MAY 2006

Joshua has been having a blast in the summer heat. We've already reached 112 degrees, but have kept cool in the sprinklers and swimming pool. Joshua loves it! Here are a few pictures of him playing with his little water sprayer.




Joshua also got a "new" bed. (It's actually my old bed from college. Thanks Mom and Dad for bringing it all the way here from deep down in the basement!!) He keeps growing so fast we can't seem to keep him in clothes and now he's even outgrown his little car bed. He's super happy with the new Bob sheet/blanket set though! (Thanks Aunt Sandi!!) Notice I just buzzed all Joshua's hair off too! Here's a couple pictures...





Hot as it may be...we are enjoying the summer.

JUNE 22-25, 2006

During June we hosted a family reunion up on beautiful Mt. Graham. It was great to get reaquainted with family and enjoy the cooler weather. The kids all had a blast playing together.


Below is a picture of Joshua and one of his cousins playing in their fort.

Joshua had fun swinging in one of the hammocks that was tied between the trees.

Uncle Doug and Joshua enjoyed singing songs together while Uncle Doug played the guitar.


Lovingly named "Rico" and "Bonita" these handy hand-washers were used by all. Here's Lowell helping Joshua wash his hands.


Joshua couldn't get enough of all the playtime with cousins, but by the end, he was worn out. In the middle of lunch, he passed out, nearly falling out of his chair. He let me pick him up and hold him while he took a short nap.



JULY 16, 2006

The other day I was mixing something in my Kitchenaid and Joshua walked into the kitchen and asked, "Mama, what are you making for me to snitch?" I laughed. He likes to like the beaters when I make cookies and other sweet treats, but this time I was not making something he could snitch. I have learned that Joshua loves to be in the kitchen with me. He often helps me make dinner or bake cookies. I don't know if he really likes helping me as much as he likes "snitching" the ingredients that end up on counter tops and fingers. A few days ago I made a batch of frog eye salad and he just couldn't keep his fingers out of it...


He ended up with the spatula. I told him, "You can have ONE little snitch and then that's it, we have to put it in the fridge." Does that huge hole look like ONE LITTLE SNITCH??


Okay... ignore my messy kitchen on this pic and check out Joshua with his mouth covered in cool whip and another mouthful headed in.


YUM! He sure loves this stuff. He calls it "frog salad". We even told him there were frog eyes in it and he still eats it!

JULY 30, 2006

The monsoons have come. Joshua keeps asking, "Did you know I love storms Mama?". LOL This is a true statement!! During our worst storm so far he slept through all the thunder and lightning. The thunder was so bad it was rattling our windows and we couldn't get to sleep, but Joshua slept like a little log and then loved seeing all the rain puddles the next day. Below is Joshua playing in one of our monsoon storms, just as it started.


This is the only time I could get him to stand still. The rest of the time he was doing this...
 

I finally remembered to bring the camera to the pool with us. We haven't been able to swim as much during July because of all the rain, but we have really needed it so we can't complain. It has cooled us down to the low hundreds, which has also been nice. We usually go swimming at night to avoid the sunburns and greasy sunscreen. The sun is still setting in a few of the pictures and you can catch a little bit of our beautiful Arizona sunsets...


Joshua is a good little swimmer and he can even stand up in the shallow end now!


We have three Association pools; a diving pool, regular size pool, and a kiddie pool. There is a water fall falling from the regular pool into the diving pool. Joshua loves to go look over the waterfall and stick his fingers in it. Joshua and I are peeking over the waterfall in the picture to the left. He also loves swimming with his Daddy, as you can see in the picture to the right.
 

All done swimming. This is the part where Joshua gets grumpy. He thinks we should just swim forever!



AUGUST 4-6, 2006

H A P P Y   B I R T H D A Y   J O S H U A ! ! !

Joshua turned four this August. We just can't believe it. Seems weird to have a four year old already. In a few weeks he will start preschool and I will be so lonely without him. We really enjoyed throwing this fun little party for him. All his friends from church were able to come and everyone seemed to have lots of fun.


Here's the train cake I created. Was a lot of fun to watch it come together.
 

We put a train track on the floor with some masking tape. The kids loved it. We blew up a bunch of balloons and let them kick those around and play on the train track as the kids poured in for the party. We had 8 kids show up to join the fun.


Then we played a few games. It was funny to watch the kids learn how to play duck, duck, goose. A few got the concept or had played before, but some others just got up and ran around as soon as their heads were touched. We had a blast watching them. The woman pictured here is Wendi, a wonderful woman I work with at church. Joshua just loves her and insisted she come join the fun!!
 

The kids had fun pretending to be a train. They took turns being the leader.


After games we opened presents. For those of you who haven't ever done the whole kid party thing... it's absolutely amazing to see these kids get so excited for someone else. They all grabbed the present they brought and wanted Joshua to open it. In turn, Joshua had no problem letting some of the kids help him unwrap his gifts. The heart of a child is so unselfish. It was really neat to watch. Below you can see all the kids checking out one of the presents.


We couldn't get the kids to stand still so we sat them all on the couch for a quick group shot. One of the kids had not shown up at this point, so he didn't make it into the picture.


After presents we had to slaughter the train cake! (boo-hoo) First, all the kids came into the kitchen and sang "Happy Birthday" to Joshua. Of course, a few of them ate M&M's and marshmallows off the top. While I was cutting the cake the kids sang a song with Wendi in the other room. Then, we turned on a Thomas the Tank Engine movie for all the kids to watch as they finished their cake and parents came to pick them up.


After they left, Joshua wanted to get out all the gifts and play with them. This one was his favorite. We told a few people we were getting him the main set to this and so all the pieces were contributed by various people. The train has a little remote so Joshua can sit to the side and control it. He loves it!
 


END OF AUGUST 2006

Earlier on this same page, Joshua got a "new" bed. Well, that bed turned out to be too big for his little room. He started dragging his toys into the other rooms when he wanted to play because there just wasn't room to play in his bedroom. To add to our troubles, he kept falling off his mattress at night. So... we went searching for another bed. Once again... this bed isn't quite new, but he loves it and it gave him back some of his room.


Somehow we got lucky and found a dresser that matches the bed. We found them at two different stores and were thrilled when we got home and discovered they were a perfect match. Now, Joshua has more room to play and more room for all his clothes. Win-win!


Hope you all enjoyed your summer. Ours was lots of fun. We look forward to cooler weather soon...