Joshua says....

Party Time!

We had Joshua's party yesterday. A little crazy...but I think everyone had fun. Of course Joshua didn't really have a clue what was going on. His brother and sister took over opening the presents and and we had to hold them back from diving into the cake!!! One day he'll be big enough to fight back against them!!!

I made him a special "1" bib to wear for cake...and good thing because he got pretty messy!! He took a handful of cake right before we sang Happy Birthday to him. It took a few minutes for him to figure out that it was something he wanted to eat!! Then he got totally covered in blue frosting. Even had some stashed in his ear in case he got hungry later!!!

By the end of the party he was totally pooped. Shirley gave him a bath, he took about 1 oz. from a bottle and then crashed out.

I can't believe our little man is already 1!! Our baby seems so big!

He managed to open one present by himself without Jake or Sophia "helping."
I love the look...."Am I going to get in trouble????"

Figures out that this stuff is pretty good!
So good that it's worth clapping over!!

Comments about Kinder....

Jake has had 3 great days at school. He's happy to get up in the morning and has come out of school each day with a big smile on his face. I hope it continues to be like this!!

Some of the funny things he's said this week:

I sat by a girl at lunch but I don't know her name.
I played with a girl that starts with J.
The lunch (in the cafeteria) doesn't cost money. You just go through the line and they give you a tray. Hmmm...if only that were true!!!

We're all adjusting to the new routine. We're all dealing with less sleep than we need. Jake is probably having the easiest time since he's getting about his usual amount. Sophia usually sleeps late in the morning, sometimes until at least 8:00. So it's been a big change having to get up at 7:00 and ready to walk Jake to school. But, we'll get used to it!! I'm just SO happy that things are going smoothly so far!!

First Birthday Bib...

In preparation for the upcoming party on Saturday, I decided that Joshua needed a "first birthday bib." This one isn't for him (obviously!!). It's for my friend Shana who has a little one that turned one on Tuesday. Riley and Joshua are one day apart. Both birthday parties are on Saturday, so we won't be able to go to Riley's. But, I'm sure she'll look super cute wearing this as she dives into her cake!

Joshua's is in progress. His is blue...of course!!!

Happy Birthday Joshua!!!

Happy Birthday to our littlest one...one day late!!! It's SO hard to believe that it's already been a year. He's such a happy guy and it's so much fun (most of the time) to see Jake and Sophia playing with him. The majority of the time he's just happy to walk around and play with whatever is out. He's such a laid back and easy little guy. We are so blessed to have him!

All boy!!! Check out the way (even at 1 year old), he's driving cars around. It's a total boy thing!!!

After school report....

Jake came out of school with a huge smile on his face today. I was hoping hoping hoping he had a good first day...and he did. I didn't get a lot of details, but everything seemed to have gone well. He said his favorite part was playing on the playground. At lunch he "sat next to some girl but I don't know her name." He played with "some girl that starts with a J." Hmmm...tomorrow he needs to work on learning at least the name of one other person in his class!!!

Both kids were super super tired. I met them at school with juice and a cookie....that's service at it's finest!!!! When we got home Jake wanted to work on his homework. And of course Sophia had to join in too!!

I hope tomorrow goes as well as today did. I'm super tired!!! This school thing will wear a person out!

Really??? Is this comfortable???

I'm continually amazed at the way Sophia sleeps. We find her in the oddest positions. Would this really be a comfortable way to sleep?? Seriously!! I wonder how long she stayed like this??

First day of school.....

Jake is off to Kindergarten today and Sophia is off to the "older 3's" room. We survived the summer but now I'm don't think I'm ready for it to be over!!

Jake was super excited about today. He jumped out of bed and was ready to go! One of his first comments was "It's still dark! The sun needs to come up before I go to school!" My thought exactly!!! Why must school start so early????

We all walked him to school this morning. He was happy to go into his classroom and sat down at his chair right away. I kept it together while we said good-bye and then cried on the way home. I hope he's having a good day so far. I think he's going to have a great year. I've heard nothing but good things about his teacher. It's just SO hard handing your child over to the big elementary world!!! I'm very eager to hear his report of the day after school!

The house feels very different with only Joshua here. It's quiet and a bit lonely. Both kids are at school all day. Jake goes until 2:45 and Sophia until 3:00 today.

All the Wille's walking to Northwood Elem.

Jake at his table. This was the only really good picture I got of him this morning. He was too busy to stay still for very long!!!!


Sophia is ready to go!
Hanging her stuff on her hook.

It's official....

We just got a phone call from Jake's Kinder teacher this year...Ms. Cole. We'll go to Meet the Teacher on Friday. And so the Kindergarten experience begins!!!

I can't believe he's big enough to head to "real" school. And I can't believe that I'll be one of those parents holding the box of Kleenex on the first day. It's payback for when I was teaching Kinder and I said (year after year) "What is wrong with these parents?? Just say good-bye and leave. What's the big deal??" Hmmm...now I know!!!!

What's more fun....

Than traveling 6 hours with a 6, 3 and 2 year old?? Two adults, 3 kids...we should have been smarter than to travel without man on man defense!!

Mary and I took Jake, Sophia and Grant up to see our grandfather in Tulsa. It has been almost 2 years since Jake and Sophia have see him. And this was the first time that Grant had ever been up there. We stayed at a resort that was straight out of the 60's that is part of a state park on a huge lake. It was great for little kids!! We had 3 rooms all in a row. My grandfather stayed out there too. There was a big pool, playground, horses, hayride, tram tour of the park, lots of trails...and tons and tons of rocks to throw in the lake. What more could you ask for?

We were there 2 nights. All in all it was a good visit. There were some rough times, but it was all worth it. It was great to see my grandfather and the kids had a really good time. Jake (especially) wanted to spend a lot of time with Grandpa Dick.
As usual...I wish we had taken a lot more pictures of the kids with their great-grandpa!!!

Grant eating watermelon on the hayride.
Grandpa Dick watching the kids ride the pony.

Sophia's "pageant wave" as she rides King Kong.

Digging in the sand with bones at the Nature Center.

Our carbon footprint...

If anyone asks...we're reducing our carbon footprint. In reality...our dryer is dead. We need to get a new one, but we're waiting until Sunday when we can get 20% off. I guess it's worth the wait!! Until then, I'm hanging clothes in the backyard on the chain link fence. So lovely. I'm sure the neighbors love it. But, I have to say that clothes dry pretty darn fast when it's 105 outside!!!

New baby idea...

I found this idea on a blog the other day and thought it was very cute. It's basically a car seat tent. Think about it...weren't you always battling the blanket over the carrier? And it kept falling off? This solves the problem!! Velcros on....keeps nosey people out, baby covered...and is super cute.

Here's where I got the idea from:

http://infarrantlycreative.blogspot.com/2009/01/car-seat-tent.html

I didn't have a car seat carrier to try this on, so I "borrowed one" at the Kids Club at the gym today. So, the picture was on my cell phone. But, you get the idea. I made it for Mike's cousin that just had a baby. I hope they like it!!!

Off to the river....

Our 2nd annual family vacation was last weekend. Last year we went to the Coast. This year we went to Neal's Lodge which is on the Frio River. It's about 2 hours away from SA. Because of the drought, the river was really low. But still more than enough water to keep the kids happy. We were there for 3 nights. My mom, our family, Mary and Grant. Sadly...Brad missed the 2nd family trip in a row. Last year he knew he wouldn't be able to come. This year he got hit with kidney stones the day before we left. He thought he was feeling better, made it to SA and then it got worse.

Some highlights from the trip:
1. A brother in law in and out of the hospital....so we were constantly checking on him and waiting on updates. Mary was always ready to head back if he needed her. He was in good hands at his parents though.

2. Grant...2 1/2 years old....2 hour stand off because he refused to say sorry for throwing a rock at my mom. That boy is hard headed!! He never did say sorry, but at least he gave her a hug. What do you do after 2 hours??? We felt determined to "win" but I guess he did too!!

3. Mike's wedding ring made it into the river, and then after hours of looking...made it back onto his finger. Hooray!! A family staying in a nearby cabin were there when he lost it, so they helped us look. Later they found it and brought it back.

Despite everything, we had a great time. The kids loved the river. One night we went to see the bats. They estimate 20 million bats in this one cave right now. Some places have 10 feet of guano!!!!!!!

Another night we went on a hay ride which was a lot of fun. I'd love to go back to this same place again next year!!!

The pictures aren't in order...but here you go:

Sophia is Joshua's personal entertainer. It's blurry because she was in a middle of a wild "If You're Happy and You Know It" routine. Joshua was loving it.
Jake on the hay ride.
Roasting marshmallows on the hay ride.

Love it...sunglasses, a book light, and the Bible. What more do you need?
Not the best family picture...but here we are about start the hay ride.

Even Joshua liked playing in the river!

Mary thought the kids should learn to climb trees...so I volunteered. Ignore the sunglasses. Joshua broke mine and I had to buy new ones at the little gift shop. Sophia calls them my rock star glasses...so they can't be all that bad!!

Going down the "slide" at the river.

Some of the 20 million bats.

Grant and Sophia...I love the way he is looking at her!!! Like...."what are you doing???" And she's just happily posing for the picture!

What a thrill....

The kids are taking swimming lessons this summer. Jake has been taking them for awhile, but Sophia just started in April. When the kids reach all the goals in the level they are in...they get to "ring the bell" and get a gold medal. Well, Sophia has been stuck on nose bubbles for awhile now. Everything else that was required at the PS2 level was NO problem. The nose bubbles took awhile to get. Finally Sophia passed and got to ring the bell today. Such excitement!! Stand on a box, have your name announced, ring the bell, get a certificate and gold medal. She was so excited. And Jake was excited for her. I was worried he would be mad, but he was fine with it. I wish he would get to the next level and get to ring the bell. But, next week is the last lesson and they're not taking them in the Fall, so it will be awhile before it's his turn for the big recognition.

Taken with my cell phone, so they're not the best. But, at least the moment was captured!!


Mid bell ringing!

Party time!!

Saturday was Jake's party. Talk about excitement!! It was at the pool in my mom's neighborhood. We also rented the clubhouse so we'd have a cool place to open presents and eat.

There were 11 kids (I guess Joshua counts!!). A few from church and a few from school. He decided he wanted a Spiderman theme.

The pictures are kind of out of order...but here they are:



Highlight of the party was having a "soda." BIG thrill!!!!!!!!

Strong willed is an understatement!!

Sophia is Sophia...what more can I say? She continues to press every button we have and then find a new one that we didn't even know was there. The past 2 Sundays at church have been very very difficult. She can sit through the service pretty well. She's done it before!! We started a new rule that they couldn't have gum until after the service. Grammy had a habit of doling out gum and lollipops like she was working in a candy shop! So, we stopped that.

Last Sunday I think the whole church heard her screaming at one point or another. During church I took her out and sat in the Parish Hall which has a live feed of the service, so at least I could watch while she threw her fit. At one point she got really mad and said "I'm taking off my dress." Not sure about your church, but our church frowns upon taking your clothes off!!

Today wasn't any better. Mike took her out early in the service and she cried and screamed the whole rest of the time. He sat in the Parish Hall while she went on and on and on. Talk about stamina!!! When we got in the car, she wanted her new mermaid and Mike took it away as one of her consequences. In a very pitiful way she goes "I said I'd behave but I didn't." Very sad.

Then we got home and she proceeded to scream, cry, throw stuff and kick me. It was lovely. What are we going to do with her??????