Trinity Fest 2011

It's the weekend!!!  And that means family time!  :)

We attended Trinity Fest 2011 at Priya's preschool this afternoon.  Ashish was able to take a break from his studies to join us and his parents and Ami got to partake in the fun as well.  

It's always fun to see Priya interacting with her classmates and teachers.  She definitely knows her way around the school and has a genuine love for all of the teachers.  I love seeing her calling out her friends' names when she sees them and interacting with them.  Our little girl is growing up!

Priya dressed up as a peacock princess today...

 And Josiah got to be a little monkey.

Josiah continues to amaze and entertain us with his developing abilities.  He's been walking with assistance for at least 2 months now.  He is going to be one happy little guy once he figures out how to do this on his own (hard to imagine him even happier than he already is).  :)

One of Priya's buddies was also a peacock so of course they had to pose together. :)

 

Priya was over the moon to have her Daddy there!

Miss Melissa helped with face painting.  Priya asked for something purple on her face and after some thought stated that she wanted a hamburger.  So random...!

 So she ended up with a hamburger with a purple patty on her face. 

After the school event was over I took the kids to a park (Ashish had to go to work) and met up with a friend who is moving to Oregon on Monday.  Priya played for almost 2 hours and Josiah enjoyed a nap and some play time as well.  It was great to be outside (it was around 80 degrees and gorgeous today) and to spend time with a friend.  But sad that another friend is leaving. :(

Then it was time to head back home where we had dinner and then the kids crashed from a fun-filled and exciting day.

Outings...

Oh how I cherish the special times I get to spend with my kids!  We've been soaking up many opportunities lately.  Here's a glimpse of some of what we've been up to when I haven't been working. 

Last Monday Josiah and I were able to join Priya's preschool class on a field trip to the pumpkin patch (the same one we visited with our Mom's Group recently).  

They tried to wrangle the kids for some quick photos.  Easier said than done...

Then we were off to the pig races.  Priya was more excited than she seems... :)

Next it was time for the hayride...

Then it was time for some jumping fun.  Wow, there sure were a lot of kids jumping at once on that thing!

On Thursday night I had the privilege of serving as a judge at one of Simpson's traditional events - Air Band.  I was able to get seats for the whole family in the front row - right next to me.  The event went from about 9-11pm and I was pretty nervous about how the kids would handle it.  They've been going to bed around 7pm most nights so they went to bed and were woken up to come to the show.  I think the little nap saved the day.  Both Priya and Josiah were delightful through the whole thing!  And I definitely enjoyed the show too!

Yesterday (Saturday) I took the kids to get some free photos taken at Sears (thanks to a tip from Jenetta on frugalfreebiesanddeals.com).  Priya was playing at the mirror while we were waiting to see the results of the photo shoot.  She had brought all sorts of fun things in her purse and was having a ball playing quietly while we waited.

Then we were off to the play area in the mall.  This was Josiah's first time being able to really enjoy it since he's been crawling.  He was in heaven!

He has also learned to drink from a sippy cup this week.  He's quite proud of himself for this accomplishment. :)

Today I took the kids to a park downtown and took some photos for Josiah's birthday invitation (can't believe he's going to be one year old in 3 weeks!!!).  Here are some of the results...

Then it was time to enjoy the playground!

Priya was selling "food" to Josiah.  I think this was supposed to be chocolate ice cream.

My charasmatic little guy...

Hallelujah!

Quality Time With Grammy & Papa Penner

We enjoyed some quality time with Grammy & Papa Penner today.  We took the kids to the park (Priya calls it her "birthday park" - it's where we had her birthday party when she turned 2).  Josiah got to experience a swing for the first time (and he loved every minute of it). :)

 

Papa Penner has been helping us to finish baby proofing the cabinets (since Josiah is now quite mobile) so he and Grammy stopped by this evening to help finish the job.  Thanks so much for all of your help!!!

Josiah Crawls!

Josiah has been on the verge of crawling for quite a while.  He's been scooting around, spinning in circles, and moving himself backwards with his arms, but he just hadn't figured out how to maneuver his legs enough to really get moving.  Today that all changed!  Better late than never, right?  I was beginning to wonder if he would be one of the babies that skips crawling altogether and goes right to walking...

We were at Life Group tonight when it happened so it was special to be able to share this important milestone with some new friends.

 

Trying to pull himself up...

 

 

You can hear one of his new words in this video, "yeah".  Speaking of words, these days Josiah is saying "mama" and "mommy", "dada", "Pia" (for Priya), "yeah", "no" and is starting to mimic a lot of sounds.  His most recent addition is "kak" (quack).  He's quite the little talker these days (which actually surprised me because I'd always heard that boys tend to develop their language more slowly than girls).

 

Priya's First School Picture

Priya had her very first school picture taken recently.  I'm impressed at the result considering the photographer took only 2 shots! :)

A Trip To The Pumpkin Patch

I was able to use some alignment time this morning (for the extra hours I put in during the month of August) and took the kids to one of the local pumpkin patches with the GPS Group (God's Preschooler's - a mom's group).  The forecast said that there was only a 10% chance of rain this morning but unfortunately that 10% won out.  Priya's response to the rain was, "Mommy it's good that Jesus made it rain.  The trees are thirsty."  That helped to put things in perspective.  :)

Because of the weather, the options available to our group were limited.  But we managed to squeeze in some fun activities.  First up was the pillow bouncer which was a huge hit with the kids. 

  

Then we took off on a hayride (it was covered so it sheltered us from the rain).  Priya's friends Bella and Lucy were there so she was extra happy.

 

This was Josiah's first experience at a pumpkin patch and his first hayride.  He was due for a nap but definitely perked up and loved the experience.

A pumpkin was included in the price of admission so everyone ventured out and picked out their own pumpkins.

Then it was back on the hayride for more fun.  Josiah finally discovered the hay and was in heaven after that. 

They enjoyed petting the ponies as well.

All in all, it was a great outing.  Priya and I were soaked by the end of it but were thankful for a memorable experience. :)