Cute pics from the last week . . .

I'm in a crummy mood today and could use a pick-me-up. Cute photos of Josie always work to cheer me up!


Here's a series of me trying to get a shot of the two of us with the "hold camera up, try to guess where to put it so we're both in frame and convince child to look AT THE CAMERA!" method.








I just love this outfit and the hair ribbons . .






Yep-that's my Girl!


A couple shots of swimming. Indulge me in my photo editing fun . . .

3rd Birthday-the one where she's Ariel!

I didn't get to see Josie the morning of her 3rd birthday-which made me extremely unhappy. Last year we took her out to breakfast and I was looking forward to making the "birthday pancakes" an annual thing. Well-I guess there's her always next year. However-I was released from the hospital in time to take her with Grandma and Papa to Red Robin where she got her french fries, corn dog, sundae, balloon and singing.

She insisted on wearing her Ariel dress (yes-it's a little big and we did cinch it up in the back before we left the house) and crown. Who am I do deny the birthday girl! After the last few days-I probably would have let her go in just a pull-up if she'd asked . . . .

Making music . . .

These pics were taken not long before my (minor-thank God!) stroke about a week and a half ago. Josie was using all the cups on the table to make a little music. We can thank DragonTales for this idea. Luckily-she was tapping very lightly with the utensils-so she wasn't being annoying to everyone else.



This is what I often see nowadays when I ask her to smile. Also-whenever I ask her to look at me-she says "cheese".



Playing with Papa Joe's hearing aid . . .




I don't remember taking this picture-but I would love to know what she's thinking.

My future mechanic?

Josie found the face masks and some tools in the garage-pretty soon she was completely absorbed in her "work".

Haircut, Chuck E Cheese and Tired Tot . . . .

I took Josie to a kid's salon and paid $17 for a 90 sec haircut. Josie was only slightly cooperating. Didn't want a bib. Didn't want to watch Nemo. Didn't want to sit in the taxi.

And when it was over? Took me 20 minutes to get her out of there cuz she wanted to watch Nemo while sitting in the yellow taxi.

It's not obvious she got a haircut here really. I can tell-the big difference is in the back-all nice and even! Yay!


The next day we went to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese for one of Josie's friends from daycare. She loved it. Me? Notsomuch.




The party was during Josie's naptime and she wouldn't take one when we got home. The result? This is what I found when I finished making dinner.


The next day we went to church and Josie went to the childcare room as usual. After church-this is what I found.

That's one tuckered-out little girl. I was hoping to get a good pic of her in her dress and yellow bow in her hair since it looked so cute. Oh well . . . .

BFFs?

Only time will tell . . . .but it's a pretty good start!

Josie and Chloe took turns "walking" each other.



Chloe often seems extremely amused by Josie. But then, Chloe's a pretty happy kid.



More ledge walking.





The slide.




Okay-I know it sorta looks like Chloe fell down and Josie's laughing at her or something. But that's not really what was going on. In reality-Chloe is cracking up here too. I just didn't get her face.



Woodchips. Fascinating.


Taylor was a bit shy that day-but apparently couldn't resist the lure of the woodchips.

Princess Josie

A few pics from a couple of weeks ago.

Don't you love it when they "smile" like that?


Mom made Josie a "dancing skirt" (as she calls it). She's modeling her new tiara and earrings here in it. Watch out-cute alert!

Water Play

It was nice and hot last Friday-so after I picked up Josie from daycare we headed to a local park that has a cool fountain. She had fun-but didn't get all that wet-she was too busy pretending to be Ariel.

Seriously-she was crouched on a rock and singing Part of That World-just like in the movie where she watches Prince Eric from a rock in the ocean. She even stretched out her legs behind her at one point and pushed herself up with her arms. She was killing me . . . .




Uh oh-some kid dared to get on HER rock.





"Leave me alone, mom. I'm singing here . . ."





Time to put on a cover up and hit the playground!

If you have just a little to give . . .

If you've read my blog at all, you know that I don't do this kind of thing. But this is one of those causes that truly seems doable-both in the amount being asked ($10) and the project itself-building a house for a poverty-striken family in Vietnam. Can you believe $1750 (the fundraiser goal) could build one or possibly two houses? Amazing.

I don't know Heather-but she's trying very hard to raise this money and isn't even halfway there-so her blogging friends are rallying around her . . .namely Laura and Kelly

From Kelly’s Blog:

For the past month or so, I’ve seen a fellow adoptive mom Heather trying to raise $1750 to build a home for a family in need in Vietnam through the group Giving It Back to Kids. Her deadline is the end of this month and she is still not half-way to her goal, yet.

Unless you have been exposed to families in extreme poverty, unless you have seen how many live in third world countries, it is hard to understand the term “shack.” A “shack” here in our country is not a “shack” in my son’s homeland. A shack there is a 5 foot by 5 foot area built out of scrap that could house a family with several kids.

Imagine what we could do if everyone gave $10 to Heather’s project? Even if ten of you do that, and then post this on your blogs, and then ten of your readers do the same, and on and on, we can get her to her goal.
If you have a blog, won’t you help us get the word out? If you have food on your table, won’t you consider contributing $10 or $20 to a family who you will never meet, but whose world will be forever transformed by your generosity?

It may seem that a few people giving a few dollars can never make a difference, but that is just not true. If you put a bucket under a dripping faucet, it may seem like it would never fill, but leave the bucket for a few days and that bucket will overflow with countless “insignificant” drops.

Go to Heather's Blog and CHIP IN!


Me again: So-if you're able-please consider a donation of $10 (or more!). If you win the double-stroller and don't need it-you could always sell it or donate it or something. OK-I'm coming off my soapbox and heading over to Heather's blog to donate my $10. Wanna join me?

Pics of Princess Josie to come soon . . .

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa