SuperHero Academy: Step 1

The theme for the birthday party was Superheros, and I framed it as the kids were coming to Superhero Academy to be trained. First step (and gathering activity): you have to look like a superhero. The kids picked out their capes that Mrs. Sharon had made. We used this as a template. I did the appliques with iron-on adhesive: stars and lightning bolts for the boys, and crowns and hearts for the girls.

I found this mask kit on Amazon, and the kids designed their own mask, though most of them had to wait for the glue to dry.

Caroline, our friend from preschool (last year and this year), showing off her cape.

Cecelia and Samiyah, friends from our small group at church.

Audrey, also from our small group.

Gareth, again from church and a great buddy for Josiah. They share a common passion for Thomas the Tank Engine toys. He'll also be in Josiah's preschool class this year.

We all agreed Conner's was our favorite. He created that design all on his own!

Josiah's 4th Birthday

Here's a sneak peak at some of the pictures from Josiah's superhero birthday party! We had a blast!
Huge thanks to my friend, Lee, who took all the pictures, to my mother-in-law who made the amazing capes, and our neighbors who loaned us their trampoline.

Micah is Walking

I can't seem to get more than a few steps on video, nor does he choose to do more than a few steps at time before he decides crawling is more efficient. We had been able to trick him into a few steps every once and a while. A breakthrough came Monday at the playground. I sat him down on a grassy/sandy part while I pushed some friends on the swing. He didn't like it, so he stood up on his own and trotted around for quite a while. I think he chose this moment because I didn't have my camera with me. Here are the best videos I've gotten so far.

Summer Days Drifting Away...

Here are a few pictures from our play date with Samiyah last week.

Mattie stopped by for a few minutes.

Testing, Testing...

I got an awesome new camera for my birthday, and I finally got to test it on my favorite models.

Peek-a-boo.

I see you!

There you are!

I can see a huge difference in the lighting already. My previous camera was getting on in years and had been dropped, and I just don't think it's light meter was reading properly anymore. I don't have to correct every picture in editing software anymore! Thank you, Thank you!

This is a snapshot of our play times now. Josiah is intent on whatever storyline he has created with his toys. Micah thinks his big brother is awesome and wants to be wherever he is. Micah nears vicinity of Josiah. Josiah flips out at the inevitable destruction. Sometimes Micah is redirected successfully, but eventually he's going to rip up the train track or destroy the line of cars or "mess up" the crash his older brother was making that was integral to not only his play world, but also his entire existence. Sigh.

Sometimes outdoors is better. Micah LOVES walking with his walker and is pretty darn good at it. If only he would realize he can move those legs independently (No, he's still not walking.)

Josiah wearing his too big Croc knock-offs. On the wrong feet. We inform him of this fact, but he says he likes it that way. We pick our battles most days.

Camp Nana and Pop

Josiah and Micah went to visit my Mom and Dad last week for several days. They had a blast going to the zoo, aquarium, mall and swimming in the pool. (I think Nana and Pop had a pretty good time too). Jonathan and I enjoyed a quiet house for a few days, going on a double date with friends, and celebrating our anniversary.

Riding the train at the mall.

And the carousel.

Hanging in the pool; they both really enjoyed swimming.

With Susan and cousin Davis.

"No fear" Davis running through the waterfall.

Snacks with Davis on the counter.

This video of Micah and Sandy is adorable. He just loves dogs, and Sandy is very easy going. I think Micah is trying to say "dog" at the end.

God Is Wild About You!

Our church here in Hickory is wonderful! We love being a part of this faith family here. And this is part of the reason why. For Vacation Bible School this year, we placed it out of a local women's shelter in town, which is within walking distance of most of the public housing in town.

So we had Trinity kids and kids from the neighborhood participating together, and women from the shelter helping serve. It was awesome!

I got to serve at the registration table and with some of the advertising. Want to hear a funny story? The other gal in the picture is named Kelly. When we first started visiting Trinity, I thought, "Man, that girl looks familiar." We finally figured out that we went to the same youth group in Roswell together. She's a bit younger, so that's why we didn't make the connection from the get-go (plus we both have different last names now). Small world, right?

The little boy in the middle is Ahzion, and he was my buddy. For some reason, he clung to me whenever we were in a big group together, and all he wanted was tons of hugs and cuddles.

There's my big boy at his first VBS. They had a younger group for leader's kids. He seemed to really enjoy himself.

How incredible are the decorations? That was a really cool part of the experience, seeing my friends use their gifts and talents. I could never pull that off!

Here is another example. My friend Lee did the Bible story time, and she was amazing! It used all her gifts and talents: storytelling, creativity, conveying God's truths. She engaged all ages and had great activities to involve the kids in the story. (Josiah is on her left, pretending to be a tiger, as they acted out the days of creation. Lee is being light.)

Each day her room was transformed into part of the story: nothingness before creation, the belly of the whale, a mountaintop for Elijah's altar, a cave where disciples where hiding, and Hannah's living room.

Inside of the whale.

Psalm 23

We've been concentrating on memorizing some Scriptures with Josiah this summer. We've also done the Lord's Prayer and the Fruit of the Spirit. He gets a small reward when he completes a verse, because it's hard to get him motivated otherwise! This one is a little rough around the edges, but not too bad for an almost 4-year-old.

Vroom...

Haven't been taking too many pictures lately, so here are some videos from a while back to tide the grandparents over.

Bowling

We had a few coupons for bowling, so we decided to try it out a few weeks ago. Josiah got bored after a few frames, but it was pretty fun. Micah enjoyed saying "ball" about 400 times :)

Swimming Lessons

Josiah has been taking swim lessons at the local college in town, where the swim team teaches during the summer. He's definitely been learning. We went to a pool party last night where he wore arm floats for the first time. I noticed a big difference with his confidence than he had just a month ago.

He REFUSES to jump into the pool. He'll dive; he likes that because the teacher holds on to him. But he dreads jumping. So he gets the toss each time.

Cousins at the Lake

Micah trying to scam some of Jacob's lunch.

Babies in the baby pool.