Kids Quest Museum

Back in October we went with our friends Bob, Patti and their little guy, Caleb, to Kids Quest up in Factoria. It was a fun place to let the boys explore and play. They have all sorts of activities for kids to do. Andrew's favorite thing was the capes they had for dressing up. He was going around pretending he was "Thunder Head" the superhero. Bob even took him over to the face painting station to put thunderbolts on his cheeks. Josiah liked the area they have for toddlers where they can play with light switches, trains, etc. We also put Josiah in the superhero cape, although he had difficulty walking while he was wearing it.

Fall Fun

A little while ago it was sunny outside, so we decided to do some work/playing in the backyard. Micah mowed the lawn, I raked the leaves and the boys had fun playing in the leaves. Andrew had lots of fun jumping into the piles I made for him. Josiah liked watching Daddy mow, and enjoyed pointing at him.

Happy Halloween!

Sunday, before Halloween, we went to the Cove in Normandy Park for their Halloween party for kids. A few years ago Micah's cousin, Laura, gave us this cute dinosaur costume and now Andrew finally fits into it. Micah thought it would be cute for Josiah to be a dinosaur egg so we made him an egg costume, but I never got around to making his hat. Oh well. At the Halloween party they had different games for the kids to play. The boys were a bit young for most of them, but I think they still had fun. And it was nice that when they finished a game they got a prize (a little puzzle, playdough, etc.)

After the party we came home to carve pumpkins. Andrew ended up falling asleep on the couch before we carved his. I guess he was tuckered out from the party.

Josiah loved the glowing pumpkin!

Monday nights are when our Missional Community (church small group) meets at our house, so we decided to combine our MC and trick or treating. Micah put up a "big screen" and hooked up a projector in the garage and had Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin playing. We also had hot chocolate and apple cider. We were able to visit with some of our neighbors, and we had a fun night.

Josiah at 12 Months

Here are some recent pictures of Josiah. Recently I let him try out using a spoon to feed himself. He loves it, and does pretty good for the most part. If he is really hungry he gets frustrated that he can't get the food in fast enough. He also tends to make a big mess, so I pick and choose what I am willing to let him get all over the kitchen floor.

The other morning I came in to get him, and he was sitting like this. I thought it was so cute I had to get a picture, but of course he got mad since I didn't get him out right away. I am still nursing him just for his morning feeding, and he wants to eat right away when he wakes up.

A week after his birthday he took his first steps, and now he is walking all over the place. He can even go long distances. It amazes me how balanced he is, for only walking less than a month. Some cute things he has been doing lately are: giving open mouthed kisses, clapping when he is excited, saying, "nigh nigh da da" (night, night daddy). He is such an adorable little guy we love him so much!

Preschool Homeschool

At the beginning of October I started doing preschool homeschooling with my friend Lyndsay. Her boys are 4 and 3, and Andrew is 3. We have been doing it twice a week for two hours a day. Each week we learn a new letter and its sound. We are also doing some math activities, holiday projects, Bible stories, calendar time, and songs. It has been fun to see the boys improve and want to learn more.

Fun with Pipe Cleaners

A little while ago my mom gave me some pipe cleaners she bought for Josiah's birthday cake, but didn't end up using. At first I had no idea what to do with them. Then I found some fun things on my new favorite website, Pinterest. We made glasses, a dinosaur, and then a cool hat. It was a great way to play with the boys.

Josiah's 1st Birthday

Our little squirt turned 1!

My mom made this whale cake; she makes awesome cakes for us!

We had a much smaller party than we did for Andrew's 1st, which was a good thing since it was rainy outside.

Josiah loved his cupcake, and really enjoyed eating it.

My friend Lori knit him an adorable sweater!

Puyallup Fair 2011

Back in September we took the boys to the Puyallup Fair on opening day since admission was free. My mom joined us for the fun. To start off the fair they had a cattle run and parade. It was way more than I expected; there were all sorts of horses, marching bands, even bagpipers. It was our favorite part of the day.

Then we went and looked at all the animals.

For a snack we had scones, one of our favorite things to eat at the fair. Josiah loved his and devoured it.

Not Your Usual Spam

So, having a blog can attract some interesting spam. We get at least a few bogus "Comments" each week that are just filled with links to people's web sites. For the most part, they are inappropriate and annoying. However, this last week we got a message from a company representative that I just have to share. Not only that but, I feel that with the economy the way it is, the company link is worth sharing. Jooble-us.com It is a decent job searching site. Well, on to the message:

Hello! I'm so glad that someone else reads books :) I found The Myst Trilogy in your profile, it is one of my favorite ones! By the way, I do not know if you read The Narnia Series, I can recommend it to you, I think you should like it. I just want to thank you for your wonderful blog micahstorer.blogspot.com. I read the first post "A Day in the Life of Micah and Kim" and then I spent another hour on your blog by reading your posts with pleasure :) Every article is interesting and easy to read. I really like the "August in Review". I work for Jooble company, we aggregate job adverts around the world. My job is to persuade bloggers to link to our site. I really love my job! We have a friendly team and good management, but unfortunately I have no idea how to convince a blogger to link to us, I'm afraid I might lose my job because of it :( And that is why, instead of sending letters to thousands of different blogs, I am reading yours. Honestly, I am not really sure if the link to our website in United States - jooble-us.com, will be appropriate for your blog, but if you believe it will and it is possible to add it, I would be really grateful to you! Our site is really cool, it can greatly help hundreds of people to find a job. I wish you to have a good day and excellent mood! Thanks again for your nice blog. Write more! Thanks!

So, it worked. I am sharing the link. If only more spam was like this. I too, wish you to have a good day and excellent mood.

August in Review

I have not blogged in a while, so I thought I would do a quick catch-up. Here are some of the highlights of August: We celebrated Micah's 33rd birthday on August 3rd. We took a family bike ride on a gorgeous day.

One of our favorite parts of this summer was going to Music at the Park near my parents' house. We would load up the boys in the wagon, walk to the park, have a picnic dinner and listen to some music. Our favorite was Casper Babypants, and now that is all Andrew wants to listen to when we are driving in the van.

Micah gave the boys haircuts. This was Josiah's first haircut. He had a little mullet going on, and I could not stand it any longer.

I made my first apple pie from scratch using apples from our tree. I will definitely have to do it again next year!

Andrew and Josiah going for a wheel-barrow ride from Uncle Justin

Josiah started pulling himself up and cruising around.