Summer visitors

Sun is in their faces, but we are all smiles! Josie, Maeve, Ben and Will.

Clubhouse fun!

Singing and dance party!

They slept in Josie's bed together. When they woke up all we could hear was giggling.

Ben, Mom, Will, Aunt Terri, and Josie

Drew and Josie. She loved seeing her big cousin. So sweet of Drew to come up!

Josie is having a fantastic summer. One of the best parts of summer is getting to have family visit.

Last Thursday Grandshe came for a visit. Josie and Grandshe are two peas in a pod. They love to snuggle and read books together. They love to act out movies together. When Grandshe comes, Josie's got one of her best friends here!

Friday night big cousin Maeve, Aunt Carrie, and Uncle Jay came to stay with us. The girls had so much fun catching up. They played in the backyard, had dance parties, and giggled non-stop. The great thing about the girls is that they instantly pick up where they left off the last time they saw each other. We love having them come visit. When Maeve left she had the cutest little tear roll down her cheek. Josie huffed and said "I'm really gonna miss my Maeve".

Sunday night Aunt Terri, and cousin Drew came to spend all day Monday with us. We went to the library, out to lunch, played with toys here and Aunt Terri made us a fantastic dinner! When they left Josie told Grandshe that Aunt Terri was Grandshe's Grand sister. We thought it was a great title.

From Thursday to Monday, that's a lot of visitors! We are so grateful to spend so much fun time with everyone. Josie is one lucky girl to have so many people spend time with her this past week!

knock knock...

After dinner tonight we made smoothies. The kids love to help dump in fruit and push the blender buttons. While we were all camped out on the kitchen floor, Josie asked us to tell jokes. After a while we found a knock knock joke that she could recite and the crowd went wild when they heard it. As you can tell in the video the boys wanted to say the joke too. Josie the comedian.

Officially Four...Babe, Bike, and Bed

Josie is officially four. And while I am willing to accept that she is four, I can't believe we had her four years ago. It feels like yesterday we brought home our beautiful little babe.

We did our usual birthday routine. Josie woke up to a room filled with balloons. She was so excited when she saw all the balloons she ran downstairs before waking us up (it was 5:45am!). In the living room she found her spiderman bike. When we realized she was already downstairs we raced down to see her already on her new bike. She said, "Look what Santa brought me!!!" To which we informed her it was from us.

Josie got to pick our breakfast spot before Dad went to work and the menu for dinner (pineapple brats and corn on the cob). Her final birthday present came yesterday... a big kid bed. She's been ready for it for awhile, but I wasn't.

I tell her all the time I don't want her to grow up, I just want her to be my baby forever. To which she always replies in the sweetest voice "Mom, I gotta get bigger, but I'll always be your baby."

What a weekend!

Josie and Xander- the professionals!

Josie on top of the world

Dad with his ladies.

Birthday cake!

Josie decked out as Peter Pan with Dad.

Peter Pan Josie and the REAL Peter Pan

Last weekend Josie was a flower girl in Kevin and Mindy's wedding. She did an amazing job. We were so proud of her. For those who know Josie, you know she isn't too into the girly scene right now. So we pretty much promised her everything from Peter Pan coming to her birthday party to getting to paint over the pink in her room if she smiled and wore the dress. Mindy even let us pick out different color dresses to go with the Hawaiian theme. So of course we picked Josie's favorite color...blue!

Josie earned every promise! She totally got into the girly zone. She loved spinning around in her dress. She was very well behaved and smiled on que. She walked down the aisle, fell asleep on Billy's lap during the ceremony, woke up at communion, and walked down the aisle again with a big smile on her face.

We rode Olley the trolley, took more pictures then danced the night away. Thank goodness for grandparents! Grandma, Grandpa, and Grandshe helped us getting all the kids in PJ's and took them home by 9pm so Billy and I could party hardy.

The very next day the celebration continued! Josie's Peter Pan birthday party was a big hit. Peter Pan himself came to the party! We had a sword making station. Peter Pan led the kids on a scavenger hunt that ended with them finding a treasurer (a Peter Pan book for every kid). Josie was on cloud 9. She had so much fun. Watching her tell Peter Pan stories, dance with her friends, and just be our Josie girl was fantastic.

Four more days till our Josie is really 4. Love you Josie.

A week with the Jos...

It's Tuesday and I've already got a running list of Josie sayings. Here goes...

• Sunday she informed me that she has been promoted to my chief of staff. When I asked where she learned that she said "you remember the Ariel book from the library we returned last week? Sebastian was the chief of staff!" (Duh mom).
• Yesterday after we left the zoo she said she couldn't decide if she wanted to be a zoo keeper or a super hero. I told her Superman is a news reporter and a super hero. I am a wife and a mom. To which she instantly said "Yeah! I'm a sister and a preschooler." You got it Jos. Ten minutes later I mentioned how her last day of school is Thursday. She told me, "Mom I don't have time to go to school anymore. Now that I am a super hero, zoo keeper, and news reporter!" (she was completely exasperated with me)
• Tonight when we were watching DWTS she said, "I'm a really, really good big sister because when I was little I practiced being a good big sister. So that's what I need to do to be a good dancer. I need to practice. It's a big responsibility but I can do it!"
• When the boys were crabby before bed, Josie belted out Joy to the World by Three Dog Night while pretending to snap her fingers. It sounded a lot like this...

Big Sister Josie

Just like any older sibling, Josie can loose her cool with her two little brothers. Sometimes I don't blame her. Whatever she is doing they want to do. Whatever she is wearing (especially Ben) her brothers want to wear. (note to self to find Cars Pajamas for brothers). Even the plate she eats off of is the preferred plate at dinner. It can be enough to make any almost 4 year old frustrated.

But for the most part, Josie does an amazing job sharing toys, books and...her lap. The latest and greatest thing the boys are wanting is lap space. Will and Ben are snuggle boys. They wake up and say snuggle. They get hurt we snuggle. Snuggling is our solution to just about everything.

This week the boys have moved from snuggling mom and dad to snuggling Josie. They back into her lap. It's pretty cute. It gets tricky though when both want to snuggle with big sister at the same time.

As you can see by the pictures, yesterday after nap Ben (in yellow) wanted to read a book with Josie. Will thought it was a great idea and tempted to back into her lap too. Her arms weren't long enough to hold the book around them both so she is squeezing the book close to her. Two boys in that close of proximity is bound to turn into a wrestling match. But check out their big sister... Yup, as they wrestle she just keeps reading. What a great kid!

Josie's drawing of Dad

Beatles Brunch Sunday!

The first Sunday of each month Cafe Di Scala serves brunch with Beatles music playing in the background. The menu is Beatles themed too.

Billy was in Arizona for work, so Grandshe and I took Josie to her first Beatles Brunch. Josie was in heaven. She loved her brunch, loved being the center of attention, and loved singing and dancing to all her favorite songs. The food was delicious and the entertainment it provided was priceless!