Weekend: wedding and visitors

Friday morning started out with cleaning.  However, the cleaning was led by Joshua.  He decided it was time to clean the basement, so we did.  Then we cleaned his room.  Then we cleaned the guest room.  He finished with a few odds and ends, after having worked hard for an hour and a half.  He kept saying, "Dad and Isaac will be so surprised!"

In the evening we went to Joel and Emily's wedding and it was beautiful.  (It was Isaac and Joshua's first time to a wedding.)

Joshua really wanted to show Grandma a Lego set in a magazine.

I brought some new small sets of Legos for the kids...it was a nice distraction.

Isaac danced with Pat, but I don't think he was a fan.

Joshua danced with Ben, and he was just a blur.

Isaac laughed super hard about this strawberry in his dessert.  I'm not really sure why.

Saturday Evelyn tried to get Joshua to dance; it didn't work well.

We went to the critter barn.

Isaac wanted his picture with Cnl. Sanders, who is apparently a super nice rooster, but didn't really want to be very close.

This small goat kept coming by me and nibbling at my pants.  It was a nice warm goat, so I didn't mind that it wanted to be friendly as it was a slightly cool day.

We got to watch them put hay in the loft and it was apparently the best thing ever.  The kids watched for the whole wagon load.

We went downtown for treats.  I think everyone was fine with holding hands; I just got a poor picture.

Sunday Dad and Pat brought bagels and then we went for a walk at Riley Woods.  Dad barely hit the parking barrier, but Joshua could only see the tree and kept saying, "Grandpa! You hit the tree!"

There were many sticks picked up.  The nice thing about taking a walk with the cousins is that all the kids seemed to be excited about it.

And then they left. :(

Joshua: 47, 48 and 49 months

Google made this video of videos a few months ago.  It has some super cute moments.  (It also has some that are more Isaac than Joshua, but Joshua's at least in all the clips.)  My favorite are laughing on Ben's lap, the dance/guitar with Isaac, "I'm on an elevator" with the fork, and the orange juice on the airplane.



47 months

Playing: Joshua still plays Dulpos and Legos a lot.  Whether or not I play Duplos with him for at least 10 minutes seems to make or break his day, so I try I hard to remember that it is important to him.  He enjoyed having Isaac home and played with Isaac a lot doing assorted things.  He also likes putting together big Lego sets with Ben.

Gross motor skills: Joshua did a great job in gymnastics and enjoyed it a lot, so we're going to keep doing that into the school year.  He also loves to jump.  Isaac's bed and the crib mattress get jumped on a lot, but there is random jumping even when the 'floor' isn't bouncy.

48 months:

Social: Joshua is more social than Isaac and was always excited to see the neighbor across the road.  He can also remember people's names.  He has regularly been making crafts for the grandparents to likes to give them away.

School: Joshua is now in Preschool.  While he still is more excited about home days, he willingly goes to school.  They've been working on the letters in their name.  He is very good at giving me a  step by step breakdown of what they did in school.  It always includes the clean up times, but sometimes omits circle time.

On being a puppy: While Joshua is still a puppy, it hasn't come out quite as much lately.  There's a chance it is because his imaginary mouse's name is Puppy and so it was too confusing to have two Puppys.  (At least, I found it very confusing.)

49 months:

Chores: Since Joshua turned four, he got more chores (and an allowance).  He now needs to put the silverware away, put his laundry away, clean his room, feed Flurry, and clean up the downstairs for a few minutes.  He transitioned very well to these new chores and wants to get a new Lego fire plane with his money.

Overall, Joshua has been very fun to be with and he seems to have grown-up quite a bit over the last few months.

Thursday: pictures

I received my official Hope College pictures today and I had choose one.  I chose the second one.

I had waited six years since my last photo and got a big email saying, "Please come!  Your picture type is outdated."  So I went after ignoring several years of them. :D

Wednesday: Lego League

Isaac and I had our first Lego League Jr. meeting today.  It went rather well; slightly chaotic, but also somewhat controlled.

We are going to build a greenhouse on the moon and so the students need to figure out what is needed in order for the greenhouse to work and build a greenhouse.

Monday: labor day

We went to the truck parade this morning.  I really like hearing all the horns.  My favorite was the CAT truck, who had belted on toy CAT equipment to the bed of the truck.  It was barely rainy, but we went in the car once the parade started since it would be loud.

We also had a small surprise for the boys...we were watching the LEGO movie.  The whole thing.  With popcorn for dinner.  Apparently this surprise was much cooler than I realized, because both boys thought it was a super awesome exciting surprise!

Saturday: today

The day went rather well today.  After a few weeks ago (or last week?  It's hard to remember.) when we didn't leave the house one Saturday and the day didn't go all that well, I was determined to leave.  We had a nice, slow start to the morning and then were going to go to the library and a short walk.  Well, the dark clouds were rolling in.  We changed to a short play at the nearby playground and then to the library when it started to rain after 10 minutes. 

The rain didn't stop for several hours.  This week has been rather crazy with the number of thunderstorms that we've had...maybe about five now?  I can't remember a time with so many, but I love them.

Thursday: names

Today was the first day that I tried to remember my students' names.  This tends to be about a month long process since I see the backs of their heads twice a week, but I usually get most of them.  (One semester I had a "J" corner where all the guys' names started with J and I could never keep them straight.  There are usually one or two that don't put their name tags up or move seats that I miss too.)  Now, I won't remember their names come January, but it is helpful for the short term.

I find I remember names of students best if they are also names of friends or family.  However, today I also had an Everett and Chase and I'm afraid I'm going to remember the names because they're on Paw Patrol.

We got this picture from Isaac's teacher yesterday.