Joshua and Beardie - New Pics!

Wow, am I out of the habit of having my camera with me. I've missed several photo ops over the past couple of weeks. These pics of Joshua and his bearded dragon were taken awhile back. He'll be excited that I finally posted them.

Overhead

Last weekend, these WWII airplanes flew over our house, not just once but several times. It was hilarious to watch the boys running back and forth between the back yard and the front yard, via the house, to watch them for as long as possible. It made for a nice airshow, right in our own backyard...well worth the price of admission!

Historical Places

The boys and I visited an archaeological site that is close to where we live. It is an old railroad water reservoir dam, built in 1874. It's believed to be the only one left in the United States. Water would have been pumped to a tower close to the railway so that steam locomotives could refill. We enjoyed exploring this historical spot!

Pumpkins and Costumes

For Halloween, Joshua wanted to be an explorer. But he didn't want to wear a hat and he didn't want to carry his net. We ended up with a lizard on his shirt and a snake and binoculars around his neck. Micah wanted to be a puppy, just like his stuffed puppy. I made a decent attempt at making a costume, but couldn't quite get the ears right. He did have a little blue tail on the back that was adorable. :) Regardless, he was cute. (Don't worry...they didn't go trick or treating barefoot.) The night before, we carved our pumpkin. Neil cut it open, the boys and I scooped out the insides, and then we all worked together to come up with the face. The boys wanted a goofy, scary face. Do you think we succeeded??

Meet Beardie the Dragon!

A day at the park!

Pumpkin Time

The boys and I spent the morning out at a Pumpkin Farm on Friday! We had a blast feeding the animals, picking pumpkins, lunching with friends, going on a hayride, catching butterflies, and "roping" cows! The weather was beautiful, and the smiles on my boys faces even better!

Sea World

It's been forever since I last posted. We've been having technical difficulties with our computers. The screens on both of our computers have gone out, for various reasons. This puts a serious cramp on how I get things done on the computer. As of late, I just haven't been getting them done. Posting on here is one of those "things". I have many pics to edit and upload. I hope to work through them during the coming week. We still don't have our screens fixed, so we'll see. :) Until then, enjoy this pic of the family at Sea World. It was our end of summer treat, which we were able to enjoy with my brother and his family.

3 Years Old Today!

My Micah is 3 years old today! Time sure flies when you're having fun. During the past month, he has suddenly become Mr. Independent, which is a good thing. :) Our days are definitely interesting and fun (usually)! In the above photo, he's listening to music on his 'frog pod' and singing along.

A Treehouse in the Making

Neil is slowly working on a tree house for the boys. The love it and enjoy helping when they can.

Visit from the Tooth Fairy!

Wow, yesterday was a big day. While I was gone working at a consignment sale, Joshua LOST his FIRST tooth! I don't know how well you can see it, since his new tooth is already coming in, but he lost the lower middle (left to you) tooth. He is super excited. However, since I was gone, Neil didn't know where the special "Tooth Exchange" pouch was. So, tonight Joshua should get that special visit to exchange his tooth! He's very excited! Thanks to Grammy for thinking ahead so many years ago to send us the very important tooth bag! :)

First Day of School

Yesterday was Joshua's official, if abbreviated, first day of school. We're excited, but starting off slowly, just trying to get into a new routine. We did some reading, memory work, and phonics. Micah isn't so sure about "going" to school, but he still got a backpack full of fun school stuff to use!

Yogurtville! YUM!

My parents treated the boys and us to frozen yogurt at Yogurtville! It was YUMMY! The boys had a great time. Do you think they were excited??

New Scooters!

Many thanks to Mimi and Grandpa for the scooters you got for the boys. They have REALLY, REALLY enjoyed them! Joshua can go so fast, hence the helmet! We didn't make Micah put his on because he was going at a snail's pace, literally! :)

Enjoying the Water Slide

We had several impromptu play dates with friends last week so that we could share the fun of our new water slide. Here is Joshua going down the slide with some good friends of ours!

Hand Puppets

Joshua and I made these hand puppets the other day. The initial idea came from an older issue of Family Fun. The frog is straight out of that article. The stingray and the shark, though, were completely Joshua's idea. He made the shark and we collaborated on the stingray. The funny thing about the stingray is that it was initially supposed to be a black lab with droopy ears. When it wasn't quite working out like I had hoped, Joshua had the idea to tape the mouth shut, put gills and a mouth on the bottom side and put the stinger/tail on. :) Isn't he creative?? He then spent the rest of the afternoon putting on puppet shows for us!

The New Water Slide!!

Neil has been eyeing this water slide at Aldi all summer. We went today to pick up a few groceries after church and guess what was on clearance??? Woohoo. We have had the best time with this slide. And yes, Neil and I have played on it too!

Sharks!!!!

Don't worry, I'm not going shark diving anytime soon, though Joshua talks almost daily of going shark diving when he turns 16. Yikes. And, I'm not trying to infringe on any one's book rights. These are two pictures that Joshua took with our small digital camera. He's been on a shark quest all summer, choosing books from the library each week and wanting to read every word of every book! I love the first picture because it looks like you are right there in front of the Great White! Of over 70 pics he's taken in the past couple of days, we narrowed them to about 50 and then these are the two he chose to post. Joshua likes the second picture because you can see the shark's teeth! Happy Swimming!

Water Play

The boys were being funny the other day while playing in the little pool. Micah insisted on wearing two sets of floaties - in a foot of water. And Joshua always looks so cute in his goggles. :) (Of course, I'm not biased in any way, ha ha!)

Recap of VBS

Once again, the week got away from me. To recap, the boys and I had a wonderful time at VBS. We all learned so much and met lots of new people. Here is Joshua in the Missions class. Each day, he and his class rotated through classes, worship rally, snack, craft, and missions. I'll talk more about the Missions room later, which is where I was helping out.

Life...one WEEK at a time!

I should change my title to life...a WEEK at a time, since I can't seem to get on here more often than once a week to post. :)

Hero Headquarters

We are two days into VBS at our church. It has been a wonderful experience. The boys are really enjoying their classes and activities. They are learning about unseen heros in the bible. Their memory verse is:

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12

We're looking forward to the rest of the week! :)

First Cantaloupe of the Season!

Joshua and I cut into the first cantaloupe of the season from our garden today. I'm happy to report that it does taste good! We have another one that is much bigger but not quite ripe enough to eat, and three more currently growing in the garden. I hope that they will all be as tasty as this one!

New (to us) Bunk Beds!

Yeah! We finally found the right bunk bed set for the boys. They are super excited, though it has been an adjustment. :) We were up until almost midnight the first night that they slept in it.