Our Busy Week

We started the week with another outing to Thanksgiving Point one evening. This time we went to the Dino Museum for Scarecrow themed events. She told us stories, and we made ghosts, and she taught us a scarecrow dance. Here I am helping to teach the other kids how to do the dance.

We then took some time and went through the museum - always fun! Sam was a little scared of the scarecrow lady but he wasn't afraid to pose for a picture with a dinosaur.

Our current favorite dinosaur is the Triceratops. Did you hear about the two new dinos that were discovered in southern Utah and announced this week? They both are distantly related to Triceratops (Utahceratops and Cosmoceratops . . . . or something close to that). We've definitely been enjoying a warm and dry end of September. It makes for some fun nights playing in our sandbox. Sam has always loved to climb and do scary things. Soccer is going well. I'm loving it! My team had a tough game this week - our opponents were bigger and rougher than us. But we gave it our best try and had some fun. Here's a great action shot of me.And a great action shot of Sam on the sidelines at the game. He loves that Grandma L. comes to watch and ends up playing soccer with him the whole time! Don't think about which way the ball was supposed to be going - just applaud that he got it so high in the air!And today was a really big day for me . . . I had to give my first real talk at our church. Not just a little talk in Primary but a real live talk in Sacrament meeting. It was our primary program today and in addition to the usual speaking line they give every kid, they asked me to give a real talk. I've been practicing and practicing and had the whole thing memorized and I stood right up there and gave my whole talk - me, a little sunbeam (3-4 year old class). It was about the parable of the Prodigal Son. Lots of people came to support me - I felt so good after it was over. It's fun to learn new things and work hard to do something well. Here is a picture of me from this morning. Mommy says I'm all grown up! Can I have the car keys?Sam Alert: Hey everyone. Why did I not get to be in the program at church today? I know those songs they sang and I have Mason's story memorized (ok a little of it at least) since I've heard it so many times. Oh well - a few more years. I sang my little heart out from the congregation! Here are a few pictures of me from the week for your viewing pleasure.

This is how mom found me one morning when she came in to wake me up. Just watching a little "TV" in my crib.

And a picture of me from this morning as we got ready for church. I'm adorable! Sam out.

Lovin' Every Minute of It!

We are NOT going to let summer go without a fight! We were looking at pictures of our fun summer the other day and we really have had a lot of fun times. It just has gone by so fast that it doesn't seem like we had very much time. So while the weather is still good, we're playing as much as possible.

Daddy has started a night class again this year so mommy and the boys have decided to find fun things to do on those nights. This last week we headed down to Thanksgiving Point to the Farm Country and enjoyed some animals.T Point does fun kid's activities on some nights and this week was all about Bees. We got to "make and take" a cool bee.Of course we went on a pony ride but we also did something this time that we've never done before - the wagon ride. It was really fun!And of course one of our most favorite things is feeding the goats - there's always the bossy, pushy ones, but the little ones are so cute. Mommy was out of town for a few days this week - while the cat's away, the mice will play. How did Sam end up on top?Bug watching is always cool - a katydid. How did this get in the house for us to see up close and personal? Daddy!Soccer is going well - I'm having so much fun! We have a great team and a really great coach.

I love getting in to the middle of it all. Go red!

And yes, even though we don't keep score, I scored some goals this week (5 to be exact - not that any one is counting!)

Sam finds a way to keep himself occupied during the games. Here he is playing soccer with Grandma L.

I had a good cheering section this week - Grandpa and Grandma L. came to watch the game.

Then after the game, we headed up to the cabin for the rest of the weekend. Uncle Noley and Aunt Christy were busy this weekend and we sure missed them. Sam was incredibly excited to be headed to the cabin. Here he is enjoying the drive up.

Once we got there, Sam and I set up our "Rock Store". We collect rocks from around the cabin and "sell" them to our favorite customers. Sometimes they use pretend money and sometimes, for a really great rock, we get a penny or two.

The fall colors were absolutely beautiful. We couldn't resist taking some pictures - enjoy! Here's me and Sam.

And mommy, Sam, me, and Copper.

We got a couple of hikes in on Saturday afternoon. Talk about excellent scenery.

We even went for a hike just before dark and saw a doe. An owl flew literally right over our heads. And we found more colorful trees. Here's daddy and the boys.

We sat on the deck and watched the stars. We learned all about satellites and shooting stars - cool!

After a great breakfast and some good play time today, we cleaned up and headed for home. Time to get ready for another week.

Sam Alert: Howdy everyone. Who knew that playing the piano could result in bodily injury? I was trying to climb up on the piano bench the other afternoon and slipped. I bit right through my lip - oww! The good news is that I'm young and healthy (mostly) and so I heal up pretty darn fast.Here I am hanging out at Mason's soccer game. I bring my chair, my ball, my water bottle, and my snacks. I'm good to go!
And finally, just another cute picture of me from the week. I have a million of these! Sam out!

Hiccups and Soccer

An odd combination . . . but both things were part of our week. Reading time is a favorite time at our house. One of our current favorite books is "Clifford's Hiccups". In this story Clifford the big red dog gets the hiccups and every time he hiccups, everything around him flies through the air. Every time daddy reads this book to us, we fly through the air with every hiccup.

We L O V E it!

This week was the start of my (Mason's) first soccer season. I signed up for a local league a few weeks ago and I've been waiting and waiting. Finally my first practice was this week and then the first game was Saturday. It was SO much fun! I did my very best and had a great time. Here I am waiting for warm-up time right before the big game.

My team is the "Dino Squad" and we played the Tigers. Here I am practicing some skills before the last of our team got there.

And then the whistle blew. Mommy's favorite part of the game was each time after the play stopped (for whatever reason) when our coach asked us which goal was ours and we all pointed to our goal. After a pep talk from dad, I decided I wasn't afraid to get right in there and fight for "my" ball. My team didn't score much during the first half but we sure got it together for the second half. I had two assists . . . .. . . . and I scored my first goal. The parents were too excited to remember to take an actual picture of my goal - but they did snap this picture right after as I was clearing my ball from the goal.

And here's me and my fellow Dino Squad members doing a team cheer after the game. No official score is kept at our level but we did really well! And we had lots of fun!Sam Alert: Howdy everyone - I so want to be older so that I can play soccer too. It's hard to be the youngest! But I have my own little soccer ball that I take to practices and games to play with on the sidelines. Maybe next year! For now I'll help dad mow the lawn and eat my veggies so I can be ready.

The Lazy Days of Summer

Technically there are still another 2 1/2 weeks of summer . . . according to the calendar. And despite the fact we just had a nice relaxing Labor Day weekend and despite the fact that fall is definitely in the air here in our part of the country . . . we plan to enjoy every minute of this summer.

We spent the weekend up at "our" cabin. We've both been begging to go for a few weeks now. We had beautiful weather and good food and a nice, relaxing time. We found these cool toad stools out by the front driveway. Ahh - fungus!

I did say relaxing . . . didn't I?Our first job was to fill up the moose trough.

Of course we wouldn't be boys if we didn't play in the moose trough as soon as we finished filling it up!

Here's Sam and dad - just hanging out - - - truly a relaxing weekend!

We gave our marshmallow shooters a work out. Dad and Uncle Noley took out a couple of hornet's nests with marshmallows.

And we got to do a really fun craft project - Sam and I each painted a birdhouse. Uncle Noley and Aunt Christy now get to hang these lovely works of art on the deck. Maybe some birds will call them home next spring.

We woke up on Sunday morning to watch Fluffy and Sweetie the moose(s). It's a good thing we filled up the water trough - they were thirsty. Sweetie had hurt one of her legs so we're hoping that she heals up before winter gets here. The moose hung around for quite awhile. In fact as they moved a little bit away we went out on the deck and watched them from there. Can you see Fluffy in the trees?We had dish-washing duty. Everybody helps!And, of course, since water is involved in washing dishes, we didn't come away clean and dry ourselves.
Uncle Noley was working on a project - repainting the picnic table on the deck. Sam and I got to put our hand and feet prints on the benches.
Here's my bench all done.
And here's Sam finishing up his bench.
Dad and the boys went on a hike - Copper was in "bush whacking" heaven!
And there was the traditional pancake throwing contest. Watch for the flying pancakes in the picture.It was a great weekend! We were so "relaxed" that Sam and I fell asleep in the truck before we even reached the highway.

Speaking of falling asleep - daddy helped me find a fun Dinosaur Train website on the computer today and I fell asleep playing on it. Maybe that's the definition of relaxed! Sam Alert: Hey everyone. Despite the colds that we all have, it was a great weekend. Here are some cute pictures of me from the week. Enjoy!

Painting away - - I love to mix colors and make a whole new color to cover my projects. I call the color "mud". Enjoy more summery days -- Sam out!