would you please pause the video? I need to empty my bladder. 

[The lion jumps through the window.]

Elias: doesn’t he know that will cost a couple hundred dollars [to fix]?!

Logan and the little boys went on a walk, ate dinner, played at home and went to bed on time. Augustine and I love the 4th so we ventured out together, and Lewis joined us this year too! 

Last year we ended up at the fire inspector’s house for fireworks and WOW. We had never felt more safe on the Fourth of July. Our old neighborhood was absolutely crazy and dangerous, so it wasn’t going to take much to make us feel more safe. 

We went back again this year. :)

I had fun making our traditional Fourth of July dessert to share with everyone. 

A fun activity or two is always in the mix. 

It was basically one big water fight for hours. 

Augustine dried off so he could hold this sweet little one. I got a few cuddles in too. He couldn’t believe how small and light she is…his baby brothers were very chunky. :)

We had a great grill out and then it was time to organize the fireworks of course. These were the leftovers from last year, then they all got to go to the fireworks stand and choose more. My boys were over. the. moon. 

Lewis was really happy about his haul (despite his posture in the pic). He got a whole case of snakes, some cool fountains, and some parachutes. He also got some smoke bombs and ground flowers. 

Augustine mostly picked fireworks from last year’s leftovers because “money is for Legos”.

The neighborhood was SO LOUD. More than last year for sure. 

This was one of Lewis’ fountains. 

The boys got to spotlight the parachutes since it was so dark. Turns out that’s our new favorite way to do parachutes! He caught 2/3.

It was a fun night celebrating our home sweet home. 

Fourth of July Weekend

This year feels like a bonus both because the holiday spans the weekend, and because we feel extra freedom after living through last year. 

We helped host the neighborhood parade for the 9th year. It’s so simple and so fun!

Grandpa Mike helped us chalk the walk. 



The big boys ended up walking because most of their friends walked. None of the boys were interested in decorating their bikes this year. 

Fr. Hottovy and Fr. Beardslee led the prayer. 

And of course Michael led the parade!

The band was really good this year, and entertaining too. 

We sent everyone on their way and then Jillian and I sat down for the 15 minutes they were gone. I felt like baking the night before, so I made us some scones. 

125 people showed up for the parade. 


Levi LOVED the marching band. 

That afternoon we did some fireworks. 

Elias chose maximum protection. He didn’t like the loud sounds or the smells. 

Lewis was fascinated by the trash. 

Levi was a big fan of the snap n’ pops. I’ve never seen a two year old enjoy those. 

He did really well with the big fireworks as long as he had his earmuffs on. 

When the fireworks were gone we switched to water balloons!

Poor Grandma got soaked. 



Levi had so many new experiences that day. He also loved water balloons.