Funny Face

For about three months now, this is the face Joshua makes that we call his "funny face." When he first started randomly making this face, he would do it for a long time, waiting to see our reaction. Now we will ask him to make the face and he will only do it for a split second, if we're lucky. I think that he associates making this face with a Baby Einstein Mirror Me book, in which the frog makes a "super-silly" face. Usually when we read that page of the book he makes the face. Enough of that...I just thought I would share one of the random things Joshua does!

Santa on the Roof

I am playing catch up on blogging today because it has been a month since I posted! I know that it is way too long and we have had a lot going on to post about! Last night we enjoyed a fun tradition called Santa on the Roof. Kristin's mom started this tradition when they were young. They would invite all of the neighborhood kids and family friends to come to their house to see Santa. After singing a few carols to lead Santa to the right house, Santa appears on the roof and hands presents down to each of the kids. Kristin and her sister have continued the tradition over the last few years, but this was the first time that we were able to make it. It was held at Jessica's house (Kristin's sister), which is actually the house that they grew up in.

Joshua enjoyed the caroling...


Joshua spotted Santa as he walked down the roof. We were prepared for a "Funniest Home Video" moment, thinking that it would be very possible that Santa would slide down the roof. It didn't happen, which was good because it would have scared about 30 children!


Joshua proudly carried around the bag that Santa dropped to him! In each of the goody bags were homemade lollipops that Kristin and Jessica made. They have started a business called PopCulture. You can go to their blog to see their products...they are really cute and taste very good (Peter & I each had a few licks of Joshua's lollipop).


While we were waiting for all of the other children to get their bags, Joshua just stared at Santa. He even learned his name and called out for him quite a bit.


Joshua was not a big fan of Santa once he came down off the roof! Last year we had a sweet picture of Joshua staring into Santa's eyes and enthralled with his beard...quite the opposite this year!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving visiting family this year! Holidays are always too rushed, going from one place to another, but we treasure the time we get to spend in Houston. We spent Thanksgiving Day with the Murrells...

Oksana is quite the piano player and was giving Joshua some pointers...

Joshua enjoyed sitting with Papa and DenDen...

The Murrell clan...Peter, me, Joshua, Diane, Bill, Phillip & Oksana.

Then we went to the Ashdown side of the family for another Thanksgiving celebration...

It was pretty cold outside, but Joshua needed to get out of the house! He did some digging in the flower beds with grandpa and even found a worm. We missed the really cold Dallas weather on Thanksgiving day, but did see the snow falling in Irving when we watched the Cowboy game!

Inside, we made a tent out of a blanket...I thought he would play under there for a long time, but it only held his attention for a few minutes!

High School Turkey Bowl

The high schoolers at church participated in the annual "Turkey Bowl", a flag football game. They had lots of fun running around like crazy. Joshua enjoyed picking up the cones and moving them...the cones were supposed to be the yard markers, which may have affected a few first down calls.



Peter didn't get much playing time because he was one of the referees. He was proudly wearing one of his jerseys from DBU intramural days...go Squirrels!

DBU Homecoming

As a last minute decision, Peter and I went to DBU's Homecoming on November 17th. They had receptions and activities all throughout the week, but we just went to the basketball game and tailgate party. It ended up being very fun because we met up with lots of friends. Somehow, this is the only picture I can find from that night...Janelle & Ella, Kristin & Laney, Joshua & I!

Alicia's 30th Birthday Celebration

Joshua and I traveled to Houston for a weekend (November 9-10) to celebrate my sister, Alicia's, 30th birthday. Peter went to Nashville with his parents to see his brother, Phillip, in a play that he was performing in. So, it was the perfect opportunity to spend time with our families. We had a great time hanging out around the house and then went to the Aquarium restaurant in downtown Houston for her birthday dinner. I think Joshua enjoyed it more than Alicia because he got to see all of the "fishies" in the huge tanks. If you ever have the opportunity to go to this restaurant, you need to! Right outside of the restaurant there is a small train, ferris wheel and carousel. Lots of fun stuff to do!

Here we are at the entrance of the restaurant, looking up at the several-story high cylindrical tank.

This tank is on the main dining level and holds 500,000 gallons of water and 200 species of aquatic life.

My mom, dad, Joshua, Alicia and me!

Joshua didn't mind helping Alicia finish off her birthday sundae!

Joshua and his grandpa rode the carousel together...

...then we got to go on a carriage ride around downtown. Henry was our horse, but Joshua was much more interested in the dog in the front seat of the carriage.

Joshua made himself comfortable on Alicia's birthday gift, a new KitchenAid mixer. He is definitely a climber these days!

...and just a cute picture of my boy!

Happy 18 months!

Joshua turned 18 months on Monday! It is so hard for me to believe that he is already a year and a half old! Peter, Joshua & I celebrated with cupcakes and ice cream. Joshua loved smearing the icing all over his face and using a fork to dig in to the cupcake!

Last year when Joshua turned 6 months old, Peter brought a huge turkey balloon home for him. He loved holding it and watching it over his head as he laid down.

We saved the balloon and blew it up again...this year Joshua carried it all around the house saying "tur-ey". It looked like he was carrying one of the big balloons for a parade!

Howdy Partner!

Joshua sported his cowboy costume proudly at our apartment costume party on Saturday night and tonight at our church's Fall-A-Palooza. Normally it takes me a while to post pictures, but I know that our families are anxious to see our little cowboy! Here are some of the highlights...

Joshua is making his entrance to our Apartment Life Costume Party on Saturday night...


Auntie Alicia spent the weekend with us and kept Joshua entertained at the party.




We made "Witches Brew" (punch) and Peter added dry ice for a fun effect...Joshua thought it was pretty cool!

Before Fall-A-Palooza began, we went trick-or-treating. Here are Peter and Joshua on our walk from the church to trick-or-treating...

Joshua's friend, Tobey, was dressed in a similar outfit, but Tobey was a Sheriff. I never actually captured them in a picture together.

Jackson (golfer) and Ella (80s aerobics instructor) were cracking up at Ella's daddy, Heath, as he practiced some aerobics in the front yard.



Joshua was not too sure about trick-or-treating. He never actually made it all the way to the front of a house.






Joshua enjoyed stepping up on these bricks...a little too much because he eventually went forehead-first into one of them, leaving a pretty good mark.


Joshua participated in the preschool costume contest. All of the kids were adorable! The kids were supposed to be at least 3 years old, but an announcement was made at the last minute that any kids that could walk across the stage for themselves could enter the contest. We registered Joshua, but he ended up throwing a fit right when his name was called, so I had to carry him to his place and set him on the stage.


Here is Joshua with his 2nd place ribbon for the costume contest...can you tell that he has been sick, bonked his head, and was extremely tired tonight?! Regardless, he was a cutie pie tonight!

Pumpkin Goop

Joshua had the opportunity to carve a pumpkin and take out all of the goop last Wednesday at Kid's Care. His teacher, Kendra, bought each of the kids a pumpkin so that they could experience carving it. They didn't end up carving a face on the pumpkins because they thought it might be easier to send it home with us and let us do it at home. Here are some pictures from Joshua's first pumpkin cleaning experience! They said he really got into it!

Toby was not too wild about touching the goop, but he sure did help Joshua get his arm down into the pumpkin!

Reminiscing...

I have been reminiscing lately about how quickly this last year has flown by! It is amazing to me that Joshua was only turning the corner on 6 months last year at Halloween. He looks so little (but perfectly chunky) in the pictures below. I will post more pictures after our church's Fall-A-Palooza tomorrow night. I can't wait to put Joshua in his big-boy cowboy outfit!

Please pray that he feels better though...our family has passed around a stomach virus and now a cold in the last two and a half weeks. I really want Joshua to enjoy Fall-A-Palooza tomorrow, so he needs to be energized and feeling good!

State Fair of Texas

On Sunday afternoon we decided to take Joshua to experience the State Fair of Texas for his very first time! It was a beautiful day, cloudy and relatively cool (not a 90 degree October day). We hit the auto show first, ate some amazing food like you only find at the State Fair, and then found some things that were geared for Joshua.

"Big Tex" was a favorite for Joshua...anytime we were within hearing distance, Joshua was looking for Big Tex. He is constantly talking...welcoming guests to the State Fair and talking about different exhibits.


Joshua and his Daddy waiting in line for the barnyard exhibit. This was just for kids 2-10 years old...don't tell anyone that Joshua isn't 2 yrs old yet! He was definitely a little young, but he enjoyed it so much. Volunteers led each child through different activities on a farm...Joshua followed the instructions surprisingly well!


He is getting his very own apron before starting the chores...


Joshua learned to milk a cow...


and to plant a seed...


...he picked a peach and got a carton of milk for his bucket


Joshua loved riding on the tractor...


Next we went to the petting zoo to visit the pigs, goats, zebras, giraffe, and many other strange looking animals...


...and a sweet little pony


Joshua was anxiously awaiting the pig races...


Our pig that we were cheering for was #2...he never won :(


After all of the excitement, Joshua was definitely exhausted and ready for a good night's rest! It was such a fun day as a family, and we enjoyed watching Joshua take everything in!