Hager Happenings

Starting the New Year off with a Little Bowling

2012-02-17T17:10:00.001-05:00

Since Joshua had school off on Monday we decided it would be fun to go bowling as a family. Erin ended up having her meeting cancelled so their family joined us. The boys had a great time! Joshua used both the ramp and bowled by himself and enjoyed both. This was Matthew's first experience bowling and he mostly used the ramp, but at times enjoyed pushing the ball down the lane - oh and yes he did throw it at one point, oops! It was a fun, cheap way to entertain the family!

Matthew took delight in watching his ball S.L.O.W.L.Y roll down the lane after pushing it!

Joshua tossing his ball.

Matthew decided to toss the ball too, it created quite the noise.

The matching cousins!

Gift Exchange with Cousins

2012-02-17T16:29:00.002-05:00

Every year the cousins names go in a bowl and then the kids each get to pick a name and buy a gift for that cousin. This is so much fun for them, especially as they are getting older they know their cousins' likes and can really put some thought into what would be a good gift. Christmas night they did their exchange. This year Joshua picked out a gift for the baby girl Hager which he was very excited about. Matthew picked out Legos for Sam. Joshua loves his Lego game from Nicholas and Matthew loves his Uno Moo game from Aiden. Creating memories with their cousins is a special thing I am sure my kids will cherish when they look back.

Captured these boys at a rare quiet moment, love it!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Day

2012-02-17T16:04:00.000-05:00

We were fortunate enough to be able to gather with extended family over the course of the afternoon and evening Christmas Day. We spent the afternoon at my Uncle Steve and Aunt Cher's house where we got to catch up with relatives we don't see enough. It was a good time. The boys were blessed with a few presents as well which they were tickled with. (Excuse the delay of this post (blogger seems to have issues lately posting pictures) and and the poor picture quality - apparently my camera was on the wrong setting and I realized it too late.

Rachel and Joshua

My grandparents and Matthew.

Uncle Steve and Aunt Cher totally surprised Joshua with a die cast Nascar car signed by the driver!

Clifford and Clifford books for Matthew!

Matthew hugging Clifford.

Uncle Steve and Joshua checking out the Nascar.

A new Lego set for Joshua and Duplos for Matthew - Thank you Uncle Jim and Aunt Nancy!

Matthew shows off his Santa diaper :)

Shannon, Matthew, Joshua and Rachel.

Baby Pierson's first Christmas.

The boys made ornaments for some of the special people in their lives and Joshua snapped this picture of Aunt Cher just after she opened hers.

Matthew plays with his new Duplos with Uncle Phil.

We don't believe in Santa at our house, but when my Uncle Paul arrived Joshua said, "maybe Santa is real".

Matthew, Pierson and Joshua with "Santa".

Christmas Morning

2012-02-03T15:52:00.001-05:00

This year, like every other year, we tried to keep the celebration of Christmas all about the Christ Child instead of it being about everything else you could fill Christmas time with. We did our Advent wreath all throughout the month of December and even Matthew could help tell the Bible stories that went along with our Advent wreath! We really enjoy preparing our hearts for Christmas this way every year. That being said we did have our own small, relaxing family celebration with presents of Christmas morning before the busyness of the rest of the day was upon us. The boys loved their presents and were thankful for each one of them.

The ornament Joshua made for us in school - can you see his picture inside of it?!

Opening the little gifts they got each other.

A new game for his Mobigo.

More Duplos for his ever-growing collection!

The look I got when Joshua realized I had tricked him by wrapping his gift and hiding inside another wrapped box - apparently it wasn't as amusing as I mom thought it would be :)

Super Mario Bros. for the Wii!

Matthew playing with his new Playmobil bus.

Another game for his Mogigo, this time it's Scooby Doo.

Castle blocks for the boy who LOVES to build.

The one and only item he requested for Christmas, a Playmobil fire boat.

Matthew opening his big present.

His own keyboard!

A new game for Matthew.

Christmas Eve Evening

2012-01-26T16:07:00.001-05:00

Christmas Eve night we had my dad (aka Papa) and my brother (aka Uncle Phil) over for dinner and to open gifts. After stuffing ourselves with delicious honey baked ham and all the side dishes to go wtih it we sat down to open presents. Since Dave was unable to be here for Christmas we talked to him via skype and he watched the boys open their gifts and the boys watched him open his. We all had to be quite strategic in just where to sit so Dave could see us, but not get too dizzy doing so! The boys loved their gifts from Papa, Uncle Phil and Uncle Dave! The Playmobil collection was added to, they each got some new clothes, Matthew has lots of fun Duplos and Joshua has a cool new marble maze. The putting everything together process came next and soon after it was time for the boys to go to bed and the house to be cleaned up before Christmas morning soon arrived.

Matthew didn't quite know what to think about talking to Uncle Dave via the computer.

Joshua gets in on the conversation with Uncle Dave. Dave even walked around with his laptop so we could have a skype tour of his apartment.

Matthew's new Duplo supermarket from Uncle Phil and Uncle Dave.

New Marble Maze for Joshua from Uncle Phil and Uncle Dave!

Clothes from Papa.

Joshua's Playmobil hospital from Papa!

Mocha getting in the middle of the action.

Matthew's Playmobil school from Papa!

The boys thought Papa needed a bit of help opening his gifts.

New clothes for Papa.

Annual cologne and and gift card for Uncle Phil.

All the guys helping to put together the marble maze.

Stockings!

2012-01-16T15:40:00.000-05:00

Due to wanting to "spread the wealth" so the speak the boys opened their stockings on Christmas Eve morning. They were beyond excited to finally see their stockings full after seeing them empty for almost a month. Joshua tore right into his stocking to see what surprises awaited him while Matthew took a much more laid back approach and once he discovered his new books Matthew had to be persuaded to find the rest of the goodies in his stocking. The big hits of the year were their Angry Bird hats, books and electric toothbrushes that they could decorate with stickers!

Gingerbread Houses

2012-01-16T14:51:00.000-05:00

Last year I picked up gingerbread house kits on clearance thinking we might do them in January. We never got to it so I packed them away with the Christmas stuff. We pulled them out during Christmas break and the kids had a great time decorating them and having free reign of eating all the candy their little hands could touch while they decorated. Joshua's friend Hunter was over the morning we worked on the gingerbread houses so they worked together to make a masterpiece.

Hager Family Christmas

2012-01-13T12:58:00.000-05:00

This year we celebrated Christmas with the Hager family the weekend before Christmas. It is so nice this way as we aren't rushed for time running from celebration to celebration and the gifts are spread out so the kids get to play with and enjoy their new toys before more come. We had a great time as usual with many laughs. It's so nice that the cousins are all at ages where the enjoy playing together and get along well, for the most part. Thank you Dad and Mom Hager for a wonderful Christmas celebration!

Mom Hager opening up her necklace with all the grandchildren's birthstones (a total of 9).

Walkie Talkie's for Dad H. for easier communication when "caravaning" camping with the boat and the trailer and for use to communicate between the boat and shore.

Christmas chaos.....kids everywhere!

Matthew got a new forklift!

Excuse the blurry picture, but Joshua was very excited to open his HUGE present!

Joshua shares his new beanbag with Aiden.

Just what Joshua wanted!

More Duplo for Matthew!

Joshua's Christmas Party at School

2011-12-30T16:41:00.002-05:00

Another mom and I planned the party for Joshua's class and it worked out very well once again. Usually I despise class parties as they are hectic, chaotic and just all around crazy. So far this year the parties in Joshua's class have been very nice, low key and not crazy making them much more enjoyable for all! We started the party with a pass the candy cane game and then it was on to a pass the present and unwrap it game which the kids enjoyed. The kids did their book exchange after the games. Craft time was next and the kids wrote a letter about how they were going to celebrate Christmas. The final part of the party was spent eating from a buffet of yummy foods.

Pass the present....

....unwrap the present with your gloves/mittens on!

Book exchange - pass it until the music stops.

Joshua got a Skippy John Jones book!

Joshua and his friend Sophia reading the directions for the craft.

A little Christmas eating!

Celebrating Saint Nicholas Day

2011-12-30T16:01:00.002-05:00

The annual tradition of celebrating Saint Nicholas Day happened once again this year. We read a book about Saint Nicholas the night before as we usually do only this time Joshua and I discussed more in depth how Saint Nicholas WAS a real person but isn't alive today so he obviously wasn't coming to our house to put things in the boys' shoes, but we do this to remember the person he was and how he honored God by treating others with kindness. This all led to a discussion comparing Saint Nicholas with Santa Claus. It's really good we never started the whole Santa Claus thing because this year Joshua would have blown it all anyway with his logical thinking - "Why do kids believe in Santa anyway, not every one has a fireplace so he can't get in!" Yes child, I am not sure why other children don't logically think about it and come to the same conclusion. As usual though Joshua is told not to blow it for others.

On Saint Nicholas Day the kids woke up to their shoes filled with gold wrapped chocolate coins and a present - Joshua got Cars 2 and Matthew got a new Playmobil nativity set so there would be no fighting over the other one we have. Both boys were thrilled with their surprises and glad to be celebrating another Saint Nicholas Day.

Joshua finds his gold covered chocolate coins.

Yeah, Cars 2!

Matthew finds his gold covered chocolate coins.

Matthew lining up his coins (Joshua used to line everything up at this age, but Matthew hardly ever does so I had to take a picture).

Matthew loves playing with his new nativity set.

The Annual Search for a Christmas Tree

2011-12-16T12:00:00.002-05:00

Due to the wacky weather we have had starting out our winter (lots of rain rather than snow), our tree hunting plans changed the day we had planned to go. Instead of traveling a long distance to our favorite tree farm we ended up going to one closer by. It was not nearly the same experience which was disappointing, but the end result is the same (although I kind of beg to differ as I believe a shaking machine would have helped get the dead crap out of our tree instead of having it drop off every time a cat crawls under it at our house). After traipsing through a field for quite some time we finally found a tree thought we thought would work - funny how it always looks different when you get it home! All that really mattered was that the kids were happy and excited, mission accomplished!

Our tree standing in the field looking lonely.

Cory starting to cut.....

...and down it comes!

Obligatory family picture by the tree.

Ready to go now that the search is over.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

This was my first year having to cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner and I must say it went a lot more smoothly than I thought it would. Thankfully my dad got a turkey as a gift from work so I didn't even have to figure out what to buy, I just had to figure out how to prepare it. Surprisingly, cooking a turkey isn't a big deal, just a lot of time in the oven is all. With the table laden with food we sat down at the table along with my dad and brother and enjoyed the company along with the food. I am so very thankful for all the blessings and though I may complain at times, I honestly have NOTHING to complain about in the big scheme of things. My blessings are way to numerous to even begin to write down and even though it never seems like enough I'd like to again say....thank you God!

First Snow of the Season - November 10!

2011-11-15T17:29:00.001-05:00

The weather was predicted to be a mix of snow and rain all day long, but there was no mention of accumulating snow! Surprise!! After dinner the snow really seemed to be sticking to the grass so we went out to play in the first snow of the season. We all ended up wet, but we had a ton of fun having a snowball fight and making our first snowman of this winter. Of course when all was said and done we had to go in and treat ourselves to hot chocolate and marshmallows! It was definitely a riot to go out and play in the snow, but I'm really thankful it's appearance was short-lived as it's a bit early to have the snow stick around for too long.

Let the snowball fight begin as Joshua throws the first snowball!

Joshua catching snowflakes on his tongue.

Matthew is ready to get into the action of the snowball fight!

The beginning stages of our snowman.

Matthew works on the snowman stage 2.....

....but need a little help from big brother Joshua.

The finished snowman and its proud creators.

Halloween Hoopla

2011-11-11T21:39:00.001-05:00

So it seemed like we celebrated Halloween for way to long between trunk or treating, the zoo goes boo, a school party, a party at our friend's the Waymans, and trick or treating. I think we got our fill of Halloween at the Hager house this year.

Joshua's class.

Making a skeleton at the class party.

Making his vampire sucker with a little help from his teacher, Mrs. Keller.

Eating Halloween treats.

Halloween party at the Waymans.

A scavenger hunt.

Joshua was the first one to get an apple when bobbing for apples!

Corrinne gets an apple!

Joshua bobbed for apples a few times once he figured out the trick.

Got another one!

No pictures of the actual carving this year as we were too busy and covered in pumpkin guts, just a picture of our final products. Matthew's funny face, Joshua's cat and Joshua's B.C. Bulldogs paw print.

Time to Trick or Treat!

And the trick or treaters are off!

Got a treat, now off to the next house!

Exciting stuff this trick or treating!

The tired little trick or treaters with their haul of treats.

Getting some energy out!

2011-11-11T17:03:00.001-05:00

What better to do on a cold, dark night but head to For the Kidz Gym and let the kiddos burn off some energy! The boys LOVE going there to jump, climb, bounce, run, etc and they are always ready for bed by the time we get home too. I have a feeling we will be heading here a few times this winter to beat the winter blahs :)

Half Way There!

2011-11-11T16:20:00.001-05:00

We, or more accurately I (since I'm the one home the most with them), don't push potty training. As a teacher I learned that pushing a child in this area likely leads to big issues so it's not worth pushing. Joshua potty trained himself to go #2 before he was even 2 years old, amazing. Matthew didn't follow suit on the time frame, but he has now successfully completed half his potty training before 2 1/2! Again, there were only mere suggestions from us to try to spark in interest in him and then he realized it was a better idea to poo in the toilet than in his pants and he never looked back. After a few weeks of this consistent behavior he ironically earned "Stinky" the garbage truck! Now we'll just wait and see how long it takes for our house to become diaper free (at least during the day).

Boo Zoo!

2011-11-02T16:26:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago when the weather was mild we took the boys to "The Zoo Goes Boo" and my dad tagged along. It was neat to see the animals in their decorated cages for this special occasion. The kooky, not spooky, trail was a hit with the boys because as they walked along they collected treats from various tables. As usual a favorite part of the zoo was the petting area where Joshua and Matthew could pet a cow, goats and chickens. Joshua either didn't hear me tell him to leave his bag of treats in the stroller before we went in the petting area or he simply chose to ignore me, but either way a goat stuck his head right in Joshua's bag and snuck a treat out; the stubborn goat didn't really want to give the treat up either, the stinker! A couple other favorite moments of our time at the zoo were watching the otter and watching the Bobcat chase a squirrel that was running along the top of it's cage.

Looking at the Eagles with papa.

The zookeeper and his monkey sidekick!

Playing in the train.

Giving the cow some attention.

The zookeeper tames the cow.

Monkey with a goat.

Joshua was determined to pet the chicken and after a bit of chasing he actually did!

Listeing to the different owl sounds with Papa.

Joshua the zookeeper.

Petting a duck.

One of the family

2011-11-02T14:00:00.000-05:00

Our kitten, Mocha, has adjusted well to life with our family. She and Logan actually get along very well and she loves any and all human contact (well unless a group of children is giving her more love and attention than she can handle). We all love having a playful kitten in the house again! Mocha is so good natured and docile it's unbelievable, which is good for her since she has to tolerate a lot! She really is the perfect fit for our family!

Dressing Mocha up in Mr. Potato Head accessories!

Sprawled out on Matthew as he watches TV.

So cute in her tutu we made her for Halloween!

Mocha and Logan doing what they do best...laying around and sleeping.

Rainbow Rice

2011-10-31T16:02:00.001-05:00

We have a sensory bin filled with rice, plain white rice; we have had it for a few years. This particular sensory bin doesn't see daylight a whole lot first because it is MESSY and second because I can't stand the look of the plain white, dusty rice. Thankfully a friend of mine who is also a teacher was placing an order with a school supply company and asked me if I wanted anything; amazingly their liquid watercolor was on mega sale! I picked out the colors I wanted and happily placed my order. The day the watercolor came in was the day our boring rice sensory box got jazzed up! Joshua got home from school and we began adding the different colors to the ziplocs of rice along with vinegar (to help the color take). We let the rice dry overnight and mixed it back in our bin the next day. Now the rainbow rice sensory bin is much more inviting to play in as it looks like very festive confetti all mixed together!

Fall Fun at the Greenhouse

2011-10-31T15:11:00.002-05:00

One Friday in October Matthew and I made sure to get over to Koetsiers Greenhouse to take part in all the fun fall activities they have set up. The morning we picked happened to be extremely busy! Apparently this place has gotten a lot more popular over the years, but despite the craziness we had fun. We met our friends (who are also neighbors) there so the kids could have a morning playing together. The kids had a great time together playing in the corn, going through the blow-up maze, running around in the blow-up pumpkin that blows balloons everywhere, going through the not-so-spooky haunted maze, riding toy tractors and painting pumpkins. Of course my camera battery died half way through our time there, but at least I captured a few pictures of our time there.

Diggin' in the corn.

Matthew and Jenna, little buddies!

Matthew, Jenna and Brooke playing together.

Running around, catching balloons and screaming with joy in the big blow-up pumpkin.

Fall Leaf Painting!

2011-10-31T14:38:00.003-05:00

One night while Cory was cutting the grass I asked the boys if they wanted to do an art project to which they both literally shouted, "YES"! Joshua doesn't get to do nearly the number of fun things at home any more that he used to since he is at school all the time now, so he was very excited.

First I told them we needed to gather leaves from outside which they were happy to do. Once back inside they donned their paint shirts and began painting the backs of the leaves and then printing them on paper. It was a great way to spend a fall evening!

Painting the backs of the leaves.

Matthew shows me what happens when he puts his painted leaf down on paper and then lifts it up.

Joshua making a print.

Artists at work!

A Morning Taking in the Art

2011-10-27T14:18:00.000-05:00

With Art Prize being so close we just had to go check it out. It was a bit difficult finding a time to go since weekdays are no longer an option since Joshua is in school everyday now and our Saturday mornings were busy with activities, one being soccer. We managed to spend a few hours down there on a gorgeous Saturday right before Art Prize ended and boy were we glad we were able to go! The boys (Joshua especially) enjoyed looking at all the different creations! Below are pictures of our family favorites. So glad our city hosts this awesome event. What a perfect way to spend a beautiful Saturday!

A creation made out of recycled objects - the boys liked figuring out what things were made out of.

The Grizzly Bears were fun to see altogether from afar and to get up close to.

Joshua feeling one of the grizzly bears.

A little brotherly love on an over sized chair!

Try slamming that door when your mad kid!

Another creation called "Dumpster Diving" made of recycled items that our family liked.

Another view of "Dumpster Diving"

The winner "Crucifixion", a beautiful glass mosaic. Beautiful indeed, but not our favorite.

This was a phenomenal piece that unfortunately didn't even make it into the top 10. The girl looked so real!

We met the artist who created this piece last year when he displayed a monk that he had made - very cool work!

The boys liked the "Praying Mantis".

Standing in a rainbow.

Playing one of the creations!

Another of the boys favorites.

"Rusty", what probably should have been the winner; again, made of completely recycled objects!

Back to Boulder Ridge We Go

2011-10-18T15:24:00.002-05:00

Since only Matthew and I went to Boulder Ridge before I knew our other animal-loving son would want to go to which would mean we would be heading back to the park before the weather turned colder. On a Saturday morning in September, after Joshua's early morning soccer game, we set out to see the animals. Both boys enjoyed it, but Joshua LOVED it as I knew he would. You can get so much closer to the animals and the staff there is so wonderful about answering questions and interacting with the kids. Joshua made instant friends with one of the staff members in the reptile house who shared a lot of information about the creatures there and answered Joshua's questions; he even let Joshua hold a little tortoise, pet a Bearded Dragon and touch the Water Monitor! Joshua was in his element! When we finally left Joshua said, "When I grow up I want to work here and teach about the animals." I have a feeling we will be frequenting Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park in the future.

A Special Night Out!

2011-10-07T15:00:00.001-05:00

On Labor Day my Aunt Cher mentioned that she wanted to take the boys and me to the circus! What a kind gesture!! As soon as Joshua caught wind of this, he was excited! My aunt ended up getting us seats in the box of the company my uncle works for which was truly a good thing when it came to the 2 year old and his attention span. After we had dinner downtown and got to the arena to find the box we were in that night we went down on the arena floor to take part in the circus pre-show. The boys got tattoos, saw clowns and acrobats perform and even got to see one of the elephants up close! Then it was back to our seats so the show could begin. Joshua did very well, attentively watching every act and performer until about 3/4 of the way through the show when he was tired from a long week of school and just wanted the circus to be done. Matthew did really well sitting for the first hour, but after the intermission he had ants in his pants and couldn't seem to sit in his seat for more than a couple minutes at a time so it was a wonderful that he could walk around in the box and get out a few toys to play with. Overall we were impressed with the show, had a great time together and are very grateful to Aunt Cher for bringing us!!

Getting temporary tattoos.

Watching the elephant during the pre-show.

Anxious for the circus to begin!

The tigers were cool to watch!

This was the boys' favorite part of the circus...mini motorcycles all racing around inside this metal ball.

If I remember correctly the final count was 7 motorcycles in there at one time...CRAZY!

Getting the wiggles out during intermission.

The boys' other favorite performance was the elephants!

The end of the parade!

Thank you Aunt Cher for a very special night together!

We Have a Soccer Player In the House

2011-09-29T14:52:00.001-05:00

Joshua expressed an interest in playing soccer on a team at the end of last winter. I thought it was perfect timing as I could just sign him up for the spring.....little did I know how AYSO is played in our little township. As I now know you have to sign you kid up in MAY to play both fall and spring (Joshua was put on a waiting list with a couple dozen other kids for last spring in the case there was an opening - never happened). We made sure to drop off his registration and payment in May, but had to wait until August to find out his team and actually get to practice! He is in the U8 division, practices once a week and has a game bright and early on Saturday mornings. He is not a soccer star, but is definitely learning some good skills as both a soccer player and a team member and he really enjoys it....oh and he thinks he rocks at soccer (which is so precious and innocent that we hope it lasts a while longer). We are proud he is trying his best and learning! Here's to the start of Joshua's soccer career and the start of me being a soccer mom (minus the minivan).

Joshua ready for action (#2).

Go Joshua, GO!

Mommy and Matthew Days Begin!

2011-09-26T14:51:00.000-05:00

These are the days I have been waiting for ever since I had Matthew....odd you might think. I really dislike the infant stage and while being with a toddler is fun, they can't hold much of a conversation or appreciate much. Matthew is finally at the age where I can take him places and do things with him and he understands and enjoys the experience! Now that Joshua is in school full time Matthew and I have lots of time to hang out, play, read and do fun things together just like I did with Joshua at this same age; only now Matthew gets my undivided attention which is something new for him and I think he is groovin' on it. One Friday morning we had no plans so we decided to go explore a new place called Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park. A husband and wife had exotic and unusual animals that they kept on their property, but recently decided to create a park so the public could enjoy the animals too. It's quite small as of yet (part of it you walk around and a larger part you go on a tractor ride for), but they have plans to expand by next spring when they reopen after the winter. I love that this park has unusual animals in it that you can get fairly close to that otherwise kids would only see in books. I really like that this park is so clean and well-maintained (could be cause it's new). I also appreciated the friendly staff. We spent the morning there and I decided Joshua, our little animal lover, needs to come with us the next time so he can enjoy it and appreciate it too.

Matthew getting close to the Wallaby.

Apparently Guinea Pigs are relatives of these funny looking creatures.

A Ring-Tailed Lemur.

A Fennec Fox.

You can pet a baby zebra here! He was amazingly soft and his nose felt like velvet.

A huge 80 year old tortoise. A staff member was letting kids sit on the tortoise, but Matthew had NO interest.

Alligators!

Ostriches

Wildabeast

Joshua's First Day of 1st Grade!

2011-09-18T21:29:00.001-05:00

Not exactly sure where the summer went, but we were up bright and early the morning after Labor Day for the first day of 1st grade. Again, no tears were shed by either of us as Joshua gladly donned his backpack and headed off for the bus stop. He didn't really even want to take time out to have his pictures taken, but that wasn't an option. I wasn't sure if he really understood what it meant that he was going to be at school all day, every day, but he seems to have adjusted fairly well (after a few night-time meltdowns that first week); he is bummed to be missing out on things Matthew and I get to do together, but he is enjoying school. We look forward to another year of growth for Joshua!

And just like that our first grader is off!

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-15T21:10:00.001-05:00

For an extended Labor day weekend we headed out to Muskegon Channel Park to join Cory's parents and sister's family. We enjoy the placement of this campground being right on the channel between Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake. As soon as we arrived we were quickly reminded about why we don't like this campground.....the dirty sand (and I use the term sand loosely as it looks like sand but the kids are black from playing in it) surrounding the campsites. Needless to say there were frequents washings of kids outside and inside the trailer throughout the day and the vacuum got a workout that weekend. The weather was decent, hot most of the time with a cool down by the last day we were there. We were able to swim in both lakes and play on both beaches! The dunes were right across the street from our campsite so the kids ran on them several times and even played there one afternoon after I was sick of the dirty sand elsewhere. I still think the highlight for the kids is playing with their cousins! Another nice, relaxing camping trip to end summer with. Warning, picture overload below!

The Lake Express Ferry traveled through the channel daily.

View of the front of the ferry.

The back of the ferry.

Watching a fishing boat come back in with piles of fish in it!

Cousins: Allison, Joshua, Gabrielle and Matthew

Sam and Matthew building sand creations with grandpa on the beach.

Gabrielle and Joshua spent tons of time hauling rocks from one area of the beach to another.

Taking a break from hauling rocks.

The family playing on our own private little area of the beach.

Sand monster!

Happy beach boy!

Daddy makes for a nice seat in the water.

Where is Matthew?

Blowing a "wisher" (what our boys call dandelions).

Checking out the water temperature.

Running down the beach is always fun! Matthew went pants-less to avoid getting his clothes totally soaked.

Run!

One fall and he was soaked! Guess we should have taken his shirt off to begin with too.

Swimming in the big lake.

Riding the waves with a little help from dad.

Surfing!

Building a "pool" at the edge of the big lake.

Riding the waves on grandma's raft was a hit once Matthew realized it was fun and not scary.

Water boy!

Looking at all the sailboats on the lake.

Spin me dad!

Matthew ate a lot of sand running down the dunes since his little legs were moving to fast to carry him.

Nicholas, Owen and Joshua making a run down the dune.

Go Matthew, go!

Allison helping Matthew run down a dune.

The cousins in age order (minus Aiden who was not there for the picture).

Our little beach boys.

Camping at the lake

2011-09-09T16:13:00.000-05:00

A few weekends ago we went camping at Gun Lake with Cory's parents. We had a nice, relaxing time! The weather wasn't spectacular, but pretty decent. We took his parent's boat out for a ride one day and took people tubing and knee boarding the next. Shawn and Aiden came out to visit a couple of times during the weekend too. The only downside to the whole weekend was a thunderstorm that rolled in at 2pm Saturday (yes, right during Matthew's nap) that knocked the power out. We were without power for several hours; thankfully our lights can run off the battery and our refrigerator/freezer kicked over to running on propane. It was getting to be time to get the kids cleaned up and in bed and the power finally came back on; hallelujah is all I can say as I was not looking forward to having no air conditioning in a tin box. Overall another nice summer weekend!

Matthew, Grandma and Aiden blowing bubbles.

Cory's dad taking a ride on the tube.

Cory's mom trying to ride sitting on the tube.

Apparently it's a bit more of a challenge to sit and get back in the wake.

Shawn at the beginning of his tube ride.

Apparently the ride was a bit too slow for his taste.

Time for a real ride Shawn!

Cory likes to ride the tube with his feet sticking up in the air it seems - we found that a bit silly.

That's better!

2011-09-08T14:42:00.000-05:00

Meet the newest member of the Hager family.......Mocha!

We weren't exactly looking hard for a kitten, but Joshua has been begging for one for almost a year now. In fact one day he and his friends from down the street came up with a list of possible names based on what color and gender the kitten would be! After visiting Cran Hill this summer and seeing how the boys enjoyed the kittens there I thought maybe this would be a good time to get one. I looked briefly on Craigslist and found a white kitten with blue eyes listed. I never had a cat with blue eyes so I wanted to see it. Off we went one night to go take a look at her. Upon our arrival the lady who was giving the kitten away walked right up to our car and said, "I'm colorblind, my daughter just told me it's eyes were green, not blue." Ah.....yea....not what I was looking for. Of course the boys saw the kitten and wanted to get out of the car immediately so we did. The white kitten's personality was great, but she just wasn't very pretty. Sensing our disappointment the lady offered us the option of seeing a tortoise shell (tortie) kitten. As soon as we saw her Joshua and Cory had decided she was the one. These kittens had been born in this family's barn and the mama cat had disappeared right after having them so the lady had to bottle feed 4 little girl kittens (2 white and 2 born black who turned out to be torties). Not only were they hand fed, but loved on and handled by the families 4 children. It doesn't get better than that when looking for a kitten that needs to get along with young children! We took her to her new home that night! The boys were beyond excited with the new little fluff ball. She weighed all of 2 pounds and was 9 weeks when we got her. She is VERY social and doesn't mind be loved on and man-handled by the boys.

Welcome to your new home kitty!

Oops, we forgot to tell you about the big furry orange monster cat that already lives with us! Needless to say Mocha was a tad bit scared of Logan at first (notice how fierce she looks in the picture), but by the end of the night they were already getting along.

Can you tell the boys are in love with our new kitten and can't get enough of her?!?!

More Memories At the Cottage

2011-08-25T14:40:00.004-05:00

We have been able to create so many fun summer memories out at the lake thanks to my uncle and aunts kindness in hosting us many days this summer at their beautiful cottage! Yet again we were graced with a nice day to enjoy the water and all the fun it holds. This particular day my uncle picked up the old Hobie Cat sailboat that was my grandpa's that he hold sold to someone on the lake. We spent a bit of time cleaning it, but overall it is in fantastic shape still! The boys like playing on just me, my brothers and my cousins did back in the day. Another fabulous day and more memories banked.

Cory's obsession this summer, wakeboarding.

My uncle Steve showing off his skills slalom skiing.

He is seriously fast and very good!

Cleaning up and playing on the sailboat.

Hanging out on the sailboat.

Just thought this picture was funny as everyone just had to look at the dead fish we were passing.

Matthew and Rachel.

Joshua steering the boat with Uncle Steve.

The boys playing on the sailboat.

Perhaps a bit random, but just as we pulled into the garage that night our Expedition flipped to 90,000 miles.

Camping at Cran Hill Ranch July 2011

2011-08-14T15:16:00.008-05:00

This post is a bit overdue thanks to our lack of Internet for almost 2 months so bare with me as I back track. We spent a majority of the week of July at Cran Hill Ranch camping with Cory's family and some extended family too! The weather cooperated for the most part, raining at in the wee early hours of the morning while we were all sleeping while the sun shined most of the days. Our days were filled with swimming, tubing, boating, playing in the sand, playing on the playground, visiting the animals, pony rides, tie dying t-shirts, and we of course had to indulge in ice cream each and every night as it is tradition at Cran Hill. Only one little snafu of having the power go out right around dinner time on our last night which in turn stopped all water we had coming into our trailer....thank goodness it was only a couple hours and all was back to normal. We had a wonderful time and look forward to booking our trip next year!

Joshua and Eli playing in the sand.

Cousins and second cousins playing on the playground.

Matthew and Allison being silly together.

Tradition: Eating ice cream on the store's porch steps.

Matthew hanging out with Uncle Paul.

Matthew tie dying his first t-shirt at Cran Hill.

Joshua was able to do a lot of the tie dying of his shirt by himself this year.

Joshua fell in love with the kittens in the barns.

Matthew petting the kittens.

Feeding the goats.

Matthew liked petting the goats.

Grandma and Matthew greeting the donkey.

Joshua on his pony ride.

Lookin' like a pro after so many summers doing this.

Matthew's first pony ride.

Matthew liked his pony ride and doesn't appear to be allergic :)

Trying out daddy's shoes....big shoes to fill.

Matthew and Aiden taking a break from playing outside to color in the trailer.

Joshua and Allison hanging out at the beach - two peas in a pod!

Joshua and Allison playing in the sand.

Finding their tie dye t-shirts on the line.

Joshua modeling his tie dye creation.

Matthew modeling his tie dye t-shirt.

Matthew and another kitty.

Daddy's New Wakeboard

2011-07-26T15:08:00.000-05:00

The boys just had to try out daddy's new wakeboard.........seems they have some growing today before they can actually use it!

Another Beautiful Day at the Cottage

2011-07-25T14:09:00.004-05:00

We braved the bad weather forecast and went out for a visit to the cottage on Saturday anyway. Thankfully the clouds cleared after a few minor sprinkles and the blue sky and sun graced us with their presence the rest of the afternoon and evening making for another beautiful summer day. Cory wakeboarded, my brother slalom skied, and Rachel and I both tried (not all too successfully) to drop a ski, even my uncle got in on the fun this time and slalom skied. Joshua was able to try out the new tube with my cousin Rachel and had a blast too! In the evening we actually got Matthew to try out the EZ Ski and he even briefly stood up while riding it behind the jet ski! Of course there were several boat rides and jet ski rides throughout the day and the night ended with a boat ride in the dark which was definitely a highlight for the boys. We had tons of fun once again thanks to my uncle and aunt and can't thank them enough for creating wonderful summer memories with us.

Playing in the water and the sun tuckers you out!

Joshua and Rachel try out the new tube.

Rachel got her own wild ride on the tube!

Matthew was brave enough to jump off the dock just like Joshua was doing!

It's hard to see, but Matthew is standing up on the EZ Ski!

The littlest EZ Skier we've had yet!

A day at the cottage!

2011-07-21T13:31:00.004-05:00

With another nice weekend on the horizon my aunt Cher called to see if we wanted to come out to the cottage for a day. We of course jumped at the idea since we love being at the cottage, in the water, on the boats and spending time with my aunt and uncle! As expected we had a fabulous summer day! Cory had borrowed his cousin's wakeboard and was determined to get up and wakeboard which he did after a number of attempts! I attempted to drop a ski and was successful for all of 11 seconds which you can see below. As my uncle reminded me, my mom was a great 2 ski skier, but a slalom skier she was not.....thinking I may take after my mom. Joshua did the EZ ski, but seems to get be getting bored with it this summer as it's "too easy". Joshua LOVED swimming, jumping off the dock and jumping off the boat. Seriously, it's hard to get this child out of the water......reminds me of me and my brothers. Another highlight of the day for Joshua was driving (more like steering) the pontoon boat all the way across the lake with my uncle; he was grinning ear to ear and very proud of himself! Matthew enjoyed the water, but not to the extent Joshua did (guess that's hard when you can't swim yet). Matthew loved going on the boats and the jet ski though! My uncle even did some fun fireworks for the boys after dinner! The boys ended the night on the perfect note by catching fireflies before we got them in their PJs and headed back home. This is what summer is all about!

Cory wakeboarding!

This picture makes me look like I know what I am doing.....ha!

One the momma ducks and her babies that we fed.

Jumpin' Joshua!

Matthew showing Aunt Cher his toys during the boat ride.

Checking out the wedding happening on the shore.

Joshua and Matthew helping Uncle Steve drive us back to the cottage.

Joshua was proud of himself for steering us all the way back across the lake with a little help and directing from Uncle Steve.

Fireworks!

Cory even fit some kneeboarding in!

Fourth of July Weekend Away

2011-07-16T15:12:00.002-05:00

For the holiday weekend we headed up north to Cadillac to camp with Cory's parents, his brother and sister and their families. It was a wonderful long weekend filled with lots of time for the cousins to play, fishing, swimming in the lake, boat rides, tubing and easy skiing, playing in the sand, eating delicious food, fires, fireworks and overall just having a nice relaxing and fun time. The highlights for the kids were definitely playing with their cousins along with swimming and playing on the beach. Highlights for the adults were the nightly fires after the kids went to bed, the beach and just generally relaxing. The highlight for Cory was skiing and kneeboarding. It was an absolutely delightful long weekend with fantastic weather and great company! Beware of picture overload below.....

Fishing off the dock.

Matthew giggling with Grandpa.

Playing peek-a-boo with Grandma.

Allison and Joshua having a "private meeting for 6 year olds". Two peas in a pod.

Looking at pictures on Aunt Toni's computer.

A lovely raccoon pelt modeled as a hat at the nature center.

Learning about bears at the nature center.

Matthew enjoying the beach.

Joshua and Sam going for a tube ride together.

Aiden wasn't so sure of the water.

Hanging out with Mazie on the boat.

Matthew's first tube ride!

We got to celebrate Aiden's 2nd birthday and Allison's 6th birthday while camping!

The whole crew with their popsicles from Aunt Toni.

Joshua and Grandpa building together.

The cousins had a great time creating moats and an intricate waterway system together on the beach.

Grandpa and Matthew on the beach.

Matthew proudly showing me his empty popsicle stick.

Our little fish. Seriously this is how Joshua spent the majority of his time when at the beach. It's hard to get this kid out of the water.

Hanging out in the water.

Matthew loved playing with Grandpa in the water!

The men cooking the pizzas on the fire.

Grandpa snuck up on Matthew!

Matthew and Aiden playing together.

Joshua loves to get thrown in the water.....here he is mid-throw!

More cooperative building!

Matthew and daddy having fun together.

Ready to watch the fireworks!

Matthew on a mission to get more water.

Cousins building and Matthew trying to sneak up and surprise Grandpa.

Shawn waves as he goes by, showing off that he can now kneeboard!

Cory kneeboarding.

Gabrielle was the first brave kid to try kneeboarding.....she was successful and loved it!

Posing for a picture before we went off to try Geo caching.

Hiking down the trail to find hidden box.

After not finding the first cache we had to hike a long ways to a second point to at least make the adventure worthwhile for the kids.

"Driving" the boat back to the campsite on the boat trailer.

Pop-its!

Matthew would throw one and after it popped he would laugh and laugh.

Relaxing around the fire and eating s'mores before bed. Perfect way to end a wonderful weekend of camping!

Practicing

2011-07-10T13:36:00.003-05:00

A few days after Joshua learned how to ride his bike we took him to the high school up the street and let him ride around the parking lot. There were very few obstacles to watch out for and lots of space to ride - perfect for a beginner! While Joshua was honing his bike riding skills Mathew was rolling around on his motorcycle and quad. The silly little boy had worn his cape and a mask for the outing so he looked hilarious riding around. Love carefree summer nights like these!

Strawberry Picking!!

2011-06-24T15:13:00.004-05:00

I have been wanting to take the boys strawberry picking this year, but the season is becoming more brief as the rain keeps falling and rotting the berries. Besides being a bit wet and muddy, today it was a good day to go strawberry picking because it was cool instead of hot. We squished our way through the strawberry patch and began our picking, let me rephrase that...I began picking strawberries while Joshua picked weeds and Matthew ate strawberries. Eventually both boys got the hang of picking and we filled up our flat in no time at all. This year many more berries we soft and rotting so that made picking a bit trickier, especially with kids. After an hour we had 11 pounds of strawberries and two wet, muddy, strawberry stained, happy kids and one happy mom. Now to clean and freeze some strawberries, make a strawberry pie and enjoy the fruits of our labor!

Uh Joshua, we are here to pick strawberries, not weeds my dear!

Matthew found a good strawberry to pick.

Can I eat this one too mom?!?!

Joshua finally realized we were there to pick strawberries!

Matthew liked to help by dumping the rotten berries.

My little strawberry picking helpers.

All done picking, time to sample!

Yum!!

Matthew adding more juice to his already strawberry-stained face.

No Training Wheels for Joshua!!

2011-06-24T14:35:00.006-05:00

We've been telling Joshua all spring that this summer he was going to learn to ride his bike with no training wheels. So last week I worked with Joshua as he screamed and cried and yelled and cried some more for over an hour. I tried the traditional "holding onto the back of the seat", but he seemed to have no balance. I even went so far as to taking the pedals off his bike so he could use his bike like a ride on toy and practice balancing that way. Nothing helped. He was mad at me for the rest of the day and all through the night that I would dare make him ride a bike. I totally expected his whole reaction and predicted it months before the training wheels ever came off, but after dealing with it for over an hour last week I pretty much gave up hope that Joshua riding a two wheeler this summer was going happen. To say he is STUBBORN is putting it very mildly. When the child has no desire to do something (even if we know he CAN do it) he won't.

My friend had told me about a "learn how to ride your bike" class that her friend's son had taken at Gymco. Now that I'd given it a try with Joshua I knew it was a challenge better suited for him to conquer without the help of Cory or me so I signed him up online. The class was Wednesday afternoon and Joshua was nervous from the moment he found out he was going. It was Joshua and two other boys his age taking the class. He was putting on his brave face until he realized the teacher wanted the parents to leave for the class. He had a few tears, but a hug helped and he was off gliding (using his feet to push his bike around like a ride on toy) around the parking lot. I ran a couple of errands and when I returned an hour and half later this is what I saw!!!

Lo and behold, the stubborn child CAN ride a two wheeler! After lots of cheering and praise watching him show off his new skill I talked to the instructor. The teacher totally agreed with the need to have Joshua in this class saying that it would have been a huge struggle for us as parents to teach him since he had a huge fear and lots of anxiety about it and it's better that someone he doesn't know teaches him so they are connected with that fear and anxiety, not us. The teacher told me how he had watched Joshua glide with ease and do a good job at balancing so he knew Joshua was ready to actually ride the bike. When the teacher asked Joshua to put his feet on the pedals and try pedaling/riding the bike Joshua screamed and cried at him and even told him he was mean. Thankfully the teacher has dealt with kids like Joshua before and gave him some good ol' tough love and kept pushing Joshua to ride his bike. Sure enough, after a little pep talk Joshua took right off! I am so thankful this class was available, the teacher understood Joshua's personality and pushed through it with him!!! It was totally worth every penny we spent!

We have been practicing every day day since the class and although Joshua still has some fears and anxiety he is pushing through it and getting better and better. Today there were NO tears and he actually asked to ride down the street another time! We still have some skills to work on with him such as getting him to start on his own and turning better, but he is well on his way! We have no idea where Joshua's strong fear and anxiety is coming from regarding riding his bike (he has never had a bad fall or any bad experience involving a bike), but riding a bike has been a HUGE challenge for him and we are VERY proud of him for doing it!! WAY TO GO JOSHUA!!

Father's Day

2011-06-23T14:15:00.007-05:00

We started out the day by giving Cory his Father's Day present, a T-shirt Joshua and I customized on a website and ordered for him. Joshua came up with the words pretty much on his own - we tweaked it a bit for the finished product. The shirt says, "Fix-It Daddy" above and below says, "He can build or fix just about anything". After church we went right out to the cottage to celebrate with my extended family. It wasn't the most beautiful of Michigan days, but we enjoyed the warm, overcast day. We spent a little time in the water before having lunch and then it was time for skiing and kneeboarding. We even let Matthew skip his nap so he could be part of all the fun. Joshua did the EZ ski for a while behind the jet ski, but didn't have any desire to do it behind the boat this time. I skiied and actually tried dropping a ski, but just couldn't get my foot in the back binding so I would only go several feet and fall. Cory skiied and kneeboarded as did my brother Phil. Cory also tried wakeboarding without much success. Guess we will just have to go back and try a few things again! We ended the day with a leisurely pontoon ride around the lake in which both boys were just giddy running around the boat. We were all exhausted when we finally got home from all the fun of the day. A huge thanks to my uncle and aunt for having us out to their cottage!!
Cory is a fantastic father who loves to spend time with the boys (okay not when the boys are fighting or being annoying, but who could blame him). We are so thankful for a husband/daddy who works hard for his family and puts them as a priority. We are blessed! So thankful that Cory could spend the day just how he wanted....having fun in and on the water!

Helping daddy unwrap his gift.

"Fix-It Daddy T-shirt" from the boys.

Matthew takinga ride on the jet ski with Uncle Phil

Joshua takes a spinning jump into the water while Matthew, my cousin Whitney and her husband Mark watch.

Me skiing.

The spotters in the boat.

Cory skiing and apparently squinting since his contacts were still in.

Aunt Cher and Joshua watching the kneeboarding from the dock.

Cory kneeboarding.

Uncle Phil, Matthew and Joshua laying on the back of the pontoon boat during our ride.

Uncle Steve answering one of Joshua's many questions while on our boat ride.

Videos below of Cory kneeboarding, Phil kneeboarding (and wiping out) and me skiing.

More Fishing

2011-06-23T13:51:00.004-05:00

Yet another post about fishing as it seems to be what the boys in the house are really enjoying these summer evenings. Not only does Joshua enjoy fishing, but the last couple times Matthew has showed an interest too. Matthew fished with daddy for a bit this last time and had fun so we've since gotten him his own little fishing pole. On this particular night that we fished Joshua caught a little tiny blue gill and instead of throwing it back he kept it on his hook and use it as bait; apparently it was pretty good bait since about 15 seconds after he cast it into the lake a bass was on his hook! We are lovin' summer and all the fun things that come with it!

Reeling in a Bass as it tries to get off the hook by jumping out of the water.

Joshua and yet another Bass that he caught!

Watching the big Bass swim away.

Caught another one!

Matthew fishing with daddy.

Matthew caught a little Perch!

Matthew thought he was big stuff fishing with daddy.

Homeade Popsicles

2011-06-20T14:24:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine put a recipe for homemade Kool-Aid and Jello popsicles on facebook that we just had to try. One little problem though....my popsicle molds seemed to have disappeared over the years, that or when we moved I chucked them instead of moved them. After new molds were purchased we were able to make the delightful frozen treats. They are fun to make and oh so tasty!! Here is a link to the recipe (I adjusted it the recipe to use the whole envelope of Kool-Aid and it made the perfect amount to fill our 8 molds).

Pouring the water in and mixing up the ingredients.

Getting the lids on the popsicle molds.

"When will these be ready to eat?"

We have a fisherman in the house.

2011-06-18T14:09:00.000-05:00

Joshua has really discovered fishing this summer and LOVES it! We decided to see what could be caught, if anything, in the pond/lake in our neighborhood which is catch and release. Surprise, surprise it has been the best place to fish! We started by using a friend's empty lot, but have since moved to a house that has foreclosed/vacant that has a little beach. Joshua has out-fished his dad and caught several blue gill, a few perch and some good size bass while Cory has only caught a few bass (14-16 inches long). Joshua doesn't mind the worms, holding the fish or even trying to get the hook out; seems he likes it all! I see a lot more fishing in our future!

Trying to get the hook out.

Reeling a fish in.

Got it!

Joshua and the good size blue gill he caught (Cory called it the Applebees fish - it's been eating good in the neighborhood)!

Happy fisherman!

A bass Joshua caught.

Clay, our neighbor, fished with us too and caught a bass.

Cory finally caught a bass too!

Cory and his bass.

One Busy Day!

2011-06-13T14:48:00.004-05:00

We rang in the first day of our summer (Saturday) with a jam-packed day of activities. The day began with my neighbor-friend Christy and I running in the Diemer 5K (I got my second fastest time), following that was the parade that our husbands and kids joined us for and to round out the morning Joshua and his neighbor-friends, Corrinne and Hunter, ran the Jr. Jog. The parade wasn't as exciting as we had hoped for, but the kids got candy and they were happy! The Jr. Jog was cute; each gender and age group had their turn to warm up with Brian Diemer and then run their lap. Joshua did a great job running and had fun doing it; he got a "medal" and a water bottle full of coupons and goodies.
After a morning of excitement is was time for a quick lunch and short nap for Matthew. Then it was off to Cory's parents church for a Downhill Derby. Cory was supposed to race his dad's car, but after it got hung up on the starting ramp he opted to use his mom's "Gramma Mobile" instead. Cory and his brother Shawn raced against each other the first time and Shawn won by a ton. Shawn ended up placing second in their age class and Cory followed, placing third in the same class. Two of Cory's sister's kids raced the "Gramma Mobile" and one of them, Gabrielle, placed second in her age class. Even Cory's mom bravely raced in her age class and placed second. It fun afternoon and evening watching people race, eating some delicious junk food and just enjoying the day. Not a bad way to start out the summer!

Watching the parade after the 5K with Corrinne, Christy and Hunter.

Walking to the Jr. Jog.

Getting ready to race!

Listening to directions.

Warming up with Brian Diemer.

Run!!

Joshua sporting his medal and water bottle filled with stuff. (Excuse the squinty/almost closed eyes, he said it was too bright for a picture.)

Shawn smokes Cory at the Downhill Derby!

Cory driving the "Gramma Mobile".

Matthew gets a ride after the derby is done.

This Crazy Kid Can

2011-06-13T14:48:00.001-05:00

Kindergarten Graduation

2011-06-09T13:52:00.004-05:00

Tuesday afternoon was kindergarten graduation at school. I went early to help set up and get things ready for the "big" event while grandpa and grandma came to take care of Matthew and get him down for his nap. Yes, I was one of those few parents that is weird and didn't invite a litany of family members to the graduation (just Cory and I went which was plenty) nor did I ever shed a tear. It was a short and simple little program, but quite cute. They sang a few songs complete with motions - one about how much they have grown and are ready for first grade which was super cute. Then each kindergartner received an award. Joshua received the award for Character Education (if you are wondering what that is about, you are not alone, so are we) - the whole school learned about different character traits this year so I am guessing that Joshua got the award because he displayed those character traits. After the brief program we had cookies, took pictures and watched a video with pictures from their year in kindergarten. I am amazed that this year flew by so quickly and I've even more excited to see how Joshua has grown over the course of the year in many different areas. His teacher was fabulous and he learned a lot from her! I can't believe by the end of the week (they have school through Friday morning) we will officially have a first grader in our house, crazy!! The little reception area out in the Kindergarten learning center.

The graduate upon receiving his Character Education award.

Showing off his award.

Joshua with his fabulous teacher, Mrs. Montgomery.

Joshua and his friend Jocelyn.

Good buddies since they were babies!

Joshua with his friend Tyce.

Joshua and Jocelyn, class of 2023!

A picture of the graduate with his mom and dad.

Fishing

2011-06-07T10:21:00.003-05:00

While we camping Memorial day weekend Shawn told Joshua that they would go fishing some morning just the dads and the big boys (no little brothers allowed). This sounded like a fabulous idea to Joshua and for the next few days all Joshua did was ask when they were going to go fishing. Since our summer weekends seem to be filling up quickly Shawn and Cory decided to take the boys out fishing Sunday morning. Owen caught two Blue Gill and Joshua ended up catching a Bass. Too bad their fun fishing morning turned into bad news as Shawn found out that something is wrong with the boat that he and his parents own; let's just there were some stories about the dads having to row with an oar and ski to get the boat back to shore.

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-06-06T13:48:00.001-05:00

Despite the less than stellar weather memorial day weekend we headed out to Macatawa campground in Holland with Shawn, Erin, Owen and Aiden. It was a bit chilly Friday night when we arrived and that trend continued through Saturday. Saturday afternoon we headed off on a hike up to Mt. Pisgah to see Lake Michigan and Lake Macatawa. The boys had a blast running through the woods and figuring out which way the trail was going to lead us. Even the little boys hung in there on the long hike. The boardwalk view wasn't quite as breathtaking as it can be due to the overcast sky, but was beautiful nonetheless. Sunday morning we took the kids to the channel to watch the boats and play in the sand which we all enjoyed! Sunday afternoon we spent in our trailer and a little field trip to Walmart (we were bored) due to the thunderstorms that rolled through. Thankfully the severe weather missed us, but it made for a soggy evening for dinner, playing outside and trying to start a fire. Monday we headed back to the beach in the morning so the kids could watch boats, play in the sand and stick their toes in cold Lake Michigan. After a much needed stop to get ice cream it was time to pack up and head home. We had a nice, relaxing time and can't wait for more camping trips this summer!

Owen and Joshua checking the sign to see where the trail leads.

Cory playing Tarzan as he swings on the vines.

Matthew hiking along with daddy.

Stopping to blow the dandelion fuzz.

All the boys hiking up Mt Pisgah to the boardwalk.

We reached to top!!

Matthew spots Lake Michigan.

Looking at the boats on the big lake.

Climbing down the gazillion stairs to the bottom. Thankful we went down, not up!

The maze of stairs.

The boys enjoying the campfire.

Yummmmm! Nothing tastier than a roasted marshmallow!

Joshua was very excited to see the sheriff boat out!

The little boys were more interested in playing in the sand than watching the boats.

Sand monster.

Testing Lake Michigan.......brrrrrr!

Joshua of course had to throw a few rocks in the water too.

Buddies - Aiden wouldn't let anyone besides Joshua hold his hand and help him walk back up the beach.

Our Little Nature Lover Strikes Again!

2011-05-20T14:42:00.004-05:00

I found a baby turtle in our backyard a couple weeks ago when Joshua was at school and we kept him for a week before I urged (and then forced) Joshua to return the turtle to the wetlands behind us so the little turtle could live a life of freedom. Joshua wasn't thrilled to let his little buddy go, but relented with teary eyes. After returning the turtle we explored the wetlands a bit more and had a great night enjoying God's creation especially the rainbow we saw while it was raining sunny all at the same time!

Long awaited project in progress

2011-05-20T14:31:00.002-05:00

So since moving to this house over two years ago Cory has always had a vision of building a playhouse that looks like a caboose for the boys. Since there were so many things to tackle in the last two years . . . settling in, building a shed, dealing with an infant again, putting in landscaping and a lawn, constructing a playground, you get the drift . . . this project has been on the back burner so to speak. Almost 2 months ago Cory mentioned the idea to his dad who immediately jumped on the bandwagon and started drawing up designs. The platform for the caboose was built mid-April and since then the walls and roof have been framed and copula attached, outside siding up. This weekend we hope to get the outside portion of the project more toward completion, if the weather decides to cooperate and quit raining for a couple of days. Amazing what Cory and his dad can come up with when they put their minds together! Cory's dad was even able to snag real, functional, double hung windows from a display they didn't need at work! After the outside is completed the inside will still need some attention as a loft and ladder needs to be built as well as a table and bench, but that will come. To say the boys (and I mean ALL the boys, yes Cory and his dad included) are beyond excited about this caboose playhouse is an understatement! More pics to come as construction progresses.

Joshua is 6!!

2011-05-19T14:27:00.005-05:00

Oh the drama. It seems as though for several years now right around the time of his birthday and Christmas Joshua has behavior issues. This birthday was no different so he actually lost all of his presents and had to earn them back with good behavior over the course of two days. Yes, feel free to judge, but we are mean parents and really did take the presents away; he needs to understand that his actions have consequences no matter if it's his birthday or not. Someday I hope that whole "actions have consequences" thing sinks in. He was finally able to open two gifts one day and two the next after earning them back - thus he is wearing different clothes in the pictures below.

I can't really believe he is six already and will be headed to 1st grade is just a few short months! Wow! Along with stubbornness, having an attitude, and having a temper come the more lovable qualities that Joshua has of being a curious kid who likes to learn about things, a science/God's creation/animal lover, an amazing little artist, a good writer, and child who loves to be read to and is learning the enjoyment of reading himself. He loves school and enjoys Sunday school as well. It's been another year of growth in a variety of areas. He is still sensitive, but is learning how to not be overly sensitive. He has learned to be a more caring and kind friend to others and it's really fun to hear about who he plays with and what they play. Joshua has learned so much this year cognitively, it's incredible. He was having a tough time with the whole learning to read deal (specifically blending the sounds together), but we've been working through a book a friend suggested and he has come a long way, reading with more ease and more importantly, confidence! We look forward to seeing you grow and learn more each day Joshua and thank God for blessing our family with you . . .I'm sure God has big plans for you!

A Playmobil pirate set.

He wasn't groovin' on it, but I made him take a second to smile for a picture.

The Hot Wheels RC car he so badly wanted!

Yeah, more Hot Wheels stuff!

A new track for his cars.

A Nerf Bow!

The Boys' Birthday Bash!

2011-05-13T14:18:00.007-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, between the boys' birthdays, we had our families over to celebrate. We loosely did a train theme for the party/cake due to the fact that both boys LOVE the freight train that runs right behind our house. I made the invitations to their party which included a couple of pictures of the boys on one of the engines that can often be seen chugging through our backyard (I even got permission to take the boys down to the train yard and take some pictures). Thankfully the afternoon and evening of the party turned out to be quite beautiful so the kids were able to take full advantage of the toys in the backyard. The trampoline, a gift from our neighbors when they moved and didn't want to take it with them, was a huge hit with all the kids and a few of the adults too! After a full-on taco bar meal the kids got to open their gifts; once again they were spoiled with many nice things - thank you families! Then it was on to cake and ice cream. My friend Tammy came through once again with a fabulous train cake complete with an engine, milk and cookie car, a coal car and a wood car! She does amazing work and the boys were beyond thrilled with her creation! It was a fun-filled evening of celebrating!

The kids were happy to play outside!

Jumping and bouncing!

Matthew and I having a turn on the trampoline.

Even grandma braved the trampoline.

The cousins eating dinner together.

A new shirt from Papa for Matthew.

Joshua and his remote control loader from Grandma and Grandpa.

Checking out Matthew's new wheelbarrow from Grandma and Grandpa.

Joshua gets one of his favorite movies.

A new "Queen" umbrella for Matthew from Uncle Phil.

Lego in one hand, Playmobil in the other makes for one very happy Joshua!

Playmobil Noah's Ark from Papa!

A new picnic table/water table from the aunts and uncles.

The train cake!

The front view.

Side view.

Singing happy birthday to the birthday boys.

Blowing out their candles.

Trying out his new wheelbarrow.

Putting together his new speedboat from Papa.

A picture of all the little train engineers who came to celebrate!

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

2011-05-01T16:34:00.000-05:00

One night as my friend Christy (who is also a neighbor) and I talked we decided it would be really fun to do a neighborhood Easter Egg hunt for the kids. We picked a date, time and place in the neighborhood to meet, put out a flyer to let everyone know and were excited to see who would show. The weather that day was definitely not ideal as every step was squishy and squashy, but at least it had stopped raining. It was more of a scramble rather than a hunt as the parents just scattered eggs about, but the kids had a riot running around and gathering up the eggs. After such a long and drawn out winter of being stuck inside it was nice to get out and see people in the neighborhood again. I think this is definitely something we will try to do again next year just for fun.

Obligatory dyeing of the eggs

2011-04-25T14:21:00.005-05:00

I really hadn't thought much about dyeing eggs this year. It's not like we dye them and then eat them at our house, they are merely decoration. Thursday night Joshua put his request in. I obliged and hard boiled the eggs so we could dye them Friday afternoon. It took all of 15 minutes from start to finish to dye the eggs to just the right shades of color to satisfy the boys. Even Matthew tried his hand at dyeing this year and surprisingly we had only one casualty from his not-so-gentle handling of the eggs! They both enjoyed the process! I'll probably cave in next year and do it again with them even though I'm not a huge fan, they obviously are.

Matthew is 2!

2011-04-22T14:37:00.006-05:00

Wednesday Matthew turned 2! It was so different from last year as this year the little stinker seemed to know just what was going on! He woke up to his favorite, a balloon! He was tickled by a donut donned with candles, but after blowing out his candles he didn't take a bite of his sugary breakfast and instead opted for a NutriGrain bar (silly child)! The day didn't consist of a ton of celebrating (the big bash isn't until next weekend), but we did go out for dinner to a McDonald's with a play land because when asked where he wanted to eat Matthew said, "Donalds". After dinner it was present opening and cake time! It was so fun to see him enjoy his little celebration!

Thursday Matthew went to the pediatrician's office for his well-child visit. His stats are as follows . . . .
Height: 33.5 in. (27%)
Weight: 26 lbs. 9 oz. (32%0
Head circumference: 48 cm (32%)
(Just a note he was measured at 33.5 in at his 18 month appointment, but the pediatrician said that measurements are always off when they switch from measuring them laying down to standing up. So, it seems they were generous with their 18 month measurement.) We also discovered he had a raging ear infection in one ear and the start of another ear infection in the other ear, poor kiddo.

Matthew is generally a happy little guy who likes to be silly and make us laugh (seriously he makes us laugh daily). He is an active and curious little boy who adores his big brother (most of the time) and copies him constantly. His language has exploded and is non-stop!! He will say anything you ask him too and is saying lots of 2 and 3 word utterances all the time - so nice to be able to verbally communicate. He loves running, climbing, jumping, making messes and reading books. Some days he can be caught actually playing with a toy for more than 3 minutes, but it's not the norm yet. He doesn't even watch TV for more than 5 min., but I'm not complaining about that! He seems to catch on to things very quickly and has quite the little memory for a two year old. He truly is a joy most of the time. He has followed suit and has quite the stubborn streak, but it has yet to rival his brother's. He is learning how to control his anger and has had numerous time outs (and has had for several months now) for hitting. He is a poor eater, but a good sleeper (this mama would rather have a sleeper than an eater). He still has lots of chubby, kissable baby parts that I am lovin' on since I know that we are truly now in the throws of toddler hood and all to soon on the way to becoming a preschooler. Praying that God continues to bless Matthew with many more years of growth!

Birthday breakfast!

Blowing out his candles!

More practicing of blowing out candles.

Opening up his first present with a little help from Joshua.

His first motorcycle (and his last if I have anything to say about it)!

Mr. Potato Head!

Dressing up the potato.

Unwrapping his gifts like a pro now that he's 2.

Playing with his new car carrier.

One last gift.....a Hot Wheels track for the bathtub!

Ready, set, go!!

Motorcycle man!

Vera

2011-04-19T14:08:00.002-05:00

Last Wednesday at the 4:30am my aunt and I ventured down to Fort Wayne, IN for the annual Vera Bradley Outlet Sale. It doesn't sound like much, but think of a coliseum floor filled to the brim with table upon table of stacks and stacks of Vera product. You can get some fantastic deals on some great stuff. This year we purchased tickets for a particular time slot (7:30am-10:00am) which was much nicer than last year where no one had a time slot. We did a lot less waiting in lines this time around and the selection was much better than last year. We each came home with bags filled to the brim of things for ourselves (a little birthday celebrations for ourselves since our birthdays were coming up) as well as tons of gifts to give others over the next year. We were tired as we ventured home, but it was well worth it and we had a wonderful day together!

The boys had fun while I was gone to because they had daddy all to themselves. While I was away, Cory had taken the day off and actually started a much anticipated project in our backyard for the boys. More to come on that later as it progresses.

What we've been doing this spring break . . .

2011-04-06T15:48:00.011-05:00

So what do you do when you are staying home for spring break?!? Well for us it's not very different than any other week since Joshua is only is school 2-3 days a week. However, we are trying to make things a bit more special this week. So far we've gone to Owen's superhero birthday party and Joshua got to have a sleepover with Owen too! I took Joshua to see Megamind at the movie theater on Sunday afternoon since he was free and I was only $3.50, of course the popcorn and pop cost a small fortune. Tuesday morning we went with our friends to the Grand Rapids Ballet to see their special spring break performance for kids of "The Aquatic Adventures of Johnny Starfish and the Mermaids" which Joshua really enjoyed! Before the performance they had activities set up in the lobby for the kids to do and it included trying on some costumes and masks from past ballets. Joshua actually tried on a few masks/hats that have been used in past ballet performances! Grandma graciously watched Matthew while we were gone and she had just happened to bring Nicholas along with her; so Joshua and Nicholas ended up playing all afternoon! Today we went down to our library for the grand opening of KDLville there. The boys had a great time trying out all the activities they had their as well as discovering all the new toys our library now has! Joshua even got to have his face painted like a tiger! Hopefully the rest of spring break will be as enjoyable as it has been so far!

Owen, the birthday boy, opening the scooter we got him.

Is that Owen or Spiderman?

Joshua trying on one of the masks Owen got for his birthday.

Owen and the awesome cake his mom made him!

Owen's surprise from all of his grandparents and his parents!

Hunter, Joshua and Corrinne waiting for the ballet to begin.

Trying on one of the hats that is part of a ballet costume.

Scary wolf or Joshua, it's hard to tell!

Butterflies!

2011-03-31T14:21:00.006-05:00

Yesterday we ventured over to the Gardens to see the butterflies that are there right now. This is our first visit this to the butterflies, but certainly not our last! It was a beautiful, sunny day so the butterflies were very active. Joshua love every minute of it, well except "all the walking". On the other hand, Matthew was excited at first but as time ticked by he seemed more frightened of the winged creatures. While we were in the observatory we even saw butterflies being collected from the bungalow and released which was pretty neat. We spent a majority of our time in the butterflies, but Joshua made sure we spent some time in seeing the Jim Dine sculptures too. Being such a beautiful day we were even able to spend some time in the children's garden and the boys were able to do some fun activities. It was a fabulous morning that we hope to go back and repeat very soon!

Joshua spent quite a bit of time studying the butterfly life cycle exhibit on display.

Peering into the butterfly bungalow watching butterflies being collected for release.

The butterfly bungalow was a busy place.

Releasing the butterflies!

Fly away!

Snack break

An odd species.....the Joshua butterfly.

A very odd species.....the cranky, I do NOT want a picture, Matthew butterfly.

Checking out the butterflies with magnifying glasses.

Dressing up like a butterfly. (He specifically wanted to dress up like a Blue Morpho to match the one tattooed on my back).

Building a butterfly.

On the way home Joshua drew the life cycle of the butterfly. Amazing how much they absorb and remember! Note: He had labeled everything with his own inventive spelling words, but ended up erasing them because he wanted to write them absolutely right (surprisingly he only had to add a 't' to hatching to make it correct).

Mini vacation

2011-03-22T23:18:00.004-05:00

This past weekend we took the boys to Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City. We haven't been there since Joshua was little so it was fun to see how he approached things at the water park now that he is older. With two little fishes we figured the water park would be a big hit and we were right. Neither of the boys could get enough, but especially Joshua. Matthew enjoyed the kiddie pool area complete with slides, until he realized there was a hot tub which quickly became his favorite spot. Joshua went down all but one slide there, even though he declared he wouldn't go down any when we arrived - he particularly enjoyed the slides in the tree fort and became Mr. Independent running through the fort and waiting in line for his turn on the slides all on his own. This year Joshua was excited about trying out the MagiQuest game throughout the hotel and he loved every minute of his "quests" - you buy a special wand and then go on quests throughout the hallways to find the hidden objects to complete the quests and climb the ranks of "junior magi", "senior magi" and finally "master magi". He achieved "master magi" status by the end of day 2, but we didn't have time to complete the two remaining master magi quests of fighting a goblin and a dragon so he hopes to do that when we return to Great Wolf in the future. Between visits to the water park and going on quests we were also able to fit in a pajama story time with Wiley the Wolf and Violet as well as a trip to the ice cream store. We had a fabulous weekend together as a family and created some very fun memories too! Be warned, there is an excess of pictures below. . . .

Happy kid loved playing in all the water!

Trying out one of the slides.

Joshua even enjoyed the kiddie slides!

Racing brothers.

Joshua coming down his favorite slide.

Cory making a big splash! Can you see his foot in the air?!

Climbing across the lily pads.

This was a spot both boys enjoyed as they jumped and jumped and jumped into the pool.

Getting some air!

Matthew loved jumping to daddy.

Playing in the kiddie pool.

More sliding.

Matthew and his favorite person, daddy!

This pretty much sums up our weekend!

More swimming.

The littlest fish in our family.

Again, grinning from ear to ear!

One fish, two fish . . . .orange fish, blue fish!

Waiting for pajama story time to begin.

Violet and Wiley at story time.

Joshua hugging Wiley.

This is as close as Matthew would get to the characters.

Pretending to be maimed by the bear, thus the weird look on his face.

Huggin' on the stuffed wolf.

Watching the water park close for the night.

Yum, ice cream!!!!

I'm not sure why attempt to get pictures of the two of them together.

Waking up the suit of armor with his wand.

On his final quest to become a "master magi".

Opening the final treasure!

Just a couple video clips of our fun in the water park.....

Joshua is in the left of the screen dancing around in the orange swim shirt and Cory is on the far right holding Matthew in his arms. All the boys enjoyed getting drenched by the dumping bucket of water numerous times.

Keeping up with Matthew

2011-03-15T14:39:00.003-05:00

What do I do all day?!?! Pick up the CONSTANT tornado of messes the little, active almost 2 year old boy leaves in his wake. Seriously, the kid can destroy a room in 2.2 seconds! The pictures below only capture a few minutes of the never-ending battle I seem to face every waking moment with this child. Getting him to pick up is a major challenge as his attention span only seems to last all of 30 seconds and cleaning up isn't what he finds fun. Oh how I can't wait for this stage to pass us by! All his toys in his room were subject to his dumping habits today.

And there sits the tornado of a child amidst all the stuff innocently looking at books (before those get thrown and added to the pile of chaos).

Next stop, dumping all the bathtub toys out in the bathtub and playing in the tub fully clothed of course. At least this little mess kept him happily occupied for quite some time and allowed me to clean all the other "dump" sites up.

Excitement

2011-03-11T15:40:00.003-05:00

Last night Cory called on his way home from work and said gas was still cheaper up the street from us than anywhere else so he was going to top the tank in the Expedition off. I went out and started it so he could just hop in and drive off. Apparently not soon after I started it the engine shut off. Odd. The garage smelled and the truck wouldn't start again. Thankfully we have AAA so we called and had a tow truck come and take it away to be fixed. The boys were beyond excited when the huge flat bed tow truck arrived! I was not as it meant we were stuck at home the next day and I was hoping to get out and visit my grandpa. After a new fuel something-er-other and lovely bill today we will hopefully be able to pick up our car tonight. At least the boys enjoyed the tow truck.

More boredom busters

2011-02-21T15:23:00.004-05:00

We were supposed to have a play date today, but the weather stopped that from happening. So, what to do on a day that I really hadn't planned on being stuck inside for?!? Pull some ideas from the recesses of brain that I used to use daily when teaching preschool. Last night I made meringue cookies just like my mom used to make, which you might know only call for egg whites so I saved the egg yolks not knowing what in the world for. Today I pulled the egg yolks out and we made paint with them! Perfect! You simply add a couple drops of food coloring to a little bit of egg yolk and you have paint! The best part is the paint dries glossy unlike regular tempera paint. That kept Joshua busy for a good half hour, while Matthew could have cared less after 5 minutes. So, what to do next?! With lunch on the horizon I pulled another simple, but fun activity out of my brain that I thought the boys would love. Can't believe I didn't pull this idea out sooner as it was a HUGE hit with my kids. Painting on toast! Actually you mix a little bit of milk with food coloring and paint that on un-toasted bread, pop it in the toaster and the kiddos have a colorful treat to eat when it comes out. Simple, easy and fun! Who knows what other ideas I might have to pull out of my brain and dust off to get us through the rest of this loooong winter.

Painting their bread for lunch.

Yum!!

Joshua's first creation.

Trying out his masterpiece.

Weird and wacky, but fun

2011-02-21T15:03:00.005-05:00

A lady comes to our house once a month for a program called Bright Beginnings (a parents as educators program). We have had the same lady, Dawn visiting for the last 4 1/2 years (since Joshua was about 1 1/2 years old). We've gotten to know each other fairly well over the years and she knows I love new arts, crafts, science things to do with my kids. Last week she came with something called Orbeez. I had heard of them, but thought you needed to buy a $25 machine (not so apparently) to make them so I never really looked very closely at them. The are little tiny balls that you soak in water for a few hours and they grow into little balls of gel that kids can play with - think floral gel, but more kid friendly. I simply bought a small package at Mejier and Target to $5.99 that contains three colors each and we soaked 1/3 of each of the 6 colors. It's a nice clean sensory activity for both boys, especially Matthew and also a great fine motor activity for both of them. Joshua enjoys using the storage containers they came with to create pictures too. Right now we have them stored in an air-tight container and so far so good, but I'm guessing they will either get too slimy to play with or dry back out over time. At least we saved 2/3 of them to make another time.

This is a before of a how an Orbeez starts out in comparison with one that soaked in water for 3 hours. Quite the difference!

Joshua creating a "picture" with the Orbeez.

Matthew enjoying the sensory experience.

Showing off his Orbeez creations.

Be-an artsy

2011-02-20T14:42:00.001-05:00

With the warmer temps and disappearing snow last week playing outside after school was a wet option and by the end of the week children were getting bored with the toys they'd played with all week so we had to think of some alternate fun. I had seen this activity in Family Fun a while back where you can create pictures using different kinds of beans/lentils. I bought a varitey of beans and lentils a couple months ago, but never dug it out until last week. Joshua and his friend Corrinne spent about 45 minutes creating and loved it! Even Matthew got in on a bit of the fun, although after a few minutes he was more interested in taking beans and dropping them on the table. Definitely an activity we will do again.

The creation on the top is Matthew's, the flower is mine and the other two are Joshua's creations. The picture on the pink paper is a giraffe eating leaves off of a tree.

Our Little Valentine's

2011-02-14T15:19:00.003-05:00

Silly boys!

Check it out . . . . .

Matthew 2/14/2011 - 21 months old

Joshua 2/14/2007 - 21 months old

Can you tell they are brothers?!?

School Valentine Party

2011-02-14T14:56:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday afternoon was Joshua's school Valentine's party. Thanks to my dad being willing to watch Matthew and put him down for his nap, I was able to go watch all the excitement first hand. They played some cute games and did a little craft, ate some treats and the most anticipated activity of the day was looking at all the Valentines they received. Fun, sugary times!

Valentine Creating

2011-02-10T15:07:00.004-05:00

As Joshua and I looked through Family Fun magazines for ideas for his class valentines there was a clear and definite choice for him. . . . a valentine ipod. I couldn't say no as making these cute little kinds of crafts are fun for me to do, okay well at least the first few are fun to make and usually after that I am over it. We gathered our supplies and began working on them slowly, over the course of several days as these valentines were a bit labor intensive. It wasn't a kid-friendly project so Joshua basically signed his name on each of them and glued his friends pictures on, which he was thankfully fine with. Joshua is very excited to pass them out to his friends so I guess all that work was worth it.

Joshua also had to make a box to bring to school to collect his valentines in. My kid couldn't just do a plan old box, oh no he found a picture (good ol' Family Fun again) of a valentine boat box which he thought would be fun. We got to creating once again, but at least this time he could help with the gluing, taping and decorating. His boat is ready to be filled with all kinds of valentines!

Doing his part of signing his name and gluing his friend's pictures on his valentines.

Valentine boat ready to collect Joshua's Valentines!