Mom's Little Helper and more

Sam loves to help me do whatever it is I'm doing - sweep the floor (especially under any piece of furniture he can reach with his broom), wash dishes, bake anything, etc. Here he is helping me make pumpkin bread.


Sam also LOVES his sunglasses and hat lately. He wanted to wear his hat to bed the other night, and he watched most of a World Series game with Matt and me with his sunglasses on. (Sam LOVES baseball. Whenever we turn it on, he climbs up on the couch and sits right in between Matt and me to watch. He loves doing the "strike!", "you're out!" and "round the bases" signs...)




And lastly, THANKS to Matt for arranging a MUY FUN birthday celebration at none other than Chuck E Cheese! It was fun to be with friends, play skeeball, etc and of course... sing happy birthday with Chuck E himself!




(Sam LOVED playing this game with Matt. They probably played at least 15 games together... with Sam "helping" Matt by hitting random buttons.)

Twins...

Didn't this card turn out oh-so-cute for a friend's twin babies shower? I love my cricut... Now on to the Wreathmaking invites and then my Christmas cards! I'm going to put that thing to use!

Bust a Move

Quotes of the Day

Yes, plural. I couldn't decide which was better. Both quotes from my laurels class today:


"Challenges are like vegetables. They're not as tasty as dessert, but they're good for you and make you stronger."

"Marci - I would say that your life is a success and I want to be like you."
Me, laughing, "Well, thanks."
Her - "So, since I want MY life to be a success too... did you take AP Bio?"


(PS - Just waiting to see who will win this nail-biter game! GO RED SOX!)

Thai Lettuce Wraps

Mmmmm. If your mouth is watering right now, you know JUST what I'm talking about.

For part of my birthday celebrations, Matt and I went out to the Cheesecake Factory last night (and to swap out my birthday present new silver ipod nano for a RED one - it's totally AWESOME). I ordered thai lettuce wraps - which is technically an appetizer, but is OH SO dreamy good.

Just read THIS: THAI LETTUCE WRAPS Satay Chicken Strips, Carrots, Bean Sprouts, Coconut Curry Noodles and Lettuce Leaves with Three Delicious Spicy Thai Sauces — Peanut, Sweet Red Chili and Tamarind-Cashew.

Mmmmm. I've had thai lettuce wraps for dinner last night, lunch today, and probably lunch tomorrow. I would seriously eat these at least once a week. Wish I could figure out their recipe for the chicken, noodles, and sauces!

Now I'm off to figure out itunes. Yes... make fun if you want to... I've never ventured to itunes before now!

Under Construction...

Little Peanut (aka Baby Romney #2) is "UNDER CONSTRUCTION"!

Expected completion date: April 27, 2008.

So far, so good over here! We're excited to find out what we're having on Dec 3.

PS - HAPPY BIRTHDAY LESLEY JEAN!
PPS - A big CONGRATS to Kate and Chris, new proud parents of an adorable baby girl. She's beautiful! Les and I are a little upset that she couldn't wait until the 19th..., but oh well!

Buzz Boy

After screaming and crying as if I were beating the lad, Sam now has a buzz. For someone whose hair grows so quickly and is so WILD, it's incredible how very much he hates scissors, combs, clippers, buzzers, etc.

So, we pinned him down and did our work. I think he forgave us afterwards...

Here he is playing outside... eating rocks of course. :)

Like Mother Like Son

Sam found my box of Lucky Charms yesterday afternoon. I love love love Lucky Charms. It's my favorite cereal. Long ago, Matt told me he was never again sharing a box of Lucky Charms with me because I pick out all the marshmallows. :)

Well, Sam did the same thing yesterday - with no prompting from me!

"I'm Freakin' Picasso"

...as someone in this house once said...

Check out my masterpiece from mutual last night. I'm calling it "Dusk in Boston, October 2007". :)

The Sophernator

Here's to you, Soph. Your lion's ROAR, your snake's HISS, your unending determination to get what you want, and for all the funny things you do. Thanks for talking to me on the phone the other day. You're hilarious.

~Aunt Marse

Day Eleven

Conference Weekend and cinnamon rolls.

Those two things have become synonymous in our house since Matt and I decided it would be a fun family tradition to have. So, we made cinnamon rolls this morning, had a bunch of friends over to gorge ourselves on warm gooey deliciousness while watching the morning session on TV.

Not much else to report, so I'll finally respond to one of those pop quiz about yourself tags from a while back...

who is your man? Matthew
dating/engaged/married? married 4 years and a bit now!
who eats more? Sigh. It's a draw... definitely me when it's something I love.
who sings better? Toss up. Matt's "Come What MAAAAAAAAY" is way better than mine.
who's older? Matt - 5 yrs, 6 mo, 1 day
who's smarter? Matt. He knows words I've never heard... and knows how to pronounce them.
who's temper is worse? About the same. We're stubborn pair.
who is better on the computer? Definitely Matt
who cooks dinner? I do. When I'm making something new and different, Matt wishes he were.
who drives when you are together? We take turns not driving. Neither of us wants to drive.
who is the most stubborn? TOTALLY Matt. :) ha ha.
who is the first to admit they are wrong? Probably Matt... (which may make me revise my prior answer.)
who named your dog? No dog. If we ever get one, Matt wants to name him Hurkimur.
who asked who out? Matt - once I finally figured out he liked me and not my roomie.
what happened on the date? A marathon day downtown. Lunch, talking, some freedom trail, a movie, etc and then to Books and Basketball (a volunteer tutor thing we were both doing.)
who is more sensitive? So me. I cry way more often. :)
who has more siblings? I do, but I only have him beat by one.

and it's just for one of those sibs that I'm posting at all today.

ENJOY LEESE!

PS - Sam from one year ago today and from yesterday. It's about time for another buzz! I don't know what Sam is ever going to do with his wavy, crazy, cowlicky hair!

FULLY INVESTED

Yes, yes. BYU's new football slogan this year is FULLY INVESTED (as you can see here).

But I'm not referring to BYU. In fact, the team I'm rooting for is RED.

PLEASE don't think those blasphemous thoughts.

I'm referring to the one and only Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Halos. The rally monkeys. The thunder sticks. The team playing the Red Sox as we speak. (I'm in hostile territory over here.)

And yes. It's the middle of the 5th inning, tied, and I'm going to bed. This playoff game doesn't affect Sam's waking time. Don't spoil it for me! I'm watching it on TiVo first thing in the morning! GO ANGELS!

PS - Sam thought up some rally hats of his own during dinner tonight...

Day Nine / BUT NO ELEPHANTS!

(Aside - this is a fabulous children's book.)

Yes... We tried to go see the elephants from the Barnum and Bailey circus. They come in town once a year and park behind MIT. Then, they walk their elephants over to the BankNorth Garden for the big show. (This pic from last year...)


After waiting for a couple hours and walking the route backwards, we found out that we were too late! Shoot!

Sam and I had a fun time with Rose & her crew and Mindy & her crew playing at a park while we were waiting for elephants. I even got a few good pics of darling little Aubrey. Here's a favorite.


Sam, Josh, and Kay loved playing in the dirt...

And Sam, ever the independent player, could be seen in random spots like this...


or this... (Can you spot him?)


And when we left the park... check out the transformation. I'm pretty sure my son will never be that brown naturally. :)

Day Eight... 265 Pies Later

I missed yesterday. BUT I have a good reason! Yesterday was crazy... but the end result was 265 apple pies made and delivered! We cranked out that many pies in about 1 hour and 45 minutes. (Yep. That's approximately 2 pies a minute. Awesome, ehhh?) It took a bit longer for everything to be delivered and the gym / kitchen to be cleaned, but it's DONE!

I think I suffered last night from post-apple pies traumatic-stress-disorder. I had nightmares all night that pies were left on back porches, or not delivered at all and left overnight in cars, that we ran out of apples before the pies were done, that the labels I had spent hours on were blank when I got to the activity, etc. Funny enough, Robin had nightmares too about returning apple peelers, measuring bowls, measuring cups and spoons to the right people! I guess we each had nightmares about our responsibilities!

And so it begins... with the apple peelers. (and the box people, but I don't have a great pic of that!)



Here's Jessie (above) and Hannah (below) going down the line with their bowls of apples - gathering ingredients from each person... Then stir, dump in crust, pat down crumb topping, put in box with label, and off with a driver for delivery!!!

And THIS is my favorite part of the above pic. Thad, one of our deacons, with his trademark thumbs up in the background. Hilarious.

Here's Annie showing off one of the "hat" options. The bandanas were by far more popular than the mesh hats.


And, finally, Katie is showing us how FABULOUS it is to take off that hat at the end of the night! :) Thanks for the modeling, Katie!

Day Six / Eat Dirt

I seriously don't know if I can keep this up! I almost forgot today!

Sam loves to play with rocks, woodchips, dirt, mud, etc. We went to the park this afternoon and all he wanted to do was play with the rocks and dirt (and sticks). Although, yes, he went down the slide one time. :)

I turned around for a second and when I looked back, Sam had tasted some dirt... this was the result...