Sam's Antics

Sam's inquisitive nature has shown recently. Since I've been a poor blogger recently, here's an onslaught of pictures.

This is how we found Sam when we accidentally left the lock undone on our TV console.



Sam systematically took everything off the 2nd shelf of his changing table and then put each of his snuggle things on it. Then, he climbed on in and had a snuggly good time.



Sam likes to "help". This is how he helps me clean up:


Sam also has a thing about lining thing up while he's playing with them. This was one of the latest.


After Sophie left last month, Sam decided that the booster seat was THE COOLEST toy ever. He loves to sit in it and do up the buckles, play with his toys or stuffed animals, etc.



Pics from our trip to the Children's Museum. They had dollar nights on Fridays! I LOVE it! Such a fun place to go - especially when I know Matt will be working late that night...





Sam loves reading books - or siting in the rocker and throwing them on the floor. This was not staged!


trying on Dad's shoes...


..playing under the dining room table...


... and throwing all the silverware onto the floor. Lovely, ehhh?

Playing with Mom's Headband...

Sam LOVES my headbands. I can hardly wear one because he always wants to take it off my head and put it on his own. Here's some pics from lunch the other day...

"Patience Gets the Picture"

...says Matt to me after waiting around Monticello forEVER for him to get just the right shot with no people in it, etc. My response? "And an angry wife." The photo did turn out quite well, though. Does this mean I have to admit Matt was right??? :)

Happy 4th!

We had a blast last week with the Romneys in DC. We went on a whirlwind tour of everything within reach. Here are just a few of the things we did:
-National Aquarium in Baltimore
-Fireworks on the Mall (after the Mall was evacuated due to a tornado warning)
-the new American Indian Smithsonian museum
-a tour of the Capitol
-International Spy Museum
-Monticello
-Williamsburg
-Yorktown

It was so much fun - despite the fact that I lost my cell phone. BLARG!

Enjoy the pics from our adventures! Thanks, Romneys, for such a fun trip! We loved spending time with you last week... and miss you already!

Fleurs

Well, I snapped a few pics of the gorgeous flowers around the Joseph Smith birthplace monument. This one turned out the best. What can I say? I'll always be partial to pink.

SNOW CONES!!! and taking pictures for the blog

Despite Lisa's unmitigated requests for more posts and the fact that I take a bajillion pictures, I just yesterday pulled out my camera to capture a memory for the sole reason of posting on this blog. All the previous pics I've taken are either for other reasons entirely or for more reasons than just to post on my blog.

Enter Snow Cone Night with Gaylynn.

One of my friends (Gaylynn) whose hubby's flight back to Boston was delayed for several hours last night called me to get together. Luckily enough, I too was going to be alone last night since Matt was "burning the midnight oil" at work. We had a yummy dinner and played games.

Gaylynn also brought a surprise treat. She had found a forgotten wedding present in her basement and brought it over to try. A SNOW CONE MAKER complete with a selection of syrup flavors! We had to make our snowcones in the living room since Sam was already asleep... but they were AWESOME! I haven't had one of those in years!

And you know what it reminded me of just perfectly???

SUN RIVER.

Come on... I know some of you reading know JUST what I mean. That little stand that was by the candy store? Yep. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm.

Razzle Dazzle Blue Raspberry perfection.

My New Favorite Sam Photo

I thought this one turned out totally AWESOME. This is Sam just as he's about to go down the slide. Recognize that "I'm so big" look on his face?

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.