Just Another "Day at the Park!"

Today was my Monday to watch Grady at my house. The boys always enjoy playing together & the Moms always enjoy some time off. :0) So, here are some pictures from our play date together.

We started our day in the playroom. The boys wanted to do their own thing. Grady wanted to take our orders with our McDonald's toys. Josiah wanted to play with Mr. & Mrs. Potato Heads.

We also played with tons of puzzles in the living room. Puzzles are Josiah's new love. He has moved on to putting together jigsaw puzzles now & we can't believe how good he is at it.

We were all three beginning to get a little cabin fever after a while & needed some fresh air. So, I piled them both in the wagon & we went for a walk. I hadn't really decided where we were going yet, but I knew we'd end up somewhere.

The boys were happy to see that we ended up at the elementary school playground near our house. They couldn't believe it. They thought the treat was the fast ride downhill in the wagon!

They said that they slid down straight & twisty slides, rode the "horsey," climbed up regular & chain ladders & ran across bridges.

They even played a game of chase & tackle. This picture was taken during a tackle!

What a fun day they had. We had our ups & our downs, but over all it was just another day at the park!

Play Time with Friends!

Tonight was date night for our friends Shawn & Amanda. While they were out, we kept their boys, Gabe & Grady. Since it was a nice night out, the boys went out & played on Josiah's playground.

Josiah & Grady ran right for the glider & hopped on. They were so cute...they kept trying to get it to go higher & higher. Gabe wanted to show off his basketball skills.

As the boys were riding their gliders, the wind started making their ears cold. So, they took a moment...in motion...to pull their hoods on. Too funny.

Then they each went to their own areas. Josiah wanted to slide, Grady wanted to cook in the playhouse & Gabe still just wanted to play basketball.

A few minutes later it was time for dinner. We were spoiled with some of Dustin's yummy cheeseburgers, my homemade french fries, green beans & brownies. Yum-O!

After dinner we headed into the living room to watch the movie, "Cars." The boys were so excited. They were instantly glued to the television.

They got out all of the "Cars" toys that Josiah has to play with & watch at the same time. Josiah even wore his Wake Forest hat to support the team while watching the movie...too bad they lost!

We had such a fun night! By the end of it, they all looked pretty tuckered out...but still not too tired to drive their cars around (look at their hands). CUTE!

We always have such a great time with our friends. We'll have to do it again soon!

Thanks to my Wonderful Husband!

Josiah received a wonderful birthday present back in December from Grandaddy & Grandma Moody. They shipped him a playground. Well, before Josiah's birthday, Dustin put the entire thing together by himself. After that long job was done, winter hit. So, we put the finished project of the area around the playground on hold until a few weekends ago. Dustin went back out there & put mulch all around the playground. Then, he bricked the entire area in & attached it to an existing flower bed we already had. It looks fabulous!

Now Josiah has an entire area designated to his play time that won't kill the grass or cause mud slides. YEAH!

My husband is so wonderful for working so hard to make this happen! Dustin, you are the best!!!

Amanda the Great!

In an earlier blog you may have read that Fun Kuts closed. This was the place we took Josiah to get his hair cut. We were very sad about this because Josiah really enjoyed going there. Well, one day I was sharing our misfortune with my friend, Amanda. She immediately responded that she would be happy to cut Josiah's hair anytime I wanted her to. Somehow in the midst of our friendship I had forgotten that before her Mommy days she was a hairdresser. What a blessing! I talked to Josiah about this & he was really excited to give Amanda a try.

So, Monday morning we headed over to Amanda's house for a haircut, playdate & lunch. When we got there, Amanda had everything ready for us. We headed upstairs to her bathroom & began the process.

I was really surprised to see how well Josiah did with an audience (Grady & me). We both sat in the bathtub & watched.

Josiah's hair looks great! She did a wonderful job cutting it & he really enjoyed that Amanda was the one to cut it! So, we were happy all around thanks to Amanda the Great!

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?!?!