Spring is in the Air...

We have been having some fun! First Josie and the boys spent spring break weekend one at Grandshe's house while we went to Vegas for Grandma's birthday celebration. The kid's love going to Grandshe's because she let's them break all the rules....seriously.

After we returned home we did: a PJ day, pool day, packed lunch and brought it to dad's work, and played outside...Bring on spring!

Last week we had a special guest, Cousin MAEVE. Oh and uncle Jay and Grandshe too. The kids were so pumped to spend time with their big cousin. Maeve takes great care of her little cousins. She read them bed time stories and would come running over to help the boys if one started crying (which seems often). Reading is a big deal around here. Josie is working hard on her sight words and forming small sentences. The first book Maeve read to the kids Josie's eyes got real big and she said, "That's impressive!"

The kids loved spending time with Maeve at the Science Center, Zombie Burger, and shopping. It was a quick trip but we had a lot of fun!

This weekend we got to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma for Easter. If you want to hear all about it, check out the boy's blog. Some pictures are below too.

Grandshe, Ben, Galen, Mary, Will, and Josie at the St. Patty's Day Parade

Irish Jig

Ben, Maeve, and Will at the boy's school

Grandshe and Uncle Jay at the Science Center :)

Grocery store at the Science Center

 

Josie, Ben, Maeve, Will screaming with fear by Sue the TRex

Egg drop time.

Ben, Maeve, Will, and Josie bundled up and ready to go

Bunny tracks to Josie's basket

 

On our way to Church

On the hunt

Ben and Jos dancing

You're Fired...

Tonight Josie fired our babysitter. According to said babysitter*, this is how it went down:

Josie requested to see her in the other room. Josie asked her to sit down then gave it to her straight. I think Josie will make a great boss some day. She had good intuition to pull aside the babysitter and have her sit down so the plow of the firing didn't hurt too much. Josie did end this heart to heart with a big "Just Joking!"

Unfortunately for Josie, she isn't the boss right now. She often thinks she is. Maybe that's my fault. Some times I ask her to "watch" her brothers when I jump in the shower or do something crazy like unload the dish washer. She gets excited for this responsibility.  Often she does well with playing the role of oldest sibling. Like last night when Will got a bloody nose from doing a nosedive over the wii drum set. As Will's nose bled she ran to get a tissue and helped him by holding the tissue on his nose... for some reason Will wasn't willing to hold his own tissue.

Other times Josie takes the "job" too seriously. I will be talking to one of the boys about their actions and she will pipe up with her two cents. I find myself then saying things like "I got this Jos" or "you worry about you". But really... I mean really I do like that she worries about her brothers. She'll always have their best interest at heart. And That's really great. Now I just need her to stop firing people and we'll be set!

*Said Babysitter is a family favorite, so I was relieved she didn't take her pink slip and run.

Sports Fun!

This was Josie's third year playing basketball. She still swears it's her favorite sport. She gets into the games and seems to enjoy it. This year she got to experience basketball with her brothers on her team. Like swimming, we are fortunate enough that they can all participate together. It makes having 3 kids in a two year timeframe pay off! While the boys loved being old enough to participate with Josie versus watch, they were a bit of a distraction to her. Josie is a rule follower. Ben and Will wanted to run over to me every couple of minutes which wasn't exactly part of the rules. I couldn't get mad at them because each time they came over it was to tell me they love me.... I tend to think it's ok to ignore the rules if it means you are giving the mama some love. This worked Josie up. "Brothers, focus!" was something I heard a couple of times. Which only made me laugh.

The other sport the kids are getting to experience together is tennis. Their coach is Dad. That is pretty cool to them. They are really enjoying it. Well, more so Josie and Will. Ben seems to do well when he tries, but he is more into... well anything else. Josie loves running the lines to warm up, retrieving the balls when it's not her turn, and really loves hitting the ball.

Ben, Will, and Josie getting their ribbons on the last day of basketball. 

Air Josie

Will, Josie, and Ben... Ben didn't get the memo about making a bulldog face. 

Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is EXTRA special at our house.... It's Billy's birthday! Here is how we made him feel special....

We made cards that said, "We moustache you a question... will you be our Valentine?!"

We made dad red velvet whoopee cookies. They were delicious but messy!

Dance party USA

Oh and a surprise party too!

Sweet Josie

Josie was in school today doing an assessment with one of her teachers. I say one, because there are four in her class. Anyways, they were in the hallway right outside the music room. The teacher had to run back into the classroom to grab something. Josie said while she waited she heard the music teacher playing "You are my sunshine". This is a song I have sang to Josie since she was a little baby. I remember singing it to her on maternity leave and just about any snuggle since. As the song played Josie said she whispered, "I love you mom". Sometimes she doesn't share a lot with me on what went on at school. I was delighted to hear this little moment. I could squeeze her I love her so much.

Immediately after the above, she saw I got some Valentine's cookie mix from the store. She asked me if we could make them for some people who need food. Seriously?! How'd I get so lucky.

Lastly, we've decided to do a monthly service project with the kids. The Giving Thanks Project during November was such a hit with the kids, it made me realize we should do it more often. In January we went through our toys and clothes and donated them to the Junior League's Bargain Basket. For February we spent last weekend making Valentine's for kids with cancer. Specifically the Children's Cancer Connection. Josie had a blast. The boys stopped after two cards. Josie wouldn't eat dinner till we made all 25. I am looking forward to doing more giving with the kids this year! Stay tuned... and if you have a suggestion on what we should do next, let me know!

Josie making Valentine cards for kids in the hospital. 

Disney World 2013

The kids (and Grandshe) did awesome on their first trip to Disney. I say first because I can see us easily going back... but I also don't see us going every year!

What I'll remember most as my favorite Josie moments:

• She loved that she was Grandshe's roommate. They called their hotel room their apartment.
• Josie loved all the rides we went on... unlike the boys she wasn't afraid in the dark or when a villain came out. 
• When we were parking the car Josie said something to which my mom replied, "Josie you are a worry-wart." Josie said very matter-of-factly, "I wish you'd call me Arnold." That sentence alone is funny, but it was even better when we explained to my mom that Arnold from The Magic School Bus books is constantly worrying. 
• Grandshe announced that she and kids would break all the rules when we left them in her care the last night we were there. Will yelled, "I'm breaking all the rules." Josie didn't miss a beat and said, "Well except pooping your pants. Grandshe doesn't want you to do that. 

Here are some of the pictures that best capture Josie on our Disney World Trip:

It's rare you find your kindergarten friend at Disney!

School Update

Josie is doing great in 1/2 day kindergarten. It's crazy to think that the year is more than half over! She turns in a Book-It calendar every month. This means we read to her more than 15 minutes a day. She still goes to bed with a pile of books next to her. Currently they are learning about the moon and outer space. Josie comes home with interesting facts for us. They just had their 100 day party. Each kid had to bring in 100 of something. Josie made 100 finger prints in different colors that looked like leaves falling from a tree. She has a great vocabulary for a 5 1/2 year old. We are often impressed by the words and phrases she says. There are a few words that Josie doesn't say as well. I think this is my little reminder that she is still my little girl. For example, instead of saying "finally" Josie says "Fine-it-ly".  Josie also says "mine-zz" instead of "mine". Lastly, instead of saying "inappropriate" she says "in-re-appropriate". The thing that continues to stick with Josie is caring for others. She loves her brothers. She loves to take care of people and make them special. Keep it up Jos! Love you baby girl. 

Homework time!

Not really school related, but it makes me giggle when she gets more words correct than I do while doing Beatles Rock Band and she doesn't read the words yet...

Thanksgiving feast at school

Class picture with Pilgrim hats

Making snowmen on sleds

Josie, Will, and I at her Winter Party

Christmas 2012

 Testing out our new toys!

I looked down at church and Josie was holding Will and Maeve's hands. 

Josie and Jules

Playing board games. 

Morning Shave

At Church with Rich and Bre

Merry Christmas

Pop-Pop time

Magic Show time

November 16th - 22nd of Thanks

Well our project came to an end a week early. We were on a roll too! Once we went to Omaha for Thanksgiving our giving thanks project went on vacation as well. Here's the second part of our adventure:

Day 16: What a treat! Today I was greeted by 3 cuties who decorated cards for me with their daddy. Billy got me a Starbucks gift card too (he knows the way to my heart). It was great to be on the receiving end of project give thanks.

17: Billy gave blood at our church blood drive. He took all three kids with him. I thought this was really brave of him, but the kids did great. We had a good conversation about how his blood will be used.

18: We made a huge tray of goodies and breads for our local firefighters. The kids told them, "We are thankful for you. Thanks for keeping our neighborhood safe!" 8 firefighters were beaming from ear to ear. Afterwards Billy told me "it sure is fun to see how people respond to our thankful acts." I completely agree.

19: The kids and I put together a care package for our buddies Zach Longo and his mama. Zach is only 4 years old and had to have back surgery. We filled a box full of fun things for both of them to do in the hospital, books, gift cards, slippers, etc.

20: We made cards for our soldiers. A week ago we went to the Hy-Vee by the airport over the lunch hour. The kids were in awe when they saw all the soldiers there. They each saluted these men and women in uniform and said "We are thankful for you!" We decided to re-enact this act, with cards in hand. This time around we only found 2 soldiers. You should have seen us on the hunt! Each soldier received 3 cards from 3 excited kids.

21: We thanked a cute family of bell ringers for taking time out of their day to help others. My friend Jen was ringing bells with her kids on their day off from school. We decided to bring them cards and tell them thanks.

22: Thanksgiving. Every year Grammy B puts together our whole yummy feast pretty much by herself. This year, we decided to help her out! The kids made decorations and helped me put together the green bean casserole. We had fun and the kids made sure to let their Grammy and Grandpa know we are thankful for them.

Ben, Josie, and Will treating me to a day of giving thanks!

Will, Josie, and Ben went with Dad to give blood

Josie wrote out the card to the Firefighters

Package for Zach

Greeting a soldier 

Jen and family rang bells and we gave thanks.

Putting together the Green bean casserole with Grammy.