Camp Joseph and I Love Lisa Days

I just got back from a 2 day, overnighter at Camp Joseph with the Young Women. Tomorrow I leave for another 2 day overnighter with the YW, although this time in the Berkshires. Should be fun! Lisa and Sophie are here watching Sam - THANK YOU LEESE (and Bryce for sparing your fun wife and cute daughter). Here are some pics from our recent adventures.



this is how sam feels most of the time - DONT LEAVE ME, MOM!


the river was quite muddy... and I didn't have anything but flip flops (which I didn't want to lose and so didn't wear... )


our cabin at camp joseph


on the river with Emma


Lisa and Sophie

Hoping against hope... and then it's midnight.

This could be a shout-out to Kamber across the pond because I KNOW that she does the same thing...

Why is it that when Matt's working late and most likely will NOT be home before I go to bed, that I absolutely and undoubtedly every single time stay up way too late in the desperate hope that I will hear his key in the door?

I'm tired. I'm going to go get ready for bed, read Harry Potter (book 6... gotta refresh before the next one!) and keep hoping until I will most likely fall asleep with HP on my pillow next to me. Which guarantees dreams of casting spells, being Harry's third best friend and sneaking around Hogwarts trying to figure out why Draco has been acting so suspicious lately.

Sigh...

I prefer non-verbal communication...

I've been a bad blogger lately. Life's been busy and I've been borderline insane this week. Blogging seems like a good relief right now, although I'm not generally one to write the journal entry type of a post. Here goes.

I watched a friend's three kiddos today. Let me tell you... I was EXHAUSTED when they left. These three are some of the most fun kids out there, and very well-behaved. They play together well, and play well with Sam. We went to the park and then back to our house for a while. No major incidents and everyone got along great. Why was I so exhausted, you might ask? Well... let me tell you.

The oldest, we'll call her Jane, is a little chatterbox. Not only does she talk nonstop, but she periodically checks for comprehension. If you fail this check, which I did several times, she gets quite upset and talks more, more quickly, and much more loudly. As if speed and volume will help me ignore the other three children and give her my 100% attention...

Despite the chagrin at being called out by a 4 year old, I doggedly tried to listen to her speed-of-light stream of consciousness while getting snacks for two of them and holding Sam who is quite clingy these days. I was quite relieved when they left and all I had here in our little house was Sam and his "dugga dugga dugga doodenaaaaaaay."

It reminded me of something my visiting teacher said last visit. The first 18 months of having a child is easy. They invade your physical space in lots of ways, but you can think about anything you want to all day long. It's when they invade your mental AND physical space that life becomes much more tiring.

So, dugga dugga dugga and good night... (hope Matt comes home soon...)

Here's a few pics just for good measure... Some from the laurels activity we had where we all helped to cut Laura's hair (- and nope. I'm not sporting a new hairstyle. Just holding that little hair clip in my hair until I needed it next.) and some from Sunday.

Donut Check

Thanks to Oliver, I just HAD to take this little quiz. After getting these results, I changed several of my answers. It almost ALWAYS came back this way! At least it's my favorite donut...

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you. But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft. You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily. You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

All-Star

We we-ent we-ent back back to Cali Cali

We just got back from our fun trip to CA on Tuesday night. It was a blast. Wish we could have stayed longer! Lisa's been bugging me to see pics, so I'm posting WAY MORE than most of you care to see. Here ya go, Weesie woo.

These first pics are from an afternoon at the park with Lindsey (thanks for getting Sam to smile in these!), Nate, and Jake.









We also celebrated Sam's official 18 month birthday. All about half birthdays in this family. We frosted the cake and put sprinkles on half of it. Funny enough, that's all Sam ate. Can you believe that? And at his 1 year old bday party, he was only interested in melted ice cream!



The day before, we went to Chuck E Cheese for an additional half birthday celebration. (Any excuse to go to Chuck's, right?) Sam wasn't so sure of that place for a little while, but he caught on. Nate, Jake, and I opted for the star shades as our prizes. Don't we look so tough?











Lastly, a pic of the boys striking a pose and of Sam in the place where he wanted to be all the time - the backyard playing with balls or pushing Lindsey's old stroller.

Silverware everywhere!

As I said before... Sam loves helping empty the dishwasher. Here is where I found silverware after his help emptying the dishwasher this morning...

Prom Photo Shoot

Mount Auburn Cemetery is GORGEOUS right now. Everything is in bloom and it is perfect for photos. Four of the senior girls out here wanted me to take some prom pics of just them (before they met up with their dates later on). Here are some of my favorites. It was quite fun playing the photographer...

Camera Lust

These days, I can hardly take any pics of Sam without him lunging for the camera . Sometimes I can distract him with the camera cap, but then he just wants to put it back on the camera. Sigh... These are a few from yesterday.