Sam's always up for a trip to the park.
I was hoping for a little more sun, but it ended up getting pretty overcast while we were out. It didn't matter to Sam, though. We had lots of wind which made our pinwheel spin without our help, and we had fun swinging and chasing ducks at the lake. Cute little boy.
It started about 3:30 in the morning...t
he tap-tap-tap of sleet against the window. Then the wind started blowing harder and harder. One thick sheet of ice later, we were trapped inside for what felt like FOREVER.
We made the best of it, huddling on the couch to keep warm. The power went out for a short time, so we quickly took showers before the hot water ran out. We weren't out of power more than a few hours, and once it was back on we kept busy by making cookies, watching cartoons and playing games. We also built a fort, "Sam's Fort" we called it, and it was a great place to have lunch, snacks and read books.
While it was a fun adventure for the first few hours, it got old fast. And by the fourth day of being inside with an almost-two-year-old I was climbing the walls. We were all climbing the walls. No one had really anticipated the storm would be quite that bad and for that long, so we were short on food, activities to keep us busy and patience! There were no winter walks or making snowmen this time - it was all ice and very very cold outside. And inside, the house was a
disaster
. It's a good thing this kind of weather is unusual for Texas - I don't think I could handle being cooped up like that more than once in a great while...
We joined Pops and Gram Sunday for a combination Birthday/Super Bowl party.
Sam dressed in his football jersey (Cowboys colors...sorry Strakas) and had a great time cooking with Gram, tossing the football around with Andrew and helping Pops blow out the candles on his birthday cake.
Uncle Andrew is so funny!
Stirring the rice for Gram
Watching Gram add the chicken
Stirring the onions into the green beans
Helping Pops blow out the birthday candles
Thanks for having us all over Gram and Pops!
It started out as a great way to end the day.
Each night, twenty minutes or so before bedtime, Sam and I, (and sometimes Daddy, too) would gather up binkie, all three blankies and a basket of library books and cuddle up in my bed and read. We even call it "Books On Mommy's Bed". Much more comfortable than reading in the rocking chair in Sam's room! Unlike many activities we attempt throughout the day, Sam never needs convincing to go read with me and in fact, often asks for it on his own.
Lately though, Books on Mommy's Bed has turned into
Roll Around and Be Wild on Mommy's Bed
, all the while totally ignoring the story I'm trying to read. Not cool, Samuel. Not. Cool.
The answer is always "yes" to the question, "Do you want to help Mommy cook?
In this first picture, we were making apple cinnamon muffins. Sam LOVES muffins! He helped me stir the batter and he put all the papers in the muffin tins.
He's likes to "wash dishes", which means washing his toys in the bubbles, and loves to take a whiff of everything I chop, measure and stir. He pretended not to like this lemon..."eww" he said...but I know he didn't really mean it!
We've done even more work in the kitchen recently...more to come on our yummy heart cookies!
It snowed a few inches here in North Texas this weekend.
Though much of it had melted, we took Sam on a Winter Walk through the neighborhood today. We looked for snowmen, touched many snowflakes - "shno-pakes" - and taught Sam how to walk slowly over the icy patches. He didn't like the snow on his fingers, but he did like stepping in it, listening to the crunch-crunch and seeing his own footprints behind him. It was great to get out after being cooped up all day Sunday. And what a cute little snow-bunny he makes!
Happy Christmas Eve!
We spent the day at Gram and Pops' house. They set a festive table and fixed a yummy dinner - Mushroom Crab Soup and homemade Cheese Bread.
Sam used my baby Sesame Street china set!
We got out the Play-Doh while Gram cooked - thanks to Daddy for taking pictures of us
and our Play-Doh creations!
Sam got some pretty awesome gifts - too many to mention! He hadn't had a nap all day and started to have a melt-down right around present-time, so we put him in his crib (where he screamed) and the grown-ups quickly opened gifts from each other. After his crying spell, Sam felt a little bit better and opened the rest of his presents, sans pants.
When we got home, Daddy had to put together the present we got for Sam. We wanted it to be ready when he woke up Christmas morning. We've been coloring and having tea parties on the floor for too long, so we got Sam a little table and chairs for the living room. He loves it!
Really, Santa, REALLY?
Let's just say things didn't go according to plan last Tuesday. Despite the cold drizzle that fell from the sky and the fact that all three of us were worn to a frazzle from a hectic day, we decided to trudge out to Allen to see Santa and have a little Family Fun Night. What really happened is something completely different. It's a long story involving electronic check-ins, miscommunication and poor planning on the part of Santa's Little Helpers.
As a result there is no Santa & Sam picture - yet.
It wasn't our fault.
It wasn't even Santa's fault.
We're over it.
We made the best of the night and tried a new place to eat - Freebirds Burritos. The staff there was outstanding and gave Sam a sticker that HAD to go right on the front of his Christmas sweater. (
whatever
...) We also discovered a huge Christmas tree that sings Christmas carols, and Sam spent a good twenty minutes dancing in front of it, entertaining his shivering Mommy and Daddy.
We decided it was worth it.
Sam loved his first museum visit.
We visited the Dallas Children's Museum at Fair Park with our playgroup. It was a great place with different rooms set up for the kids to play in. There was a fire station, complete with a truck/slide, coats and helmets. We explored the theater with fun-house mirrors and the musical instruments station and the construction site, where we pretend-sawed some things in half. Sam's two favorite spots were the water table, where fresh, cold water trickled down from a mountain (and gave giant rubber duckies a place to float) and the farm where we played with fake veggies, collected wooden eggs from clucking chickens and milked Elsie the cow. I liked the backyard exhibit, despite the many glass cases full of creepy-crawly bugs, because the termite tunnel wore Sam out for the long ride home!
Sam and I made a stop on the way home from the aquarium Friday.
We decided to get out and stretch our legs at Addison Circle, where Mama lived when she first met Daddy. I took Sam to each of the parks I used to take Sophie to when she was just a puppy. He chased squirrels in Bosque Park and, before I could stop him, picked two pansies from the flower beds outside Pastazios Pizza. We played peakaboo around a lamp post and did the freeze dance at the dog park. We'd done a lot of driving and had a lot of wiggles to get out! Our final stop was at Quorum Park to visit the sunken fountain where I'd taken Sophie for pictures almost ten years ago. Sam had a blast throwing acorns into the fountain and I got a few more great pictures. It was a great way to end a fun fall day with my handsome boy!
Sam's trying really hard to say "Granny Nell".
He's getting there and had lots of chances to practice the other night when we went down to Duncanville for a quick Thanksgiving visit. Not only did Granny make a fantastic pot pie for dinner, she had lots of toys and teddy bears to play with. But as it turned out, Sam's favorite toys that night were Granny's piano and full-length mirror. Might Sam be a musician someday? He looks pretty comfortable with those piano keys. Or perhaps he'll be an actor. Just look at that expressive face!
It was SO big, and SO orange, we had to go twice!
The first time we went to Celina's famous Big Orange Pumpkin Farm, Brian and I took Sam on a Sunday afternoon, after waking Sam up from a short afternoon nap (a nap on Mama, no less). Late afternoon naps tend to make Sam cranky, as do naps cut short because we wake him up. He enjoyed the farm just not as much as we had expected. There was a lot of whining.
A lot of whining.
And I'm pretty sure we made the hayride fairly unpleasant for three other families. The massive crowds didn't help anybody's mood either!
But when we went with our playgroup, on a weekday, we pretty much had the place to ourselves and Sam had a bit more fun! He enjoyed running around, feeding the goats and playing on the pumpkins.
Do I look like I'm ready for the hayride to be over? Because I am.
And with both trips to the farm, we got to pick a small pumpkin straight off the vine. Happy Fall!
Fall has come to Texas!
Gram and Pops and I took Sam back to the Dallas Arboretum to enjoy some beautiful fall color!
Sam was a bit clumsy that day. It started before we left Gram and Pops' house, when he fell in their yard and rolled over some crushed acorns. Then at the Arboretum he fell in front of Strega Nona's house, right into a big mud puddle. After we wiped off all the mud on his face, all his bumps and scrapes were easier to see. Here's a little before-and-after:
But he was a trooper about it. We stopped for lunch on the lawn, changed his shirt and enjoyed the rest of the park. The pumpkin houses were so colorful. Sam especially loved Cinderella's mice and her carriage that had turned back into a pumpkin. There were many varieties of gourds, arranged in clever scenes.
(swans in a pond)
We were a bit early for the mums, but the pumpkins were amazing. Everywhere you looked there were more and more pumpkins!
Another special treat was the concert playing on the north side. We stopped so Sam could listen. He sat with Gram for a while and then and of course, he had to get his groove on!
He didn't make it back to the car before falling asleep. Too many pumpkins for one little boy...
Happy Birthday Gram!
We had fun celebrating with you!
Daddy carved us one great pumpkin.
Sam was only mildly interested in the carving part and wouldn't have anything to do with the touching the slimy seeds part. But he did enjoy looking at the lit pumpkin - even asked Daddy to light it first thing the next morning.
It was Sunday afternoon.
We'd been out to McKinney for church, which always wears us out. A trip to the Celina Pumpkin Patch was planned for the afternoon. But first, an impromptu nap was in order.
Well, not away so much. But definitely up and up.
Sam recently experienced his first Plano Balloon Festival - kind of one last hurrah for the summer. We all know he's a big fan of balloons (see
), but this event took it to a whole new level!
He got to see skydivers,
feed Pops some goldfish,
eat some ice cream (of course),
and then it was down on the field for an up-close look at some balloons! There wasn't enough wind for the balloonists to take off, so they let us on the field to get a better look! Even better than a launch, in my opinion!
Another first - Sam's first bus ride!
It was humid and hot, but Sam had a blast watching buh-woohs!
