Gymnastics!

I finally remembered to snap a few pics of Josiah's gymnastics class! He has been taking gymnastics lessons since late May or early June, just after he turned two. You must be two years old to enroll in the parent-tot class. Mackenzie has been taking lessons for several months, and Josiah just could not wait to get out there, too! I'm so glad he is now old enough to have his own little class to look forward to attending each week. He LOVES it! Mr. Eric is the teacher. Here's the little class stretching and warming up.
Mr. Eric watching as Josiah pulls his feet up to the bar he is holding.
Josiah loves to jump into the "foam block pit" at the end of the balance beam.
Here he is doing a forward roll.

Zoo & Barney!

To catch you up on our past two weekends... We've been at the zoo! We had not been in quite some time as it is expensive. We found some coupons and went last weekend. After a few hours spent enjoying the animals and kiddie play area, we upgraded to season passes. If you go more than one time per year, this is WAY more cost effective. Being season pass holders now, we decided to make the most of it and went back to the zoo yesterday for the Barney show! David and the kids were searching for the frogs at a special indoor exhibit.
Josiah and me (and random man) near the giraffes.
Mackenzie in the lily pad play area.
Josiah also in the lily pad area.
My two kids.
Josiah soaking it up!

Barney!!!
Barney and lots of random children brave enough to be up close!
My children...with Barney in the background! :)
Flying to the "Airplane" song.
Two fun weekends at the zoo!

Quote of the Day!

Josiah, while sitting at the breakfast table eating Lucky Charms, pipes up, "Hmmm, it's delicious, Mom!" This struck me as hysterically funny coming from a 25 1/2 month old boy!

Yesterday he said, "It's tasty!" in reference to his mashed potatoes. I guess the boy likes his food these days. :)

Prayers

Mackenzie (age 3 yrs 10 mo) prayed at the dinner table tonight:

"Dear God,
Thank you for your blessings. Thank you for our food. Thank you for our people. Thank you for our friends.
In Jesus Name, Amen"

Mackenzie's Pierced Ears!!!

My Little Girl, or should I say, My Big Girl, got her ears pierced today!!! After over six months of begging, I finally gave in to her persistent request to get her ears pierced. I wanted to be sure she understood what she was doing, what it would feel like, and the aftercare required. She did. Therefore, we went to Claire's in the mall today. The pictures below tell the story, and capture the emotions, quite well. Sitting so big and tall in the chair, ready to begin!

Getting her ears marked and ready.
Ear #1.
Ear #2. (Notice the lone tear slipping down her right cheek. She is still smiling, while the tear rolled down, saying, "I'm not crying, Mommy, I'm laughing." Bless her little heart. This is the part where I wanted to cry for her as I know she was trying to be brave through the pain.)
Still smiling, through the tears, with a face begging to be told that it is finished. It was. (She was still saying, "I'm not crying, I'm happy." Poor thing.)
You can almost feel the relief that it is all finished. Note that one glistening tear shimmering on her face!
Aahhh. Now comes the enjoyment...seeing herself in the mirror for the first time with pierced ears.
A proud and pleased Mackenzie! :)
My precious Mackenzie.
It was worth it and she is pleased. She later admitted to only a little pain, but not much! She could not wait to tell all our relatives that she got her ears pierced. We made many, many phone calls today. If you did not get a call and are reading this, no worries...your call may still be coming! Or, feel free to call us...she LOVES to hear how surprised and impressed everyone is about her new earrings. She chose the prettiest ones the store had to offer: pink sparkly flowers! She'll be wearing them for six weeks and then getting to change them just in time for her 4th Birthday! She had just wanted to get her ears pierced while she was still 3, and she did it!

Quote of the Day

While listening to fireworks in the distance at bedtime tonight, Mackenzie says in a serious little voice, "Daddy, those fireworks sound just like your toots!"

Her observation was followed by all four of us laughing hysterically while all piled into one bed as the kids were "scared" of the noises caused by the fireworks.

Yep, that was one quote worth recording!

Oh, Mr. Clean!

We have a budding artist in our house. Actually, we have two of them. One named Mackenzie who is quite talented and uses only appropriate mediums. The other artists name is Josiah. He is another story altogether! Here is some of his artwork. Note the lovely purple color he chose. It is my favorite, you see. Just NOT on our white doors!!! Oh, Josiah! What will I do with you?!
Mr. Clean to the rescue! Oh, Mr. Clean, I love you! Your magic erasers work wonders on "erasing" my two year old's NON washable crayola artwork. The door is now as good as new. We are ever indebted to you, Mr. Clean. :)

My hands, however, are raw. Along with the crayola, you removed a layer of skin! No problem. A little lotion goes a long ways. Next time I will wear gloves. :)

Now for the carpet...I'm not even sure you can tell in this picture, but the carpet was another canvas chosen by my precious Josiah child. His medium was again purple crayon. I have scrubbed it with some kind of carpet cleaner. After it dries I suppose I will know whether or not that cleaner worked! Wish us luck. Ha.

My words of wisdom for the day: Don't leave your two year old unattended, even for a period of less than 5 minutes, with crayons in reach!