Trouble

Our plan to keep Grayson from the Christmas tree.

And then he looks at you like this... and you know this child can do no wrong. :)

Halloween 2013

 Lizzy is Princess Celie from her new favorite book "Tuesdays at the Castle".  

 I don't think I need to explain these guys.

 Grayson decided to be whatever we found first in the dress-up box... oh..... a bumblebee.  Doesn't matter he would have been adorable no matter what.

 Great sky for a Halloween night.

Buddies

This makes me happy!

Soccer Fall 2013

Soccer season has come and gone once again.  This year Sam got to participate for the first time and he was so excited.  He got up and put his soccer clothes on first thing in the morning and held practices for himself all week long.  He really put everything into it and turned out... he was pretty good. 

 Sam slept with this trophy for about a week after he got it. 

We put both of the boys in I-9 this year.  The difference with them is that they have their practices and games right next to each other on the same day.  This means we had 3 hours of soccer each Saturday.  That was only because we were lucky enough to have Andrew and Sam overlap one of their hours.  Sam didn't seem to mind the schedule, but Andrew didn't like the long hours in the sun.  Once he got over the frustration, however, he had probably his best season ever.  He played super awesome.  

 Lots of action shots here partly because they show off Andrew's "skills" and partly because I found that I somehow didn't get any close ups and no trophy pics either.  Oops.  Check out this goal.

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 5 (Yay Andrew)

You Should Put That On The Blog

My kiddos love to look back at stuff I've written on here and laugh at themselves... or each other.  They especially like the quotes on the side.  Often something funny will happen around here and someone will say, "You should put that on the blog," which just means I think that we want to remember it.  Here are 3 things that the kids have lately asked me to put on the blog.

 -  I got some mylar balloons for the kids.  Andrew had a large yellow one with a smiley face.   After a few days they were losing helium and floating down lower and lower toward the ground.  One night while eating dinner Andrew suddenly leaped up and yelled "Hey!!!  Stop Eavesdropping."  We were all surprised and looked around to see who he was talking about.  Then we saw at the end of the table and little yellow smiley face was just poking up from under the table and hovering around... obviously trying to eavesdrop on our conversation.  We laughed pretty hard at his reaction.

 - Last Sunday I woke Andrew up and told him to hurry up and get ready.  We have 8 o'clock church so we are often rushed.  Andrew was moving slow and so I checked back in a few minutes later to see how he was progressing.  He groggily said, "I'm up.... Sheeeesssshhhh mom."  I looked in to see him in his jeans, polo shirt and just tying his tennis shoes.  When I told him the day he fell back on the bed in a fit of giggles.  Everyone else heard the laughter and came in.  When she saw him... Lizzy said.... Mom you should put that on the blog.

 - One night I had sent everyone off to bed but when I went into the boys room I found it scattered with toys.   I closed my eyes and said that I was going to count to 10 and when I opened my eyes I didn't want to see anything on the floor that shouldn't be there.  A moment later something moving very quickly ran smack into me in an obvious rush.  In confusion I opened my eyes and saw Lizzy falling over herself to get out of the room.  I was confused and then I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I realized that she thought I meant her.

Oh what to do with these crazies!!!

About Sam

Sam at 4 years old is a bit different than Lizzy and Andrew were at the same age.  He has older siblings and so is exposed to different things than he would been otherwise.  Having watched and remembered Lizzy and Andrew's birthdays this past year has made him wonder when his turn was coming.  He has asked nearly daily for MONTHS if it was going to be his birthday soon.  Finally the day arrived.  His gasp of joy at our simple decorations was a great way to start the day.  

 And it just got better and better...

 He reminded me about everything.  Don't forget birthday hats.  I get to eat on the special plate... etc.  Little things that I wouldn't have even thought the he'd remember.

Sam picked out this soccer shirt cake for me to make.  Did I help direct him to it because it looked easier than the spider man cake he picked first?  Maybe.

Things I want to remember about Sam at this age.

 -  Sam quotes movies and songs like nobodies business.  "What does the fox say?"  is a good example

 - Today Sam was crying about something, but he was trying to convince me that he wasn't actually crying and he was just joking me.  He'd sob and then force a big grin on his face and look up and me and say "see?"

 - Sam is a rough tough 100% boy.  He rode a bike at 3 years old, he swims like a champ, and  he plays soccer with a passion.  He begs Aaron to wrestle him every night.  

 - Sam changes clothes many times a day.  He is also very strict about what different clothes are for.  He has is soccer shorts, football shirt, volleyball pants and  cowboy pants.  They cannot be used in the wrong setting.

 - When Sam gets going he has this deep throaty laugh that is totally contagious.  

- Sam snuggles are the best.  He really can't sit still for more than a minute or two so they don't last long, but they are great.

And now for me, just a little memory fest since I am feeling nostalgic.

a few days old

 1 yr old

 2 yr old

3 yr. old

Oh my time goes fast.  Love him so much.