Sunday: Joshua's birthday party

Today was Joshua's birthday party!  He was grumpier than usual for most of the day, but the appearance of Buzz and family helped him get in a better mood.  Phew.

Due to a busy week last week we went with pizza for dinner as it is super easy.  We added strawberries and crunchy beans as those are two healthy(ish) things he'll sometimes eat.

He was having a hard time posing for pictures.  

Then I said, "Where's Isaac?  He can usually make you laugh."  And Joshua immediately put his hands in the "where" position and started looking for, and walking to, Isaac.

He opened Buzz first, which was probably a mistake.  He loves Buzz and wouldn't open any more presents until it was in his hands.  We didn't make it through all the presents, but the car seat and swing wouldn't have any immediate fun so they were postponed.

Donuts for dessert!  Both boys love donuts as much as I do, and it made for an easy dessert.

Saturday: away

Today Ben and I spent most of the day away.  We started by going to the company picnic at Michigan's Adventure.  We rode a few rides and had lunch.  Then we came back to Holland and watched the new Star Trek movie.  (It was good, but rather spin-y.  I could have done with less "cool" camera work.)  They just redid all the theaters and now there are basically recliners in all the theaters.  It was awesome and so comfortable.

We had dinner and then came home to put the kids to bed.  It kind of felt like cheating, only being with them for about an hour this evening, but it was nice too.

Friday: VBS and old friends

Today was the last day of VBS.  It went well.  Our class says the Bible verse in a circle, one person saying each word, and I time it.  We started out the week at 1:15 and got it down to 25 seconds today!  Today was the first day that it finally felt as though we mostly knew it...it was a hard one this year.  "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go and I will bring you back to this land.  I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised."  Gen 28:15.  There are a lot of clauses in it.  The best part of the day was at the end when one of the moms told me that her son ended up in the perfect group because of me.  (And really, because of my helper too.)  We were rather low-key and not in their faces.  We were there and made sure everyone was in the right spot but both of us seemed rather introverted and didn't force much talking.  (That doesn't mean we didn't talk to the kids, but not as much as some teachers do.)  Apparently that was just what her son needed and wouldn't have come back if we had been different.  It was very nice to hear.

This afternoon we met up with Amy and Brian.  The kids played on the playground and we had dinner and took a walk.  It was sad that it was such a short time, but the kids were all near the end of being happy.  And we had a wonderful time while we were together.

Thursday: VBS and 2nd birthday!

"Happy Birthday, Joshua!" I said this morning.  "You're two now!"
"No, no!  Stop!"  he replied.
"I kind of feel the same way about it." I responded

Then we went to VBS.  Twas another fine day.  Isaac and Joshua made the picture roll.

I remained somewhat elusive.  I was in this group shot...I'm sure... (if not, at least it reminds me of how big this even really is.)

I am in this one...the second head down from the top left.  My helper and the boys of the group are also in it.  (edit...you can also see Isaac's shoulder in the bottom right.)

And I'm sneaking in behind my helper for this one

Later in the day Ben said, "Happy Birthday Joshua!"  He again responded with a "No!"  We gave him some ice cream to celebrate anyway.

Wednesday: VBS, naps, worms

VBS again went well today.  They finally got all the pictures up.  I managed to miss the three I saw of my group, but Isaac got in a few...

Sitting in the pew in the sanctuary.  There is a T-shirt on the chair; on the back it say 4s.  He's in the 4 year old orange group.

You can barely see him here; he's in a red shirt on the left.  The 4s and Ks sometimes travel by rope and it really is the cutest thing.  (Although really, it might be good for my fourth graders too!  The group kept splitting up...but at the same time, it also kept coming back together without any problems.)

I took this one this morning.  In the very middle there is a kid in a light blue shirt holding an orange sign above his head.  That's Isaac.

Naps: we all took a nap today, even Isaac.  Joshua and I have been taking really good naps and we've been putting the boys to bed a little early this week, but I guess Isaac needed a bit more sleep.  This doesn't happen very often.  (Although now he's awake really late...it could be a problem again tomorrow!)

Worms: My worms are doing really well!  I checked on them today and they were all over the place.  A week or two ago I could always find worms, but it might take me a few cardboard flips to find them.  This time I would flip over some cardboard and see a whole bunch!

Tuesday: VBS

Today VBS continued.  Yesterday was fine, but ended on a down note...something that wasn't really a big deal but still made me upset.

Today went better, as expected.  I know the kids just a bit better...and it is surprising how some of them just start talking to you because you're there.  I don't talk to people just because they're there.  (Although I expect it is more of a personality thing than a kid/adult thing.)  Again, it went fine/good.

Isaac is able to go for the first time this year and loves it.  His favorite section is the craft, and the ocean bottle that they made yesterday still gets talked about quite a bit.  But he's talked about a few other aspects too.  Isaac looks so big at home and then when we get to church he looks so small.  Our activities are offset from each other, so I see him in the hallway a few times during the morning.  I'm not sure he sees me.

Joshua is doing well in the nursery.  I say nursery, but they get out to some of the activities.  They go to the music section and see the skit.  Today I saw them outside (for just a bit...it was rather hot).  Joshua is reported to really enjoy the music, which makes sense considering how much he likes music.  I should probably put it on more at home, but it just isn't something that I tend to do.  Here he is (not) looking at a sub that they had in the parking lot.  I didn't really want him to see me so it's a rather bad picture.

Usually they post pictures on the website, but I haven't seen any yet. :(  It's one of my favorite parts.

Circuts.

Joshua made the part in front of him.  I sent the picture to Ben; he's been dealing with complicated circuits and I thought Joshua might be able to help.

Weekend: camping

We went camping this weekend.  It was crazy hot and rained at the very end, but we still had a great time.

(Some of the pictures are from Nate and Liz.)

We got the tents set up and the kids played jail before anything was in them.

The boys enjoyed a bunch of jumping.  The castle was up all weekend.  (We have a cute video too, but it is the kind that only the parents will enjoy.)

The kids also enjoyed the jumping pillow; Isaac's been asking for it all year.  The smaller ones took a few times to warm up to it.  The first bit they just liked to sit and be bounced by others, but by the end they were running all over it.

We brought our water table.  With the heat we thought it might be a good option, even if it was rather large.  They didn't get super wet too much, but did enjoy playing with it.

The adults!  There aren't many pictures of us.  The kids were too cute.

I told them they could squirt my toes.  Joshua dumped lots of cold water on them instead.  (I had put some extra ice in the water.)

Bubbles were a hit too.

They all really, really wanted to go on the train.  It was cute to see them all steer as they left the station.  They took it quite seriously.

Tractor ride!

Sunday morning the rain started around 5:30.  I was ok with that...it meant pack up would be annoying, but at least the rain wouldn't have time to soak through everything.  (Side note: Isaac hasn't been camping yet where it didn't rain a lot.)  I thought about keeping the kids in a tent, but it wasn't raining that hard and they had fun with umbrellas.  Or, in Joshua's case, without.

The boys and I went to change after we were all packed up and as I was almost done I looked outside and it was dark.  More storms were coming!  I hurried up, and was caught in about a minute of downpour.  However, our plan was to have breakfast at McDonalds and getting from the car into McDonalds soaked me more than packing up the campsite.  At least everything was in the car by then though!

It was hot this afternoon so I got some of the stuff dried and de-sanded.  It'll be a process.  If only it wouldn't rain.  Joshua slept a big nap this afternoon as he (and Ben and I) hadn't slept great.  We didn't sleep as bad as JJ, but it was nice to be in our own beds.

Thursday: code-a-pillar

Today we stayed home.  There were a lot of things to do at home, and so the day didn't drag...but it didn't go by very quickly either.  Around 11 we moved the furniture and I challenged Isaac to use his code-a-pillar to see how many different spots it could get to, if he always started at the same spot.  At the beginning it was pretty random, but by the end he was making slight adjustments to see how it would change.

Every end spot got a sticky.  Isaac also wrote "End" on every single one.  I wasn't really expecting that, but it seemed like a good way to learn something.

Also, why do children keep bringing things into the kitchen and then leaving them there??  It isn't a large kitchen and on days like today it felt like I could barely move without running into something.  I have a "no pillows in the kitchen" rule and a "don't bring a chair in if there is an available step stool" rule, but they weren't enough today.

Wednesday: blueberry picking

Today we went blueberry picking with Aunt C.  It ended up being the first day of picking and the bushes were loaded.  I was hoping to get at least 15 minutes worth of picking in; I remembered that last year it didn't go so well.

We started our activity by checking out the port-a-potty.  Isaac has been in one before, but apparently doesn't remember it.  He's been rather fascinated by them since the road construction workers have one and we pass it a lot.  But hey, they have to learn some how.  This one was nice and clean.

Then we finally made it to the blueberries.  Isaac did a great job.  Joshua started by taking them from my hand and putting them in his bucket, but soon realized he could do it himself.  He did an excellent job of just getting the big blue ones.  (I was rather surprised, actually.  He only grabbed one or two green ones the whole time.)  Then he decided the best blueberries were 10m down the row.  So he'd walk...and walk...and finally find the perfect berry.  He'd get it, then bring it all the way back to CC's bucket.  I tried bringing a bucket closer to him, but he didn't want to put it in that bucket.  We probably picked for a good 30-40 minutes, at which point Joshua got thirsty.  I was hot by that time anyway, so we packed up.

Tuesday: magician

Today's big even was going to see a magician at the library tonight.  He did a great job...there were several things that I could guess how he did them, but they are still so fun to see.  (And there were several that I have no idea on how he did them.)  Isaac loved it.  Joshua enjoyed it too...and he had a bit of extra room so he could roll around a bit when he got bored.

One of the helpers was called Joshua, and every time the magician said, "Joshua" Joshua would point to himself and say Joshua.

Monday: clean under things

Today's activity was to clean under things.  (Not underthings, as Ben first heard it.  I do those bi-weekly.)

We started with the fridge.

Here's what we found.  Apparently we should do this twice a year instead of once a year.

Then we did the oven.  (I had an ant problem from there, as can be seen by the five traps.  The nice thing about under the oven is that it is safe, so I threw a bunch down there.

Lastly we did the master bedroom.  We moved/elevated all the furniture so the rumba could get to it and let it run.

In other stories, Isaac decided to try frozen and cooked green beans today.  (Instead of just frozen peas.)  I heard this story three times, so thought you would enjoy it too.


Ben was doing his exercises tonight and throwing a ball over the couch for Joshua to retrieve.  Ben thought it would be funny to hide, so while Joshua was behind the couch he went on the couch.  Joshua came around, finally found Ben, and reprimanded: "Exercise!"

Weekend: cottage

This past weekend we went up to Dad and Pat's cottage and had a wonderful (and relaxing) time.  Well, at least Ben and I relaxed.  I think the kids played hard.

We caught (and released) chipmunks.

Joshua got cookies from Grandpa while holding EE

Isaac got wheelbarrow rides from Grandpa.

Both boys enjoyed walking on the boat.

Isaac found the special rocks and cleaned them up

while Joshua threw the newly laid sand in the water.

Isaac helped Joshua clean off his hands...several times

...and then went on a paddleboat ride.

The swing was a big hit for both of them.  Joshua just liked to swing and Isaac liked to swing and twist.

More snacks!

A ride around the lake.

A boat ride.

Isaac even got to steer.

We went through some pretty lily pads.

And swung some more!

When we got home, and Isaac had cleaned his room, I found them like this watching TV.