Winter Fun

How do you have fun in the middle of a cold winter?

 

1. You go bowling

Bowling is a much requested activity around our house.  We bundled up and headed out to our local bowling alley on Monday (along with every other kid that was off from school).  We had a great time - I bowled about half a game on my own and then resorted to the ramp for the last half. 

 

Sam used the ramp the entire game - and beat us all.  Good job Sam!

 

2.  You wrestle dad

Dad is always good for a hearty wrestling match.  Somehow it looks like Sam in winning here.

 

3. You do an art project

Mom is always good for an art project or two.  Here we are making handprint snowmen on a little canvas.  We used our very own hands/fingers to make the snowmen.  They turned out pretty darn cute.  We're going to turn them in to Christmas ornaments for next Christmas. 

 

 

Sam Alert:  Howdy everyone.  I have a quiz for you this week - - - what do I look like in this picture?  If you guessed "an angel" you'd be right.  Look at that face - angelic!  Only those who know me best would actually know that I have quite the funny, quirky, argumentative, "Sam" side to my personality.  But this picture proves that I'm an angel at heart!  Right?!?!?!?

 

Have a great week everybody.

Dinos and Books and Chess

We finally talked the parents in to taking us out to Family Night at the Dinosaur Museum this week so that we could stretch our legs and brains and get some energy out.  The activity was Moody Mammoth and we did a scavenger hunt looking for the ice cubes the animals were using to stay cool. 

 

Here we are tickling the tummy of this super giant dino.  We love the huge skeletons they have there - can you believe how big they really are?

 

And here is our traditional picture with the baby Triceratops.  We always take a picture with him every time we're at the museum. 

 

 

And just for fun - here is the same picture in January 2011 - two years ago.  We really are growing up fast!

 

 Here we are with the Smilodon - one of our favorites.

 

 

 And whenever dad is with us (and whenever we're brave enough) we take a picture up close and personal with the T Rexs. 

 

 

 Dad lifts us high in the air and we can look straight into their mouths.  It is a little bit scary!

 

 

 And while the T Rexs still make us nervous, the Megalodon doesn't scare us anymore.  Ok - Sam walks up to it backward so he can't see it, but at least he'll come up and have his picture taken with it. 

 

 

 In other activities of the week - we made a stop at the library for more books one night after school.  We're all stocked up for a few weeks.

 

 

 And I've taken up a new hobby - Chess.  Dad and I have been playing a lot this week.  I know all the names of the pieces, how they move, and am doing really well.  Dad has beaten me every game so far except one - that one resulted in a stalemate.  Oh and mom beat me one game so far.  But the good news is - I love chess.  I'm not giving up - in fact, I'll play anyone who'll sit down with me long enough for a game. 

 

 

 Sam Alert:  Howdy everyone - Sam here.  Funny how both of this week's pictures from me involve sleeping.  For a boy who claims he hates napping and doesn't need to sleep, apparently I do (from time to time). 

 

 This is me last Monday morning - I made it out of bed but had a really hard time getting myself up and moving.  Mom's feet make an bumpy pillow for a little guy who doesn't want to get up. 

 

 

And this is how dad found me sleeping one night.  Fluffy the dog is my regular sleeping friend, but apparently I grabbed my stuffed snake in the middle of the night for extra company. 

 

Sam out - have a great week!

Peace and Quiet

Well there's nothing very exciting going on over at our house.  We're all feeling better and back to normal - at least normal for us!  It's definitely winter and a cold winter at that.  This cold weather really makes us appreciate the warm summers! 

 

Our fun times this week consisted of spending part of Saturday visiting schools.  I have to choose a new school to attend next year - my campus only goes through 1st grade.  Sam will probably come along with me - depending on whether we choose to participate in a carpool or not.  We went to two bigger campuses to check them out - and mom and dad will be visiting a third campus this week.  It's exciting to think ahead to second grade and all the years that come after that. 

This is us after we got home from the school visits.

 

The rest of our free time was spent just playing around the house.  I built this cool city for my cars from wooden blocks.  It was fun!

 

And here I am working on my mystery book report for this month.  I have a favorite series of books called Capital Mysteries - I love them.  And I love that I get to do a book report about one of them!

 

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone - Just one cute picture of me from this week.  Here I am playing trains.  I've gotten so imaginative and thoughtful in my free play.  Dad and mom say it's fun to sit back and hear me talk about my play as I'm playing.  I don't really know what they're talking about but whatever! 

 

Have a great week everybody!

Happy 2013 ! ! !

 Ahhh - a new year and . . . .

 

. . . . more snow.  At least a little bit.  And cold, cold, cold weather.  It's hard to even be outside for a few seconds when it is this cold.  We're looking forward to a (very small) warm-up this week.  30 degrees are definitely warmer than 20's. 

 

 

Ahhh, a new year and . . . .

 

. . . . another trip to get ice cream.  Mason got 100% on all of his test this week and he pounded through his super giant homework packet to have it ready to take back to school this week. 

 

Ahhh, a new year and . . . .

 

. . . . a new year's eve celebration.  Quiet and peaceful (except for the noise makers)!  And we got to stay up until midnight (ok, it might have only been 9:15 p.m. - but it was midnight somewhere!). 

 

 

On New Year's day we ventured out in to the cold weather (with a sick Sam in tow) to use our Build-A-Bear gift cards that we got for Christmas.  It was amazingly crowded but incredibly fun!  Here we are fluffing our new friends after we got them stuffed and put their hearts in.

And here we are with Camio (the bear) and Toot (the penguin).  They are our new best friends.  Camio even got to go to school with me on Friday.

We spent our weekend in pajamas just playing around the house.  Trains are always fun to play with.

 
And here we are playing cars.  Happy new  year everybody!  (Sorry for the blurry pictures - all our motion makes everything blurry.)

 

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone - Sam here.  I've been sick this week but I think I'm on the way up.  Look - no fever for 36 hours.  Woo hoo!  I've spent a lot of time watching movies, playing games, "resting" but not napping!, and just hanging out.  

 

Here I am on New Year's Eve.  I was so excited to get the party hats and noise makers out!

 

See you next week!  Sam Out.