Neighborhood Parade

Our Fourth of July celebration started off right in our own neighborhood.

Saturday morning we walked down to the same corner we were at last year to watch our neighborhood's parade.  There were fire trucks, police cars and kids on bikes throwing candy!  That night Gram and Pops and I took Sam to see our fireworks display by the big bass lake. It was an awesome show and Sam did great. He fussed right at the end (just in time for the grand finale) but that's never a surprise on a no-nap day. I carried Sam home -

all the way home

- he was sound asleep, dead weight and sweaty!

The next day we just had to make a pa-wade with our trucks and cars and Sesame Street friends.  Everyone loves a parade!

Sam and I went on a little farewell-for-now tour on Friday.

We stopped by my school for the last-day-of-school assembly, visited Mrs. Ellis' library for some flashlight-reading as she was finishing up her last class for the year, then had one last dinner with Daddy, Gram, Pops and Andrew before Andrew goes to Austin for a few months. Not sure how Sam's going to handle not having Andrew to boss around...

Mother's Day

We had a nice, relaxing Mother's Day this year.  Brian got up early to make me breakfast and had Sam bring me a flower from the bouquet he bought, along with a funny card (which was addressed to "Mum"), into the bedroom when I first woke up.   "Here you go, Mama", he said! 

We enjoyed an awesome breakfast - eggs, sausage, bagels with salmon and cream cheese, juice and coffee - before heading out to meet Gram and Pops for a picnic at Frisco Commons. Andrew, Great-Grandma and my Uncle Brad joined us, too, and we had fun eating lunch and taking a walk in the windy, but pretty weather. Sam was such a patient boy that we finished our day at the park with some time on the giant wooden playground. Sam did the silly stairs with Gram, the swings with Pops and the horsies with Andrew.

Jan and Emil sent me the sweetest card and Nell and I chatted on the phone later that evening.  Thanks, too, to Brian and Brad for the flowers.  It was fun photographing something new for a change and they look great in the house!  The two pictures of Sam at the bottom of the post are from the Mother's Day Tea at Sam's school.  His teachers did a great job of celebrating us moms and Sam enjoyed showing me the puzzles he plays with at school!

Easter

Finally - Easter pictures!

A small Easter basket at home, then off to Gram and Pops for another basket and a backyard egg hunt!

A Visit from Granny

Granny Nell stopped by this week with some Easter surprises.

She brought Sam some fuzzy baby ducks that quack when you squeeze them and some Sesame Street critters. Needless to say Sam was quite happy! She stayed for lunch and had some alone time with Sam while I met with our insurance adjuster and contractor. Sam read her books, and they shared a cookie snack while watching Oswald. What a fun visit!

Happy Birthday Daddy

Happy Birthday, Daddy.

Thanks for taking care of us and always being there for us. We think you're the best and had a great time celebrating YOU!

Guest at the Nest

It's a baby bird!.

We've watched Mama and Daddy sit on the nest in our tree for a while now, and we finally have a baby. Just one, though, and boy is he big!  Sam and the neighborhood kids have enjoyed checking-in on the birdies everyday I've been able to put my not-often-used zoom lens to good use!

baby bird

baby bird

close-up of Mama bird

While We Were Away

It's been a while since I've posted.

I'm now really behind...lots of pictures to edit, lots of stories to write.  Some funny, some happy, some not-so-much.  I've taken some time away from the blog in part because our computer was out-of-commission for the last couple of weeks which makes blogging impossible.  But the main reason I haven't been writing was because we started the new year off taking care of and worrying about our little Sophie.  After having to say goodbye to her on February 17th, I wasn't much up for blogging stories and family pictures.  We haven't been just sitting around; Brian and I both have jobs we had to show up for and Sam to take care of.  But things I usually enjoy, like sewing and photography and blogging, just weren't that appealing for a while. 

But we're feeling better now, and with the photos piling up and the "tales from the nest" that need to be told, I'm somewhat forcing myself to get caught up with my blogging.  I know how much everyone loves to read about Sam and watch him grow and this site has become very special to our family, so I'm not going to let it fall by the wayside!

You'll see some entries are "post-dated" just because I want to keep stories close to their original dates so that when Sam is older and reading these posts they are dated accurately, so keep checking February and March over the next few days to see new posts..  I have lots of posts coming up about what's been going on around our nest...like a certain someone turning TWO!

Enjoy our new photos and our new tales, and thanks for being patient while we were away.

(Brian took the picture above during our last trip to the park, Sunday, February 13th, 2011)

Happy 2nd Birthday! (posted 3/26)

Boy, did this guy have fun at his party!

He got lots of great presents and had a ball being the center of attention! The highlights of the party - - big turtle, little turtle and "Aunt Bail" (Aunt Bell). He's mentioned her name almost every day since. Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated our little boy's birthday, and a special thanks to Gram who saved all of my Sesame Street toys all these years. It made decorating for this party very easy - and very retro!!

              Waiting, waiting, waiting for Granny...                         Finally!  They're here!!

Pinch, pinch, pinch!

Enjoying birthday snacks with Gram

                               Great-Grandma                                  Having a blast being the center of attention!

Cowboy Sam made an appearance, much to the delight of the Grannies and Grandpas

He liked his cake this year!

               Helping Mommy put the finishing touches on the birthday cupcakes before our guests arrived!

                                             Our Sesame Street friends helped us celebrate!

Happy Birthday Sam!

Birthday Ice Cream (posted 3/24)

Sam's birthday fell on a Wednesday this year. Even though his party was coming up, we still wanted to celebrate this special day.

We took Sam down to see Gram and Pops and then we all went out for ice cream - yogurt, actually. Very yogurty yogurt. Sam loved it, though!

Game Day

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!

Christmas Eve

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.

(Gram and Pops gave Sam his own rake for

when they work in the yard

...)

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! 

We Drove 52 miles for a Singing Christmas Tree and a Burrito

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.

Yard Work

Pops has been putting Sam to work on the weekends.

The first time they did yardwork they cleared a lot of brush - just like Dubya does at his ranch. Now that it's winter, there are acorns to gather and leaves to rake...and then jump in, of course!

Thanksgiving with Granny

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!

When The Birds Were The Bees

Buzzzzzz.

The day I got Sam's bee costume at our local children's resale shop, I stopped at a thrift store in town, just to look around. I found a bee "body" for grownups for $1.99. It was looking like Sam and I were meant to be a pair of sweet honeybees for Halloween this year. Brian asked if I could get my hands on some yellow duct tape so that he could join in the fun. A quick trip to the craft store for some duct tape, pipe cleaners and yellow pom-poms and our costumes were complete!

We invited the grandparents over to the hive for dinner and trick-or-treating. Sam made it just halfway down the block, stopping at only a few houses for treats, but that was plenty for us, too. We all ended up sitting on our porch with dessert and coffee and passed out candy to the neighborhood kids by the light of Daddy's second awesome jack-o-lantern.

What a Happy Halloween!.

Autumn Blooms

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

Happy Birthday Gram!

We had fun celebrating with you!

Whee!!

Just some swingin', slidin' and climbin' on a sunny Sunday afternoon!

My Boys

These guys are way too photogenic, especially when together. Friday night, after some ice cream at Beth Marie's, we took a stroll around the square and hung out on the courthouse steps. And, of course, Sam collected "baw-uhls" again, his new favorite treasure.