Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Team 94.1 FM WLZA

So many exciting things have been happening in the life of Joshua, the Boy Wonder.
He absolutely loves being a big brother.  I cannot begin to describe how well he has done in adjusting to sharing his house and parents with happy baby.
He start PreK and loves "doing work" at school.  He loves to write letters and numbers and his ability has improved drastically already this year.
He and Dave got to go to an MSU football game last weekend.  From all reports, he had a fantastic time and cheered so hard Dave thought he may fall off the upper deck. 
Today, Joshua has taken the Magic Kingdom by storm with his cousin and grandparents.
And to top off the excitement...soccer started!
 
We have been looking forward to soccer starting for a long time.  Joshua's team is sponsored by the local radio station.  (We're still trying to figure out how to work 94.1 FM WLZA into a cheer).
 
As we were driving up to the field for the first practice the following conversation took place:
Joshua: "Mom, are we the home team or the away team?  I need to know because then I will know if I need to wear my home color jersey or my away white jersey."
Amelia: "Well, this is practice so there isn't a home or away team.  Only your team.  And in this kind of soccer you only have one jersery."
J: "Oh (disappointed).  Well, where are the locker rooms?"
A: "There aren't locker rooms here."
J: "Well, where will my coach talk to us before the game, at halftime and after the game?"
A: "You probably won't have locker rooms for the sports you play until you go to middle school or high school."
J: "Oh (even more disappointed).  Well, where are the cheerleaders?"
A: "There aren't cheerleaders to U6 soccer, Joshua.  I know when you watch games on tv there are different jerseys, locker rooms and cheerleaders but first you have to play without all those things so you can learn the game and grow up to play on teams that have them."
J: "fine."
 
He was a little nervous as practice started and even declared, "I don't ever want to play soccer in my whole life."  But when Dave arrived and walked out on the field with him, everything changed and the fun began.


He particularly enjoyed the "Hit the Deck" drill.

"Huddle up men." -Coach Sean



The celebration after scoring a goal.

The celebration was a little too long and included a few too many "yeah baby" statements.  Dave and I decided we need to work on the concept of "act like you've been there before" with the boy wonder.

Happy Baby is the resident 94.1 FM WLZA cheerleader.

Games start next week.  We'll see what other expectations and behaviors have been formulated by watching football on tv.  Hopefully there won't be any unsportsman-like celebrating on the part of the soccer playing Boy Wonder...but sometimes that penalty is worth it...YEAH BABY!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Check-up Check-in: AR @ 4 months


 Anna Ruth is growing like a weed.  She loves to sit in the Bumbo seat and watch all the happenings around the house. 

She is still a very happy little girl.

She weighs 15lb 12oz and is 26 inches tall.
(Joshua was this exact height and weight when he was 6 months old.)

She was given a shout out in the daycare newsletter this month.
Ms. Tamika's report on Room 3 said, "We are having a blast getting to know one another in here, if I can just get Anna Ruth to stay awake a little longer.  But she is a sweet and lovable baby."
My response..."don't mess with a good thing, Ms. Tamika!"

Anna Ruth still spits up ALL THE TIME. In fact, I have stopped four times in the course of writing this blog to clean up spit up.  She just smiles and laughs and spits up some more while we clean up.  We are considering asking Tide and Clorox Wipes if they would be willing to sponsor her education after the investment we have made in cleaning up her messes.


As is evident by Ms. Tamika's report, Anna Ruth is a sleeper!  She takes good naps (several of them) during the day and sleeps well at night.  A couple weeks ago she slept through the night 4 out of 7 nights.  Otherwise she is waking only once and goes right back to sleep after being fed.

Anna Ruth loves her brother.  Joshua loves his sister.
They make a good combo!
 
I think Anna Ruth's thought bubble might read, "Maybe if I act like I don't see him he will stop acting like a monkey."


On a separate note, Joshua leaves for Disney World in 5 days and has his first soccer practice tomorrow night = definition of supreme excitement!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Treasure hunt to a big surprise.

Used with permission from Aunt Glo and www.hunsbergerherald.blogspot.com  (small changes were made to the text to fit our blog.)
 
Nana and Coach had a BIG SURPRISE in store for Joshua and his cousin Abigail last weekend! They were told they had to go on a treasure hunt around the house to look for clues and pointed to a treasure map waiting for them at the back door.

The super cool treasure map

They just spotted the map

Aunt B served as their guide and helped them navigate their way through the course.

At each designated stop, they found a clue wrapped for them.

The first clue was a princess tiara and some pirate gear.

The second clue was a Mickey and Minnie t-shirt for them.

Thirdly, they unwrapped small airplane toys.

The next clue was a pair of sunglasses for each of them.

The map led them upstairs where they unwrapped their final clues, a Mickey and Minnie action figure.

They made it through the map and found the treasure box where Coach and Nana were waiting for them.

Nana read them a story about a princess named Abigail and a pirate named Joshua who packed their bags with clothes and took an airplane ride to a sunny place where many exciting characters lived (all of their clues were incorporated into the story).

They listened closely and it didn't take long for Joshua to yell out, "Disney World!"

Once they realized what was actually happening, they couldn't contain their excitement!

Nana opened the treasure box to reveal maps of the parks, bracelets they wear in the parks, luggage tags, countdown calendars, and other Disney related stuff.


Their faces were priceless and it was difficult to really capture their excitement on camera because of all the bouncing and squealing going on.


Joshua doing a happy dance!


Overcome with excitement!



To top it all off, dessert at lunch celebrated their big news and just fueled their excitement with sugar!



Needless to say, it was a big day! Disney World is the topic of conversation at least 10 times a day and Joshua CANNOT WAIT! Coach and Nana are excited too and will need every minute of rest possible between now and their trip in a few weeks to keep up with the two four year olds they are treating. Full report to come after their big adventure.