SNOW!!!

My sister is super sweet. She knew that there was a good chance that there wouldn't be any snow while we were visiting, so before it melted she saved some.

 It looked just like a snow cone, but Joshua didn't know any better. 

 He wasn't sure what to think about it being so "chilly!"

 I'm not sure if he had more fun or if I did!

 He did all sorts of exploring and experimenting with the snow. He even tried to make it into a snowman. 

Winter Fest

 Winter Fest was in downtown Milwaukee. My sister, her two kids, my mom, Samuel, Joshua and I went to check it out. To get there we needed to walk through the mall. The mall had a festive display of singing bears. We stopped to watch and I snuck a group shot. 

 One of the highlights of the festival for me has to be the oversized snow globe. 

 It was chaos and craziness and our time inside went too fast. (both times) The snow was thin plastic shreds. They got everywhere!

 Joshua wasn't sure what to think of the whole thing. He was glad when it was over, but said that he liked it.

 Inside the festival there was ice skating, bouncy houses, slides, and bungee bouncing. Those were all things that the other members in our group enjoyed.

 Because Joshua is still on the small size he went to find activities that we would enjoy. He loved the football throw and the soccer kicking.

 There was a train ride he waited patiently to ride on. 

 It was getting late in the day when the kids were getting over-tired and hungry when we decided that decorating cookies sounded like a great idea...

 A second wind was found after the cookies so we took in a round of mini-golf. Joshua has never done such an activity and it was fun to watch.

 He had the concentration... but could use some practice. 

 Joshua loved his time with Samuel. I hope Samuel enjoyed it as well. Michael and I both noticed how much my brother seemed to have grown up since the last time we had seen him and that was in September. 

 It was fun for me to see Joshua's tender heart. He is really a sweet boy who loves animals. He had all sorts of love for the polar bear giving it hugs. The penguins were probably my favorite to watch though. He shook hands with them, pet them, talked sweetly to them, hugged them and it made be proud. Many little boys would use them as boxing opponents, but not my softhearted little man.

 His sweetheartedness and his imagination are something else... he thought the nutcrackers were...... pirates.

We had a fun day! It was good to be around my family. 

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Does this picture not melt your heart? 

We left for Wisconsin on December 26. I wasn't really sure how to divide our trip up into different posts or if I needed to, but I decided I don't need rhyme or reason, so don't ask.

 Joshua was overjoyed to see his Uncle Sam! They made forts, worked on train tracks, and were just plain silly together. 

 Samuel read the directions and asked Joshua to hand him different pieces as he anxiously awaited the final product.

 Joshua also took turns reading the directions to Samuel, or supervising to make sure he was doing it the right way.

 Samuel has two bunnies. Joshua helped by feeding the bunnies and talking to them. He encouraged them to drink their water and to stay warm in the "chilly" weather.

 Although it was chilly, we didn't see any snowfall. Samuel got a toboggan for Christmas. He was disappointed he didn't get a chance to use it in the snow while we were there, but he and Joshua did pretend in the living room.

My mom has saved all of our toys from when we were young. She has tupperware full of Barbies, My Little Ponies, Strawberry Shortcake figurines, the original Littlest Pet Shop among others. My old bedroom has turned into the train room. Joshua worked on building new tracks, and pushing the trains all around the tracks independently and with his cousins when they came.

Our family Christmas

Merry Christmas (Eve)!

It was exciting for me to be a parent this year knowing Joshua was a little more "into" Christmas than his previous year(s). I quickly and quietly got the tree ready and waited anxiously for morning to come. I got up before him and showered so that I would be ready when he awoke.

 I let Joshua help make his morning smoothie peeling the banana and pouring the fruit into the blender. He was proud of helping. 

 After smoothies I made blueberry french toast! It was delightful!

 We started with stockings and then headed to packages. It was fun to see how excited Joshua was for his own gifts and how excited he was for Michael and I to open ours.

 Opening Christmas presents could have taken us all day. We made it about an hour long activity. Joshua wanted to open every gift and play with it immediately. Especially his books! He opened them and responded, "READ IT!" We encouraged him to keep opening and that we would spend the day reading and playing. With "The Pirate's Night Before Christmas" he could not wait. We tried to hand him another package or say that it was someone else's turn. He put his hand up and said "no, still reading."

 Another gem that I don't want to forget: Undies. We have been "talking-up" wearing underwear in preparation for full on potty training. (We hope that Joshua will be completely set by the time the baby is born.) He was with me when I purchased the undies and picked out the ones that he wanted. I brought them home and wrapped them. He opened them and much to our dismay, He covered his eyes and shook his head. "No, no, no.. no undies!"Michael and I couldn't help but laugh.

 Again I had a learning experience, when we had Joshua open his stocking, then presents, followed by some clothes and jammies... no interest. He could have cared less about getting clothes and I couldn't help but think, aren't you a little young to hate getting clothes so much?!?

 Joshua waited (somewhat) patiently to play with a barrel full of animals. He asked each of us to take turns playing with him, "Come on Momma! Play Daddy!" The animals were a variety of sizes which had Joshua describing the mommies and daddies and babies. We had fun with the animals.

 My dad and step-mom purchased a desk for Joshua. It came in a great big box that Joshua quickly opened, but was a little disappointed when we opened it and there was "some assembly required." I waited until nap time and set to work. This small desk took me roughly 32 minutes to complete.

 When Joshua woke up he was busy at work. 

 The desk could be a desk or it would be an easel. He experimented with it in both positions. 

 After he was done with his art, I was working on making some bars. He came into the kitchen,
"What doing, Momma?"
"Making bars."
"Joshua help?"
"Sure."
I pulled up the stool and he climbed up. He asked if he could use the "sword" otherwise known as a spatula. I was basically finished and he had never licked off the beaters before, so I thought, why not?!? I had used the spatula for fudge in the middle of the bars, there was no raw eggs or other nastiness so away he went. This picture warms myu heart!

 Because we were leaving for our trip to Wisconsin, we needed to spend some of the day doing chores... even on Christmas, but I was so very grateful to have a wonderful helping while I did the laundry.

Getting Excited about Christmas

We are getting ready for Christmas and this year it is exciting! 

I'm not saying that previous Christmases have not been exciting, but it is fun to see the excitement that Joshua is experiencing for the first time. Last year he opened presents and that was okay, but he is excited.

As we have be making our preparations, Joshua has noticed. He has enjoyed decorating the house, checking out the nativity, differentiating between Santa and Jesus, and seeing presents. Because I have 38 students, I came home with several presents. As I was preparing to take my secret santa gift to school Joshua said, "Presents!" One of the items I was taking to school was a candle. Joshua asked to "smell it!" several times, after which he responded, "Ahhh, delicious!" He looked at the presents under the tree and in front of me, and asked, "Presents, me?!?" I assured him that he would get presents, but not until Christmas. With surprised face and eyebrows raised, "favorite part!!" 

Michael and I have hunted down holiday specials on tv to dvr and watch together. it has been fun sharing memories that each of us had from old Christmas movies. A favorite and cherished memory that we will have from sharing The Muppets Christmas Carol will be Joshua demanding that I sit on the floor to watch with him so that he can lift my shirt and love up his sibling. He hugged my belly tight saying, "Love you baby, Love you. Come play." 

Construction in the Living Room

Joshua's imagination has taken off! He received his Duplo blocks last month for his birthday, but did not really seem too interested at the time (much to my disappointment.) It could have been the excitement, or that he just wasn't ready, but he's ready now! 

 I started by helping him build a base, and then he took over. He had such concentration. I did need to remind him or rather explain that part of the fun of blocks is that when they fall or come apart we get to start over.

After he had used as all the blocks and stood back to admire his work, he showed such pride. What surprised me was that when I asked him what he made he told me it was a pirate ship. That's awesome!

Big Brother Training

Last night we went to dinner to celebrate Michael's birthday. We went with several people from school/church. Our vicar and his wife have a 3 month old son.
Near the end of dinner the little one got fussy. Joshua rushed right over. "Baby Sad. Crying."I suggested to Joshua that we cheer him up. "Happy!" I thought maybe some singing would do the trick. Joshua sang "Jingle Bells" in the sweetest of voices. When the baby stopped crying Joshua said, "Happy!" He was so proud of himself that he helped the baby feel better.
It made me so proud watching him so gentle and sweet. It makes me excited to see him as a big brother in a few months!