On a typical Saturday...

On a typical Saturday we, at the Nolen house, may wear a play shirt, dress shoes, a fleece hat and no pants.

On a typical Saturday, we like to work in the kitchen.

We always take a nap!

And when it is pretty outside (which has not been typical around here lately), we enjoy some time at the playground...

racing down the slides.

Mid-Winter Retreat

Joshua was invited to a Mid-Winter Retreat at the Coach and Nana Resort in Jackson last week. His all-inclusive 3-day, 2-night stay began on Thursday and ended Saturday afternoon when he was returned to his parents in Starkville. The retreat included dinner with Abigail, Aunt Glo and Chad on Thursday night, a play day with Coach and Nana in the snow on Friday followed by a delicious meal at Mugshots to celebrate cousins Travis and Trevor's birthdays. Joshua had an excellent time and would highly recommend this resort location to anyone. In fact, he and his parents are hoping to make reservations for his (and their) Mid-Spring, Mid-Summer and Mid-Fall retreats very soon. (In case you were wondering, Joshua's parents enjoyed their retreat time as well. They just didn't have any snow to play in on Friday, they had to work.)

"Why did they put me on the table with all this cold stuff making my pants wet? Do they think this is fun?"

Coach and Joshua on the patio

"Remember Coach, the snow comes up past your ankles and I only come up to just above your knee, I don't know if I can make it across the yard by myself."

Joshua loved knocking snow out of the tree with Nana

A ride on the pink elephant is the perfect way to begin the day.

Thanks Coach and Nana for treating all of us to a Mid-Winter Retreat!

Achievements

Lots of things have been happening around our house lately.

Amelia has taken a full-time job at a local hospice agency (that's right, she has now worked for 3 different hospices in the 2 years we have lived in Starkville). With that change, Joshua now attends daycare 5 days a week. He loves it and seems to be thriving under their care.

For those of you who are regular reads of the journal, College and Research Libraries (are there any regular readers of that?) be sure to pay attention to the article starting on page 9 of the January 2010 edition-it is Dave's first published article. He has another article due to be published in the coming months and couple more in process.

Joshua has been busy too. He has been eating table foods for a while but has recently expanded his diet to include leaves and grass, as you will see in the photo below...

Not only is he eating most anything we put in front of him. He is trying to feed himself with a spoon. Some days are more successful than others.

He is also running, saying 'uh oh', nodding his head 'yes' and shaking it 'no', waving good-bye, and purposefully making people laugh. His teacher's notes home everyday usually include a comment like, "Joshua had a good day today. He was very funny."

Joshua will be taking his comedy routine on the road tomorrow as he is going to spend a couple nights in Jackson with Coach and Nana. I'm sure fun will be had by all.

Joshua loves...

Dancing,

Sliding,

Laughing...

and indoor sledding.