Joseph Man-Candidacy

Joseph turned one and a half today. As such, we are pleased to inform all of you that he has been formally accepted for enrollment as a boy in the man-candidacy program.

The man-candidacy program is a rigorous 16 and-a-half year experiential home study course in the ways of boyhood and manhood. The program instructors will be many, but primarily Joseph's parents, Ma-mi and myself, Chief Man Instructor Da-di.

We mark this day for Joseph with pride, as he formally assumes the title of "boy" and joins his brother (Samuel - class of '24) on the treacherous path to manhood that is not for the feint of heart.

We ask that you keep Joseph in your prayers as he takes his first steps on this path where he is "no longer a baby but big" instead.

Joseph will be available in the coming week for your remarks of congratulations and encouragement. He also welcomes the opportunity to engage with you intellectually on a wide variety of issues pertinent to boys and man-candidates of our day. Please call or stop by, but just not during nap time, from about 3 until 5:30 each afternoon.

Posted by Daddy

Smoothie Time

On a daily basis Samuel asks for a smoothie and most days I end up making them one. They are just too good and too healthy to turn down. And also, I just knew I'd get a good picture of him this way, since he's still in his 'not thrilled with getting his picture taken' phase.

GranRan's Birthday Weekend

We had a great time up in Ellicott City for GranRan's birthday. When Gigi found out that Samuel was sad to realize that GranRan wasn't going to have a theme to his birthday she got right on it and made sure there was a theme. So cute. So, GranRan had a zoo theme to go along with our zoo trip. Samuel was very impressed. And I was impressed with the ice cream cake. It was amazing. I had two pieces.

We continue to be amazed at how awesome it is to have family so close. It's such a huge blessing to be around family, especially when we hadn't been for several years.



Joe Joe riding in the stroller at the zoo. His favorite part.

Samuel riding on the tram at the zoo. His favorite part.

Laundry Time

I just love how cheerful these two are doing chores. They make the simplest things so much fun.

Translations

Samglish to English

Yes-raunt :: Restaurant
Lemon-m's :: M & M's

Thankful Thursday

Well, we've got one week of School Bus School under our belt and it's going great. We're only doing it Monday-Thursday because those are the days that the other Samuel is with us. So, a successful week of learning is a big thing we're thankful for.

We're also thankful that we're getting to celebrate GranRan's birthday this weekend with him. Samuel asked at dinner tonight what kind of birthday he was having. Wondering like if there was going to be a theme. Andy explained to him that grown ups don't have themes to their birthdays. He was not impressed. He was however bought back into the party idea after hearing there will be an ice cream cake! Smart kid.

Air conditioning. Enough said.

Our Volvo (hopefully) will be all fixed tomorrow so we can take it to MD. Free advice here, Volvos are awesome cars to look at and ride in, not awesome to own and maintain. We're looking at minivans, I know, I never thought I'd type that sentence in my ENTIRE life. (I am going to do a post soon, if I can remember, of sentences that I never thought I'd ever say). That would be a fun list.

Friends of ours are moving to Africa the first part of next year. That's not the part we're thankful about, though. They have to get ride of practically everything they own, so we've been offered practically anything we can see in their house that we need. We got a truck load of stuff last night that we're so excited about. We got lots of storage options, which we needed desperately. The school/play room made out great and I now have a MUCH cheaper (read free) option to the bakers rack that I had once wanted to go in the kitchen. Take note moms.

And, finally, I was able to get my hands on some of the pictures my aunt and I took at Ashley's wedding.

Oh, the bride and groom. I love them!

A totally random picture below, I know, but it's the first time I've ever had an updo. Shocking, but true. I had to document this occasion to have the proof.

I love this picture. It had been a really long time since we had seen each other. I had just had my first night away from him the night before because I stayed with Ashley at her parents house with her and Andy stayed at my grandparents with the kids. Reunions are the best.

Nana couldn't have been happier.

Gigi wanted to know if we got any pictures of the boys together in their cute outfits. We'll here you go. Our only ones. I'm so sorry!

One of our attempts at getting a family photo. Hopefully this makes up for the lack of the boys together.

And then he tries to escape.


He's saying 'cheese.' He can't possibly look at a camera now without say that. It's adorable.

Ah, what a great picture. I think I was five the last time we had one taken that we liked. My mom looks 29, I know! I'm going to start to look older than her after a few more babies :)

School Bus School

Today is the first day of 'school' for our boys this year.

I am watching a little boy this year while his mom is at work and his name is Samuel too. He's almost two and is more adorable than you can imagine. His first day over was today.

Those of you who have been around for awhile, know of Bushu. (You can read the story here if you're not familiar).

Well, since it's been two years since we've named our school, I thought I'd give it another shot and see if Samuel could come up with a more grown up name. He wants it to be 'School Bus School.' I've asked him several times if he's sure and tried to come up with other names, but I've been unsuccessful. He is determined it's going to be 'School Bus School.'

Only Samuel could come up with a name for his school that somehow involves a vehicle and is somewhat relevant to his school. Too bad he won't be riding on a school bus to get there.

So, I've begun to embrace it as any good mom would do :) This is my lesson plan book.

The party started with some egg muffins. You can't learn on an empty stomach, now can you?!

Here's to a fun, productive year of School Bus School!

I forgot to take pictures at school today, so here's a cute one from this past week to hold you over.

It's Both of Mine

Another Samism:

We're learning about sharing in our home.

It's not going so well.

Joseph is quite the instigator and insists he needs the exact toy that Samuel is playing with. He will quietly walk up to him and rip the thing out of his hands.

The word "mine" has been tossed around more than I can even count...

So, obviously we turned to the teaching that all the toys are both of theirs and they need to take turns with their toys. Well, Samuel has a twist on that idea. When Joseph takes something from him, he will yell...

"No no, Joe Joe, it's both of mine!"

Thankful Thursday

We have been reminded so many times lately just how blessed we are to have our new home. So, I thought in honor of our new home, I would do a Thankful Thursday post with the top 10 things we love about it:

1. The location: close to everything, esp. so many friends.
2. On a dead end street.
3. Great front yard and back yard.
4. The neighbors are awesome. Lots of kids with super nice parents. And even older neighbors who are so sweet.
5. Our playroom is next to the kitchen and living room making it a really great set up. (We turned the dining room into a playroom).
6. Size: not to big, not too small (for now).
7. The price: as cheap as we could have gone in C-ville, but with lots of things even other places in the same price range didn't have, like a great yard.
8. The age: not too old where a million things need fixing.
9. The shade: behind our house and to the left are woods. Makes it more private and is a great place to play out of the sun.
10. Two levels: We were concerned about that at first, but it is proving to be a nice set up.

Thank you, Lord, for making there be a way for this home to be ours! We are so grateful.

Meeting the Sloans

I have had a dear friend for about 2 years now that I met online through a mutual friend, but had never met until this past month. Jen Sloan and her family were in VA vacationing with their family so we just had to schedule a visit! It was great to finally meet them all, but honestly, it didn't feel like the first time. Both of our second sons are born just hours apart so we have a great bond of having feisty 17 month old boys!

10 years ago this idea would not have even existed... getting to know someone online and through emails. But now, people are even finding their spouses online. My how times have changed.

It's been such a neat experience getting to know her and her family and being able to have someone else out there to share life with.

Can't wait to see you guys again soon!

New York Trip

Here are some pictures of our trip.

We had a lovely visit with my Dad's side of the family while we were there. I just had to take these pictures. This was my dad's bedroom when he was growing up. They've never painted over it. The first one is of the ceiling.


And here's one wall of our boys' bedroom. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, now does it? I guess we both have a thing for painting on the walls :)

Playing in their uncles 1934 car! They were in heaven.

Family picture

Visiting with old friends

The two Joe's tearing it up.

Joe the ham bone!

Our attempt at getting the three kids in a picture together. Hilarious!

Seriously, the only halfway decent shot I snapped with this camera of the bride and groom.

Andy and me at the reception.

Joseph being his ridiculous self at the reception.

(I realize I hardly have any photos of Samuel lately. He's not that into getting his picture taken, and this one loves it... so for now, you're gonna get lots of Joe :) I'm sure you don't mind).

The Birth of Samisms

Ever since I started this blog I wanted it to be my online baby book for the boys since I don't keep up with their baby books enough to catch all of the details of their growing up process.

Well, I thought of this idea months ago to have a Samisms category and a Joeisms category to document all the hilarious things that they say.

Samuel said the cutest thing last night that finally has brought me here to start Samisms and Joeisms.

Last night Andy really wanted some ice cream, so while I was out running an errand I stopped by and bought some ice cream. He put Joseph to bed and told Samuel he could wait up until I got home to have some. As he was sitting there about to eat his mint chocolate chip ice cream, he said "this smells like toothpaste."

We commented that it does because it was made of mint and sometimes toothpaste has a mint flavor too.

Then after he was done, we went upstairs to brush his teeth so he could go to bed.

He said "Mommy, I don't have to brush my teeth, I had ice cream!"

Thankful Thursday

Things we are thankful for from this past week:

~ We had a wonderful time up in New York. The wedding was gorgeous and we got to see tons of family and friends.
~ We had a very safe trip there and back.
~ Joseph started to get sick but it didn't amount to much. (Samuel got sick the week after he stopped nursing too).
~ The walls are done being painted and the boys are in their new room!
~ The playroom is almost all unpacked.
~ We got a huge bag of fresh tomatoes from our neighbor.
~ We sold our couch we've been needing to sell.

What about you? What are you thankful for today?