Road Tripp

Zoe picked this little guy out at the Cadet Store. She knew it was a raccoon, but for whatever reason she and Joshua both call it a skunk now. Joshua picked out a pair of binoculars Joshua & Uncle Jon try on the Go Army spirit fingers.

two little monkeys trying out Daddy's rings in the garage gym. When Zoe swings, she likes to make monkey noises. Craig took this picture. I have since added padding beneath the rings so that they don't fall on concrete.

Happy Birthday Zoe Kate!

Who's that little baby??

still so little, and always smiling!

Here she is this morning, on her 2nd Birthday!!

seems like she turned into a little girl overnight! I love my "Zoe Cakes", always so happy and cuddly, she loves to read and talk, play with Joshua, ask mommy to sing silly songs, loves to eat, and loves her 'milky cows' and sippy cup. She has already had her first crush (after Daddy, of course) - Lightning McQueen! She seems to have kicked Elmo to the curb, but also loves Buzz & Woody, and Thomas the Train. She loves to build, color, and play with play doh. She loves the neighbors and her teachers at school, loves the neighbor's dog Buzz, and loves her girlfriends (aka Snow White, Sleepy Booty, Cinderella, and Tinkybell). She can sing 'Jesus Loves Me' and her ABCs from start to finish; she can count to 10! She is hilarious - mostly because she talks like such a big girl and it's funny to hear that from a 2 year old. Here are some examples...

"Good morning Mommy, I needa go potty in the bathroom. That be a great idea!"

"May I please watch Thomas the Train? It's my favorite color"

Other Zoe-isms that make us laugh:

"woah, look at that?"

"here we go", "there we go", "I did it" when she does something

"Toot, toot, Mommy" (cute, cute - she says that to me when I get dressed :)

putting "to the rescue! Got 'em" on the end of random words, i.e. "cheesey to the rescue! got 'em!"

telling Joshua "no whining please Joshua, you complaining"

Other phrases that only siblings need, such as "my had it first!" and "keep'a self" (keep your hands to yourself), as well as sweet phrases "wink you Joshua" (thank you), "your turn Joshua", and, of course, "wuv you Joshua".

Only a few weeks ago, she transitioned from "Jossa" to "Joshua" - I was kinda sad to hear it go so quickly. I'm sure she'll be driving and off to college before we know it. I'm just so thankful for this precious little princess that the Lord has given us, and that He will still be here to help us when she is a teenager!!! as well as every minute before and after that. Happy Birthday, my sweet, beautiful Zoe Kate!

Just like a princess, she wanted to sleep in her 'princess dress' last night.

And just in case you wonder where she gets all the 'funny' from...

I hope the will grow up to be the best of friends and a blessing to each other's lives

Click here for flashbacks to Zoe's other 2 birthdays! Including lots of cute pictures of course!!

Swimming lessons

In my determination to leave the house more often this summer, I signed the kids up for swimming lessons. They are doing as well as can be expected for two kids who've been in a pool 3 times before. They have 5 more lessons next week and hopefully they'll be more comfortable with the teachers & the water by then. From the video, you might think that they would be more cooperative in the water, but they both get scared, which seems normal to me. At least they're still excited about going! Zoe loves her princess bathing suit! Thanks Rosemarie! It's 12mos, but we still squeeze her into it since sometimes that's the only way I can get her out of her princess pajamas! Her love of princesses made it easy to shop for her birthday. I can't believe how much she's talking for not even being 2 years old yet! I love that she and Joshua can have a conversation all by themselves. I also can't believe my baby girl is about to be 2 years old!!

she's obviously the littlest one in her class, but she kind of tested out of the Mommy & Me class when she was screaming "let go, let go" when I held her in the water, and jumping off the side of the pool

4th of July & my latest quilt

Enjoying fireworks on the 4th of July
the quilt I am working on for our living room (it's simple abundance like the valences)
video of the kiddos watching fireworks

more splash park

Joshua was very excited to get to fly his own airplane!this is right where Joshua was standing when he pulled down his shorts to pee... EEK!
Joshua was asking Zoe if she wanted a turn to drive.

spash park

Just visiting

I think I've finally figured out that I can only do one (or two, or three) things at a time. And since it's summer, and I'm not shut up in the house as much, my blogging has obviously suffered. I have, however, been doing stuff. We have been doing lots of stuff as a family, and I have a few solo ventures to blog about, so stay tuned and I'm going to try to catch up in the next week or so...

Here's the first batch for you... they're totally random!

Joshua took this one of Zoe running on the top of the couch.

Joshua playing in the sprinkler in the front yard
Craig was laying on the floor, so Zoe got herself and Daddy some blankets and pillows and laid down next to him. SO cute!
Zoe's cute little purse from Ms. Linda. She LOVES it! As do I!
Gwanket (blanket - she has 3 crochet blankets and wants at least one of them at all times. 2 from Ma and the 3rd is a Linus Project one from her hospital stay at 6 wks old) and purse go everywhere with her. I have to sneak the blankets away to put them in the laundry.

Joshua being silly...

showing off his bedhead and being a little boy.
enjoying their first popsicle of the summer. Whenever Zoe wants a popsicle, she goes for the back door pulling at her shirt, saying "poss-kl, shirt off, shirt OFF!!" The last 'off' is always really loud.
the super cute wipes case I made for their pediatrician who just had a baby girl.