Special Person

Joshua was special person at school this week which meant he got to take the ladybug (puppet) and the ladybug backpack home for the week. Ladybug went a few places with us, but Joshua was mostly content to have ladybug stay at home and sleep on his pillow in his room. Yesterday we wrote a story about Joshua's adventures with ladybug and then he colored a picture to go with his story. If I can remember correctly His story went something like this. . .
"Go to the airport with ladybug. Just the airport with ladybug that's all. She sleeped with me and watched me in the night. She sleeped when the sun was out."

Today he got to sit on the donkey while Miss Jessie read his story. He was loving being in the spotlight. We also brought his special treat today - cracker spiders! He helped a bit to make them (okay the first 6 and then we decided he'd rather eat one than help) and was very excited to share them with his friends. It was a fun week and he can't wait to have another turn with ladybug later in the school year.

Miss Jessie reads Joshua's special person story.

Spider crackers! YUMMY!

Annual Pumpkin Carving

Last night we did our annual pumpkin carving. As expected "Mr. I don't like to get messy" wouldn't touch the pumpkin goo for anything since it was too messy. Cory did antagonize him a bit by depositing some of the gunk in his hand a few times. Joshua wouldn't even touch the seeds because according to him they are "too slimy". Even though he didn't take part in the cleaning out process he actively picked out a design and helped carve his pumpkin with my help. His favorite part was pulling out the pieces after carving them. It was a fun experience even if he was only participating in part of it. He did love the end results and is excited about lighting them on our front porch.

Ready to pick out a design. He chose a cat.


Pulling out a piece.

Carving with mom's help.

Joshua's kitty.

Daddy's smiley face (also Joshua's pick).

The Candy Drop

Saturday morning, despite the yucky weather, we visited Harder & Warner Landscaping and Garden Center. Saturdays during the month of October they offer a few kid's activities including a scavenger hunt, free hayrides and free hot dogs. Yesterday they added their one-time activity called the candy drop. The loader or digger dumps candy in a pile and a group of kids (done in age groups) is let loose in the pile to fill up a bag of candy. Last year a parent was allowed to go with the children in the youngest age group which resulted in too many people in a small area and pushy parents. This year they didn't allow any parents, instead the nursery workers helped the younger kids fill up their bags with candy. We weren't sure how Joshua would do on his own as he is more of the shy and timid type in a crowd of people. However, Cory prepped him well telling him to run right in and not get pushed out by someone. Joshua ran right in and immediately found a stuffed animal and handed it to us (we were waiting up above right by him). Then Joshua slowly gathered up candy piece by piece, being VERY selective about the candy he was choosing. Thanks to the lady in charge who shouted, "someone help the little skunk" a nursery worker helped him fill up his bag. Needless to say we have plenty of candy in our treat jar now and have been enjoying some sugar highs!

Time to gather up some candy!

Dumping the candy!

Joshua as Nemo and Daddy as a shark.

Wonder Cory!

Jumping in the leaves!!

Joshua didn't have school today as the teachers are attending a conference. So what were we to do with the extra time we usually don't have on Thursdays? He loves playing outside so that was a definite at some point today. I got to thinking and realized that Joshua has never played in a pile of leaves! Let me explain lest people think we have deprived our child - we lived in a subdivision that pretty much cleared out the trees so we planted fast growing trees when Joshua was born, but the leaves that dropped were little in size and didn't amount to much of a pile when raked - thus no leaf jumping possible. So, what better thing to do on a beautiful fall day than to rake up the leaves and jump in them?!?! Joshua didn't quite know what to think when I told him to jump in the pile of leaves I had raked up, but one time was all he needed and he was hooked on the fun! I think he spent almost 2 hours today, between this morning and this afternoon, jumping and rolling in the leaves and throwing them! I had to get in a few jumps myself, which Joshua of course found hysterical! Glad he could finally have that simple childhood pleasure of jumping in a pile of leaves. As usual I had to bring the camera out and capture the moment!

Goofy!



Throwing the leaves!

JUMP!

Having fun together!

This look of glee was plastered on his face permanently!

Taking a break from jumping.

The Zoo Goes BOO!

Saturday we attended the annual Zoo Goes BOO! event at John Ball Zoo. It was a perfect fall day for this fall activity. Since Cory wasn't home we invited Papa to join in the fun. We arrived right when the zoo was opening up so the wait to get in was minimal and the crowds hadn't arrived quite yet. We saw a few animals before we met up with Shawn, Erin and Owen to hit the "kooky, not spooky trail" where the kids could collect some treats. The treats were great this year - activity books, crayons, a few pieces of candy, spider rings, and cookies (just to name a few). After the trail we had to visit the petting zoo of course and then peruse the rest of the zoo. We finished up around lunch time when the zoo was getting much more crowded. The short video below captures some of our fun Saturday morning.

Click To Play

More house progress. . .

The progress made this week on our house can mostly be seen from the outside. They have put the shingles on the roof, put the front door on, put the trim on the front of the house and put all the windows in. It's actually looking like a house! Hopefully this week will bring as much progress as the last one did!

Daddy's home!

After four days of having Cory gone at a conference both Joshua and I were ready to have him come home. Being a single parent doesn't thrill me, nor does it thrill Joshua as I think he gets sick of being with just one parent for days on end. So off to the airport, for the second time this week, we happily went last night. We headed straight up to the observation deck hoping to see the plane landing, knowing Cory's plane would be there any minute. We were able to see the plane come in and stop at it's gate. Then we raced downstairs so as not to miss daddy coming off the plane. Once Joshua spotted Cory it was a full-fledged running hug into daddy's arms! Needless to say, the rest of the evening I was chopped liver and daddy was the apple of Joshua's eye! We are very thankful to have Cory back home!

Fall Fun on a Friday

Friday morning Joshua and I decided we would visit Koetsier's Greenhouse. Every fall they have a wonderful area of kid's activities set up, with new things being added each year. It is $5 per child for any child over 2, but adults pay nothing. This year they had the same corn box to play in, the ball toss, bean bag toss, maze, blow-up pumpkin that blows balloons around inside of it, the big wheel track, a blow-up train that kids can crawl and climb through, tattoos, painting a pumpkin and finding a penny in the hay to trade in for a prize. Joshua enjoyed all of the activities this year, but especially loved playing in the corn, racing through the maze, and climbing through the train! We had a great couple hours of fun there and could have spent longer there!

Playing in the corn!

Trying to catch balloons in the big blow-up pumpkin!

Searching for a penny in the hay to turn in for a prize.

Concentrating hard on painting his pumkin.

Joshua pumpkin!

Framing in process!

We visited the house tonight after being told by the project manager they were framing the main floor today! We were very excited to find the main floor and the basement framed (as much as it will be for now as it won't be complete for a while)!Living Room

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Joshua's Room

Baby Hager's Room - Effective April 19, 2009

(Hopefully painted pink!)

Annual Fall Visit to the Farm and the Pumpkin Patch!

Yesterday due to the nice weather predicted and people's schedules we (Cory and I along with Shawn and Erin) decided to head out to Erin's dad's farm (her dad is known as Farmer Joel in our house) to cut down some corn stalks for decoration and then visit Paulson's Pumpkin Patch nearby. When we arrived at the farm Farmer Joel was no where to be seen and his huge tractor was not in the barn, so we hopped in his truck and headed out to the fields to find him. Sure enough, he was using the tractor to spread fertilizer out in the field and he had just gotten done. Joshua immediately wanted to climb in the tractor and did so, with Owen close behind him. Then Joel offered to take the boys for a tractor ride, which Joshua was more than excited about (Owen needed a bit of coaxing at first)! Off they went driving the tractor all over the field, and yes Joel was so kind he let them steer! During a short break from tractor riding/driving we cut down some corn stalks to use for decoration and also fed some sweet corn stalks to the horses. Then the boys climbed back into the tractor with Joel and drove it all the way from the field down the lane to the barn! Once back at the barn we checked out all the other farm equipment as we always do when visiting the farm. Then it was time for a few pictures of the boys in their costumes and off to the pumpkin patch we went! The pumpkin patch was so much fun this year because Joshua was really excited to pick out the pumpkins and gourds to put on our front porch. He did a great job of picking out a variety of different shapes, sizes and colors of pumpkins and gourds. Thanks to this we have a beautiful fall display on our porch now! It was a fabulous day to enjoy God's creation and the beauty that abounds! The video below captures the fun we had!

Click To Play

Safety Day at Home Depot

Thanks to a phone call this morning from Grandpa we learned that it was Safety Day at the Home Depot nearby - meaning there would be firetrucks to see! We made our way over to the Depot after our many errands to check out the firetrucks and the ambulance that were there. Joshua enjoyed exploring the firetrucks and seeing the huge ladder and all the equipment. Joshua was a bit young for the trailer that simulates a fire and is used to teach children how to get out safely, so he just peeked in. The bonus of the day was that they were offering a kid's workshop too! If you've never done a kid's workshop they are little wood projects that kids create (younger kids usually need the help of an adult). Today's project was a whistle firetruck (the lights on top are a detachable whistle). So with help from Cory Joshua was able to build his own firetruck! He is extremely proud of his creation and has carried it with him all day and showed it off to everyone. We even got a picture with Homer the Home Depot mascot! Thanks for letting us know about such a fun event Grandpa!

Grand Friend's Day

Today was Grand Friend's Day (the politically correct version of Grandparent's Day) at preschool. To say that Joshua was excited about Papa and Grandma coming to preschool was an understatement! On the way to school Joshua filled me in on his plans for what he would show them and do with them during their visit. I arrived a bit early to pick Joshua up so I could snap a few pictures of this special visit. He had a great time with them! Thanks for coming to preschool Papa and Grandma!

Making crayons for the bathtub

In the latest High Five magazine there was a recipe for bathtub crayons that we have been wanting to try. It only takes a few ingredients so I didn't think it would be too difficult. We finally remembered to buy the Ivory bar soap yesterday so we could do our project. You begin by grating a bar of Ivory soap which happens to be easier said than done, especially when it's a 3 year old trying to grate it(oh and cleaning caked-on soap off of a grater is no easy task either!). The grating lasted only a few minutes before he asked me to finish it, but hey at least he tried. Then it was on to mixing the soap shavings with some warm water and food coloring. Joshua decided we needed to create four colors. So we mixed and mashed the colors and packed them into an ice cube tray sprayed with vegetable oil. After a half hour in the freezer we popped them out and now they have to dry for a couple of days. We'll see how well they work when Joshua takes his bath. I hope they aren't a disappointment!

Mixing and mashing!

The finished product drying.