Christmas Pictures

The kids were soooo cute at Christmas! I can't believe how fun they made it for me. You have already read about Josh and his questions. Well, he had a million questions about Santa. He wanted to know how to get to the North Pole, why wouldn't we see Santa when he stopped at our house, and all about the naughty/nice lists. I think he wanted to know exactly how good he needed to be to guarantee presents.

Christmas morning was the best. Our kids are early risers - usually up around 6:30 AM. We had a late night at Gram's on Christmas Eve after the service at church, eating cookies, drinking punch and opening presents. Josh called it the "cookie party" and it was definitely his kind of party...juice with ice cream and as many cookies as he could ever want. Lucas slept right through the "cookie party" and was up before 6:30 as usual. Josh kept sleeping until Richard started nudging him around 8 because we were anxious to get things started. Josh and Richard called down the stairs to me, "Did Santa come?" Josh's face was full of wonder as he looked around my parents' living room and saw all of the presents and the stockings that Santa had left for him and Lucas.

This is the toy I was most excited to give to Lucas...Parents Block Party!!!! He and Josh have had sooooo much fun climbing on and rolling down these giant wedges and cubes.

Richard reading Josh a dinosaur pop-up book

Josh and Ethan playing with pirate ship from Carrie. Josh couldn't believe that she knew just what he wanted... He kept saying, "How did you KNOW?"

Our niece Leah and her Christmas morning surprise...Sunny, the adorable grey striped kitten

The whole family or at least as many as I could get in one picture... I think we had 25 people at mom and dad's house on Christmas! The most ever and the family is still growing!

Josh and his cousin, Bradley, at Richard's parents' house. Aren't boys in jammies too cute!?!?!!

questions of a 3 year old

Josh is 3 and full of questions. I know this is very normal, but his questions aren't the normal why? questions. They are interesting/difficult questions. His favorite topics to ask about are God, animals, and bodies (his and the bodies of others). For awhile we were dealing with lots of Santa questions too. His favorites times to ask these questions are while he is sitting on the potty or in the car (especially when I am backing out of a parking space).

Here are some of the more memorable questions...
Why do we have 2 ears?
What are cheeks for?
What color is my brain?
Did the fake god make the real God?
What is Santa doing right now?
What part of the reindeer makes them fly?
Why is Florida so far away?
What does the sky feel like?
How do giraffes poop?

There have been many other good questions. It is so funny to watch Richard try to answer these questions. I'm sure he enjoys listening to me stumble through the answers too. Josh's curiosity is one of the best parts of the 3 year old stage. I love it because I know exactly what he is thinking about and wondering. I know when he gets older he may still be curious, but he probably won't ask as much. I really love his questions and hope you do too. This may become a regular post topic. Let me know what you think...

fall pics

Here are some pictures from this fall...

Bathtime with the boys

(Sorry, I don't know how to turn this picture. If anyone knows... Help!)

Josh loves taking baths. If anyone takes a bath at our house, Josh is sure to knock on the door and ask if he can join. He sometimes takes 3 baths a day. Once he was even "grounded" from the bath for a few days when he dumped out so much water that it leaked into our kitchen on the floor below the bathroom. When he was finally allowed to bathe again after The Flood of 2007, he had limited water privileges.

Lucas loves baths too. Last weekend he pulled himself into an empty bathtub at Gram and Pap Filer's house where Aunt Wendy's gigantic white cat was getting a drink. The cat was so surprised and hissed at poor Lucas. I scooped him up quickly and saved the day.


Thanksgiving at GG Boger's house
Josh and his cousin Bradley have a love/hate relationship. They were like little wolf pups. They picked and poked at each other the whole visit. Here is a quiet moment while Richard reads all 3 boys a Dora bedtime story.

Grumpy Josh

Josh has recently become less cooperative in front of a camera. Here is his grumpy, I'm not going to smile face that he uses when we get the camera out. It usually just makes us laugh and then sometimes he laughs.

Halloween... Josh and Lucas were frogs for Halloween. Some clever neighbors called them a frog and a tadpole. They made it all the way up and down our street. Josh got extra candy this year because our neighbors insisted that they give candy for Lucas too.