Mrs. Honeypot

Joey's class has a friend that they each take turns bringing home. This was our weekend with Mrs. Honeypot. She brought her shoes, favorite book, spoon, and even her toothbrush.

She got to join us at the airport when we picked up Daddy from a trip.

She got in on the jumping action at the bounce house.

We even took her out for a hotdog. Here they are coloring while they wait.

I missed taking a picture of it, but I think Joey's favorite part was brushing her teeth.

Helping

Andrew was struggling with his shoes and Joey stepped in to help.

Without asking.

Happily.

Go Joey!

Ice Skating At Home

In order to ice skate at home you must have green penguin socks and a willing brother.

Then, you must slide all around the kitchen floor.

Repeat daily.

Time Filler

Andrew took a long nap yesterday and Joey was a bit bored without his playmate for so long. He decided to fill some of that time with torturing the dog. He tied me up at first and then moved on to her. I think she was more fun for him to torture and she actually enjoyed the playtime.

Santa's Helper

While decorating for Christmas, Joey put on his Santa hat and made himself a workshop. He worked hard making toys. When he was done he setup his workshop for the next day. It was very organized with a toy in each corner and his hammer in the middle.

Since then he has also been the Grinch by taking his pillowcase and filling it with ornaments from the tree. His heart then grows and he brings the ornaments back. He gets Andrew to be his helper for both Santa and the Grinch. They are quite the pair.

Our New Christmas Tree Tradition

I finally convinced Joe to have a real tree this year. I was so excited and plotted how to make this a fun new tradition. I found a family owned local tree farm that had activities for the kids and a good variety of trees to choose from. My vision went something like this...

We would drive out to the tree farm in eager anticipation of cutting down our very own tree. There may be some singing of Christmas carols on the way. We would get there and visit their talking tree (sounded interesting on their website), let the kids ride in the tractor-pulled choo choo train, hunt for the perfect tree, cut it down, drag it back and welcome it to our home. My vision also included hot chocolate from the gift shop. Sounds great, right? The day didn't quite turn out as I had hoped.

This is Toogie the Talking Tree. It was pretty cheesy, but Joey thought it was fun. She called the boys by name and asked them quite a few questions. She was actually one of the daughters on a microphone in the gift shop. Ok, it's a start.

Look! I am actually in a picture. The baby even makes a rare appearance.

They gave us a saw and measuring stick and we began our hunt. My concern actually began when we drove up. I know we live in South Carolina and they have to plant trees that will grow here, but I still thought my tree would look like a Christmas Tree. The trees in this picture look more like bushes. I thought my tree would have needles and smell like a Christmas Tree. In the next field, the trees at least had a center that could hold a star (Joey's only request), however, the trees were really brown and looked like they all needed to be chopped down. I don't have any more pictures because tension was rising in the Beal family. I didn't even like any of the trees, let alone love one as I had envisioned.

My guilt for being the planner was growing. How was I going to tell the boys that we weren't going to be cutting down our own tree and leaving empty handed??? I was to a point that I just wanted to pick a tree and make the day end. Joe wouldn't let me do that because he knew I really didn't like the trees. When we saw them bag a tree for someone else and realized that they don't even shape them, we knew we needed to go. We had to turn in our saw and stick and leave. I felt bad about that too. I didn't want to hurt the family's feelings. Oh, the guilt! No choo choo, no hot chocolate, no tree. This was not going as planned.

We left the tree farm and took the long drive back to town. What do we do now? We decided to head to Home Depot. Oh, look. Their trees look like Christmas trees. Our spirits are picking up. I like all of them, so I tell Joe to pick whichever one he likes. I am just so happy that we can bring home a real tree and put the morning behind us.

This is the one! The boys are excited and I am relieved. It is kind of like cutting it down, we just did it from the top instead of the bottom (they had them hanging).

Next, trim off the bottom. I loved that it was a young girl with a chainsaw doing it, that cracked me up for some reason.

This is kind of like dragging it from the field.

Now for the decorations. Oh, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

I want to keep the live tree in our tradition, but I may leave out the first part next year. Thankfully, at the end of the day everyone was happy and our tree is beautiful.

Soccer Pictures

Stop, Drop, and Roll

Joey's school has been doing activities all week since it is fire safety week.  He came home from school yesterday excited about Stop, Drop and Roll.  He repeated it all the way home and even had Andrew saying it too.  He had to show me how to do it when he got home.  What fun for him.

I couldn't help but laugh at myself over this.  Joey is so different than I was as a child.  I was extremely (painfully) shy and he is the complete opposite of shy.  When I was in kindergarten we learned Stop, Drop, and Roll too, except that I refused to do it.  I wouldn't even speak aloud in class and I was certainly not throwing myself on the floor in front of my class. 

I wasn't planning on adding this to this post, but since I mentioned it I may as well add it.  Every day in kindergarten we had to say our name to the class.  I would not say my name, so every day I went home with a note pinned to my shirt that read, "Dana wouldn't say her name in class today".  This happened over and over again until it read, "Dana whispered her name in my ear today".  That's a start, right?  I finally said my name aloud in class.  What a breakthrough!  I know it is ridiculous, but that is my natural temperament.  I am so glad that Joey doesn't have those same hang-ups.  

Joey's First Soccer Season

I wasn't planning on Joey doing soccer this year, but he must have heard someone talking about soccer because he kept asking to do it too. I agreed and off to the sporting goods store we went. It was really all about the gear. He wore his soccer cleats solid for the first three days, only taking them off for bedtime (at my insistence). He kept hitting his shin guards to show that it wouldn't hurt him.

This is his very first practice. I don't know why, but it was so cute seeing all of the kids stretching. Joey is just getting so big.

He had so much fun this season. He is so social and loved making new friends and really liked his coaches. He didn't want to call them by their names, it was always "Hey, Coach!".

Blow The Man Down

Joey started singing (sort of) while using the bathroom. It went on and on, so I did what any good mom would do and recorded it.

The Importance of Marriage

I know that a solid marriage is important to me and Joe, but it is essential to our children too. I think kids can know that too without even being able to express it in words. Joey expresses it in his love for a picture from our wedding day. He frequently asks about one we have hanging in our dining room and we have discussed the basics about that day and what it means.

One day he noticed a smaller one in a frame on my dresser and immediately took it to his room with a huge smile on his face. A couple of days later I put it back on my dresser thinking he wouldn't even notice or care. Well, notice he did and he was not happy about it. I let him take the picture to his room for keeps and it has a permanent place on his dresser. I frequently see him looking at it and it must be visible to him when the lights go out at night. It is illuminated by his space lamp, just like any wedding picture should be.

Honesty, Joey Style

Joey came home from school today with a picture of Humpty Dumpty. They colored it and below it was this phrase with a spot for them to fill in as they wanted.

Humpty Dumpty did not want to fall, So I made him a ____________ to get off the wall.

Joey filled it in with......I would push him off the wall.

The teacher put a smiley face next to it.

EDIT: I found the picture, so I just had to add it.

When It Rains...

Joey absolutely loves the rain and that is an understatement. In the summer in South Carolina it rains most afternoons and when it rains, it POURS. As soon as Joey hears or sees the rain he has a little ritual he has come up with. He excitedly yells, "IT'S RAINING!!!" while he runs outside. While running, he rips off his shirt. He then hits the trampoline and jumps as high as he can. As Andrew has gotten older, Joey now has a partner to share this ritual with. Andrew needs a little help with getting his shirt off, but it is a necessary part of it. Once his shorts get wet, Andrew usually takes those off too.

Joey's Birthday Party

I let Joey pick where we would have his birthday party this year.  He picked Rolly Pollies, of course.  It was a good choice because we all had a lot of fun.

"Whose birthday is it?"  "MINE!!!"

They are plotting something.

Attack the parents!

It HAD to be a Batman birthday this year.  He still won't tell me what he wished for, but I hope it came true.