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...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEESE!

Here's to my favorite older sister and the only one who "gets my jokes" and has a talent for learning by heart the wrong song lyrics...
Hope you're having a fab birthday Leesie Lou.

I'll post more tomorrow... Apple pies is running my life!

Here's my new favorite Caroline pic.

Day Four

Today was quite adventurous. The mere fact that I am STILL posting today shows my sheer dedication to "Weese".

8:30 am - Leave my house to meet the youth at the church for APPLE PICKING! Yummy fresh hot cider donuts and apple butter and chocolate caramel covered apples later...
(I love these girls)

12:30 home
1:30 grocery store run
3:00 leave for Tim and Becky's where I was lucky enough to photograph their darling little Caroline. She is too cute. I am still sorting through lots of pics, but here are a few.






5:00 home
6:00 dinner with some favorite friends. We had quesadilla pie - a delicious concoction of tortillas, shredded rotisserie chicken, zucchini, red onion, cheese and enchilada sauce served with salsa, diced avacado, sour cream, and fresh cilantro. YUM.
7:40 leave for the RS Broadcast.
10:00 home! and posting on this blog. :)