More phone pics.

 This was our gratitude tree.  The thought was that we would each add a leaf every day after dinner for something that we were grateful for and then by Thanksgiving it would be a huge tree full of all our blessings.  It was a little difficult for Josh because the rule was that you couldn't repeat anything that was up there.  It was fun but after just a few days I didn't feel well enough to continue.  I'm hoping next year our tree will be even bigger!  The Piglett coloring page in the corner is from Josh.  I was having a super rough day and he could tell, so he got Lynds to help color a picture and then hung it on the wall to help me feel better.  It was so sweet of him. 

Since I get to spend time with Huds, here are some pics of him too.  Here he is making a snowman out of marshmallows  I drew the outline with glue and then he stuck them on.  It cracked me up that he had to clap after EVERY marshmallow he put down.   

Here he is eating a mini muffin.  When I gave it to him I told him what it was and then said "Isn't that so cute?  It's just a little guy."  When he was done he asked for more by saying "little guy, little guy?"

Mike was so excited for it to finally snow enough for him to use his toy!  He was so funny because he ended up going in late to work and then coming home early all so that he could plow the driveway. 

This was the first year that Josh was in on the Santa secret.  I was worried that he wouldn't be as excited for the Christmas activities now that he knew, but that was not the case.  He took it upon himself to hide our elf, Sarah, for Huds and Lynds in the morning.  This was his first hiding place.  I thought it was so sweet that she was in the manager scene until Josh came and added a straw.  I asked him what it was for and he shrugged saying "I just wanted to put it there."  Ok...

Josh got a Beyblade stadium from Grandma and Grandpa Monsivais for Christmas.  He loves it.  It was so fun to see him 'battling' with Grandma :)

The upside to my surgery was that I got to pick my breakfast and it always had bacon.

Christmas was funny because Mike gave me a 'prank box' for bacon scented dryer sheets.  I totally believed it and only found out it was a trick when he pestered me into opening it up so that I could smell it.

Josh has been busy since last I blogged.  We'll start with random pics from my iphone. 

Josh has been busy with homework in 4th grade.  He's started doing book reports and they have been interesting. Here he is holding up a poster for Superfudge. 

And this is a pumpkin that he painted to look like the main character from the "Boxcar Children" book.

Perfect likeness!!  After it got graded we cut it open to get all the seeds out.  Huds and Lynds loved it. 

Josh had his first cavity this year!  We took him to our amazing dentist and he got it taken care of super quick.  Josh did a fantastic job.  He didn't cry or complain and he held still the whole time.  Great job!  This is a pic of him waiting to get his cavity filled.

And here are Huds and Lynds in the waiting room...so cute.

 In October Josh came home with a flier for school choir.  I asked if he wanted to do it and to my surprise he said yes.  He had to be to school at 8am (an hour early) three times a week for almost 3 months.  I was sure that after the first or second time I would have to fight him about it but it never came to that.  He did not complain once!  It was a miracle. He loved it and was so excited to perform for the school and then for the parents.  'Ria was able to come and he was so happy she was there.  If I can ever figure out how to post a video I'll post it on here because it's hilarious!  After every song he would take a deep breath and exhale like 'Whew, that was so tough."  He's a cutie.