Josh Expressions 9.2.15

Joshua is starting to take after me (Christina) with his facial expressions.  Quent recently told me that I wear my emotions on my face.  Apparently, Joshua does as well.  Sometimes it really cracks me up when he makes certain expressions because he reminds me of myself.  Oh Josh!  For a little while, when we would tell him "no", his face would slowly turn into this quivering, crying face, but now he sort of scowls at us.  Oh man.  It's SO different than Jeralyn; I don't remember her doing that.

Here he is playing with a car while riding a car.  That is one of his more serious faces.

And then he's been doing the open mouth facial expression (which he gets from me).  Gotta love it!

My Little Helper 9.2.15

Jeralyn has been really interested in helping me cook and bake.  She's been into baking for awhile now, but now she's been asking to help when I cook as well.  To be honest, it hasn't always been easy for me to share the kitchen, but now I'm used to having her help me.  I recently taught her how to peel carrots and she really gets excited when there's carrots in something I'm making so she can peel them.  She is such a great helper!  She has some "chores" that are her responsibility.  She puts some of the dishes away, she puts soap into the dishwasher and starts it, she helps fold clothes, cleans her room and toys up, and helps me in the kitchen when there's a little job for her to do.  And then there are random jobs I ask her to help with.  She's always willing and eager to help--for now!  Ha!

Cars and more cars 8.31.15

Joshua started showing a lot of interest in playing with cars so we asked Grandma Smith to send Quent's old cars.  Josh LOVES them!  He will spend 45-60 minutes on the couch just playing with his cars.  It's SO cute!!  He will often lay down to watch the cars roll and he will just be content doing that for a long time.  And now he will sit at the table and roll the cars around.  He doesn't say the word "car", but he makes a certain noise/grunt when he sees a car or shows us a car.

Sharing Crackers 8.31.15

Eli and Josh were sharing Goldfish crackers and it was really cute!

They are 4 months apart and are starting to interact more.  So fun!

Jeralyn's 4th birthday party 8.22.15

It's so hard to believe that Jeralyn is 4 years old!  She really wanted a mermaid themed birthday party, so that is what we did our best to make it.  The mermaid love all started when they were "mermaids" for her ballet performance.  And then soon everything was all about mermaids and Disney's The Little Mermaid.

I thought this was a cute picture of Josh, so I'm posting it--even though it wasn't his birthday.  :)

Quent hung some streamers in the entrance of our hallway and the kids enjoyed walking and running through.

Me, braiding Jeralyn's hair before the party.

The "fish scales" cake.  I had looked on Pinterest for ideas and this is what settled in my mind.  It was my second time using fondant (the last time was for Josh's party with the paw prints on the cupcakes).  This was a little more "advanced" with using the fondant.  I'm not a big fan of the taste of fondant, but it's fun to create with it.  Jeralyn really liked her cake and she kept on thanking me for making her the cake.  So sweet!

This was the table centerpiece.

I came up with the idea to cover the windows with the streamers and to make it look like "under the sea".  I made cut out paper fish and starfish to be part of the decor.  Two windows were like this.  I have to admit that I have a lot of fun decorating for parties.  :)

My friend Samantha came over to help me prep the food.  So thankful for her help!

Swedish fish on finger jello.  It didn't look very appetizing to me, but the kids loved it.

I found an idea on Pinterest to make the dip bowl look like it had a crab on it.  A lot of people thought it was an octopus though.  Ha!

Jeralyn waiting for her party to start.

Eli and Josh sharing crackers.

I'm not sure what Jeralyn is doing in this photo, but let's just say she was definitely life of the party in her mermaid dress.  She's so fun!  

Our friends John and Joyce.

Opening presents.  Josh looks really excited, aye?

Our neighbors Dan and Kimberly.

Jeralyn blowing out her candles.  Happy 4th birthday, Jeralyn!

The party was a success.  Jeralyn loved her party and she kept on saying how much she liked the decorations and the cake.  She had lots of fun playing with her friends.

She is still very tall for her age.  She's in the 95+% for her height.  Everyone thinks she's a lot older than she is.  She's full of life and just loves to dance, color, hike with her daddy, and seriously, everything.  She's such a sweet blessing and we love her oh so much!  xoxo

First Day of Pre-K 8.24.15

Jeralyn started her Pre-K (Pre-Kindergarten) homeschool on her birthday...yes...ON her birthday.  I know!  Can you believe it?!  Well, the curriculum starts on Monday and I just wanted to start.  Plus, she loves "learning time".  She even asks for it on the weekends!  So since we did a very light preschool the year before, I'm calling this year Pre-K.  The curriculum we picked has lots of reading--where I am reading to her, which she absolutely loves.

I thought it would be fun to take a picture of her in front of the door with a sign:

This is the picture I took of her with my phone--which is actually my favorite one because it makes me smile/laugh.  Love this girl!  Oh, and she's wearing her mermaid dress-up costume.  Gotta love it!

Squishy Face 8.18.15

Jeralyn has really been into making goofy faces, can you tell?  Ha!

Hair Cut 8.18.15

Joshua is pretty good about sitting still for his hair cut.  If we give him a car, he will happily sit as Quent cuts his hair.  I just love the expression on his face.  He looks like a little Quentin here.

Kitty Love 8.11.15

Jeralyn loves the cats.  And since Shadow is more likely to put up with the children's antics (even though it took her 3 years), she is the one who gets the most attention.  Shadow is more gentle of a cat, where Tigger isn't afraid to let you know to back off.  So Shadow gets carried around a lot and sort of is forced to come under Jeralyn's command--unless of course Jeralyn can't find Shadow, which happens a lot.  And when Shadow is actually enjoying Jeralyn's affection, Jeralyn will say, "Mom, Shadow likes me!"  And Shadow really does; she will rub on Jeralyn and seek her affection--until she is done.  But aren't most cats that way?

Play-dough 8.3.15

The kids both played with play-dough this day.  I think it was one of Joshua's first times playing with it.  He just doesn't want to miss out on what his sister is doing.

Kitties 8.2.15

Quent got a deer this year (it's been a few years since he's hunted).  Tigger LOVES venison!  It's like a Thanksgiving dinner for him.

Shadow comes around too, but she's not really into venison.

Colander Head 7.27.15

Tears to Smiles 7.26.15

I had this idea of tying Joshua's sippy cup to a stool in our dining area so he wouldn't lose the cups.  I feel like I'm always looking for his sippy cups.  Well, it really disturbed him that it was tied to something.  It was comical, but wow, he was really bothered by it.  So he was crying about it this day and I thought I would capture the tears on camera (because I'm totally like that).  And as soon as I got the camera out, he immediately stopped crying and he smiled.  Oh man!  Silly boy!

Love & Reading 7.25.15

Moments of our day...

Jeralyn and Joshua are such great friends.  They have their moments (of course), but they are truly developing a great friendship.  It's so fun to watch them interact and play with one another.

Josh will often grab a book and go sit in the rocking chair and look through books.

Raspberry smiles

Blanket Time 7.22.15

I think I've mentioned this before, but I haven't been as consistent with Joshua (compared to Jeralyn) with blanket time, but he's still great at it!  Yay!

Good Morning, Sunshine 7.19.15

And this was the morning after they hiked up Dude.  I can't fully comment because I wasn't there, but I can say that I know that Jeralyn and Quent truly love spending the time together up there on the mountain.  And look at the views!  Wow!

Breakfast is often instant oatmeal, which they usually add in fresh-picked blueberries.  She will eat 3-4 packets of the instant oatmeal after all of that hiking up the day before (big appetite).

I believe this was their camp and breakfast spot.

Heading back down the trail.

Looks like she stepped in some mud.

Happy girl has her blueberry picking cup in hand.

And when they come home, she's already talking about their next hiking/camping adventure.