A Day at the Beach!

What a BEAUTIFUL week in has been in Seattle this week. WOW! It doesn't get any better than this. The sun has been out, the air has been crisp & it's been above 50 degrees in February. Man, that's better than 75 degrees in Florida here. Josiah has been outside every day & loving it.

Friday we decided to take Josiah to the beach to enjoy the sunshine. Throwing rocks into the Puget Sound is one of his favorite things to do. So, we spent about an hour out there just throwing rocks, sticks & even some seaweed into the water.

The best part was when we found a stick that had two small branches sticking out on the bottom. It looked just like a cool gun. So, Josiah just walked down the beach shooting at everything. The best part was when he started shooting at the scubadivers who were entering the water. You can see them in the distance.

We hope this weather lasts a little longer. There is nothing quite like a day at the beach!

Goodbye Fun Kuts!

They say that all good things must come to an end. Well, that has happened in our family this week. We went today to see our good friend Tess at Fun Kuts to have Josiah's monthly haircut. As we arrived, we noticed the following statement on the door, "Going Out Of Business." My mouth dropped to the floor & got a little misty-eyed. I was in complete shock. Many of you may not think that this is that big of a deal, but it is to our family. When Josiah began getting haircuts in TN, it was a major ordeal. It would take both Dustin & I going together to hold Josiah down screaming & crying. He was terrified. We did that 3 times & then just let his hair grow out until we moved to WA. Once we moved here, we found Fun Kuts. It has been a life saver. They have cool chairs for the kids to sit in while having their hair cut. Then, they put boxes of toys in their lap to play with. They also have a playroom for the kids to play in both before & after their haircut. They use quiet clippers that are a lot less scary to the children. So, needless to say, it is a wonderful place to take children.

This is a picture of the first time we took Josiah to Fun Kuts. Dustin went with me because we were expecting the usual fight during the haircut. We were shocked. He just sat down & played. So, we stood behind him the entire time just in case Tess needed us. She never did. He had a great time.

The 2nd time we went, I took Josiah by myself. He told me to sit in the waiting area & wait for him. This place was a dream compared to what we had been used to.

There were tons of chairs to chose from. The yellow car, the blue Lamborghini,

a horse or the blue speed boat. Once you get bigger, there are cool chairs for the older children as well.

This is a picture of Josiah getting into the yellow car for the last time. I thought it was funny that he began his journey in the yellow car & chose to end his journey in the yellow car.

Josiah's last haircut given by Tess, the owner.

Thank you Tess for such a wonderful transition into the world of haircuts...& for the lollipops that Josiah is thoroughly enjoying. Goodbye Fun Kuts!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today was Valentine's Day. We celebrate this day of love as a family every year. This morning was pretty busy cleaning the house & getting ready for church in the morning, so we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day later in the afternoon.

After naptime, we sat in the living room together & watched "Happy Valentine's Day, Clifford!" Yes, Clifford the Big Red Dog. While we watched the video we munched on the specialty cookies Uncle Chris sent to our house as a gift. They were Buttercream cookies with Buttercream icing & were in the shape of hearts. They were yummy!

I got a little bit of love while watching the video. How sweet!

After snack time we did a fun little craft together. Josiah decorated his pink heart with red & pink heart ink stamps. He thought that was so fun. He stamped hearts all over his big heart.

He then used his heart & kiss stamp markers to put stamps all over his big pink heart.

The finished product! He added Clifford the Big Red Dog Valentine stickers on the top. He was so proud of his creation.

We then cooked & ate a heart pizza for dinner.

After dinner it was present time. Granddaddy & Grandma sent a box full of Valentine's presents for the whole family.

Here's what they sent us!

Then, we gave Josiah his Valentine's presents from us. Uncle Chris gave Josiah a Little People town for Christmas. So, we bought him more people that go along with his Little People town. We got him the doctor, the dentist & the store owner for the pet shop.

Here is a picture of his Little People town with the new people inside. We spent the rest of the night playing with his town in the living room.

We had such a great day together. It was a great day of love!

Valentine's Day came early!

Valentine's Day came early this year. This week Josiah received a package from Uncle Chris. Inside was a cute hooded towel from Pottery Barn Kids.

The towel is from the Dr. Seuss line they have this year.

It's of a cute little fish like the ones in his stories.

His name is even on the back! How cute!

Josiah really likes it & even ran around the house that day wearing it like a cape!

Where has the time gone?

Where has the time gone? Is it possible that my little baby is now a three year-old boy who just registered tonight for his first year of preschool? WOW! The time has just flown by.

Well, tonight was Josiah's Preschool Open House. We were so excited about this & Josiah could barely contain his excitement. It was a floating Open House from 6-8pm. Well, we didn't want to be the first, so we waited until 6:30pm to arrive. When we got there, we walked down the hallway & introduced Josiah to the director who had given me a tour last week. She then showed us the classroom that Josiah would be in. He walked right in & left us. How funny! The director was shocked. She said, "Wow! It looks like you won't have any problems with him the first day." YEAH!

After he entered the room, he immediately began to play with the other children & felt right at home. I introduced Dustin to one of the teachers I met last week & we talked with her for a while. We then made our way around the room & looked at everything. We read through some of her materials & talked. The teacher who will most likely be his, made her way back over to us & talked some more.

Once we had looked around & were both satisfied with everything, we went out to the registration table to officially apply for preschool. It was about 7:20pm by this point & WOW...there were only 5 spots left. HOLY COW! I'm glad we didn't wait any longer. So, Josiah is officially in preschool. She said that he was accepted as soon as we signed him up & paid the registration fee. YEAH!!!!!

After Open House, we treated Josiah to dinner at McDonalds....I know, super healthy, but somehow kids just are born with this sense that this should be their favorite place to eat. He was thrilled! The only problem was he thought we were going right back to preschool. Well, preschool won't begin until after Labor Day. Yes, it's a long time to wait. So, he was a little disappointed & wanted to know if September was tomorrow. So, we just explained it to him the best we could. I have a feeling it is going to be a long 6 months.

We got home just in time to throw him in the tub & into the bed. Boy, is he excited. He just now fell asleep after laying in bed singing & playing for over an hour. His parents are very excited, too!!

Who knew they had a green thumb?!?!

I have a friend who lives in town named Amanda. Amanda & I are in a very similar situation. We both moved here to follow the calling of our husbands. Her husband was transferred here to still work for his company, but with Boeing. So, they moved here knowing no one...just like we did. We met at the Lynnwood Library Toddler Storytime. We have boys close in age (Grady is 7 months older than Josiah). So, we hit it off instantly. Having no family & few friends around, we both felt it was very important for us to get the boys together once a week outside of storytime for some play time (of course, we secretly wanted some Mommy time as well). The boys really enjoy it & so do we.

This past week we decided to do a craft at her house. Amanda's wheels started turning immediately & suggested that we plant something. So, she got little pots, seeds, soil & gathered stickers, markers & stamps for decorating. How fun!

As you can see, the boys had a blast. Josiah sifted through the stickers to find "Cars" stickers from the movie, "Cars." This is now his new obsession & was extremely excited to see that Amanda had those stickers. They both immediately went to decorating & we picture-happy moms whipped out our cameras.

Yes, Josiah has turned out just like his parents...focused AND

...organized. The kid didn't stand a chance!

Josiah couldn't decide between the hundreds of "Cars" stickers. I think she bought out the entire store.

After they finished decorating, the soil was added. The boys dug their finger down in the soil & placed the sunflower seeds inside.

The boys showing off their finished product.

Josiah is so proud of his creation.

The finished product!

The boys both did a great job on their potted plants. Who knew they had a green thumb?!?!

What a big boy!

OK...it's official...Josiah is growing up whether we want him to or not. :(

There are some transitions that some parents are so excited that they can't wait for their child to do, but we are not those types of parents. We tend to be a little too nervous. We like to wait a little while to make sure that he is "ready" for those transitions. Like moving into a toddler bed. We waited a while even after most of our friends had already done it because we wanted him to STAY in his toddler bed. So, we waited until he was old enough to understand that the bed is for sleeping. He needs to sleep or rest while in the bed & not get out unless he has asked permission. We have heard horror stories about kids playing in their room all night until they pass out. So, once we moved him into his bed, he did great. He hasn't gotten out of bed once in 7 months without asking first. (Well, ok...he did ONE TIME...we still think he must have been sleep walking).

Anyway, another type of transition just recently happened. We have been dreading the day that Josiah was too big for his booster seat at the kitchen table. We LIKE having him strapped in so we don't have to worry about him getting down & playing while he is supposed to be eating. Well, this past week we thought he might be ready, so we gave it a try. We explained how a person should behave at a table & he has done WONDERFULLY! So, the booster seat is no longer in our kitchen.

Here's a picture of Josiah sitting in his adult chair at dinner.

Once a week we have a family movie night. It is probably Josiah's favorite night of the week. We all sit in the living room with our TV trays & eat while we watch a movie. Josiah has always sat in his booster seat in the living room & used his booster seat tray. Once we had made the transition to an adult chair, we told him that he now got to have a TV tray just like Dad & Mommy. He couldn't contain his excitement...as you can tell in the picture. What a big boy!