104 days of summer vacation...

May 17th was Josiah's last day of his first year of preschool!  He had fun, learned a lot, and met a lot of new friends.  It was a great outlet for him, even if he was the youngest kid in his class.  The last week of school they took a class field trip to Jump Mania.  He had a lot of fun until close to the end when his chin had a collision with his friend's head, causing him to bite his tongue.  Mouth injuries always bleed a lot and look really bad, but thankfully they heal quickly!  No stitches required.  Also thankful he was wearing a red shirt!

Josiah has had a fun and busy summer so far!  The day after his last day of school I took him to Bass Pro to celebrate.  They had a big pool set up so people could try out the kayaks.  He had a blast and didn't even tip over!  :)  He also got to play on the boats, 4 wheelers, and gators, as well as play with the toys.  His idea of a perfect day!

The next week (21st), we had Josiah's cousins Trent (6) and Bryan (16) stay with us for a night.   Josiah had SO much fun playing with them.  They drove around in his police car, climbed trees, and basically did as many boy things as they could think of.  That night they went fishing in the back yard and then made s'mores.

Here is a turkey that lives in our woods.  We occasionally get to see her come drink out of the pond.  Josiah is hoping she has babies so that he can kill and eat her, then raise the babies.  Then when they get older and have their own babies, we will kill and eat them, and raise their babies (and so on and so forth).  He thought up this plan all on his own!

On Sunday the 27th we went to Branson with my side of the family for a week.  Josiah loved getting to play with his cousins, and Levi started to warm up to them by the end of the week.  :)

A few of the things we did in Branson:

1. Relax (it was a much needed break!)















2. Play on the playground and eat popsicles.

 3. Silver Dollar City (Josiah even rode a couple of roller coasters!)

This is one of the kid rides, but they still love it!

 A ride where you get a gun - not entirely sure Josiah didn't invent this one.

 They even had stuff Levi could do!

 Thankfully he didn't try to eat the balls!

 The day we went was nice until the afternoon when we got drenched on a water ride, and then the weather quickly cooled off and it started raining.  This is the kids trying to warm up when we got back!

4. National Tiger Sanctuary - this place was really cool.  You are literally 3 feet away from these 600-750 pound cats.  The pic below is one of the smaller tigers.  They have about 10 tigers (some of them white), 1 lion, 1 panther, and 1 cougar.  It was a little intimidating being that close to such powerful animals.  Even the 70 lb panther - it can carry a 200 lb person 50 feet up a tree!  All of these animals were born in captivity and rescued - a lot of them were being kept at people's homes as pets.  Craziness!!

Since our Branson trip, we have also visited Grandma Regehr and made a trip to the pool.  It is shaping up to be a fun summer!

Levi now has 4 teeth - two on top and two on bottom.  He has more hair than Josiah had when he turned 2!  He is 11 months old now and I have started weaning him, which he is not a fan of.  It has been a little rough but he is starting to get used to the idea.  He is not walking yet but I know it won't be too long.  I love my little joyful baby!

Josiah is getting so big.  He wears a lot of 7T shirts and he looks so much older than he is.  He makes us laugh every day.  He is still having some tummy issues, but seems to be doing a little better as of this post. 

The heifers are doing great, and hopefully next year they will be moms!

We have officially been in our house for over a year now.  It is hard to believe it has gone by so fast.  It has been a very intense year of change and transition, but we are very thankful for everything God has done for us, not the least of which is surviving it all!

Quick update

This picture was taken at the end of April, but I just had to share how stinking cute he looks in his Carharts!!

Also at the end of April, Josiah went to a birthday party for a couple of his classmates.  He had a great time!

 They had a pinata at the party, and after all the candy had been spoken for, a couple of the boys (including Josiah) decided to destroy it.  Being the good mother that I am, instead of stopping them, I just took their picture.

 On 5/4, Josiah was in a presentation for his school.  I don't think he sang at all, but at least he did some of the hand movements.  He mostly stood there and scowled because he didn't like the light in his eyes.  :)

 Taken on 5/9 - just a cute pic of my boys playing together!

Our chickens are now free range.  They decimated our broccoli plants in the garden, so we had to move their coop to the other side of the house (they don't stray too far from the coop).  But now they are right outside our bedroom window, and the roosters are now experts at crowing.  Every morning at about 5:20 I am ready to go out and butcher them myself!!!!

We went to visit my parents for mother's day weekend.  Just had to share this picture, because this is how Levi reacts when almost anyone besides Jason or me tries to hold him.  He is pretty comfortable now with my mom and Jason's mom, as long as he can't see me.  

 Bike races!!  After several times down the hill there was an inevitable crash with skinned legs, but they still had fun!

 You just can't beat a tire swing.  Hours of entertainment.

 Happy mother's day to all the moms out there!  I love being a mom to my boys!!

Another update coming soon!!!