Sterner Family | Made of Sterner Stuff

Painting and more

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Robert

I got two great gifts for Fathers Day. I collect Lego Space Shuttles, so a miniature one fits right in. I also love Star Wars, though I’m not a fan of the edits as well as the prequels.

The new addition with some of the other shuttles.

Levi and I put the shuttle together. He was my little helper and actually did a good job.

He’s getting a lot better at working with smaller pieces. These pieces are nano sized, so they were a bit harder for him.

After lots of playing he was ready for a nap.

Here we are working on one of Levi’s first Lego sets.

Kendra’s group from work had a party when they had some Russian visitors in town recently. Levi did some swimming at the party.

We went to the Friendswood Fourth of July Parade again this year with the Esbecks.

The kids.

Playing at the party in the park afterward.

After walking around a bit we went to a snow cone place in the park. We ran into some friends from Church and Levi had fun goofing off with Kinley.

A quick family portrait with silly smile.

We had a party next door after resting a bit. Here’s Levi hiding behind a snorkel while Gage eats some chips.

Everyone eating.

Gabe and Joanie hanging in the pool.

Swimming around.

On Fathers Day weekend we went to a Houston Dynamo game.

Levi started out smiling, though by the end he was ready to go.

He ended up playing games on Kendra’s phone.

We also went to a Houston Astros game with friends from Kendra’s Work. Here’s Eric and Erica

We also had Matt, Jennifer and Wrigley with us.

The Astros won and there was a concert afterwards, though we didn’t stay too long as Levi was tired.

We recently painted Bethany’s new room to get it all ready for her new arrival. Here’s Levi helping Paw Paw.

Nana supervising.

Levi helping paint.

Finished product.

Levi sorted out all the beads from a decorative vase.

Levi also bumped into the wall.

Levi chilling towards the end of painting.

Showing us the paint.

Everyone playing outside.

Booming by the Bay happened again this year and we went to see Plumb at the first concert. The Chick-fil-a cows were there partying as well.

Posted in concert, Levi, Olivia, Painting, parade, swimming

A Little More Summer

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Robert

Playing some air hockey with Ryker after their soccer party.

More swimming and new guns.

Big jump!

More practice with his favorite, floating.

Jumping up from the bottom.

Posted in Levi, swimming

In the NASA community each year there is a Rotary Club award called the Stellar Award that is given out to a number of teams and individuals. This year my team was one of the ones nominated, though we didn’t win. We got to go to a fancy dinner in downtown Houston. We’ve been jokingly calling it Space Prom, so here are our space prom pictures.

Levi is enjoying being the big cousin, and its great practice for this fall when he has to be Big Brother. Here he is with Wrigley.

More of the family together at Mother’s day.

This year we went to Relay for Life together. They had a car you could hit with a sledge hammer as part of a fund raiser.

I think Levi enjoyed it some.

We also went to the Zoo the Thursday before Memorial day. It was a lot of fun and we got to see the new Dinosaurs exhibit.

They’re pretty lifelike.

And they move.

My favorite.

Levi was enjoying them.

These two spit water out. I drove him up to the spot they were targeting and he was surprised when they got him.

This cheetah was sticking his tongue out at us.

And the lions were just lying about.

We went down into the tunnel to see the male lion but the picture got messed up for some reason.

The tiger was cooling off with a swim.

He kept pacing a large circle with half of it in the water. The other lion was passed out behind him.

Not even full summer and most of the cats were already out code.

Time for some pictures of us

Self portrait

Levi really wanted his picture taken here.

So we did several

The Asian elephant was enjoying a nice bath.

The African elephants were choosing the shade instead.

Levi was watching the proceedings.

Even the chimps were all sleeping

And the giraffes couldn’t even stand up.

Levi decided to pose with one.

Checking in on Smaug, the Komodo Dragon, his favorite display.

A venomous rattlesnake!

And making an appearance from Tangled its Pascal the chameleon.

Levi’s soccer team finished up their season a few weeks ago and got a good picture before their final game. Levi was mostly posed for it.

Not sure if that’s a smile or not, lets zoom in.

Still not sure.

Levi’s end of school year chapel was this May. Here he is with Wade and Mason.

All of the PS3 kids on stage to sing.

Sitting next to Ms. Sawyer and Marley with her mom.

Levi’s school had their final school party that same day. Here he is at his lunch with Wade.

Time for some ice cream from Ms. Sawyer.

And then a little hungry hippos with Marley and Logan.

Posted in dinosaurs, mothers day, party, School, soccer, Wrigley, Zoo

Swim Again

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Robert

We did swim lessons again this year. Last year Levi was doing really well, but then he didn’t swim over the whole summer, so he regressed a lot.

Lessons this time were at a different pool and there were a lot more kids, parents and teachers.

I think the little girl hanging on the wall there may be Evey, one of Levi’s friends.

On the sidelines waiting for his turn. Also here are Will, who did swim lessons with him last year, as well as Wyatt and Gus.

Levi did not like floating on his back. Its good practice because it requires so little effort and is helpful if you can’t get out of the water. He was rigid as a board at one point with one of his legs sticking straight out of the water as she held him.

Waiting in line with Olivia

The leap

And the swim.

More floating, not his favorite thing.

He got a Popsicle on the last day. Guess what color.

Our neighbor’s had to evict their last tenants, so until this coming Friday we were able to use their pool next door. Even after his swim lessons it took Levi a little while to warm back up to things.