Weekly Happenings: I can’t really think of anything too epic that happened this past week. It was a pretty low-key week. We did go to the park a few times, since the weather was so cooperative. We also went out on a family date night on Friday, just for fun. We went to Freddy’s (one of Joseph’s favorites) for dinner and then stopped by the new Bahama Buck’s (shaved ice place) for dessert. Other than that, it was a pretty normal week. Joseph spent quite a bit of the past week pretending to be different people (Mario, Link, etc.) and playing with his LEGOS (hence the title of the post today).
The Weekly Weather: It’s been gorgeous! There were a few days that were cold enough to need a jacket, but there were also a few where we were in short sleeves. 🙂 One thing I haven’t been loving is the mountain cedar pollen. It has been making my allergies pretty insufferable if I forget to take my medicine.
What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been plugging along with work, school, and his calling at church. Not too much else to report on that front. 🙂
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Also not too much to report on my behalf, either. It’s been pretty much the same stuff going on. I did go to a LuLaRoe party (new clothing line that they have boutique parties for) at a friend’s house and came home with a new dress (and told Paul he’s off the hook for Valentine’s Day) that is really cute. 🙂
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been doing a lot of imaginative play, a bit of video game playing, and a surprising amount of LEGO creating. He also continues to be quite the sweet boy. The mom of one of the girls in his Primary class told me that her daughter said that when she grew up, she wanted to marry Joseph because he was a nice boy. 🙂 We had a good laugh about that.
This Week in Pictures:
He wanted to wear his Link costume, so I pulled the belt and hat out of his closet. He wore them all day (except for when we went to the store, thank goodness).The swings at the park are so much fun (especially when Momma does “underdog”)!Traversing the bridge. This is January in South Texas, y’all…Playing with Daddy AND LEGOS?! Double win!Working together to build a robot.Last night we went over to a friend’s (I call her Joseph’s San Antonio grandma) to have supper with her and her family. After dinner, she had one of her daughters pull out some LEGOS for Joseph to play with. He was so excited!
Weekly Happenings: This past week was a pretty low-key one as we were trying to get back into our routine after the holidays. I took down all of the Christmas decorations, we went to Story Time, went grocery shopping, had a park play date, and ran errands. Not too much out of the ordinary, really.
The Weekly Weather: It’s been really flip-floppy as different weather systems have come through. We’ve had super cold and rainy days, warm and sunny days (no, really…it was in the mid-70s at one point), and then cold and sunny days (such as today).
What Paul’s Been Up To: He started his next group of classes, got back into the swing of things with his Sunday School calling and work, and also took down all of the Christmas decorations that were up at different entrances for our subdivision.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Mainly, I’ve been trying to get back into our routine. It was a bit…rough having to meal plan, teach piano students, and especially keeping Joseph entertained (his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents were doing a superb job of that in California) after having slacked it all off for almost two weeks. In a way, though, it was good to just jump back into life. It kept me from sinking into what I call the “January blahs”. I also got to hang out with friends a couple of times, since I attended a meeting for one of the two book clubs I’m in as well as a baby shower for one of my close friends.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been a gem this past week! He got a pretty gnarly cold right at the end of our vacation, so he spent the drive home sniffling and coughing. It lasted well into last week, so he missed his first day of being a CTR4 (which he was bummed about, but he understood). Consequently, today was his first day with his new teachers. He did great! He loved that all of the kids in his class were those that were in his class last year and he says he really likes his new teachers. He also got his first CTR ring. He says it makes him powerful against bad guys. Oh, kiddo…you don’t even know! Another funny thing he did was tell me this morning that he was too cold to eat his raisins. Yes, you read that correctly. Well, since I try to parent by fixing the immediate problem, I asked him if he would eat his raisins if he had his sweatshirt on and he answered in the affirmative. Well, no reason to forgo this experiment! On went his sweatshirt, and all of the raisins got eaten! Crazy kid. He also got to attend a birthday party for one of his best buds yesterday, so he was super excited about that.
This Week in Pictures:
This is the cookbook that Paul got me for Christmas. I love it! I’ve made a couple things out of it already (which turned out really good) and I am looking forward to making more!Here’s the responsibility chart we got Joseph for Christmas. He really likes putting happy faces next to the things that he’s done each day.Cranking himself up to spin on the swings at the park. The only “oops” moment occurred when the boy next to him decided to do the same thing and the two bonked heads.Pushing a friends on the swings.It’s sort of hard to see, since the sunlight is coming through the fence slats, but Joseph made himself a hopscotch course, complete with numbers. He wrote the numbers all by himself, and while not all of them are facing the correct way, they are in the correct order. He amazes me!I decided to break open my new cookbook to make dessert for our game night with friends. It started with making pie crust from scratch.Then I cut circles out of the pie crust, put a sweetened blueberry mixture in the center of each, folded up the edges, brushed them with egg wash, sprinkled sugar along the edges, and baked them. The recipe calls them galettes, but I think of them as mini pies. I even made whipped cream from scratch to go on top. They were pretty good!He was seriously excited to get this thing…
I’m breaking from my regular blog post format due to the fact that there are a LOT of pictures that Paul and I took over the past couple of weeks. Long story short, we were able to go to California to visit my parents (and other siblings who also converged upon my parents’ house). We left here on the 23rd, made it to Mom and Dad’s on Christmas Eve, and were able to stay until New Year’s Day. We got in last night. It was a fun-filled trip with visits to Sea World, Knott’s Berry Farm, and tons of time with family. Joseph loved playing with all of his cousins, but was especially excited to get to play with my nephew’s son and daughter (his son is about 7 months older than Joseph and his daughter is just about a year younger). As much fun as it was, we’re always glad to be home. 🙂
This Trip in Pictures:
Usually I try for chronological order, but I’m not sure I can get away with that this time…
This is from right before we left for California. Joseph wanted to pretend to be a king, so I whipped up a quick paper crown for him.Enjoying ice cream at Dairy Queen somewhere on the road to Grandma and Grandpa’s.He kept saying, “Mmmmmm…yum!” with every bite.We stopped in the Phoenix area to visit with one of Paul’s former foster sisters. It was great to meet her and her family.Christmas morning means that Daddy gets to open his stocking.Inspecting the clamp that Joseph picked out for him.Joseph diving into his stocking.He got a new Rescue Bot in his stocking. He liked the fact that the drill bit that’s on the Bot’s arm actually spins a bit.Using the drill to try and open the rest of his presents…he eventually resorted to the more traditional method of ripping off the paper.Checking out his new book (The Pigeon Needs a Bath).Unwrapping his magnetic chore chart (and yes, oddly enough, he happened to ask for a chore chart after we had already purchased this one for him, so he was pretty happy to see it). We also got him some new church clothes and a couple Imaginext dinosaurs.Uncle Jason and Aunt Saira (as well as Luna) were able to come up to Riverside on Christmas night. They brought Joseph a pinata horse with candy inside as well as presents (three Rescue Bots that actually transform…his little ones don’t, so he was pretty excited about that).This is what happens when Uncle Paul suggests to an assortment of nieces and nephews that they use both gingerbread house kits to make a gingerbread high rise…note the alligator on the roof. I love my family!Reading with Uncle Dave.Joseph loved getting to hang out with all his uncles and aunts!Oh, and cousins! So many cousins!Checking out a show at Sea World.He liked watching the orcas jump out of the water (as well as the dolphins at a different show).Family selfie!And…this is what usually happens when Joseph discovers that he can see himself in the camera…In the polar bear cave. Joseph was seriously unsure about the fact that there were recorded polar bear growls and roars that were emitting from the cave.Playing on a boat.He loved hanging out here…it was a huge bounce house, essentially.He also loved running through these swinging foam cylinders. This area also had a huge rope fort with bridges, ladders, and slides that Paul chased him around in for quite a while.He loves anything that has to do with music…I love the look on his face here. So happy!Hanging out by a sea turtle…at that point, Joseph was kind of getting tired of pictures, so this is the last one we got that day.We went to Knott’s Berry Farm on New Year’s Eve day and it was packed! Next time, we’ll choose a different day for sure! Here’s Paul and Joseph on a roller coaster in Camp Snoopy.He was super excited to go on the Snoopy’s Flying Ace ride.He was insistent on getting into a Sopwith Camel (as opposed to the Red Baron’s plane).Getting ready for the swings.Wee!Leading the pack of pump cars.Playing with a steam locomotive replica…”how does this thing work?”“Cheese!”
And here’s a movie that Google+ did with a bunch of pictures from our trip. I’m not sure why there isn’t a preview picture, but if you click on the triangle (for “play”) on the lower left hand side, it ought to play for you:
