Anyway, at breakfast we read a lot of the Veggietales book. This is the one that has 2 great stories we've been able to use as lessons...Madam Blueberry and king George. One tells how Madam B thinks she can be happy by getting more and more stuff and learns that things will never satisfy her. I actually remind myself about her story- not just the boys- because who doesn't every struggle with that!? The King George one is about selfishness and I've often been able to tell the boys, "Remember King George?" and they immediately link it to selfish behavior, which is easy to recognize in the character in the story, but not as easy to see in themselves. Great book! We also read his birthday letter together (I like to write the boys a letter on their birthday highlighting the past year and my prayers for the next year) and his scrapbook page for this year (I do one front and back page every year with just the major things that have happened). The verse I picked to especially pray for Joshua this year is "Whatever you wish to be done to you, do so to others." The Golden Rule, obviously, but something I'd love to see more a part of him in his interactions with his friends and family.
After breakfast, I got some chores done as we waited on our playgroup friends to arrive. At 45 minutes past when these 3 families were supposed to come, I had given up on them showing, but everyone finally made it and we had a great time. We just talked and played and had cupcakes. Joshua really enjoyed this time, so I was so thankful everyone ended up coming. Then we had nap time and this was Joshua's first day or his new no-nap schedule. He got to play in the office while I took a little nap and then I gave him another present--A Dr Suess game--that we played together.
There's very little that Joshua likes in the way of supper foods, but I talked to him about it and came up with a sort of agreeable menu. We had chicken nuggets, macaroni, and green beans...and cupcakes for those who cleaned their plates. Would you believe that Gray ate all his macaroni and green beans and wouldn't touch his chicken nuggets? After supper, we gave Joshua his last gift--the Disney movie Cars. He'd never seen it, though he's been into the characters for years, so he was super excited. We ended our day watching that as a family. I think Joshua had a great day and thank you to everyone for all the phone calls and emails! Here are some pictures and a link to a birthday interview with Joshua:
