Christmas Festivities

Joshua has enjoyed the Christmas season. However, he isn't quite old enough to be excited about Christmas morning. It seems his favorite part of Christmas has been looking at lights and decorations. Hopefully he won't be too disappointed when the yard decorations are taken down.

Present opening began on Christmas Eve at our house. Joshua was excited to receive a Grinch and a book as one of his favorite yard inflatables is a "Grinch and dog" on our street.

Taking his time and relishing every minute of tearing the paper.

"Hey look, glow in the dark football, basketball and soccer ball!"

What could is be?

A Firetruck!

Christmas morning in Starkville started with snow!

Santa brought Joshua a broom, a Thomas the Tank Engine toothbrush, and a new blanket for a big boy bed. Joshua was excited about the broom and tooth brush but never gave the bedding a second look.

After lunch we travelled to Jackson to celebrate with many extended family members.

Joshua got to meet the newest family member...Tee, Gumby's new puppy.

Golf clubs from Great Gay and Gulley! After only one swing of a club in Nana's house, rule #1 of playing golf was firmly established: "Joshua can only play with the golf clubs outside."

It is fun to have an audience when you open presents.

"Oooo, what's in here?"

"Thanks for the help Tom Tom."

Nana and Coach's tricycle gift may have garnered the most squeals and smiles.

The next afternoon, braving the cold, Joshua had to try out his new wheels outdoors.

After a short ride on the trike it was time to practice his golf swing.

Abigail is going to miss Joshua's birthday party in a few weeks so we had a cousin party Tuesday afternoon. Joshua and Abigail decorated cookies,

played on the swing set,

rode their new trikes,

enjoyed juice from "fun bottles" and

ended the party with a big hug!

Christmas Past and Christmas Present

The Joshua of Christmas Past

The Joshua of Christmas Present

Merry Christmas!

Guy Time

Guy time began Monday morning when Mom had to go to work while Dad and Joshua had the week off. Forts have been built and destroyed, football, basketball, soccer, and baseball have been played, neighbors have been visited, garbage men greeted, discipline handed out, and various other activities that Mom will probably never know about. Most of all, they have had fun!
One of this week's outings was to find Joshua a new pair of sunglasses. He picked out Thomas the Tank Engine glasses and naturally Blue's Clues was much more captivating with the new shades on (no, they are not 3-D glasses).

Today Dad and Joshua visited one of Dad's friends from work, "Mr. Bob." Mr. Bob is a music professor who specializes in percussion. To Joshua's delight, Mr. Bob had a special gift waiting for him. Joshua couldn't wait to show off his new skills to Mom when he and Dad got home:

Could this be a turning point in young Joshua's life? Or just the tipping point for Dad and Mom to go truly crazy? Stay tuned...

December fun

When it is a cold Sunday afternoon and Joshua has just gotten up from his nap, a little game of toss with dad is always fun.

Hooray for ordering Christmas presents online...the boxes make great forts.

Joshua does not like to be in the fort by himself. He cordially invites Dave to share the experience. Sometimes they just lay there and talk.

Other times Joshua wrestles and kick boxes, at which point all Dave can do is try to defend himself.

I'm sure it is a sight when all 3 of us get in the fort. Thankfully there isn't anyone to capture that scene on camera!

Joshua and Dave went to a Mississippi State basketball game Monday night. Some friends of ours weren't using their tickets and kindly let us have them. Despite the freezing cold and the huge possibility that Joshua would throw a temper tantrum, Dave took him to the game. According to Dave's account, Joshua had a great time and watched intently for several minutes. They sat on the very top row and from that vantage point the mascot Bully looked like a small, cuddly pup. But when Joshua got within about 5 yards of Bully he quickly stopped asking to "hug" and "hold" Bully and didn't want to get any closer. This is a video of us trying to get Joshua to talk about the game.

backyard kids

The leaves have finally fallen off the trees in the backyard which means it's time to play.

In the spirit of decorating for Christmas, Dave hung the Cozy Coupe in the tree out back.

Our neighbor, Mr. Jerry is a big Joshua fan and Joshua love to yell, "Jerry" over the fence at him. Dave and Joshua visit with Mr. Jerry through the fence regularly.

After a long day of playing in the leaves and visiting with neighbors it was time for a long winter's nap.

Birthday Party and Thanksgiving

The Saturday before Thanksgiving we attended Abigail's second birthday party. It was a tutu party at her house. There was pizza, cake, ice cream and all the swing set playtime a kid could handle. We were excited to get to be a part of the fun day.

Aunt Glo and Abigail smiling next to her birthday cake.

Uncle Dave got to hold the birthday girl just long enough for a photo op.

Hooray for a fun swing set.

A picture of the Hunsberger family...all 4 of them. Baby Luke is starting to make Aunt Glo's tummy pooch out a little bit. We can't wait for him to arrive in late March!

Joshua took the ball to the hoop on Aunt B. Maybe her tutu slowed her down...who knows?

Is there anything on my face?

What a pretty birthday girl!

When the ice cream was served, Joshua pushed his piece of cake aside and focused all of this attention on the real reason he came to the birthday party.

Joshua stayed in Jackson while Dave and I returned home to work several days before the holiday.

Joshua loves to hang out with our cousin Tanner. They laugh at each other more than any 16 year old and near 2 year old I have ever met.

Nana pulled out a hamburger costume from the dress-up closet when it was too cold to go outside to play.

Joshua and Aunt B both wore their Bama shirts with pride Saturday for the big game.

Joshua decided that he was thankful for his strong will and displayed his gratitude by marching his way into the terrible twos at Coach and Nana's house. There were a few hours when I was sure that Jackson, Mississippi would never allow us to darken it's city limit again. But we survived and Coach, Nana and Aunt B were life savers for all three of us.
We had fun celebrating with our family and thanking God for his many provisions to us.