Merry Christmas

This year has gone by so fast. So many happy memories. We just want to wish our family and friends a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love,

Liz and Sam

Christmas Program

Sam did awesome at his Christmas program at his school. It was very nice as it was in the Sanctuary of the 1st Presbyterian Church. Here are some pics ...

And here is the after party... it was a lot of fun to be with the families from his class. What a great bunch of kids!

Christmas Get to Know Me

Christmas Get to Know me

1. wrapping paper or gift bags? I love wrapping paper so much fun to tear off ...

2. real or fake tree? Fake, fake and more fake. I love the ones that come pre-light how nice and easy to clean up is that?

3. when do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving. It is a tradition that I love... turn in the christmas music eat leftovers and decorate

4. when do you take the tree down? January 1st (or 2nd depending on how tired I am from the night before festivities)

5. do you like eggnog? Not really but this woman at work puts 1/2 eggnog 1/2 sprite and I could at least stomach it...

6. favorite gift received as a child? There are so many favorites but probably one of my favorites was a giant teddy bear. That was awesome.

7. do you have a nativity scene? I have three actually, two breakables that Sam is not to touch and one little people one that Sam can play with all he wants

8. hardest person to buy for? PRobably my dad. I wish I could get him all the cool electronics and gadgets that men like but those are expesive, it is hard to find a cool man present that is cheap.

9. easiest person to buy for? Sam - kids are always easy

10. worst christmas gift you ever got? I can't actually think of the worst present, I don't think I have received a worst present ... lucky me.

11. mail or email christmas cards? both, I love to mail cards and receive them but I want to send to many that I email as well...

12. favorite christmas movie? Probably Christmas Story ... it is funny.

13. when do you start shopping for christmas? I like to start early last year I was completely done by December 1st, this year I haven't bought a thing... when am I going to do it!!! AHHHHH

14. have you ever recycled a christmas present? Nope

15. favorite thing to eat at christmas? fudge. I am not really a fudge person but this guy at work mades the best fudge ever. Honest, he should sell the stuff because it is GOOD.

16. clear lights or colored on the tree? I currently have clear lights but next year we are making the jump to colored

17. favorite christmas song? in the bleak midwinter. My good friend Mike Vance game me a cd with that song it many years ago and I still love it. Second (and the one I love to sing the most) Silent Night

18. travel at christmas or stay home? I hate to travel period so we are lucky that our family is mostly in Utah

19. can you name all of santa's reindeers? I just tried and I can't ... oh well...

20. angel on the tree top or a star? Star

21. open the presents christmas eve or morning? We usually open one present on Christmas Eve and then the rest in the morning.

22. most annoying thing about this time of year? Cold. Wish I was visiting my friends in Australia about now...

23. what i love most about christmas? Everything, the lights, the love, the family, the joy, just the feeling in the air.

First real snow...

December 1st and we had our first real snow of the season. I am sure the ski resorts were excited, Sam was excited and I was just like really couldn't it just know in the mountains? But I ended up having a great day mostly because Sam was so full of joy at playing in the snow I almost didn't mind that I was freezing cold ... almost. Sam loves his camouflage coat and snow pants. He thinks he is pretty cool so I do too. Hope you are having a wonderful winter season. Looks like we are getting more snow today. Sam will be happy. The ski resorts will be happy. So I will force myself to be happy about it too. :)

Loves to you all...

NaNo Winner!!!

Well I did it. It was crazy and fun and I have a lot of work to do to make it even readable to friends and family but I learned a lot and had a great time.

Thanks for all your support!

NaNo Ho Ho Ho

Well I have two days to write more words that I would like (say about 6,000) but I think I can do it. Work has been crazy and life has been crazy and I took off the Thanksgiving weekend which I probably should not have done but I am still plugging ahead with it. I just have to write 3,000 a day ... I can do that :)

Thanks for all your support.

The Dog Lover

So we are driving past my parents house and Sam says let's stop and see the puppy and tell him that grandma and papa are not home and he gets very serious, almost crying says well who will take care of the puppy? We created a monster. On Thanksgiving we had a great time with Kipp, Kumi, Grandma, Papa and of course Ruby the puppy. We put up our Christmas tree and I am very happy. I think the tree is kind old and slightly worn but I think our decorations are beautiful so maybe after Christmas I will buy a new tree and then next year it will be perfect. Sam came in my room this morning and told me that he had a dream that Santa came and brought him lots of toys but that he forgot the pirate toy he wanted so he wants to write him a letter so her doesn't forget. So funny.

Sam's teacher called me last night to tell me this funny story. She was up on a stool putting Christmas stuff up and she slipped and fell off (now this isn't a high stood it is about 1 foot off the ground kid stood). And Sam started to laugh and she said Sam that isn't very nice I might have hurt myself. Sam said, "Sorry Miss Jeddah but come on, it was a little bit funny" and held his fingers out showing a little bit. She said it was so funny if she had been standing on the stood she would have fallen off again from laughing.

We are having a great start to the holiday season. Hope you are too.

Puppy Luv

Sam loves his new pal, Ruby. My parents broke down and bought a dog and a VERY cute little purebred is she. Sam loves to play with her and he is dead set on buying her a toy for Christmas. This morning when we were driving past Temple Square he started singing a made up song about Christmas and within the lyrics of the song were mentioned Jesus loves the world, Sam is getting a transformer and he is getting Ruby a toy. So I think he just might almost have the true spirit of Christmas. We are putting up the Christmas tree on Friday - SO EXCITING!

Soccer-man Sam

Every day when we drive past the school that Sam played soccer he says he wants to go to the soccer school. Poor guy. He loved playing soccer and now the season is over but he sure did have fun.



Here is Sam ...

NaNo Score

Well this past weekend was pretty fun filled and I managed to reach 36, 417 words which means for those of us that can't do math that I only have 13, 583 to go... Yes! I can bust out 13,583 words no problem. Thanks for all your support, friends!

Christmas Elf

Sam and I were watching a little tv last night and he saw a commercial for a little girls toy. He told me that was what he was going to get me for Christmas. He got all excited and happy. But then I look over and he has the saddest look on his face and I ask him what is wrong? And he said (really sad). "I don't have a little car to drive to the store to buy your present." It was SO cute. I told him maybe Grandma would give him a ride in her car ... he didn't seem to notice that he doesn't have any money!!! :)

NaNo Horror Show...

So ... writing am I writing? Cause I don't feel like I am writing much. Really not ... at ALL! So this week has been really busy and crazy and I think I almost had an emotional breakdown yesterday. I was on the verge of tears for absolutely NO reason. It was one of those everything was crazy but it all worked out and is finally over kinda things and I almost lost it. So at night instead of writing I have been going to sleep the second after Sam sleeps. Not getting much done other than sleep. But today is a new day and I am feeling great and the anxiety and pressure is off and over and what was I really worried about anyway. It was great and I got tons of compliments on my hard work ... my own worst critic I guess. ANYWAY ... so I have fallen behind in the word count which I am hoping to make up in spades this weekend ...

Wish me luck!!!

NaNo Update

Word count friends: 27,335

Yup that is sweet. I am seriously running out of steam so hopefully I will get a second wind so I can finish. My goal was to reach 30,000 this weekend but this will have to do as I am very tired and my wrists are starting to hurt particularly the one that is supposed to be braced which never is ... I am asking for trouble. Not that any of the words are very good. Don't get me wrong I love my story and the characters and the world I created but sometimes you just write for the words so when this is all said and done there will be a serious amount of editing to do. I must say I am having a great time.

Thanks for the support!

I'm stuck in a box and I can't get out!

So I can't believe Sam could even fit in that box, it is perhaps two or three inches across but he stuffed himself in and then eventually got himself out (with a little help from me!)

What a funny kid!

NaNo ... NO, NO, NO!

Ok. so it is a good thing that the first weekend I was able to write so many words because this weeks has been nuts. Work is crazy right now. I think this is the first 30 second break I have taken in a week. I don't write at work anyway but usually when I get home I have enough energy to write something but in the last five days I have only written maybe 2,000 words. So this weekend I need to do some serious catch up if I want to make my goal. ... AHH .. well back to the grindstone. More to come later!

Thanks for the support!

Halloween

Halloween was way fun. We went treak-or-treating with Cache who was the cutest little 50's guy I have ever seen and two very powerful Power Rangers, Brook and Jax were awesome. Sam had so much fun he wanted to go again the next night.

Boo at the Zoo

Sam and I had another great year at Boo at the Zoo. It was really fun to have my good friend Rhea and her way cute daughter, Macy with us and I am SO glad to be back in contact with her. Can't wait to hit Chick-fil-a with out free stuff we got at the zoo!

Me a Wrimo

So the kick off of NaNoWriMo was Nov 1 and what was I worried about? Lots but this past weekend I was able to bust out 15,586 words. That is pretty darn good if I don't say so myself. Now the challege will be to keep up to momentum. I do have to say most of it is trash. I am writing to write not writing well. But there is alot of great content buried amongst the spelling errors, cliches and bad grammar. So it will be fun and challening to go back and edit come December.

Thanks for the support!

NaNoWriMo - Kick Off

Tonight at 12:01 I can start writing. Wish me luck!!!

Shiny Knight

So we got Sam's Halloween costume in the mail last night and he had it on I would say not longer than 30 seconds before he broke it. I was initially a little flubbed but then I thought hey that is what ducktape is for! So he is going to be a shiny knight (i.e. knight in shining armor) and I think he looks great. He is a very gallant and brave and courageous knight. I will post pics tomorrow maybe. We have our ward Halloween party tonight so I plan to get a few pics then and then next week they have their fall carnival where the kids get to dress up and then of course the actual evening itself. So should be lots of fun!

New School ... New Sam

So Sam has been at his new school now for just over two months and what difference two months can make. I love his smaller class and his proximity to my work. His teacher is wonderful. Sam's imagination has taken off he loves to tell stories and hear stories as well. I tell the gate story (see several threads below) over and over again. He makes up a different ending every time. He also loves to 'pretend' to read. When I am cooking he will read the directions to me he comes up with some pretty interesting directions but the food is always good in the end. He is a great artist who loves to color but REALLY loves to paint. I now have a happy boy each day when I go to pick him up. He is still tired but it is a healthy brain smart kinda tired. So the money is worth it. WAY WORTH IT! Hip, hip hurray for the new school.

NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month is starting Nov 1 and I am crazy and going to do it. 50,000 words in one month HOLY COW! Can I do it. I am sure going to try. I have officially signed up at nanowrimo.org and I am gearing up to write like crazy for a month. I still haven't decided on a plot, or characters, or pretty much anything but here goes nothin.... WISH ME LUCK!

My boss is God

So I was driving my mom out of my parking garage so she could take my car to my house to play with Sam and Sam said, "so were those guys your bosses?" (He came into my office with my mom) And I said yes and he said, "God is my boss". My mom and I just laughed it was so funny. I was like you are right, God is your boss and really He is my boss too. The things kids learn when they go to perochial school.

Downed Powerlines...

This was an interesting morning. I drove up to Sam school and as I was walking up the path all the of students and teachers were exiting the building. I knew something was up because they were carrying out all the babies which they don't usually play outside with babies on a cool autumn morning. I spotted Sam's teacher and she said the smelled burning plastic in the building and so they were evacuating. As we were talking another teacher came up and said they were evacuating across the street because there were downed powerlines across the playground at the back of the school. We helped get the other children across the street and watched as the fire trucks arrived. They still don't know how or why the powerlines were down(At least as of right now). So fortunately grandma was home and Sam went to spend the day with her. Her power was out because of the downed lines so they went to play at my house but I just learned her power is on so they are going to go swimming. I tell you what Sam is going to pray for downed power lines every day if on his days off he gets to play at home and go swimming. That was our excitement for the morning. I hope they get it all worked out before tomorrow because grandma has to work tomorrow and I really do to. (It has been very busy in my office since the past weekends annoucements...)

Well to finish off the craziness of the day I got a flu shot and my arm is sore. Ouch!

Save the Snarleys

So when I was a little girl my mom called the little knots you get in your hair snarleys. So they other day I was combing Sam's hair (it is getting a bit long) and it had knots in it so I said well we better get the snaleys out but of course it hurts a little bit so he didn't like it. So last night after his bath I was combing his hair and I ran into a knot and he said, no don't made the snarleys run away. So he combed his hair ... kinda. This morning it was even worse but he 'lightly' combed his hair to save the snarleys. Oh dear I think we need to get him a hair cut soon before the snarleys take over.

Happy Birthday To Me :)

October 1st I officially turned 29 ... again :) It was a great day and I felt really special and thought of by many of my friends and family. At work in the morning they got Einstein bagels which are my favorite and they got pulp free orange juice which is awesome because I hate pulp. They know me so well. My good buddy Patrice took me to lunch and we had a great time chatting I didn't want to go back to work. Then a great treat my mom picked up my son from school so he could go birthday shopping for me and then they came and met me at work. I LOVE it when my son gets to visit me at work. Sam was so excited that he said, "Mom you are going to love the earrings I got you..." My mom just laughed. So I knew I was getting earrings but that is ok I love earrings all kinds and he got me really pretty silver ones. I also got flowers from my wonderful sister. They were so pretty beautiful fall purples, deep pinks, yellow and green. It was perfect. I also go another surprise my ex-mother-in-law sent me flowers as well. That was a shock but so nice. She really is a lovely lady. She even remembered my favorite flower is Gerber Daisies. Then we walked up to my parents house for a little get together. My parents, both brothers Brennan and family and Kipp and Kumi as well as my cousin Bethany and family were there. It was so nice to sit around, talk, eat, play and enjoy. Cambridge and Sam played so well together it was a great time. Oh and they made me brownies (cause I don't like cake - man I am picky!) with mint ice cream ... I got so much of my favorites today it is great. Oh and my one brother got me a gift card to Target my favorite store and my other brother got me book by David Eddings my favorite author ... so many favorites. I love it!

Thanks to EVERYONE for making my day so special.

Rainbow Gate

Last night Sam asked me to make up a story about my keys. So I told him they were magical keys and then he took over the story:

We were walking through the woods and we saw something shiny. We looked down and there were many colored keys. We picked up the keys because we knew they were magical. We walked in the woods and came to a shiny silver gate. What key do we use? The silver key. We used the silver key and went through the gate.

We walked though the woods. We came to a black gate. Can we use the silver key? No! The black key. We used the black key and went through the gate.

We walked through the woods. We came to a pink gate. Can we use the silver key? No! Can we use the black key? No. The pink key. We used the pink key and went through the gate.

We walked through the woods. We came to a blue gate. Can we use the silver key? No! Can we use the black key? No! Can we use the pink key? No! The blue key. We used the blue key and went through the gate.

We walked through the woods. We came to a rainbor gate. Can we use the silver key? No! Can we use the black key? No! Can we use the pink key? No! Can we use the blue key? No. The RAINBOW KEY! Yes! Yes! Yes! We used the rainbow key and found rainbow castle and then we went swimming.

The End ...

Facebook and Bloglink

So I am adding another blog because on my Facebook account I just added Bloglink... so I am trying see if it works ... wish me luck!

Thirsty to make Copies...

So the other day at school Sam told his teacher that he was 'so thirsty to make copies' ... isn't that funny. His teacher told me that he LOVED to use the copy machine. Made me laugh...

Yesterday at school he fell down and got a cut on his lip and then later right at the end of his soccer game he fell again and reopened the wound. His lips are going to be one big puff of scar tissue if he keeps this up. We had a great time at his game. He gets along really well with his teammates and I have started making friends with a few of the other soccer moms.

So ANTM (Americas Next Top Model) started last week and all who know and love me KNOW that I love it. I haven't picked a favorite yet but I am excited about the show. However, I do not let it get in my way of having correct priorities ... tonight ... only the second show and I am going visiting teaching instead of watching the show ... whew. Course I will watch the rerun so I won't miss out. I also love other top models ... Britians ... do they have one in Australia? That would be cool.

Oh and there is another thing Sam is thirsty for ... WATERMELON ... yum...

Shots

Yesterday I took Sam to the doctor for his check up and we read a great book about germs and why it is important to get vaccines which turned out to be a good idea since he ended up having FOUR shots. Poor kid. When the doctor told me I told Sam he was getting shots and that it would sting a bit but he would be ok and he looked right at me and said, "I am not afraid." After the doctor left to go get the shots Sam said, "Remind me again about germs." He didn't even shed a tear. He was so brave. And I was so proud. The doctor told him he was a very brave little boy and he was proud of him. Later I took him back to his daycare center and as he was waiting to go into his classroom a little boy ran right into him ... and the kid who survived four shots burst into tears. It was so sad. But I stayed and we ate lunch together and he was fine. Later he played at his soccer game. He is such a star.

Soccer Star

Sam has been playing soccer now for two weeks. His first experience was not exactly triumphant although they did win. The coach (a very nice guy) had the kids come an hour early so he could meet them and give them the uniforms and so forth. It was a really hot day so before the game even started the kids were getting tired and hot. At the very end of the game Sam just shoved this kid right over. Anyway ... his coach was being really nice about it and telling him he can't push and so forth and Sam just lost it burst into tears ran over to me and said it was his fault he lost the game. The look on his coaches face was so startled, he tried to tell Sam that not only did he not loose the game they won. But he was not to be consoled. At least until after we went to ColdStone and got ice cream.

Last night's game was much better. My parents were able to attend with Sam and they said he had a lot of fun and that is what it is all about. Two kids were missing from his team so played most of the game and they said he was right in there trying to kick the ball. So fun!

Dinosaur Park

Sam and I went to the Ogden Dinosaur park. It was so fun. They have all these 'life' size versions of the dinosaurs mingled in the trees and a very fun play park. Here are a few pictures of our adventure:

Here is Sam at the dinosaur graveyard. He is pointing out the bones ... he LOVED it!

Sam got so mad at this guy who kept telling his daughter that is was a lizard. He was like man are you crazy does that look like a lizard to you, cause man you are wrong ... "it is a crocodile". It was so funny he kept saying that every time the man would say lizard. Finally he went up to the guy and pointed at it and said "crocodile"...




Here is Sam with a baby dinosaur. We walked around and saw all the dinosaurs and then we were parched...

August? What!?!?!?

Where has this month gone? Honestly, isn’t it February or maybe March … WHAT?!?!? August? This is crazy. The year sure is flying by at lightening speed. This past weekend was stake conference and there were several really great talks but one that stood out to me was to make going to Church a quest. Sometimes I honestly dread going to Church, me being a single mother and having a rather, slightly, moderately rowdy boy, Church is sometimes a challenge for us both. But after the talk on Saturday I have been really thinking about how I can change the way I look at attending Church and hopefully my attitude change will rub off on Sam too. I love Church and I love the gospel but sometimes I just don’t want to go to Church. And anyone who doesn’t agree with me is LYING! I am getting really excited for general conference which seems like it is very far away but the way this year is moving it will be here before we know it.

So my favorite summer show ended So You Think You Can Dance … well I know I can’t dance but I enjoy watching other people get their groove on and this season was very groovy. Sam would watch with me and we would dance around the room with the people. Getting in a little exercise while watching television is always a good thing, I took away from the show two new favorite songs both by the same artist Timbaland’s Apologize (featuring One Republic) and The Way I Are (featuring Keri Hilson & D.O.E.). The first one was a contemporary dance with my second favorite guy dancer Danny and Anya and the other was a Hip Hop with my favorite guy Neil and my sister’s favorite girl, Lauren. Now just a word of caution I purchased these songs but I got the clean version … so friends and family if you decide to ‘listen’ to what I am listening to make sure it is clean ‘cause I only listen to that which is clean!

Just July...

What a fast paced and fun month. We have really enjoyed having my sister around for a couple of weeks. Sam enjoys playing with his cousins but was slightly disappointed that the new boys in the family only sleep and drool. I on the other hand loved having the new baby boys around and loved holding them and cuddling them and I think I might even be able to tell them apart ... maybe! We have been swimming, enjoying fireworks displays, and watching parades. July is a fun month in Utah that is for sure.

This past weekend was also really eventful. Saturday was my grandfather's 75th surprise birthday party. Before the festivities began we had our family picture. I hope it all turns out great because who knows when we will be able to get together again. That night the kids were on major sugar high. My grandpa gave each little kid a scoup of icing in their hands to eat. I have no idea what he was thinking other than "I am old and it is my birthday and I can get away with getting these kids crazy" but the kids loved it and you can tell how much he loves each one of them. Sunday I found myself in charge of a Wood family event. I wanted to get the family together to see my sister since the other side of the family would get to see her at the birthday so I just wanted to get a few people together. It ended up being a VERY large gathering. Forunately, my aunt Cathie is a superstar and let us invade her home. Also when you tell the Wood family to bring food they do not disappoint. So I was a little stressed but it turned out great. My aunt had this game when the kids got wraped in tape and then the rolled on this tarp covered in candy. The kids thought it was the greatest game EVER! It was really fun to talk and eat and enjoy.

Sam's dad has also been here for July. Sadly the week Sam's dad was in town I was sick so I didn't even get a chance to go out and play. Maybe next time. Due to all the fun of the month Sam has not had to go to daycare much and he doesn't want to go back at all!Today as we were getting ready he told me we should just stay on 'bacation' I thought it was a great idea to bad it can't come true.

Marker Mania

These markers want you! You know as a mother (and a father I am sure but I have no personal experience in that department) that when your child is being really quiet something is wrong. I had just gotten out of the shower and there was complete silence in the house. I went downstairs to find Sam had colored himself. He proudly explained that this was the map to lead us to the treasure. That kid has seen one too many pirate shows. I am pretty sure however, that Dora's Pirate Adventure had a paper map, not a body map! Well two thumbs up for ingenuity. Fortunately, I do not own a single item that doesn't come with the term 'washable' written all over it.

Fourth of July

Well what a wonderful and exciting Fourth of July. My college roommate (and dear ol' friend) Marie came to visit and we had a great time. We started the holiday festivities at Liberty Park. Sam, Marie and I went for a boat ride. You know those boats that you 'peddle' around. It was great fun and Sam didn't even fall in (which was honestly miraculous considering how many times he changed seats!). Then my dad met us and grilled up some very tasty hotdogs and the best bbq beef I have ever had (nice prep work mom!). Just as we were leaving to head to the fireworks park Sam stepped on a bee which would have be fine if I had listened to Marie about putting his shoes on but alas I had not so the bee stabbed Sam with his extra large stinger. Fortunately, Papa was there to preform surgery because I was almost as teary as Sam. After the trauma Sam fell asleep so we drove over to Sugarhouse park and picked our firework viewing spot. Sam slept for several hours and Marie and I sat around doing one of our favorite things ... playing cards and gabbing. Later my brother Kipp and his wife, Kumi showed up and joined in the Fourth of July fun. I do have to say that the fireworks were spectacular.

During the rest of her stay we did the usual touristy things, ate lots of delicious food and played lots of cards and watched a couple of movies (hey it was hotter than Hades here!). I also got her addicted to one of Sam favorite computer games. Lego Fever. She will tell you it is addicting. You start off playing because Sam wants you too and then before you know it you are sneaking upstairs to see if you can pass just one more level. Happily Marie passed all the levels the day before she left and beat me to winning the whole game. Now Sam wishes she were here to play with him.

Alas I have no pictures of the Fourth of July festivities (which is sad considering how festive we looked) but I will post some new and updated pictures soon.

Catching up on Sam stories

Sam is learning well. A couple of days ago while getting in the car he hit his head. After consoling him and helping him to feel better I put him in his car seat and proceeded to drive. A few minutes later he said matter of factly, “Mommy, car in time out.” So when we got home Sam put the car in time out and said it couldn’t drive again until tomorrow. What a good disciplinarian. ~ May 2005

Sam is one smart kid. Sometimes he just doesn’t want to go to daycare, which I can understand because sometimes I just don’t want to go to work. But the other day when we were driving to work Sam made me laugh and laugh. I wish as a reward for being so witty we could have stayed home. We were driving and Sam said, “Mommy you are so tired, so, so tired. We need go home.” I looked in the rear view mirror and he was smiling so big. I just laughed. ~ Aug 2005

I read in a magazine once that you should get down on your child’s level when you are disciplining them for a couple of reasons. One it puts you at their level so that you don’t scare them or seem threatening and second you can look them in the eye and really communicate (really communicating with a two year old is a misnomer … completely impossible). But I wanted to be a good parent, so one day Sam got into a little trouble and I was angry and I thought about this article. So I squatted down to get onto his level, right when a bent my knees he bent his knees and squatted with me. I stood up and he stood up, I squatted down, he squatted. Up, down, up, down. I forgot what I was angry about; he was no longer in trouble. ~ Jan 2005

Kids are funny. The other day Sam came running into the kitchen yelling he had lost his guy. Right as the words spilled out of his mouth I knew I was in trouble. How was I to know which guy was which guy and who exactly was I looking for in Sam’s mass stores of toys. I went upstairs and started pulling out every ‘guy’ I could find. I found Spiderman. No not the guy we were looking for this day. I found the bus driver for his yellow bus that sings, and no it was not the guy. I pulled out every person-like toy I could find. Each time getting a look from Sam that was both exasperated and flabbergasted, he kept looking at me like, “how could you possibly think that is the guy”. Finally I looked under his bed and there was this ‘guy’ that goes on the building blocks, he looks like a construction worker. Sam was angry with him earlier because his hat wouldn’t come off. But he was it. He was the guy. That time anyway. ~ April 2005

Sam is a rough a tumbly boy. He already has his fair share of cuts, bruises and thankfully no breaks, but every once in a while he shows a much softer side. After one of those days that just seemed like it would never end I was at the end of my rope. I sat down and cried. Sam watched me from across the room for a moment and then put down his army truck, walked over, put his hand on my knee and frankly said, “Do you need a hug.” I couldn’t help but laugh and grabbed him in a huge bear hug. ~ Aug 2005

I try to teach Sam thrift. We were at the store the other day and he wanted to buy a large remote control truck that cost around one hundred dollars. I tried to explain to Sam that we could not buy it because mommy did not have the money for toys like that right now. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “Mommy, just use my money.” I had to try so hard not to laugh because I think he was serious. Exactly where he is getting all his money I don’t know. But he still has it because we did not buy the truck. ~ Jul 2005

Another money story staring Sam, my friend Nichole and I had gone to Target to finish up the last details we needed to make our employee Christmas gifts. As we were walking Sam found a toy train just sitting in the isle and decided that it was his. He was carrying it around. I looked down at him and said, “who is going to buy that?” If only I could have had a camera. The look on his face was a mix of shock and determination. The look said, “You, of course.” (Side note: We did not buy it!) Nov 2005

I was feeling a little sick the other day so I was lying on the couch. Sam went and got me a blanket and put it on me and then sat by me and rubbed my leg. Then he said, “I get medicine.” I heard him rumagging around in the fridge and he came back with a diet soda. I guess that is a bit like my medicine. ~ Oct 2005

Once again Sam decided that he did not want to go to daycare. He came and climbed in bed with me and every time I would get out of bed he would say, “Go bed mommy.” Then he would snuggle up close. I didn’t want to go to work that day either. ~ Sep 2005

Sam is very into dragons lately. Yesterday when we were driving in the car he was looking at the factories near our house and they will billowing steamy clouds and Sam gasped and said, “look at the dragons, mommy”. He sees dragons in the clouds too. Of course I have learned that dragons are nice. Good thing, he sees them everywhere! ~ Jan 2006

Sam loves to go shocking. Shocking for food, shocking for clothes, shocking for toys, I love it when he wants to go shocking. I just wish I had more shocking money. ~ Jan 06

Sam’s birthday is today and last night I gave him his present from me. I asked him if he wanted his birthday present and he said, “get my birthday out of the car.” I had no idea that he knew that is where I hid it. So we went right out to the car he went back to the truck and when I opened it he knew exactly which corner it was in. Amazing. ~ 27 Jan 06