Spring Break 2011

At the park, doing her cool pose.

Science Center rocket launcher 3...2...1... blast off!

Josie was on Spring Break last week. (Yes, preschoolers have spring break!) The break started with an excellent parent teacher conference with her teachers. (Yes, preschoolers have conferences too!) I literally felt my face turn red as her teachers went over all the great things she is doing. It was cool to see pictures from the beginning of the school year and now. I was in awe by how much she has changed over the past few months. They also shared her handwriting samples from September and current. Josie has really grown up a lot this year!

Besides conferences, we also....

-Went to the zoo for the first time this year.

-Walked to the park 3 times!

-Played on our swing set.

-Per Josie's request, we had to have a pajama day!

-Made lots of arts and crafts - shaving cream art, shamrock cut outs, play-doh x 3

-Entertained mom's friends with her amazing magic!

-Ventured over to the Science Center for our weekly dose of Sunday fun.

All in all it was a fun break. I'm happy to get back to our normal routine. Josie starts dance and drums this week...stay tuned!

Little Clover

When Grandshe got into the clown biz, Billy and I gave Jos her clown name. It went something like, "We shall call her Little Clover".

Josie was a bit intimidated by clowns at first. She had no interest in meeting Shamrock when she was younger. But then my mom (aka Grandshe, Shamrock, etc) told Jos that she dresses up as Shamrock to help the sick kids. Once Josie heard this, she decided she was ready to meet Shamrock. So when my mom had a charity event to attend the last time we were in Omaha, she stopped over at Grandpa and Grandma Bemis' house decked out as Shamrock the clown.

Josie was thrilled. She even put on a clown bow tie and recited all the jokes my mom taught her. "Do you want a brownie?" (as she holds a letter "E" that is brown). "Hey look I've got my father's eyes!" (as she holds out two plastic eyeballs). I'd tell you the rest, but I don't want to give-a-way all of Shamrock's jokes. The point is, the kid loves to preform. As Grandshe drove away to make it to her gig, Josie said "Mom, do you think I can help the sick kids with Shamrock some time?" Ahhh the Jos. How I love you.

A tie dream come true

Josie has been wanting a neck tie for a few months now. Every time Dad dresses up for work or a holiday she says in the sweetest voice, "I just really wish I had a tie". So yesterday we all ventured out to the mall to get Billy some clothes. Josie found all the men's ties and said, "maybe today I'll get my tie!" That's when I figured what the heck, we've got nothing else to do. So while Billy tried on clothes the kids and I went on a quest to find the perfect tie. Just when we were giving up hope, I saw them. They had quite the selection too. Dinosaur ties, red power ties, holiday ties, but when Josie laid her eyes on this blue striped tie it was love at first sight.

Josie walked down to the men's section, with the tie on. She greeted everyone that came within 10 feet of us. "Aloha! Excuse me! Have a great day!" She spoke loud and clear so they all could see the shiny new tie around her neck. As we walked thru the department store and around the mall, I beamed. I was beaming to the point of watery eyes. Josie was so proud of her new tie she wanted to burst. Seeing that on your kid's face is priceless.

Josie at Dillards... TA-DAH! I've got a tie!

This calls for a tie celebration dance.

You say Hawaii, I say Hawadii

We just got back from a week long vacation in Hawaii or as Josie says, Hawadii. While pictures say a 1,000 words, the words out of Josie's mouth crack me up. Here are some of her best quotes on the trip.

• "I figured out why my poops stopped, because there is no snow in Hawadii. Snow makes me poop."
• After day two..."I love it in Hawadii, I'm never going back to Des Moines."
• "Mommy your tummy is so cute. I like it when you keep brothers in your tummy so we can have peanuts."
• Upon hearing a commercial for Cougar Town... "Dad, do you like Cooter Town?!"
• After receiving her ukelele as a souvenir... "My mom and dad love me so much, that's why they bought me a ukelele. Some kid's parents don't love them."
• When she was waiting for Richard to show up to give her a temporary tattoo, "I'm NEVER gonna get a TATTOO!"
• 5 minutes later..."Raise your hand if you have a tattoo!!!!"
• When a bird pooped on Douglas the balloon artist, "I know why that bird pooped on Douglas. Birds think people are toilets."

Here are a few pictures too...just incase Josie didn't do Hawadii justice.

Waikiki Beach
Flying Jos

Sunset on Waikiki Beach

Tis the Season

After you were born Dad and I realized how lucky we were to be your parents. That's the year we created the tradition of adopting a family for Christmas every year. It's been something we've taken care of when you were sleeping or in school, but this year we started talking to you about what we were doing for another family and getting you more involved. You even helped us wrap presents for our adopted kids!

The goal is to teach you and your brothers to care and give to others. This year we added another layer to giving to others. Instead of exchanging gifts with our siblings (your uncles) we decided to donate the money to someone or some place that could use it more than us. It was a wonderful gift of giving and really fun to research. Hopefully this will be a new tradition we continue to do. The point of me sharing all of this with you? I hope that each year you become more involved with the season of giving. But more importantly, I want you to know what a positive impact you've had on us. You will do many things in your life that will impact those around you... this is just the beginning.

From the mouth of babes...

Josie says some pretty funny things. The kid always knows how to make me laugh. Here are a few of her latest quotes:

When she was going potty and her brothers were trying to climb in the shower and get into trouble, she looks at them and sighs. Then Josie said, "Mom just look at them, aren't they adorable?!"

As we were walking around Mall of America we passed the Hooters Restaurant. Josie takes a look at the waitress and says, "Dad they aren't wearing any pants. They can't eat without pants, that's the rule."

Above are a couple of photos from Kendric's new year's eve wedding in Minnesota. Josie was a dancing machine.

Jolly Holiday with Josie... or Bert?

We took Josie to her very first play on Sunday December 5th. It was so much fun to see her light up throughout the plot line of Mary Poppins. My mom, Billy, and I probably watched Josie's face as much as we watched the play.

Since the play, we've listened to our Mary Poppins soundtrack non-stop and have done numerous dance routines to it. She now likes to wear this sweater with pockets from the Gap since it is similar to Bert's in the play. We've learned that train hats can make excellent chimney sweeper hats and gold clubs are clearly made to be a chimney sweeper.

While we were really into Gaston from Beauty and the Beast last month, due to his cool pony tail which is similar to Josie's. This month Josie prefers to be called Bert...

Oh how I heart her.