Joel's First Day of Pre-K

. . . . And second day.  Joel started Pre-K on Monday this week.  I only captured one picture of him on his first day.  Right after I took this picture. . . .

we ran into one of my friends dropping off her daughter.  I had to go re-park the car, and Joel wanted to walk with her to his class.  I was planning to meet them, but he apparently told my friend "bye" and headed off to his class.  By the time I caught up with him, he was already singing songs with the rest of the class.  I actually was a little sad.  He is so grown up and excited about school that  he didn't even need to tell me goodbye!

Today, I made sure to capture a picture of him in front of his class.  

He has the same teacher as last year so that is really nice.  He already has a friend named "Caleb" who is 4, "not 3 like our Caleb".  I have not investigated to see if Joel's memory is correct. . . last year it took him a month before he could actually remember any of his friend's names :)
Joel loves going to school, and I think this year will be a lot more challenging academically.  It is so fun to see all the stuff he is learning!

Fruit Loop Necklaces

It was cloudy and rainy this morning.  To keep the peace around our house, I usually have to come up with an activity here and there to keep the boys occupied when we are stuck inside.  If I am feeling really ambitious, we do a learning activity or craft.  My novel idea today was to make fruit loop/cheerio necklaces to work on their small motor skills. :)  They were a hit!    

Josiah stuffed his face with as many as he could before Joel or Caleb could put them on their necklaces.

Imagination is a Gift

I am so thankful our boys have been the gift of imagination.  Joel has always been very imaginative, and I believe he taught Caleb how to do the same.  They have entire conversations by themselves.  With all different voices.  Deep "bad guy" voice, high "mommy" voices, "baby" voices, and even "big boy" voices.  It cracks Tim and I up listening to them.  

Lately, the boys have been playing firemen.  They put out fires all over the house and have come up with fireman gear.  Seriously, I did not help them with this.  Here is Caleb modeling his gear - hat for a helmet, plastic bowl for a mask, my oven mitts for gloves, and rain boots for their fireman boots.  

I have been designated the fire house cook since I make all their meals.  I also am in charge of taking care of baby "Sam" (Josiah) who is a future fire fighter.  Once in a while I am invited to help put out the fires.  :) 

Imagination is truly a gift.  Those people who do this well come up with so many new inventions and are able to see possibilities in things that the rest of us can't.  I can't wait to see how they use this gift in the future!

Safari

The next couple of posts may be out of order since I'm waiting on my parents to send me some pictures from the rest of the weekend (hint, hint!).  Anyways, we celebrated my birthday weekend in Arkansas with my parents.  On Sunday, we visited a wildlife safari.

Josiah was fascinated

Checking out the baby zebras

A baby camel and his parents blocked the road.  The dad gave us a stare-down and then started heading towards our car.  We politely backed up.

Josiah has been mastering his sad and mad expressions.

There were lions inside those inner cages.  Maybe a bit of cruelty to animals, but it was much more exciting than a zoo.  Whenever they went past the lion cages, the lions got all riled up.

 Joel was a little impatient with the drive-thru part, but he loved feeding the animals.
This donkey became a quick friend....

Caleb really liked to feed this little pig

It took us a while to convince Josiah that the animal food was NOT for him to eat.

We thought these camels were going to knock the fence over when Tim and my mom offered them food.

Way too hot, but a fun trip for all!