Josiah's Special Day!

Today was Josiah's first special day of the new preschool year. He gets to be the line leader, the helper, brings snack for the class & brings show-n-tell.

For snack, he chose Go-Gurt (yogurt in tubes) & Goldfish Pretzels. For show-n-tell he chose to bring his light-up Mickey Mouse airplane that Uncle Chris gave him. He's becoming Mr. Decisive. I love it!

Josiah had a great Special Day!

Pumping Gas!

Today was a new first for Josiah. We pulled up to the gas station & I asked him if he wanted to pump the gas. I had never even thought of letting him do it before. He was so excited.

He did such a good job & was SHOCKED at the amount of money I was paying for it. He said, $40.00...that's a lot of money! Josiah did a great job pumping gas!

Uncle Chris Spoils Again!

Josiah received a very special card in the mail today from his Uncle Chris. The card contained $25 to spend however he wanted. Josiah was so excited. I asked him if he knew what he wanted to spend his money on. He immediately said, "Yes! Toy Story 3 Figurines!" Josiah usually isn't a decisive child. I was very impressed with his quick decision & he didn't ask for anything else.

I took Josiah to the Disney store & he went right for the figurines. After looking at the price, he had $5.50 left to spend. I asked if there was anything else he wanted & he pointed right for the goofy hand fan. So, I looked at the price & wouldn't you know it, it was $5.50 exactly. Ha!

We brought the toys straight home & he lined them up on the living room rug to play.

We love it when Uncle Chris spoils again!

Grandparent's Day!

Today was Grandparent's Day at Preschool! Papa (Larry) & Meme (Janet) (Dustin's parents) drove from Yakima, WA for this special event. We wish Granddaddy (Ed) & Grandma (India) (Carla's parents) could have been there, too, but are excited to see them in December.

The festivities began with Josiah's class singing a cute Grandparent's Day song. I didn't get a picture of his entire class, but here is Josiah...2nd from the left.

After they sang the song, they came down & gave the grandparents a present.

Here are Papa & Meme opening their thumbprint picture frame. Josiah had decorated his frame with different colored thumbprints. It was so cute! They really liked it. I stayed long enough to take a few pictures & then snuck out so they could enjoy Josiah.

After the tea & snacks were served & eaten, we took Papa & Meme to lunch to thank them for coming for this special event. Josiah chose McDonalds. Ha!

What a wonderful Grandparent's Day!

Alphabet Book!

Today was Josiah's first day off since preschool began. We spent the entire summer having learning time every day & I wanted to spend a few minutes to pull everything we had learned together for him. Every 3 days, we learned a letter of the alphabet. On the first day of each letter, I gave Josiah a piece of paper with a picture on it of something that starts with that letter. We hung each picture on the fridge that week & Josiah came up with as many words as he could think of that began with that letter sound. It worked really well. It really got him thinking every day about that letter & the sound it made. He was looking for words around every corner.

Well...I kept every sheet & compiled them all to make an alphabet book for Josiah. I titled it "My ABC Book." He was so excited. I think he thought I just threw those pages away after we finished that letter. He had no idea I kept them & would make them into a book.

He carefully looked through every page reading through the words he thought of. He was so proud of himself & so thankful to me for his alphabet book!

Celebrating Firsts!

Today was definitely a day of firsts. Today was Josiah's first full day of preschool. Last Friday he went for only an hour, but today was the full three hour day. He had a FANTASTIC time. He loves his new class & his new teacher.

Today was also a first for me. It was my first day of work as a Personal Organizer. If you know me well, you know that I am super organized & LOVE to label things. I have always seen this as a sickness & have recently come to realize that it is a gift...A gift that other people don't have & desperately need. So, I have decided to minister to families by using my gift. I had been praying about this for a while & then one day a few weeks ago a family approached me about beginning ASAP in their home. I was so excited & terrified all at once. That same week, I had two other friends express interest in hiring me. So, I knew this was a God thing. My first day went well & am already seeing progress. I will post before & after pictures once I'm done.

Dustin was so sweet, he treated Josiah & I out to dinner at Red Robin to celebrate our "Day of Firsts." What a sweet man to not only honor us for our accomplishments, but also to recognize how tired Mommy would be after work & wouldn't want to cook. I am tired...I'm sure you can tell that from looking at the picture. What a great day of celebrating firsts!

Josiah's First Day of 4/5 yr. Preschool!

Today was Josiah's 1st day of his 2nd year of preschool!

He woke up early this morning excited & ready to go! We took pictures in the same spots & positions as last year. He was really eager to get to school!

Here are some photos with his proud Dad & Mommy! We love our little man!

I took the same picture last year of Dustin & Josiah walking through these very doors & Josiah was shorter than the push handles. This year he is taller than them. Wow...he has really grown.

Josiah walked right into his classroom & got settled with friends immediately. He met two new girl friends while playing with Play-Doh. Then, his friend, Nicole, got to class & he was really excited to see her. Sam & Asher arrived & they began building something on the tool bench & playing with the doctor toys.

Dustin & I walked down the hallway where they fed all of the parents a delicious brunch & went through the Parent Handbook with us. Then, we headed back to the classroom for a parent orientation with Josiah's teacher. The children sat there so nicely & ate a snack while she introduced us to her teaching style.

We are really excited about Josiah's new school year. His teacher & classmates are wonderful. We can't wait to see what wonderful things God has in store for his year.

Happy 1st day of 4/5 yr. preschool, Josiah. We love you!

Z is for Zebra!

We've made it to the end of the alphabet!!!! We finished working with the letter Z today...just in time, too. Josiah starts his 2nd year of Preschool tomorrow.

We decided to do a little Zebra art work to honor the letter Z. We began by talking about what kind of habitat Josiah thought a Zebra would live in. He said he wanted his Zebra to live in the jungle. He drew grass, flowers & a tree for his Zebra to enjoy.

He then decided to glue his white Zebra on the page so he could eat from the tree. Once he had glued the Zebra, he began gluing black stripes for him.

Here he is putting the final stripes on his Zebra & then presenting the finished art work.

Josiah was Zealous for his Zebra!

Y is for Yummy Yogurt!

We are reaching the end of our summer vacation & are almost finished learning every letter of alphabet. Today we finished the letter Y. So, we made Yummy Yogurt!

Josiah poured the strawberries & sugar into the blender for the frozen Yogurt. He then mixed the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl.

He crushed the strawberries in the blender, poured the mixture in & pressed the button.

Then, he poured the frozen Yogurt into the serving bowls & into a Tupperware container for later. We then sat down & enjoyed some YUMMY YOGURT!!!!

X is for Xylophone!

Today we finished learning the letter X by making a Xylophone. Josiah has a Xylophone & enjoys playing it. So, we made one similar to it. He began the craft by ordering the multi-colored bars from smallest to largest.

He then glued the bars on from largest to smallest. So, he's even learning while he's making a craft.

He finished his X craft by gluing the two mallets on the Xylophone in the form of an X.

What an eXtraordinary Xylophone!