Back to Work . . . Doesn't Mean the End of FUN!

Hey everyone - Sam here today. Well we have proven that a full week back to work for both daddy and mommy doesn't have to necessarily mean the end of our fun. We managed to have some fun nearly every evening after we all got back home. Mommy helped Mason and me make some cookies one night - yummy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip. Why do we even bother baking the cookies . . . the cookie dough is fabulous!

Then another night we got our fun sprinkler out and played in the water on the lawn. Aunt Lu came over and played with us. Hose water can sure be cold though . . . even on a warm sunny afternoon.Here is a picture of me and Mason getting ready for the day. A nice breakfast on the counter while mommy and daddy get things together to head out. That afternoon we spent a lot of time in the backyard playing and doing some yardwork. Here is Mason and me checking to see what everyone is up to on a break from playing in our sandbox.And finally I am walking well enough now that I tackled some of the mowing opportunities around the yard this week. It seems like this is a job that is never really finished!After mowing I had to get in a little hoop action. And then daddy, Mason, and I had a big wrestling match. How did I end up on the bottom? Here we are on the teeter totter. I love this thing!Then we got to go to a family party on Friday night - our cousin Chad was getting married. We hung out and enjoyed a few choice moments throwing rocks in to the pond . . . and eating. Nobody cooks pork and salmon like Siegfried!I also managed to get some piano practicing in this week. I do love to play the piano and sing. Of course even a little guy has to have the proper sheet music to read. It is essential to a well played piece! Have a great week everyone - Sam out!Mason Alert: Howdy - finally a little time at the blog for me. Thought you might enjoy a few pictures of just me. First up - daddy caught me reading in bed by flashlight one evening. He said there could definately be worse things for me to be doing after "lights out"!We found this super cool Praying Mantis in our front yard the other morning. He looked like an alien but ended up being more scared of me than I was of him.

And finally a picture of me playing on the monkey bars in our sandbox. Daddy moved my climbing/slide over in to the sandbox earlier this summer. I wasn't tall enough way back then to reach the bars. When I climbed up the other day I found that not only could I reach them, but I was strong enough to swing from them. All mommy can seem to say is "stop growing so fast"! What's wrong with growing up? Have a great week everybody!

More of the Dog Days of Summer

Summer doesn't last too much longer around our house. We've been trying to make the most of the last of it. We have plenty of jobs around the house and yard to work on. I tackled one this week - conditioning our new bird feeder. We've had one just like this for many years that has hung outside our dining room window and we've loved watching the birds through all the seasons. Its rope finally broke and so we pulled out this new one to replace it with. It just needed a couple of coats of oil to condition the wood and it is now hanging up feeding our bird friends.

We have loved doing "ice treasures" multiple times this summer. I now have a variety of tools to help me melt the ice and also a observation notebook to draw in (just like Sid the Science Kid)!

Ahhh - good times - - teaching Sam to play soccer in the backyard. He's just lucky he's got daddy on his team. Next year it's one-on-one!Mommy took a couple of days off work this week and she took us to the Farm at Thanksgiving Point one of the days. It was tons of fun and not too hot in the earlier part of the day. We love the horses.And of course the baby cow and baby horse are always fun to pet. The cow tried eating Sam this time. Sam must taste good.The goats are probably mommy's most favorite and we do love to feed them. The big goats are a little demanding but still fun.Sam got in on the goat action too. He's not afraid of too many things - maybe strangers, but certainly not animals. The Farm never disappoints us - there is always something new to pet and feed.

Sam did get up the courage to go back and talk to the cow about his manners. The cow promised to not try to eat him again. The pony rides are probably our most favorite parts of these visits. We each got two rides this time and they were fantastic. Sam says: "Look mom, no hands!"I have graduated to riding all by myself now. No assistance required!

After our day at the Farm, Aunt Lu had ice cream treats waiting for us at home. Mom stripped us down and made us eat in the backyard. Hum - what was that about? It was fun to get the hose out after we finished and clean everything up!Sam Alert: Howdy y'all. I had my 15 month check-up this week and even though I'm still a bit small the doctor is finally happy that I'm making progress in all the right ways. Do you think all this talk about my weight is somehow scarring me for life?

And this is just a darn cute picture of me - did you know that when I make any vehicle (car, truck, plane, train, etc) move, I automatically make noise. It must be something hard-wired in to little boys! Have a great week!

Dog Days of Summer

My craft of the week: A rock that I took from Uncle Noley's Cabin. I painted it to look like a ladybug. Cool isn't it!

Here I am fishing with dad at Wasatch Mountain State Park. Don't we look cool in our shades? We are trying to look like big dragonflies so the fish won't think we are trying to catch them. Sam of course took his shades off and was throwing rocks in the pond . . . amateur. YAAAAH, I've got a fish and dad trusts me to reel it in all by myself. The fish was jumping and everything. Dad was afraid the fish would pull the pole out of my hands. Pole-shmole . . . grab ME if the fish pulls me in.

ANOTHER ONE, YAAAAH! What form I have. Bass Masters eat your heart out. I caught four fish in all - but this one was tiny. I threw him back in for next time.The boys waiting on the tackle box during slow times. Wow! Dad is really cleaning under the bed. Where are we going to hide our unwanted vegetables now? Life is so unfair!

Here we are helping dad out on laundry day. Yes, we would have already been done if Sam would stop messing up our piles. Quit laughing Sam - I want to go play. It's not fair being the oldest, parents can be slave drivers at times.

I talked dad into a slumber party in my room on Saturday night. It was GREAT! I just don't know why dad couldn't stand up straight the next day. He said it was something about being or feeling 102 . . . what ever that means.

Sam Alert: Hey everyone - finally I've been allowed to do what I want to do. Coloring is great fun! I don't why daddy didn't like me coloring the computer monitor. I thought it was an improvement! Artists are never understood.Wow - who knew daddy could cook? He even lets me eat on my own. I think daddy should cook more often! Granted we get the same thing every night when he cooks - that might get a little old! And that would mean mommy would go out of town more often - I don't think I like that idea either. Just give me my own fork and Copper and I will be happy!

Pancakes, Fishing, Weddings, and Cabins!

And so I'm sure you're wondering . . . . what do all these things have in common? They are some of the things we did this week.

First - mommy got a new pancake pan - - it makes animal pancakes. Here is a batch we made for breakfast the other morning.

Here are the boys enjoying their animal pancakes with some of mommy's yummy buttermilk syrup.While we didn't get to do some real fishing this week, I did take some time one afternoon to pretend fish off the back of my horse, Brownie. This is what my shirt says . . . we picked it up while we were on vacation last week. I don't mind shopping with mommy, but fishing is always better!We went to our cousin Josh's wedding dinner on Friday night. Of course, the (cup)cakes were a big hit with me!We wandered around the area after the dinner was over. Here we are by the pond with the ducks. Sam wanted to jump in and play with them.We spent Saturday up at the cabin. It was so nice to get away and the weather was perfect! Here I am with Uncle Noley and Aunt Christie having our traditional snack of apples and carmel dip.Sam is very mobile these days and loves to climb . . . here he is climbing up in the window at the cabin. He was very proud of himself.We went on a couple of hikes while we were there. I caught a ride on daddy's shoulders back down the hill on this hike.We found lots of interesting things to look at on our hike - - a red ant hill (which daddy played in until they were super mad - he reached in and grabbed out some ant eggs to feel. He said their bites are like little pinches), deer & elk & moose droppings, and the down from a baby bird.This is a picture of Sam doing what he loves . . . throwing rocks. We have the exact same picture of me when I was about this age doing the exact same thing in the exact same spot. We found an old Spirograph set and enjoyed ourselves making cool pictures. Mommy says the 70's were a great decade!Here we are at the end of a second hike. I ran all the way up the road up to the cabin. Let's just say I left the "old guys" in the dust! You can just barely see them way back down on the road behind me. Boy was I thirsty when I made it back to the cabin.Sam Alert: Oh the lazy days of summer! I love just laying around reading the newspaper (and no this isn't a posed picture).I LOVE being outside!I love doing "big boy" things . . . anything my big brother does . . . and I love using crayons and pens (even if I do hold them upside down once in awhile)!

Hope you all have a great week!

Sam out!