Valentine Party

Today was Ronan's Valentine's Day party at school! He remembered that it was happening as soon as he woke up this morning...and he was sooo excited. He got dressed and ate breakfast more quickly than usual. Last night he picked out this sweater to wear for his party, rather than the typical sports outfits he likes to wear (:

Ronan rode to school with Aunt Becca and Sadie, and Griffin & I came to his class a little later for the party. Here is Ronan sitting at the table waiting for his treats (:

He got to decorate a cookie with frosting and sprinkles. He was very focused...

The whole class was very into decorating their cookies. It was so cute watching them concentrate and enjoy their yummy creations.

Griffin had his pick of all the toys while the big kids were eating their treats. He chose to play with the tools (:

Work Day

Saturday was a beautiful day! It was sunny and even a little warm outside! It turned out to be a very productive day which made it even better (:

The Fuller family came over so that Eric could help Josh install some windows. Ronan loved having Micah and Kyle there to play with. They rode scooters together and played in the mud while Jill & I sat in the sun and watched them. It was great!

Josh's dad also came over to help with the windows.

Micah helped put up some of the insulation (:

Amy, Jon, Ethan, and Macey came by to see the progress on the house. Their kiddos weren't feeling well, so they look a little sleepy here.
After everyone left, we cleaned up all the building scraps & trash from the work site and took a trailer load to the dump.

Then, later that evening, Ashley and Camilla came over for dinner. We had a really nice & relaxing time with them. Our kids went to bed early, so we got to have a few hours of uninterrupted adult conversation! Yay! Josh and I were exhausted by the end of the night, but it felt good to spend time with friends and also get a lot work done in one day.

Lovey Dovey

On Friday, Josh's mom and grandparents came by for a quick visit. Ronan had been pretending all morning that he was an animal in a cage at a pet store. He ate his breakfast in this box and wanted me to buy him...it was pretty cute. When G&G Lovey Dovey (as Ronan calls them) came over he was still in his cage, so Gr. Grandpa played along with him (:

Griffin was content just sitting in Grammie's lap. He was acting shy toward Great Grandpa and Great Grammie, so Grammie's lap was his "safe" place.

Then, we all walked through the new house together. Griffin was still unsure about being held by Gr. Grandpa...

But, soon enough Griffin went to him and did fine.

Installing Windows

Josh and my dad spent last weekend working hard on the house. Josh made some more progress on the insulation while my dad dried off each window sill and applied the flashing (the blue tape-like stuff) so they could install the windows. They got seven windows in on Saturday and a five more in on Sunday...they make a good team!

Of course Ronan was right there willing to help when he could (: He spent several hours working with them...tool belt and all!

On Tuesday, my dad and Josh both got off work a little early so they could get some windows installed while it was still light outside. They needed a third guy to help with the upper windows in the family room...someone who was strong & comfortable being up high on the ladder. Kenton (our brother-in-law) was the man for the job (: He is always up for physical challenges like this.

So, the three of them worked together to get the windows in. They made it look easy, but I'm sure it was difficult and a little scary. I'm just thankful that there weren't any accidents!

Here's Katrina, Finley, Mom, and Griffin watching the guys work.

Griffin and Finn having fun exploring the house together.

Above: Ronan looking tired after a long day of work
Below: Griffin drilling the floor (:

And, finally, here is Ronan & Josh in Ronan's favorite hiding place, the crawl space under the house.

Such a fun stage...

Griffin has been learning all kinds of new "tricks" lately. He now gives hugs, kisses, and high 5's when you ask for them (: He loves it when we sing songs together and he is starting to learn some hand motions. He moves his arms around in a circle during The Wheels on the Bus, and when we sing Jesus Loves Me and get to the part "...they are weak, but he is strong" he does the hand motion for strong.

When asked, "What does a duck do?",

he flaps his arms and tries to say "quack".

While Ronan was at school on Wednesday, Griffin found one of Ronan's backpacks and brought it to me. He wanted to wear it and ended up keeping it while he played with his toys. It was so cute (:

We really enjoyed this stage of development with Ronan, and now it is so much fun to go through it again with Griffin. He is saying several words and vocalizing like he is having a conversation with us. Ronan thinks Griffin's language is funny and tries to interpret what he's saying (: Pretty soon they will be carrying on real conversations.

Back Patio

The back patio is almost done...the concrete guys will need to come back to pour a step. Our awesome framers, Nick & James, are done with all of their work, and most of the plumbing rough-in is done. Josh is hoping to finish putting up the rigid insulation this weekend and start installing windows. The siding was delivered this morning, so that will go up once the windows are in. Whew!

little milestones

Ronan is 3 1/2 today! He is growing up so fast...it's crazy! My family has a tradition of celebrating half-birthdays, usually with gifts like socks and underwear (: Memaw & Papa gave Ronan new camouflage pajamas and candy! We decided to take Ronan to Papa's Pizza, one of his favorite places to eat & play, and then to Dairy Queen for an ice cream cone. I think he felt very special (:

Here are some funny things Ronan has said lately:

• "Gum is so good for my heart."

• "I was on the moon last night."

• As we were coming in from the snow the other day, Ronan was whining & acting upset and Josh said, "Are you cold, Ronan?". Ronan said, "No, I'm just freaking out." Ooops, I wonder where he has heard that before??

Ronan has learned a lot at preschool this year...

• He can identify almost all of the letters in the alphabet and is learning to write them too.

• He can say the Pledge of Allegiance. I didn't realize that he knew it, but I was reading a book about America to him one night, and when he heard me saying the Pledge of Allegiance he joined in and finished it on his own. We continue to be amazed at his memory! That same book also had a section about Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. The next morning I asked Ronan if he remembered the name of the first man to land on the moon, and he said, "I don't know...wait, I do know! Neil Armstrong". I think that's also when he told me that he too was on the moon. (:

Griffin has the same jammies, so I had to get a picture of them wearing them together.

Griffin turned 14 months old on Saturday! His vocabulary is starting to expand and he is really starting to show us that he understands what we're talking about (:

Griffin's Words:

• Mama
• Dada
• blanky ("ganky")
• dog ("gog")
• up
• all done ("ah done")
• Papa
• pop
• banana ("nana")
• bye bye ("bah bah")
• bubble ("bubba")

He knows a few animal sounds: dog, elephant, and cow (it comes out more like boo rather than moo)

Above: Signing more
Below: Learning to Feed Himself

Peek-a-Boo!