Josiah's 1st birthday

Since Josiah's 1st birthday was over 2 months ago, I thought I'd better hurry up and write about it before he turns 2!
I cannot believe that my little boy is so big already! His birthday party was really fun. We decided to have a Curious George/monkey theme. He's not into watching the shows or movies of Curious George (we don't even get the channel), but my mom bought him a George stuffed animal last year for Christmas, and he absolutely loves it! He hugs it, kisses it, bites it (you know, to relieve the "teething urge" that babies get to bite things ;) , wrestles with it on the floor, etc. So, I decided to incorporate it into his birthday.
My mom made the cakes for the party. The big cake was a full monkey; Josiah's little cake to destroy was the monkey face. She did a wonderful job on the cake. I assisted the process and helped just enough to say that I made part of it, too :), but all the credit goes to my fabulous mother.
We had a few family members come for the party--nothing big or extravagant, but it was nice. He did a great job opening his presents. (Last Christmas when he was only 4 months old he opened his presents, so by his 1 yr. birthday, he was a pro!)
He was SO excited about having cake. So when we sat the whole thing in front of him, he was very excited! He's a very kinesthetic child-he loves to touch and feel things, so thought it was pretty cool to be able to touch the cake and dig in! He didn't eat as much of it as I thought he would: he mostly just loved playing in it. :) By the time he was finished, there was nothing left of the cake but one ear and a BUNCH of crumbs. I was very thankful that I had put plastic down all around his chair!

After a quick bath to scrub off the chocolate cake, he had fun playing with his new toys. It was a good birthday! :)

Nothin' Like a Cup of Hot Tea

What a relaxing afternoon...playing Skip-Bo with my grandma while drinking a nice cup of hot tea. That really hit the spot. I was feeling extremely tired and like I may be getting sick (since my son and husband are, too), so it was a wonderful way to spend my Sunday afternoon.

I have been on a "hot tea kick" lately. I've been enjoying trying different flavors. The Apple Cinnamon with honey was a nice de-stressing drink that made me feel like I could sick back and take a break for a few moments. My muscles relaxed as I settled my mind and body.

Today I had Chai Tea with sugar--also VERY good.

In high school I used to drink a cup of Sleepytime tea with honey every night before bed. (oh, memories!)

I really enjoy drinking coffee with sugar and various flavored creamers, but there is definitely something about a cup of hot tea that is blissful (especially when you can drink it while curling up with a good book)

I do not care for Jasmine tea--it tastes like perfume (not that I've tasted perfume, but it reminds me of the way Jasmine-scented things smell).

Any suggestions of other flavors to try? Tell me some of your favorites!

Turning Over a New Leaf

Lately I've been reading the blogs of a few friends and have been thinking about starting my own blog. I have a picture website that I can blog on, but I'm not doing such a great job at keeping the photos updated. It's more of a pain than something fun---not what I had in mind when I created the site.
I'm not very good at journaling, but maybe this will be different. We'll "give it a whirl" and see how it goes. I have a hard time opening up and sharing lots of personal things with a lot of people (like updating every half hour on facebook what I'm doing). This will be a stretching experience for me, to open up and share more about my life. I've decided to "turn over a new leaf" and try something different.
So, here's to a good blog experience! :)