yard work and fire trucks

Spring has sprung and that means our yard needs some attention. Cowboy Joshua decided to help out a little bit Saturday morning.

We have had several variations of a "big boy" bed over the last couple months. We stared off with a toddler bed to which Joshua preferred sleeping on the floor. We then moved to a mattress on the floor, then a trundle bed and now...the fire truck bed!

Dear family friends from Birmingham have been gracious enough to allow Joshua to use the fire truck bed. To say that he loves it is a gross understatement. Here he is in a practice run of napping just after it was set up.

Joshua loves to just sit on the bed and say, "new fire truck bed...mine!" He no longer wants to play anywhere but in his room. Thankfully he has slept beautifully on the new bed too.

A BIG thanks to Mr. Don, Miss Betty, Mr. Mitch, Miss Cheryl and Tyler for sharing such a wonderful gift with us. We love you all!

Something for Everyone

Joshua only increases his cool factor by wearing his helmet and sunglasses at the same time.

brrring..brrrring, out of my way!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

meeting "baby Luke"

If there was audio to this picture you would hear several voices saying, "gentle, gentle, be gentle with baby Luke."

After the meet and greet with Luke, Joshua joined Abigail in the sandbox.

The sand mixed with the sunscreen and turned to a cement-like layer all over both kids. We tried to let them rinse off in a big bucket but that quickly turned into a bigger, wetter mess.

Aunt B transported both kids directly to the bathtub.

Two very tired-but almost clean-little ones.

Joshua had a great time visiting Jackson. We got to see most all of the Jackson-based family members. In addition to being with family, we watched as much of the basketball tournament as possible. At this point...after 3 rounds, Joshua is in the lead in the family bracket. We'll see how well he does in these later rounds. He picked Pitt to win so he has already left the door open for someone else to step into the winner's spot.

Hooray for CousinS

Joshua's new cousin, Luke, joined us on Thursday the 10th. He weighed 6 pounds and has a head full of soft fuzzy hair. Abigail and I got to spend the day together while everyone else hung out at the hospital. It was the first time the two of us got to play by ourselves. We went shopping, had lunch and enjoyed a nice afternoon nap before going to the hospital to meet Luke. It was an exciting day for everyone. Gloria and Luke are doing well and the Nolens are looking forward to seeing them this weekend.
(enjoy a sampling of the many many pictures taken)

...and many more!

Joshua's school friend, Maximillian had a birthday party last weekend. We decided to wait to tell Joshua we were going until after he took his nap since the party didn't start until 4. The party was at the Sportsplex in a room that is set off from the building. It was a perfect place for the partiers to run and play since it was a rainy, dreary day. Joshua had a great time. There were balloons and basketballs to play with and cake to eat. So as far as Joshua Nolen is concerned, Maximillian had the greatest birthday party ever!

The other kids were sitting down to eat cake and Joshua was not willing to give up the basketball.

Finally, once Maximillian sat down to eat Joshua joined him and they both enjoyed their cake.

A pinata that does not require the swinging of a bat. While we missed the potential America's Funniest Video moments with the bat, pulling the strings to open the pinata was a hit with the little kids.

Joshua loves Maximillian's presents....maybe even more than Maximillian did.

The party ended with the 3 boys sitting around blowing bubbles. I love the facial expressions in this picture. Joshua obviously thinks something is hilarious while the other little boy did not get the punch line.

The Best Medicine

I considered making this a "Wordless Wednesday" post and let the video stand alone but I had to add this disclaimer: While I would never claim to keep the cleanest house, please know that our bathroom walls do not have mold on them...they have been decorated with bathtub crayons. And while we do live in a rural southern town, our water is not green. Joshua added Elmo endorsed bathtub color tablets to make his bath even more laughable. Although lately he has been so dirty from playing outside that he does turn the water all shades of gross colors. Enjoy!