JOSHUA TURNED 3 YEARS OLD TODAY!!!

This picture is a testiment to his "layed back" side:-) We were trying to get him to sit by the 3 and he did this...so the photographer snapped some photos and we got this adorable photo!!

Joshua is doing great. He has gone all week without any messes in his "big boy unders"!! That's a major accomplishment for him. He was doing pretty good at home, but not so good at daycare. All of a sudden this week, he gets it!!

We haven't had his 3 year old check up yet, but he is getting tall and weighs over 40 pounds now. He can carry on a conversation with anybody about anything!! He has reached or exceeded all of the 3 year old milestones. His favorite pass time is playing on Mama's Iphone.

All he wanted for his birthday was a Thomas cake! Of course he will get a few more things than that:-) Everyone is looking forward to Christmas. Josh helped decorate the Christmas tree and continues to redecorate it every night. He thinks the ornaments are toys!! He has ripped open one gift and then says," Who's this for?" Like he doesn't know!!! It's going to be a fun month!!

Joshua's First KSU Football game

Mama and the boys went to the K-State vs. Baylor game last Saturday. What a game!! K-State came from behind and won!! KSU is 4-0!! We had a good time!



















As you can see by this picture, Joshua slept through part of the game. Actually he slept through most of the first half and the half time festivities. He sure had a shocked look on his face when he woke up:-) He wasn't sure where he was, at first.















The boys enjoyed the John Deere equipment that was outside the stadium. It's not everyday they get to get in a Gator!!

Joshua's Quote of the Day

On Monday, Joshua was playing at Jeremy's football practice and was dirt from head to toe. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and I said "Yucky! Doesn't that taste bad?" He said "No Mama, it's quite tasty!!" What a hoot!!! Where does a 2 1/2 year old come up with comments like that?

Tuesday night Di came home at 8:45 p.m. from teaching class, to towels all over the floor and the steam cleaner sitting out. Her comment, "oh, this can't be good!! What has Joshua done now?" He had poured a large bottle of concentrated Dawn foaming dishwashing liquid in the back of his Lightening McQueen ride on toy. I had asked him to take it back out on the porch, but he wasn't moving so Jeremy, not knowing the compartment contained liquid, picked it up and all of the soap ended up on the carpet, in the recliner and on him!!!!! What fun that was to clean up:-) Guess that's what I get for taking 2 minutes to look at the paper!! Oh the joys of parenthood!!

Wednesday's quote wasn't really for Joshua, it was for Jeremy. He wasn't feeling too good before football practice and wanted to stay home. I said "If you aren't puking or running a fever, you are playing football!" I was then labeled worst mother of the year. Until after practice and it all went well, then I wasn't so bad:-) I may, and I do mean may, have known what I was talking about;-) (But probably not!!)

Jeremy's first day of 5th grade went well and he likes his teacher, Mr. Scheiner. He walked to school, rather than me take him. We'll see if that's still the case when it's raining or cold!!! He called me this morning at 7:25 and said he was already at school. I told him that he didn't have to go that early:-) School opens at 7:30. Guess he didn't want to be late!!

Finally got to go camping last weekend

We finally got to go camping last weekend!! The lake is still high and still in advisory for Blue/Green Algae so we didn't get in the water. But Joshua got to have his first fishing expedition. IT LASTED 2 MINUTES!!!! Actually is was a little longer, but no bites, so he got pretty bored with it.

Joshua was playing at Jeremy's football practice, with his new t-ball set. He knew I wanted a picture, so he was posing for me. I asked him to spread his feet apart and this is what I got!!

The boys got their new hairdos in early July, before we went to Iowa for a wedding. Neither one looked too thrilled to have their picture taken! Just makes it that much more enjoyable for us!!

School is starting next week. Not sure where this summer went. Jeremy will be in the 5th grade. I am pretty sure he isn't ready for summer to be over. Last week and this week he has been at Zoo camp at our local Zoo. Last week wasn't much fun for him because he hurt his ankle at football practice, so he got around the zoo in a wheelchair. This week his ankle is much better so he can walk on it at the zoo. Practice is still pretty hard on it, but it will get easier with time. He is anxious to find out who his teacher will be this year.

Joshua is doing great. He is in the process of potty training. I think he will have it mastered shortly. He knows his colors, can count and recognizes every piece of construction and farming equipment that is made!! "Look Mama, it's a tractor". Look Mama, it's a concrete truck." On and on!!! Mama taught him that green light means go, red light means stop and yellow light means go faster!!!!:-)

Mommy (Di) is teaching a class this Fall semester for Leadership Studies. She is very excited about this opportunity. She continues to work on her dissertation and travels back and forth to Topeka to work.

Mama (Jackie) is gearing up for the students to come back to campus next week. She also is still mowing lawns in her "spare" time!!

We all are busy, busy, busy!!! But we have fun, too!!

Summer is here!

Here's Joshua at one of Jeremy's baseball games.

Summer 2011 has begun and we have been busy. Since our last post...Jeremy finished up his 4th grade year with all A's. Hooray for Jeremy!!! He also did very well on his State Assessment Tests. He is playing parks and rec baseball this year. He pitches and plays outfield most of the time. They are undefeated!!

He attended Washburn's Football Camp the second week of June and had a blast! He has Washburn Basketball Camp the last week of June. He comes up to Mama's nose, now. He's getting tall!! The rest of his summer plans are to play, play, play. Mama and Mommie's plans are work, chores, swimming, etc.

Joshua is getting tall, too. He put on some sweats yesterday that fit this spring and they were 2 inches too short!! He has spent some time with Grandma H so far this summer. He is the major entertainment at Jeremy's baseball games...he is always doing something to make everyone laugh. He also likes playing in the dirt and usually looks like a little piggy!!! He is all boy!!!

He is starting the potty training stuff. Mostly will tell you after he has gone. But it's a start. We have had numerous comments about how well he speaks for a 2 year old. He talks non-stop!!!

His favorite pasttime is camping. He asks everyday to go camping. We have camped several times this year, so far. Finally got the boat out on the water this past weekend. We had friends visit from Kansas City. We had a great time. Water is high at the lake so we have to leave our campground to put the boat in, but we don't have to go too far.

Mama, Mommie and Jeremy went on a Disney Cruise the first week of June to the Bahamas. They had a great time! They went with our friends Tami, Connie and Zeph. Josh stayed at Grandma's, because he's still a handful and we were afraid he'd jump ship!! Ha! Ha! Josh had more fun at Grandma's than he would have had with us. They don't let kids under 3 in the pools.
We plan on going on another one so Josh can go.

The weekend before the cruise, we celebrated Grandma H's birthday with a BBQ for her family. Grandma T came too. Then on Sunday, we all went to Baldwin City and rode on Thomas the Train. That was fun. They had tents set up with train sets to play with. They had tatoos, bubbles, food, entertainment, etc. We played for awhile, rode with Thomas and bought some new Thomas toys. (Cause we don't have enough!!)

Mommie has been trying to work on her proposal for her dissertation but there is so much going on that she doesn't get much time for it. Hopefully that will change in July. She still commutes to Topeka everyday for work. Mama's still working at KSU and the lawn business. We are up to 23 properties. It keeps us busy. Thank goodness for Uncle Kelly's help.

Hope to get pictures posted soon.

Easter and Camping

Easter this year was a lot of fun. We went to Jackie's mom's house. Jackie's sister Lynn and her twin boys were the only ones there, but us. Jeremy enjoyed playing big brother to all the kids by setting up the Easter egg hunt and helping the smaller kids participate. Yes, Jeremy participated too, but let the younger ones have their fair share of eggs, as well. We finished off by coloring hard boiled eggs. Josh really enjoyed watching the eggs change color and only decided to see how far he could throw one. Check out Diane's FaceBook for more Easter photos.

Camping season is upon us as well. So far we have only slept one night in the camper but more fun filled camping weekends are coming soon. Joshua loves being out at the camper. Since there aren't a ton of people there yet, we often bring his 4-wheeler which allows him to keep up with the bigger boys. The only problem is that Josh only goes one speed "FAST" so Jackie and I have to hustle to keep him from running into something he shouldn't. Josh also loves playing with balls of all kinds. The last time we were out camping we started pitching to him and he actually hit a few unassisted. The hat was his own fashion statement :-)

It's Almost Spring!!

WOW! It's already March!! We have celebrated Mama's birthday and Jeremy's birthday in the last few weeks. Jeremy turned 10 on March 7. We went to Olive Garden for dinner. He got lots of cool presents. Grandma T gave Joshua some Easter chick stick ons for the window. He wanted to eat them not put them on the window!!!

Joshua is doing very well. He talks all of the time. His word list is way over 100. He has no fear, except for strangers:-) Which can be a good thing! He only has one speed...run! He loves to hear the SUV honk. Mama was cleaning the SUV one day and he got in to play. Mama shut the door and about that time Josh grabbed the keys, locked the doors and pushed the panic button so the horn started going off!!! That brought out most of the neighbors!! Between the neighbor kids, Jeremy and Mama, we finally got him to push a button that opened the back window so Jeremy could get in and unlock the doors! Needless to say, Mama always takes the keys if Josh wants in the vehicle:-)

Mama is going to Joliett, Illinois next week for work so Joshua gets to go to Grandma H's for a stay. He loves to stay with Grandma. Then in April, we are all going to Las Vegas to visit friends and celebrate another friend's birthday.

We are all tired of the cold and snow and are looking forward to Spring and camping!! We will get some pictures up sooner or later!!