Blocks

Yesterday I got the privilege of spending some one on one time with Josh.  This is a rare occurrence in our household since I'm usually trying to chase down all 3 boys at once.  But this particular day Connor actually took a nap and Luke was down at the same time.  I had so much fun playing with Josh.  All he wanted to do was play with blocks.  We did all kinds of things with them--built a tower, a jail, we bowled into them, we stacked them, we lined them up and knocked them down.  Whatever he wanted to make, we made.  He loves to build and has a great imagination so I got to be his assistant in the building process.  I'm a blessed Mommy and it was a gift from God to have this one on one time with my oldest little guy.  I'm going to try hard to plan some special dates with each of my boys.  You can really learn a lot by watching their imaginations at work.   Here's some of the neat stuff Josh and I built yesterday.

Fun with Family

It's been a while since I've blogged about anything. Lots of fun stuff going on just not a lot of time to write about it. Anyway, this past weekend I got the chance to visit my family down in Atlanta. I don't see them nearly enough and even when I do there's always my kiddos to chase after and nap schedules to keep. Well this time I made the trip by myself. Quite different for sure since I have no idea what to do when I'm by myself. I got a chance to spend some time with my brother Tyler and his precious wife Sarah and little boy Mason. I had brought my camera and was eager to do a little photo shoot with them. Luckily they were patient and willing to play my reindeer games with the photos. THANKS GUYS! Here are just a few of my favorites.

Mason with Mommy & Daddy

The Bolick Family

Getting so BIG!

Kindergarten already??

Well, we signed Josh up for kindergarten this week.  Really, where did the time go?  I went to the school and registered him.  It took about 5 minutes.  Something so huge only took 5 minutes.  I guess I wanted a band and parade.  I mean, my baby is going to kindergarten in the fall.  Doesn't that deserve some type of monumental gathering?  I'm sure every mom feels the same way when they send their firstborn off to school.
I had taken all the kiddos with me to registration and afterwards we went to the public library down the street.  I thought it was interesting that one of the first books I saw when we got there was this one- so we checked it out and took it home.  I figured it would help Josh get excited and more comfortable with the idea of starting kindergarten.  Of course, Josh does not seem to be traumatized at all about the thought of school.  Probably because I'm traumatized enough for the both of us and that he doesn't quite realize what all day every day at school means.  In any case, his mother is a bit weepy already and good gosh it's still 6 months away.  Who knows, maybe by the time that first day of school rolls around I'll have gotten all the emotion out of it and just wave at him nicely as he heads off with his backpack.  Who am kidding? I'll get right back in the car and cry like a big baby.

Superheroes

It's a bird, it's a plane--no it's a Super Hero party!!  After being postponed a few days due to Luke being sick we finally got to have Josh's Super Hero themed birthday party yesterday.  It was a lot of fun to watch all the kids in their costumes.  They had a great time dressing up and saving the world for a few hours.  We had pizza and ice cream cake-- all the very important foods that super heroes run on.  A big thanks to all of our wonderful friends for making Josh's 5th birthday party such a memorable event.  

Mama said there'd be days like this.

Today I was determined to get to Target for some much needed household items.  Unfortunately the trip had to include all 3 boys.  My guys don't do well on errands.  Okay-- maybe it's me who doesn't do that well in getting anything accomplished when I have all three in tow.  Today was no exception.  What would have been a 15 minute trip through Target by myself took over an hour and involved plenty of "Get over here, put that down and stop hitting your brother."  Before I had children I used to look at all those pitiful moms in the store and think- No way, never, ever will my children act like that.  Well, guess what-- now I have those children and the other PC (pre-children) women are pitying me.  
Anyway, in the first five minutes of our trip Connor sprayed mens cologne in his eye and wet his pants.  Fortunately the smell of CK1 was more pungent than the pee smell so no one really noticed.  They probably just thought my 3 year old had expensive taste and had thrown aside his J&J bodywash for something more exotic.  By the time we finally checked out I was beyond done,  however my kids quickly reminded me that we ALWAYS get a soft pretzel and drink at Target.   It was lunchtime by then so I thought---what the heck lets make this misery last a bit longer.  After enjoying our cinnamon sugar pretzels and fruit punch (a truly nutritious lunch), Luke started crying a bit and then proceeded to throw up all over himself, the highchair and the floor.  I simply stood there stunned thinking how am I going to get this kid back to the car covered in puke.  Another sweet Mom (God bless you nice lady) saw what happened and brought as many paper towels as she could find.  All I could do was quickly put Luke back in the cart, apologize to every employee and patron in the area for our mess and hightail it out of there.  It may be awhile before I venture into that Target again---especially with all 3 boys.  You know my Mom said there'd be days like this but I didn't think she was actually serious.

Joshua turns 5

My how the years fly by!  My little boy is already 5 and I feel like it was just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital.  He had a very exciting birthday.  He went to school today and brought a big cookie cake to share with all his friends.  I picked him up early from school so he could get home and ride his new "green machine."  It's a monster big wheel that you steer using levers instead of a steering wheel.  He has had a great time with it so far and it's definitely something he can grow into since his feet just barely reach the pedals now.  Nana and Pops came over with cupcakes that the boys got to ice and decorate.  They did a terrific job as you can see by Joshua's finished product.
This year Josh chose Chick-Fil-A for his birthday meal so we all hopped in the van and headed there for dinner.  Whew- turning 5 is hectic!

Josh having lunch at school with his friends Hannah & Avery.

The Green Machine!

Every year I am determined to get a picture of us with the birthday boy holding up whatever number they are turning.  This is what it usually looks like in trying to get that picture.  I was so happy Janey caught the craziness.  You can tell Paul really loves the photo ops I'm always trying to orchestrate.

Yippee!!!  We finally got the shot with all of us doing a "5" for Josh's birthday.  Miraculously, no one is screaming in this picture.

Our fun day in the snow!

The snow started last evening and went through the night.  We woke up this morning to a winter wonderland.  The boys were very excited to get out and make snow angels, snowballs and anything else in the snow.  What fun we had!  I was thankful I had just bought snow boots for myself earlier this week.  Although the temperature registered somewhere around 12 degrees Josh and Connor didn't seem to notice. I did have them in about ten layers of clothing.  We played for over an hour, came in for hot chocolate and then out again.  After awhile the wind got so gusty we had to call it quits.  The boys cheeks were bright red and my toes had since frozen even with my new snow boots on.  Of course I had my camera and it's quite hard to snap pictures with giant gloves on.  I had to take those off just to capture a few shots.  I do love the snow and would love it more if it weren't so darn cold.   Thank you Lord for a warm house to retreat to!