Happy 4th Birthday, Josiah!

Today Josiah turned 4 years old. I still can't believe it. I know every parent says this, but it really seems like he was just a baby. This year I can really see how much he has grown in a year. He isn't a baby anymore. He really is a boy. It is exciting & sad all at the same time.

We began our exciting day with breakfast. The birthday boy got to choose anything he wanted to eat for breakfast. He chose waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon & chocolate doughnuts. What a feast!

After breakfast, Chris brought up a TON of presents from him & Granddaddy & Grandma.

Josiah, of course, was very eager to dive right into the paper.

He went back & forth from one of Chris' gifts (monkey paper) to one of G & G's gifts (blue).

He couldn't wait to get the toys out of the boxes so he could play with them.

He even got two vehicles straight from London. Uncle Chris went on vacation there in September & thought of his little buddy.

He got SOOOO much stuff. These are the presents he got from Granddaddy & Grandma!

These are the presents he got from Uncle Chris.

Dustin & I decided to give him 2 presents on his birthday & the rest of his presents at the party. We gave him a "Chick Hicks" truck & a Mater truck. He already had Mater, but his tow cable broke a few months ago. Mater is one of Josiah's favorite "Cars" & has been devastated about it since it broke. So, we had to replace him.

After present time was over, we had planned on taking him out for the day. Josiah, however, didn't want to go anywhere on his birthday. He wanted to stay at home & play with his new toys.

So, we stayed home & played with toys.

He had such a great time playing with his new stuff & with Uncle Chris.

After lunch we sang to Josiah & gave him a birthday cupcake.

I think you can tell how much he enjoyed it!

After a long day of play & some needed nap time, we got dressed & headed for dinner.

Here's our big 4 year old.

Our family on Josiah's birthday!

Another big moment happened when we went to go to the restaurant. Josiah's car-seat had been changed into a booster seat. Yes, that's right...he's old enough to go to a booster seat.

He was super excited to be wearing a seat-belt like the adults do. He was a happy guy all the way to dinner at Red Robin.

We had a nice dinner at Red Robin. This is one of Josiah's favorite places to eat.

It's extra special on his birthday because they sing to him & bring him balloons & an ice cream sundae. What person wouldn't be happy with that!?!?

Mmmmm.

After bath time, we went to bed to do our bedtime devotion. When we looked inside Josiah's armoire, there was another present. Josiah was so excited! He opened his present to find another Bible.

Every birthday Josiah receives a new Bible. Dustin & I feel it is the most important gift we could ever give to our child. In the back of each Bible, we write letters to Josiah telling him how we feel about him & what spiritual strides he has made in that past year.

Here I am reading my letter to Josiah.

Here is Dustin reading to Josiah about the Creation. Josiah's new Bible is really cool this year. The stories are written very well, but have the funniest pictures this time. We thought it would be cool to see more humorous illustrations. Josiah seemed to enjoy the pictures, too.

Dustin & I feel so grateful that God would allow us to raise such an amazing little boy. We are so proud of him & can't wait to see what this year holds.

Happy 4th Birthday, Josiah! We love you!

Uncle Chris is here!

We are all so excited. My brother, Chris, just flew into Seattle this afternoon to visit for the weekend. Chris has never had the opportunity to visit us in Seattle before. Back in September, he decided he wanted to come all the way from D.C. to spend Josiah's 4th birthday with our family. That is so amazingly thoughtful.

We went out to dinner tonight to celebrate his arrival. Josiah is so happy because "Uncle Chris is here!"

Celebrating Josiah's Birthday at Preschool!

It's the day before Josiah's 4th birthday & we are already celebrating.

Today was Josiah's "Special Day" again at Preschool. He got to bring healthy snacks, a Show-N-Tell item & birthday treats! What a big day.

As you can see, we brought a snack basket full of healthy snacks, the Dinoco helicopter from the movie, "Cars" & green birthday cupcakes! Mmmmm.

Josiah was allowed to be the leader, do the calendar, etc. just like every other child does on their special day. He also, however, got to have a party just for him at the end of the school day.

Teacher Nicky crowned him the birthday boy before festivities began.

The class then sang, a very enthusiastic, "Happy Birthday."

Josiah was allowed to pick a treat out of the birthday box & then share his Dinoco helicopter with the class. They loved it. They especially loved it when Mater popped his head out of the helicopter & said, "I'm happier than a tornado in a trailer park."

Once every child had a turn playing with the helicopter, it was time for cupcakes. First, however, Josiah got to lead the class in a prayer over their food.

CUPCAKE TIME!!!!!!

Josiah went with me to the store to order the cupcakes. He wanted chocolate cake with green icing & sprinkles. I think it is so funny that even a little guy can be so particular.

The kids really enjoyed these cupcakes.

I love to see how they all lick the icing off first & then MIGHT eat the cake.

Josiah's table was all smiles & chocolate teeth. Cute!

Josiah ate EVERY bit of his cupcake. He's never done that before. I think he was co happy to be celebrating his birthday at Preschool!

Josiah's Preschool Christmas Program!

Tonight was Josiah's Christmas Program at Preschool.

As you can tell, he was really excited!!!

Somehow Dustin & I ended up with front row seats in a packed-out sanctuary! YAY!

This is a picture of Josiah's class (front row) as they entered the sanctuary. They were all so cute & just waved to the crowd.

"Happy Birthday, Jesus!"

Once they sang "Happy Birthday Jesus," they joined all of the other classes to sing 5 more songs.

After every song, Josiah decided to take a bow. Dustin & I laughed so hard at this because no one else bowed. We had NO IDEA he was going to bow. It was adorable!

The children were so proud of themselves once they had made it through all of their songs. The parents were very proud, too.

After the program was over, there was a Cookie Social for all of the families.

Here is Josiah playing with two of his friends, Isaac & Reilley.

We ended the night watching Josiah & his sweetheart, Bella, dancing beside the Christmas tree. How sweet!

It really was a wonderful night of songs, laughter, cookies & dancing. What a wonderful way to start Christmas...by going to Josiah's Preschool Christmas Program!

Christmas Time is Here!

It's Christmas at the Lee house!

Every year we decorate our house for Christmas the week of Thanksgiving.

We can't wait to get the tree up & decorated

& the stockings hung on the fireplace.

We just love this time of year around our house.

We like to sit in our living room, by the fire, looking at the lights on our tree, while listening to Christmas music & drinking cocoa & cider. I know...we're like one of those 60's movies around here & we're not ashamed of it! HA!

We're so excited that Christmas time is here! Merry Christmas!