Loving Husband

John waited in line this wet, chilly morning to get tickets for Governor Sarah Palin's Rally tomorrow. He's even going to watch the boys for me so that I can go. I'm excited to hear and support Governor Palin who so closely embraces the same values that I do! What a great guy!

This is the picture from the Erie Times News.

Potty Training

It's that time again! Time to start potty-training. I wish there was a switch that would instantly activate toilet skills.

This morning I said to Nathan, "Nathan, you're getting to be such a big boy now. Do you want to sit on the potty like a big boy?" He looks at me and says, "You stop it."

Hair Concerns

I gave Josiah a trim last night. Today is Picture Day at school so I wanted to make sure he was looking his best. As I'm trimming, he asks, "Are you making me bald? I don't want to look like Daddy!"

Nathan Quotes

I got a haircut this week. We were almost finished when Nathan came close, bent over and picked up a clip of my hair from the floor. "Oh no! It's broken?"

The New "Please"

"Can I have candy, Honey?"
"More water, Honey?"
Honey, ice cream, Honey?

This comes from Nathan. At 2 1/2 years old, he has observed that "honey" is the word that gets you things. Yep. Anytime Nathan wants something from me, it's honey this and honey that. Ahhh! They pick up on all the details, don't they?

Where are all the flashlights?!?!

As I was playing on the computer last night the house suddenly went dark and quiet. Very dark. The remnants of Ike had knocked out our power.

I felt around for the flashlight which wasn't there. Then I started searching for matches. It wasn't long before I heard footsteps on the stairs approaching. Josiah and Nathan were awake and probably wondering what happened to their nightlight. Even Noah woke up .... probably from hearing me gathering the jar candles from my room.

We only found one working flashlight. All the others we found didn't have batteries. Who knew? We lit plenty of candles and even two oil lamps.

John rocked Noah until he was calm enough to go back to sleep. Meanwhile, the boys and I hung out together talking about electricity, its invention and what people did before it was harnessed.


One of the oil lamps we used is an old one that has been hanging in our basement for a very, very long time. It was fuel for the imagination to wonder how old it is. I told Josiah that since I couldn't find a date on it, I'll have to do some research on it.

John said he did not get to watch the end of the Steelers game. The power returned shortly after the game ended.

It was a fun little spontaneous adventure that lent itself to sharing and learning.

Josiah's First School Bus Ride

August 27th was Josiah's first day of school. We got up early, ate breakfast, got dressed and went to the porch to wait for the school bus. This would be the first time Josiah has ever rode on a school bus!

He was more excited about than me. I was thankful that he would be picked up at our driveway. It is a huge blessing in the amount of gas money it will save us for the year.


We waited and waited. Then I began to worry. At 8:00 the bus was half an hour late. John called from work to ask how Josiah did getting on the bus. "We're still waiting. I'm going to call and see what I can find out.", I reply. I called the bus company first and got the answering machine. Then I called the school. From the school I learn that the bus is running very late but that it will come. Okaaay. We wait longer. I call the school again at 8:30. The bus is still coming and has picked up the first student. It should be there any time. Okaaaay. FYI - school starts at 8:45. The students are supposed to arrive by 8:40. It takes me 15 minutes to get there from my house - that's with no stops. I'm getting anxious. At 9:00 I call the school again. Pastor Diane, the principal, is in the chapel service. Since the lady answering the phone that time was a volunteer, she didn't have any information for me. Okaaaaay.

This whole time I'm thinking that I could take Josiah to school myself but I didn't want to mess up the school bus driver if we weren't here when the bus arrived. I was also disappointed that Josiah would be late for the first day of school.

Well, we wait some more. At 9:30 I call the school again. By this time, they know my number on caller ID and answer, "Hi. We were just about to call you." The school bus arrived to school and there was no Josiah. Mmm hmmm. I thought so!! Apparently, the bus company decided that they were picking up the students at the nearest corner this year. The bus company never communicated this to the school or the parents!

Brothers waiting together.

I quickly got Noah out of bed, put him in the car seat and gave him a bottle. Nathan and Josiah got in the car and away we went. Josiah finally made it to school. Yay!

Josiah arriving to school in our family car.

Josiah had a wonderful time at school and did get to ride the bus home.

Josiah getting on the bus the second morning of school.

Niagara Falls

We went to Niagara Falls for a wonderful day of fun, family and frolicing. I absolutely love this place! Grandma and Grandpa Bowers (my parents), Uncle Micah, Aunt Holly, Isaac and Eli joined us for this wonderful adventure.

















When we arrived, we had a picnic beside the Three Sisters Islands. After being refreshed with lots of nutricious picnic yummies, we walked over to the islands to explore.


Goat Island and the Three Sisters Islands are great to climb all over. Josiah said his favorite part of the day was climbing down and under the first bridge and coming up the other side to surprise Grandma and Aunt Holly.





The furthest island out is very rocky and the water is fast so make sure not to slip off the rocks! Josiah and Nathan both loved climbing on and through all the rocks. I loved getting to the end of the trails to see the awesome views of Niagara River.

Noah stayed awake for awhile but just couldn't keep his eyes open when we started strolling down the path to see the Horseshoe Falls and the Bridal Falls.


Peek-a-boo!

Nathan didn't want to wait to have his picture taken. He wanted out of this tree. Grandpa was assisting him.

One last picture before we head to the car. This is Josiah sitting with Nikolas.

After seeing all the Falls and walking the trail beside the river, we had another picnic since there was an abundance of food.

Josiah and I would have loved going back to the islands for more exploring but ..... it was time to go home. It was a great way to end a great week.

He's mobile!

What is this green stuff??

Noah has been rolling around for awhile.

Then he started pulling himself forward.

This week he has begun crawling!

What's that?

I don't cry over spilt milk.

Do that flashy thing again!

Family vacation

Before the beginning of school, we were able to have a week-long family vacation. (I've heard the term "stay-cation.") John and I planned a few local outings. We live in a wonderful city with lots of local attractions.
Our first Saturday off, we headed to Pittsburgh to visit Aunt Angie before her big move to California. It was a long car ride for the boys but they did very well. We visited with Angie until she needed to leave for work then we headed to the Pittsburgh Zoo.

I'm ready. Show me the animals.There's a zebra up there somewhere...

We love going to the Erie zoo. When we were planning the trip to Pittsburgh, I really wanted to be able to check out the zoo in Pittsburgh. They have several elephants which are the main attraction to me. Josiah wanted to see sharks in the Aquarium. When we arrived in the afternoon, there wasn't a lot of time for us to see everything. (Strollers come in handy for speeding up trips.) We zoomed through the zoo seeking out the animals that are not at our local zoo. Our main focus was to find the elephants and sharks. Nathan really enjoyed seeing the Kodiak bear. He also pointed out the "mingos." That's flamingos in toddlerese. The elephant exhibit had two baby elephants! They were so cute.
checking out the elephantsthis is one big baby
oooo .... a swimming sea lion

Sea lions make a funny noise

polar bear

Josiah is in the polar bear trap

The Aquarium was wonderful - full of all sorts of water life: coral, fish, penguins, jellyfish and finally SHARKS.

pretty stuff One of the many sharks
Yep, it was a good trip. The ride home...... well, let's just say we were very tempted to speed.

Get me outta here!

Josiah's such a ham

I see you So sleepy....

Sunday, we went to church and spent the afternoon with family.
The Buffalo farm was on the agenda for Monday. We were told that the buffalo were in the back pastures. We kinda caused a buffalo stampede. I think they weren't used to strollers. When we headed back, the buffalo ran ahead of our little family to one of the front pastures. Oops. After leaving the farm, we stopped to visit some good friends of ours then headed home again.

These are NOT the spooked buffalo.

The next day, Josiah was the only one to go out. He enjoyed a fun day with Marcie at the Crawford County Fair. He told me that he saw a lot of animals and that he rode the Fair Wheel.
Of course, we had to see our own zoo. We visited with cousins. We played at the beach. We had a great time as we balanced keeping the boys rested and well as making memories. We topped it all off with a trip to Niagara Falls. That trip needs its own post.